Fatigue is one of the most common and most debilitating symptoms for those with long COVID.

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The feeling of fatigue from Long COVID is more than just “feeling tired.” It is an overwhelming sense of exhaustion that can make it harder for you to do everything you would like to do, including physical, mental, and social/emotional tasks and activities. Fatigue can prevent you from doing your day-to-day activities.

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Fatigue from long COVID doesn’t always get better with rest and it may last for several days. You may find when you try to “push” through your symptoms to return to your usual activities, your fatigue gets much worse and you “crash.” This is referred to as the push/crash cycle and it can significantly impact your quality of life, as well as prolong your recovery. You can learn more about this type of fatigue here.

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The exact cause of fatigue in long COVID is unknown. For some people with long COVID, the fatigue experienced is similar to what is experienced by people who have myalgic encephalitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). We are trying to understand how COVID and ME/CFS may be related.