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.