My first Covid-19 symptoms appeared on March 14: a low-grade fever, profound leg pain, malaise, and loss of appetite.

More than 100 days later, Covid-19 is still with me.

In the early days, as my symptoms fluctuated, I was determined not to go to the emergency department or urgent care because it seemed like there were too many people who needed the help more than I did.

In New York City, where I live and work, there were more than 5,000 excess deaths not directly linked to Covid-19 between March 11 and May 2, likely because people were delaying care or not going to emergency departments or urgent care due to fear of contracting Covid-19 or oversaturating the medical system.

Yet most of their efforts did little to significantly change the course of my symptoms.

Yet as my Covid-19 symptoms dragged on, my physician identity began blending into my patient identity.

Soon, though, articles about the potential for prolonged symptoms trickled in, easing the isolation I felt from being an outlier and giving me some hope.

My search for answers eventually led me to an online support group that included people like me with prolonged Covid-19 symptoms.

I’ve seen people citing symptoms in the central and peripheral nervous systems, the gastrointestinal tract, the skin, cardiovascular system, and more.

The multitude of organ systems that were affected, along with the waxing-and-waning nature and unpredictable trajectory of symptoms, were particularly eye-opening.

I learned that there were many people with symptoms more severe than mine, some of whom were isolated both physically and emotionally, left to fend for themselves, without the robust support system I am lucky to have.

People like me with prolonged Covid-19 symptoms have described the doubt they have faced, at times feeling gaslighted by family members and employers attributing their ongoing symptoms to post-viral chronic fatigue syndrome or anxiety, and questioning their inability to return to work after two weeks of illness.

Even if it turns out to be true that there is a psychological component to prolonged recovery, comments like “your symptoms are all psychological” or “there is nothing wrong with you medically” do little more than create distance and potentiate resentment.

I’ve now logged nearly four months of symptoms, with little sign of returning completely to my pre-Covid self.

I write with the hope that even one more patient who has been struggling with prolonged Covid-19 symptoms may not feel so alone.

So far in the pandemic, clinicians have focused nearly exclusively on managing respiratory symptoms and preventing the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.

As we enter the next phase, increasing evidence points to a significant proportion of us with prolonged symptoms, and this warrants attention.

Couldn’t some of these prolonged symptoms reported by others be due to quarantining.

I became ill with what my GP now is convinced was Covid-19 on 8 March, 122 days ago.

I do hope they find the root causes of these symptoms for you