Having numbness in right leg after Covid-19

[Bouba]

Good morning hope you are all doing well and keeping safe. It will be nearly one year since I was struck by Covid-19. Most the issue that I had after Covid-19 has been sorted out. I still have a numbness in my right leg and waiting for a nerve conductor test to find the cause of it. It could either be a side effect from Covid-19 or the trial I was given when admitted in hospital. Did any one has a numbness after having Covid-19 and any treatment for it please? I tried acupuncture but did not heap. Thank you.

[Sepsur]

Has anyone mentioned neuropathy & myopathy to you? For some reason ( & I understand Covid is a novel disease) the medical world is looking for unique factors to attribute to Covid. It is important to emphasise that critical illness, no matter what the cause, can have certain impacts on the body - as can the drugs used to sedate us - again no matter what the initial disease that brought us to our knees - I say this not to diminish what you have experienced but to offer you existing relevant experience & information.

Critical illness neuropathy is a disease of peripheral nerves, occurring as a complication of severe trauma or infection (critical illness). It develops while patients are in the intensive care unit and it is typically diagnosed by limb weakness and unexplained difficulty in weaning from mechanical ventilation. It can present as numbness or a sensation of pins & needles. Nerve damage can repair but it might take a long period of time. Nerve damage will generally repair at 1mm a day.

[Bouba in reply to Sepsur]

Thank you very much for your response. At the hospital they did mention it to me when I had a session with the Physiotherapist. They said that the Nerve Conductor Test will clarify what I really have. Though I was in the ICU for few days, I was able to walk and to sit on chair. Could not imagine that Covid-19 could cause so much damage to human body.I just hope it will disappear with time.

[Sepsur in reply to Bouba]

Often it is a combination of factors - not only the disease but also the body’s own defence mechanisms can cause damage - ie in trauma - the body requires vast quantities of protein to help fight off the infection & heal but the body doesn’t store quick access protein - except in lean muscle. It strips muscle, including deep skeletal muscles which leave the body weaker. In the first 3 days of ICU, a person can lose 20% muscle. Often the paralysing agents & sedatives leave their mark - nerve damage & weakness are not uncommon.

[Bouba in reply to Sepsur]

Thank you for Sharing the information. Though I was in ICU, I was not totally sedentary but understand what you mean. The thing is that you never been given advice about special supplements to take to recover from this trauma. You are just advise to eat healthy food. I think there should be a guideline about nutrition after someone has been discharged from ICU or had a severe illness.

[Sepsur in reply to Bouba]

Interestingly - it’s not even what to eat but when to eat to get most benefit from what you are consuming and aiding the body to rebuild.

This is a useful pdf on nutrition

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[Bouba in reply to Sepsur]

Thanks a lot for sharing. Nutrition contributes a lot regarding recovery from severe illness. Unfortunately no one told you what to eat after you have been discharged from hospital following a critical illness.

[L178]

Hi there, my husband says the same, a year on, one foot worse than the other, very frustrating especially as it’s been a year since ICU (he was on the ventilator for 47 days) and lost nearly 3 stone during that time. Can I ask where you’ve had this nerve conductor test? any treatment suggested by the specialist? does certain triggers make it worse? he says somedays are worse than others but he can’t work out what causes it?

[Bouba in reply to L178]

Hi dear thanks for sharing and hope your husband is feeling better now. I have not done the nerve conductor test yet. I was supposed to do it last year but after the second wave, they told me I need to wait until situation is back to normal at the hospital.

[Gooddaysunshine]

My right foot and ankle have totally "gone" after coronavirus this winter. As well as drop foot my right leg from the shin down feels like rubber. My physio told me the neurological pathways had been turned off, it could be up to 2 years for normality to return.

I have been told to massage the area with different textures to see if that will revive/stimulate the nerves.

Good luck with it.

[L178 in reply to Gooddaysunshine]

Thank you I will try the different texture massage suggestion. Hopefully this will help him. seems like he has a long wait before the nerves reconnect again.

[Bouba in reply to Gooddaysunshine]

Hi dear thanks for sharing your experience. It will take time before able to get an appointment from the hospital for the nerve conductor test. I tried Acupuncture but did not help against the numbness.

[Lauralou412]

Hi Bouba,

My husband has been suffering the same but with his right hand. He also had Covid and was put into the RCT in January. He had a nerve conduction test and we discovered that he had ulnar neuropathy. Pain relief didn’t help and we are waiting to see the neurologist so have started doing some nerve flossing techniques which are helping. If you find out which nerve is troubled during the EMG then you can google the correct flossing techniques to see if it helps. It seems that parasthesia/ neuropathy is common.

I understand that the noradrenaline given for blood pressure regulation can effect the nerves too, this is why the arms and legs are wrapped up when one is in a coma, to help protect them from the neuropathy.

Hope that helps.

Best wishes,

Laura

[Bouba in reply to Lauralou412]

Hello Laura, thanks a lot for sharing this important information. I am waiting for the nerve conductor test to be carried out. Once it has been done, I will know exactly which nerves have been affected and will look for the flossing techniques you mentioned. I hope it will help.

[Bouba]

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I bought this from Amazon and I used to massage my foot and it really help.