Y’all I’ve gotten some great insight regarding COVID. Over the past few nights I’ve made some observations. And COVID is more of a vascular problem than a pulmonary problem, but the two are closely linked. (Thread)

I first noticed I would feel good during the day, but absolutely horrible at night. I wondered why I never had a cough. I now believe cough is a late sign of COVID. The first sign is actually fatigue.

What is actually happening is gradual (my theory) CHF which leads to pulmonary edema and then the pneumonia (reminder just a theory), but I came to this conclusion after years on a cardiac floor and after noticing a few patients who did better sleeping in a chair.

So, tonight I slept in a chair with multiple pillows behind me instead of supine (on my back). What I noticed is my toes did not get cold and I had no cold sweats. I believe in my case this is because my heart did not have to overcome the gravity thus making it easy for (cont)

my heart to pump the thickened blood. I was fatigued because my heart was working so hard to pump blood to my extremities against gravity. This is why I think we need to address the d-dimer and thickened blood and why that is actually more important than anything else (a theory).

By the time the patient comes to the hospital we are treating symptoms of weeks of nocturnal hypoxia. Idk if I’m right, but I know my oxygen didn’t drop the nights I’ve slept sitting up. All the symptoms I’m experiencing and the myocarditis seen after recovery in patients (cont)

I believe are all closely linked to an over worked heart and bouts of hypoxia at night. When the heart fails the lungs fill up with blood and cause the leaky vessels that lead to COVID pneumonia. Being in the hospital is a late sign. (Cont)

Meaning this needs to be address in an outpatient basis. This is why the ace inhibitors are helping people! We also use that in CHF!

COVID is a vascular problem that causes new onset CHF and flash pulmonary edema. This is why my fatigue was gradual.

I don’t know who to take this information on to, but if you are newly diagnosed with COVID please try sleeping in a chair or with several pillows. I recommend not lying flat because it puts so much strain on your heart to pump that thick blood.

I’m visiting my PCP this week and suggesting I be placed on a blood thinner. This is a vascular disease and I now understand it so much better having caught it as an experienced CVICU nurse.

Also, this is why most healthy people are asymptomatic! Cause they have a good working heart. The symptoms only arise after months of walking around with thickened blood and stressing the heart. The inflammation must be addressed as well as the hypercoaguable states.

I felt fine from covid because I had a good hear that was able to overcome all these problems, but now it’s being strained.

I no longer believe in asymptomatic patients. I believe everyone one with covid has the propensity to develop what I call (acute) congestive heart failure. This is why we have #longhaulers because covid is absolutely a cardiovascular condition that precedes pulmonary congestion.