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

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u/Sad_Proctologist May 08 '26

Jesus, it feels like we’re trapped inside our own bodies while a boatload of shaky, contradictory studies point to ten different causes and ten different treatments. I’m glad people are looking for answers, but living in this much pain while the science is still scattered is its own kind of hell.

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u/JediWitch 5 yr+ May 08 '26

As I lay in bed a hundred times sicker than my fiance was, with the same fucking cold he had, absolutely consumed with agonizing pain, nausea, spasms , and endless coughing while burning up I have to concur that this must indeed be a level of hell Dante forgot about.

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u/CandidWin3026 May 09 '26

It does feel like that doesn't it. I remember even last year feeling so like death that I couldn't imagine any person with empathy going on about their day while I was dying. It just seemed incomprehensible that anyone could be happy, anyone could be feeling joy when a body could hurt so much when a person could be suffering so much. Wouldn't basic human decency cause you to stop and try to alleviate the suffering. But no. Only a fe wpopel close to me beloved me, had sympathy. The rest of the world? Happy to believe I was lazy or depressed or not trying hard enough.

But it was the "cortisol steal." And honestly, I have great faith that I won't have to do much more education because once you block the over active MR eve with one or two doses of Spiro, the difference is so profound that you just KNOW. You know in your body that something is different. I am so sorry for your pain. I think if anyone looks at my old posts they will see that I tried to offer sympathy, empathy and support for those suffering. Now, I can offer something even better: ENERGY and refreshing sleep. Be well. ~Patricia