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Neurological Symptoms and Issues with COVID-19
What are the signs of neurological issues associated with COVID-19?
There are a variety of neurologic symptoms that can come with COVID-19. They range from not serious to some that are very serious. The symptoms that are less serious are loss of sense of smell and headaches and these are very common while other symptoms such as dizziness, confusion and paralysis are much more severe.
When do neurological symptoms typically occur during COVID-19?
These symptoms occur at different stages of COVID-19. For instance, loss of smell and headaches tend to occur early on in the setting of COVID-19 disease while dizziness and confusion which don't happen to every person that gets COVID-19 tend to occur during the middle stages of the disease and then even rarer, paralysis which can come on as a result of stroke or Guillain-Barré syndrome tend to occur much later in the disease and only in very sick patients who are usually already in the hospital.
When should I consult my doctor if I have neurological signs of COVID-19?
If you are having the neurologic symptoms of loss of smell or headaches, you should consult your primary care physician immediately so they can perform COVID-19 testing. If you have some of the other neurologic symptoms of COVID-19 such as dizziness, confusion or paralysis, it is extremely important to go immediately to the hospital because these can be signs that you are having a stroke and important testing is required that can only be done in the hospital. It is also important to know that you can have any of these neurologic symptoms without the usual symptoms of COVID-19 such as fever, cough or shortness of breath.
Who is at risk of neurological issues with COVID-19?
So who is at risk for developing neurological issues with COVID-19? First off, the neurologic symptoms such as loss of sense of smell or headaches are very common and anyone can develop them but they are not serious. The other neurological issues which are more serious such as dizziness, confusion or paralysis tend to occur in people who are older, people who have preexisting conditions such as kidney failure, liver failure, hypertension, diabetes or obesity and also if you've ever had a stroke in the past or seizures in the past, those people are also at higher risk for having more serious neurological issues with COVID-19.
What is the likelihood that someone will develop neurological issues associated with COVID-19?
The likelihood of getting a neurologic symptom with COVID-19 is quite rare, particularly when it comes to the more serious symptoms such as paralysis, confusion or dizziness. The other neurologic symptoms like loss of sense of smell and headaches which are not serious are much more common with the COVID-19 illness but also get better as people recover from the milder form of the illness.
What is the impact of COVID-19 neurological issues?
So what are some of the consequences of having neurologic issues when you have COVID-19? Well, if you have loss of sense of smell or headaches, these are really common and often they will go away as you recover from the illness. On the other hand, if you're having confusion or dizziness, these could be signs of more serious response to COVID-19 and often require hospitalization. If you're having paralysis, it could be a result of a new stroke and it is extremely important that you go immediately to the emergency room if you're experiencing those symptoms. Very rarely, paralysis can also be a result of a rare condition called Guillain-Barré syndrome. This often occurs in patients who have severe reaction to the COVID-19 illness. Other people who have paralysis are persons that have had a stroke in the past and often this will present as a return of their old stroke symptoms. Most of the time, those symptoms will improve as they recover from the COVID-19 illness and also some people who are confused, it could be a result of having a seizure. This almost exclusively happens in people who have had seizures in the past as COVID-19 illness can lower the seizure threshold and cause people who've had seizure history to have new seizures again.