Long Covid Symptom Lists
If you are researching Long Covid, we recommend asking about the following symptoms (ordered by frequency):
Very Common (experienced by majority of patients): |
Fatigue |
Worsening of symptoms after physical/mental activity (post-exertional malaise) |
Cognitive Functioning issues, general |
Sleeping issues, general |
Neurological sensations, general |
Headaches, general |
Shortness of Breath |
Temperature Issues, general |
Poor attention or concentration |
Tightness of Chest |
Memory issues, general |
Muscle aches |
Dizziness / vertigo / unsteadiness or balance issues |
Heart palpitations |
Dry cough |
Difficulty thinking |
Short-term memory loss (memory that lasts ~30 seconds, i.e. remembering a phone number before writing it down, forgetting you’re in the middle of a task) |
Tachycardia |
Diarrhea |
Insomnia |
Sore Throat |
Episodes of breathing difficulty/gasping for air with normal oxygen saturation |
Smell/Taste Issues, general |
Elevated temperature (98.8-100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, 37.1-37.9 Celsius) |
Anxiety |
Difficulty with executive functioning (planning, organizing, figuring out the sequence of actions, abstracting) |
Chills/flushing/sweats |
Tremor/Vibration issues |
Loss of Appetite |
Difficulty problem-solving or decision-making |
Joint pain |
Pain/burning in chest |
Irritability |
Nausea |
Tingling/prickling/pins and needles sensation |
Depression |
Waking up several times during the night |
Speech/Language issues, general |
Skin sensations: burning, tingling, or itchiness without rash |
Weakness |
Difficulty finding the right words while speaking/writing |
Tearfulness |
Slowed thoughts |
Vibrating sensations |
Temperature lability (quick swings in and out of fever or elevated temperature) |
Headaches, behind the eyes |
Night sweats |
Common: |
Difficulty falling asleep |
Abdominal pain |
Difficulty controlling emotions |
Apathy (lack of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern) |
Stiff neck |
Loss of smell |
Long-term memory loss (long-term memory can be anything from remembering yesterday, forgetting you’ve done a task, forgetting recently learned information, or forgetting your third-grade experience) |
Headaches, diffuse (entire brain) |
Loss of taste |
Blurred vision |
Extreme thirst |
Awakened by feeling unable to breathe |
Headaches, in the temples |
Lower Esophagus Burning / gastroesophageal reflux / acid reflux |
Sensitivity to noise |
Sense of doom |
Sensation of brain pressure |
Vision symptoms, general |
Tinnitus |
Tremors |
Muscle spasms |
Vivid dreams |
Coldness |
Lump in throat/difficulty swallowing |
Feeling full quickly when eating |
Fever (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit / 38 degrees Celsius or above) |
Runny nose |
Neuralgia (nerve pain) |
Other temperature issues (not listed above or below) |
Sensitivity to light |
Itchy skin |
Cough with mucus production |
Changes to non-primary (second/third) language skills, if applicable |
Difficulty communicating verbally |
Dry eyes |
Headaches, at the base of the skull |
Mood swings |
Sneezing |
Heat intolerance |
Skin rashes |
Low oxygen levels (<94%) |
Abnormally irregular periods |
Changes in the voice |
Eye pressure or pain |
Ear pain |
Altered sense of taste |
Constipation |
Nightmares |
Waking up early in the morning |
Electrical zaps/electrical shock sensation |
Headaches/pain after mental exertion |
Bone ache or burning |
Hyperactive bowel sensations |
Difficulty reading/processing written text |
Anger |
Itchy eyes |
Migraines |
Difficulty processing/understanding what others say |
Phantom smells (imagining/hallucinating smells – smelling things that aren’t there) |
Changes to the ear canal (such as pressure, blockage, burning, swelling) |
Difficulting speaking in complete sentences |
Feeling like you aren’t real/like you’re observing yourself from outside your body (depersonalization) |
