'Forgot who I am and where': after COVID-19, people suffer for months from disorientation and memory loss

After contracting the coronavirus in March, Michael Reagan completely forgot his 12-day vacation in Paris, even though the trip was only a few weeks ago. Covid-19 survivors still suffer from "brain fog" months later, difficulties with memory and recognizing people and objects, writes New York Times.

Photo: Shutterstock

A few weeks after Erica Taylor recovered from the nausea and cough caused by the Covid-19 virus, she did not recognize her own car, the only Toyota Prius in the parking lot of her apartment complex. Lisa Miesel, an experienced emergency clinic nurse practitioner who fell ill in July, found herself forgetting about routine procedures and laboratory tests and had to ask colleagues about the terminology she knew automatically.

“The thought of working scares me,” Mizelle, 53, said. “I feel like I have dementia.”

This condition is called “post-Covid brain fog”: troubling cognitive symptoms that can include memory loss, confusion, difficulty concentrating, dizziness and difficulty formulating familiar words. Increasingly, coronavirus survivors say “brain fog” is impairing their ability to work and function normally. Igor Koralnik, director of neuroinfectious diseases in Chicago, says the problem affects thousands of people.

Scientists are not sure what exactly causes the symptoms. The main assumption is that "fog" occurs when the body's immune response to the virus does not stop, or due to inflammation of the blood vessels leading to the brain. In August, a French study found that months after recovery, 34% had problems with memory and 27% with concentration.

"It's debilitating," said Rick Sullivan, 60, of Brentwood, California, who has had episodes of brain fog since July after Covid-19. “It feels like I’m under anesthesia.”

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“I forgot who I am and where”

When 31-year-old Taylor contracted the virus in mid-June, she thought she would only need a short break from work. But she was so disoriented that she washed the TV remote in the typewriter and had to return the dog to the shelter because she could not trust herself to care for the animal.

One morning she woke up and realized that she did not remember who she was or where she was. Everything in her brain was “white static electricity.”

“I sat on the bed, cried and felt that something was wrong, I should ask for help, but I could not remember who or what to ask. I forgot who I am and where I am.”

By July, she thought she was getting better and told her boss she could come back. But after another episode with “white static,” she wrote to him: “I’m scared. I really want to get back to work. But I’m very tired all the time and very confused.” He suggested that she rest and heal.

She resumed work in early August, but her mind wandered and it was difficult even to read her email. In the end, the employer asked her to leave. She tried to volunteer, but was refused.

Reagan, 50, who spent 5 days in the hospital, resumed his job at a stents and catheters company. But tremors of fingers and convulsions, neurological symptoms do not make it possible to do the job efficiently.

“I’m at a loss for words in meetings,” said Reagan, who is now on vacation. “I feel like an idiot.”

Before she contracted the virus and was hospitalized with pneumonia, she treated 6 patients per hour on her own at her clinic in Huntsville, Alabama. But recently she asked someone else to work with her.

“I try to be gentle with patients. Nobody wants a health worker to be in a fog, it’s very scary,” she said, adding that the situation has improved a little. “I haven’t killed anyone yet.”

Looking for answers

The cause of the symptoms remains a mystery, in part because they are varied.

“The simplest answer is that people have persistent immune activation after the initial infection has subsided,” said Dr. Avindra Nath, chief of the Division of Nervous System Infections at the National Institute of Neurological Diseases.

Inflammation of blood vessels or the cells lining blood vessels may be involved, according to Dr. Serena Spudich, chief of neurological infections at Yale School of Medicine. Inflammatory molecules released as a result of effective immune responses “can also be sort of toxins, especially to the brain,” she said.

According to Dr. Dona Kim Murphy, a neurologist and neuroscientist, microstrokes can cause some symptoms. She herself experienced neurological problems after the coronavirus.

Other possible causes are autoimmune reactions, “where antibodies mistakenly attack nerve cells,” Spudich said.

Symptoms such as tingling or numbness can occur when damaged nerves send the wrong signals, according to Dr.Allison Navis, neuroinfectious disease specialist at Mount Sinai Health System. Lung or heart problems can worsen neurological symptoms.

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How do you say "toothbrush"?

This summer, Reagan turned on the stove to cook scrambled eggs, and then absentmindedly went for a walk with the Wolf-Parkinson-White dog, named for a heart arrhythmia. When he returned, he found a red-hot empty frying pan, panicked and has not cooked since. He completely forgot last Christmas, New Years and the March holidays in Paris, which he arranged on the occasion of his partner's 40th birthday.

Even slight mental or physical stress can trigger his “fog,” and Sullivan, who was laid off from a management position before the pandemic, said that many days he could only do two tasks: “Clean the cat litter and pick up the dog poop.” And even this was a series of difficult tasks.

Julia Donahue, 61, of Somers, New York, struggles to speak in smooth sentences. Recently, she couldn’t even remember how to say “toothbrush.” She told a friend: “You know, the thing that cleans your teeth.”

Experts advise people with fog to see their doctors to rule out other conditions and treat any remaining physical symptoms. Mizelle, Reagan and Taylor consult with cardiologists and neurologists. Doctors don't know whether symptoms will improve or go away over time.

In mid-September, Sullivan thought the worst was over, but at the grocery store he began to feel sick and his head became “a complete fog.” A few days later, he was lifting small dumbbells—nothing compared to his serious exercise program before COVID-19. At this moment, the “fog” overtook him again. According to the man, at that moment he began to cry.

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