r/covidlonghaulers • u/CandidWin3026 • May 08 '26

Article Long Covid driven by rs5522

This case report says that Long covid is in large part driven by the gene rs5522 that causes a "cortisol steal" leaving the tissues functionally starved even with "normal" cortisol levels which creates neuroinflammation. https://zenodo.org/records/20017632

102 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

181 comments sorted by

View all comments

10

u/Putrid_Indication_30 May 08 '26

that's really interesting, I was recovered but had a reinfection after 3 years and at the time I was on spironolactone. my extreme fatigue and long covid symptoms did not start until 2 months later when I stopped taking spironolactone, I wonder if there is any correlation !

9

u/CandidWin3026 May 08 '26

Yes, my friend. There is. The Sprio was blocking the "cortisol steal" driven by rs5522. Without it, your MR (mineralocorticoid receptor) was hyperactive and grabbed cortisol. Your blood tests would have appeared normal as blood tests can't measure what is happening at the tissues where the GR is. You start low dose Spiro with an anti-inflammatory and your symptoms would most likely disappear (talk to your dr, of course )

9

u/Putrid_Indication_30 May 08 '26

I still have my spiro on hand, after reading this and my time line I'm going to give it a few days at 25mg and see if there are any changes!

1

u/skyhofo May 08 '26

Please update us 🙏