Low temperature |
Abnormally heavy periods/clotting |
Altered sense of smell |
Abnormally high blood pressure |
Floaters |
Other eye symptoms |
Menstrual/period issues, general |
Other menstrual issues |
Visibly inflamed/bulging veins |
Acute (sudden) confusion/disorientation |
Restless leg syndrome |
Rattling of breath |
Bradycardia (low heart rate, <60 beats per minute) |
Petechiae (tiny purple, red, or brown spots on the skin, usually on arms, legs, stomach, buttocks, and occasionally inside mouth or on eyelids) |
Other Sleeping Issues |
Other temperature issues |
Feeling like the world isn’t real (derealization) |
Difficulty communicating in writing |
Slurring words/speech |
Lucid dreams (dreams where you are aware you are dreaming or have some control over what you dream about) |
Thoughts moving too quickly |
Bloodshot eyes |
Hallucinations, general |
Urinary issues, other |
Vomiting |
Pink eye (conjunctivitis) |
Bladder control issues |
Headaches, other |
Peeling skin |
Seeing things in your peripheral vision |
Fainting |
Numbness/weakness on one side of the body only |
Other ear/hearing issues |
COVID toes (discoloration, swelling, painful, or blistering toes) |
Other ear/hearing symptoms |
Sensation of brain warmth/”on fire” |
Other eye issues |
Abnormally low blood pressure |
Forgetting how to do routine tasks (tying your shoe laces, washing your hands) |
Heightened reaction to old allergies |
Suicidality |
Other Memory Symptoms |
Pain in testicles (cis men) |
Visual Hallucinations |
Less common, but notable (up to 10% of patients): |
Other Skin and Allergy Symptoms |
Brittle/discolored nail |
Sexual dysfunction (difficulty maintaining erection, vaginal dryness, difficulty orgasming) |
Other Respiratory and Sinus Symptoms |
Agnosia (failure to recognize or identify objects despite intact sensory functioning) |
Phantom taste (imagining/hallucinating tastes – tasting things when there’s nothing in your mouth) |
Speaking unrecognizable words |
New allergies (food, chemical, environmental, etc) |
Hearing loss |
Other Cognitive Functioning Symptoms |
Impulsivity (acting on a whim without self-control) |
Redness on the outside of eyes |
Heightened sense of smell |
Sensation of facial pressure/numbness, left side |
Dermatographia (writing on your skin causes red lines where you scratched) |
Lack of inhibition (difficulty controlling your behavior) |
Aggression |
Not being able to make new memories |
Double vision |
Sleep apnea |
Inability to yawn |
Sensation of facial pressure/numbness, right side |
Other Emotional Changes |
Auditory (hearing) Hallucinations |
Sensation of facial pressure/numbness, other |
Itchiness, other |
Euphoria (a feeling or state of intense excitement and happiness) |
Inability to cry |
Other semen/penis/testicles issues (cis men) |
Numbness/loss of sensation |
Pain in testicles (nonbinary patients) |
Post-Menopausal bleeding/spotting (cis women over 49) |
High blood sugar (if measured) |
Other Speech/Language Symptoms |
New/unexpected anaphylaxis reaction |
Coughing up Blood |
Blood clots (Thrombosis) |
Hypomania (a milder form of mania) |
Tunnel vision |
Facial paralysis |
Tactile (touch) Hallucinations |
Decrease in size of testicles/penis (cis men) |
Other semen/penis/testicles issues (nonbinary patients) |
Delusions |
Seizures (suspected) |
Shingles |
Heightened sense of taste |
Mania (abnormally elevated/excited mood, decreased need for sleep, occasionally with delusions) |
Hallucinations, other |
Low blood sugar (if measured) |
Decrease in size of testicles/penis (nonbinary patients) |
Post-Menopausal bleeding/spotting (nonbinary patients) |
Total loss of vision |
Seizures (confirmed) |
Early Menopause (cis women under 40) |
We also recommend a second patient symptom list, made by Signe Redfield, which can be found at http://www.robotistry.org/longcovid/wiki/pmwiki.php/LongCovid/Symptoms.