WHEN nurse Marianna Cisneros caught Covid in July 2020 she didn't think she'd be knocked down so severely by the virus.
But over a year after being infected, the intensive care nurse is still battling with a "torturous" side effect.
The 31-year-old from California is struggling with dysphasia, which can mean you struggle to swallow and it's usually a result of conditions such as a stroke, cancer or multiple sclerosis.
After testing positive for Covid, Marianna decided to document her journey with the virus, as she believed she had also suffered with a stroke.
The mum-of-three had also been a fitness competitor, but hasn't been able toexercise properly since catching Covid.
Marianna said that doctors 'don't know why' she is suffering with the condition.
"I've been dealing with this for over a year now and I'm frustrated because I want to eat.
"I'm hungry a lot of the time and I just can't because I risk food getting stuck or aspirating on it.
Most read in Health
DOCTOR'S ORDERS 
Urgent warning to all Brits who had Omicron in December
Covid symptom that could affect your penis as patient left with 24-hour erection
Omicron cases are still rising in 218 areas – is YOURS on the hotspot list?
Docs said my burning pain was an STI – now I’m facing a death sentence
"I could hardly walk and I was having a lot of weird neurological conditions.
"That's why I fight so hard to bring awareness to it because a lot of people didn't believe [me]", she posted on TikTok.
While Marianna has suffered severe side effects from the virus, others currently catching the more mild strain, Omicron, have said it feels more like a cold.
However it won't yet be clear to tell if people who caught Omicron have also been plagued with long-Covid.
A string of hugely positive studies show Omicron IS milder than other Covid strains, with the first official UK report revealing the risk of hospitalisation is 50 to 70 per cent lower than with Delta.
Covid booster jabs protect against Omicron and offer the best chance to get through the pandemic, health officials have repeatedly said.
What is dysphasia and what are the symptoms?
Dysphasia simply means a difficulty to swallow.
It's usually a result of conditions such as a stroke, cancer or multiple sclerosis.
These are the symptoms of the illness:
- difficulty swallowing
- discomfort when swallowing food or drink
- choking or coughing when eating
- a feeling that food is stuck in your throat
- regurgitation of the food, sometimes through the nose
The Sun's Jabs Army campaign is helping get the vital extra vaccines in Brits' arms to ward off the need for any new restrictions.
Marianna also suffers with Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, which is an abnormal increase in heart rate that occurs after sitting up or standing.
She previously told NBC San Diego that her illness comes in waves and that she has good and bad days.
Marianna explained how she struggled to get to the toilet on her own and said that she 'never thought' Covid could bring someone down of her age.
She was hospitalised for six days with shortness of breath and developed two brain lesions.
During this time she said she didn't think she was going to make it out alive.
It's been reported that close to a million Brits could be suffering with long term symptoms of coronavirus, also known as Long Covid.
read more on the sun
LAMPS LET OFF
Lampard filmed ‘holding phone & coffee’ at wheel of Merc but case is dropped
UK's 'happiest and unhappiest' towns… and it's all to do with the weather
These soap stars look unrecognisable as kids – can you guess who they are now?
I’m a bodybuilder after losing 8st – you’ll never guess what I used to look like
Long Covid is when people catch the coronavirus and instead of fully recovering, they suffer symptoms for weeks, potentially months, more.
Long Covid was estimated to be adversely affecting the day-to-day activities of 643,000 people – around two-thirds.
Fatigue was the most common symptom (58 per cent), followed by shortness of breath (42 per cent), muscle ache (32 per cent) and difficulty concentrating (31 per cent).
Long Covid was most common in women and people; aged 35 to 69 years, living in poor areas, working in health and social care and with a disability, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed.
Source: Read Full Article