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COVID Recovery Center Offers Help When COVID Symptoms Won’t Go Away

January 28, 2021

Hartford HealthCare’s COVID Recovery Center (860.827.3200), the state’s first center focused on health and healing after recovering from COVID-19, continues to treat patients experiencing persistent health issues. The approach includes doctors from all types of specialties, from pulmonary to mental health.

“The whole idea is to determine the persistent symptoms someone is having after getting COVID, and for the most part we are seeing cough and shortness of breath,” said Dr. Tejal Shah, a pulmonary critical care specialist at The Hospital of Central Connecticut.

Dr. Shah says she’s seeing patients, of all ages, complaining of issues affecting their daily life. Some are unable to return to work due to trouble breathing after walking only a short distance.

“What I’m seeing is that it’s not just the people who were hospitalized with COVID who are at risk for lung damage,” she said. “People who were not sick enough to get hospitalized are still having lingering pulmonary issues four to six months after their diagnosis.”

COVID-19 greatly affects the lungs of many patients, but other long-term symptoms include:

  • Fatigue.
  • Muscle weakness.
  • Balance issues.
  • Weakness/numbness in arms and legs, or severe muscle pain.
  • Memory issues.
  • Stroke.
  • Abnormal heart rhythms, palpitations or arrhythmia.
  • Headaches.

“It’s important for people who have persistent issues as a result of COVID to see a specialist so that we can get them tested and get a bigger picture of the long-term effects caused by this virus,” said Dr. Shah.

If you need help after recovering from COVID-19, call the COVID Recovery Center at 860.827.3200 to schedule an in-person or virtual visit. From there, you’re referred to the appropriate specialist based on their symptoms.

“The sooner we treat a condition, the better the outcome will be as opposed to waiting,” said Dr. Shah. “Primary care physicians should also be referring their patients to the COVID Recovery Center if they notice persistent health issues with their patients post COVID.”

The COVID Recovery Center is designed to put patients on the path to recovery by offering resources for outpatient care, which includes diagnostic and medical treatment, therapy and support groups.

Dr. Shah says patients with pulmonary issues due to COVID are first screened with a chest X-ray. They then go through a walk test/oxygen evaluation and then a breathing test, known as a pulmonary function test. Treatments include an exercise program to help restore normal lung function. More serious issues may require inhaler treatments. If you have significant damage to your lungs, you will most likely be referred to a pulmonary rehab program to overcome weakness or lung scarring as a result of COVID.

“Right now we are really figuring out what type of lung injuries people are left with and once we know that, we can incorporate other types of treatments to reverse the effects of COVID,” said Dr. Shah. “No one should suffer in silence. We are here to help.”