I went for a 5km run yesterday a couple of days after returning from thailand. Sometimes after a long break it may feel more strenuous but I felt better than expected, even thinking to myself how grateful I am to my body for carrying me through distances.
Post-run I felt fine throughout the day. I took a short nap in the evening which is typical for me. After napping I felt slightly chilly even though it is super hot in singapore right now. Alarmed, I checked my heart rate on my watch. It was 80+, probably a normal heart rate for many people but elevated for me. I stood up and measured again. It started hitting 110+bpm. It didn’t get better before I slept. My overnight body temperature increased 1 degree celsius according to my oura ring.
Each time I get an elevated heart rate out of nowhere I get really worried that I’ve gotten infected with something again, especially if accompanied with chills. I went to drink some oral rehydration salts thinking it may be an electrolyte imbalance. I started getting these electrolyte imbalances since I had my first and only covid infection. I never had them in my life before, no matter how dehydrated or stressed I was. I had intense migraines instead.
My running theory is that my body held on to physiological homeostasis a lot better pre-covid even if under oxidative stress at the expense of my brain resulting in painful migraines, and post-covid my body goes out of homeostasis easily but I no longer have debilitating migraines. I do not know if the lack of migraines is a good thing or not since it is theorised to be a protective mechanism, just because there is no pain doesn’t mean my brain is not damaged from the oxidative stress. Is there a very harmful effect every time I suffer an electrolyte imbalance? Is it accumulative?
I was thinking that perhaps previously if my body was already in a stressed state I would probably have a migraine prodome preventing me from exercising or doing too much, but now I have lost my warning system.
I had a relatively stable state of health for months before this episode. The last time I had these POTS-like symptoms without an attributable illness was oct last year, so I thought my body has finally recovered properly from my covid infection in april 2023. Nope. I probably became better at taking care of my body and didn’t allow it to slip into such a stressed state. I guess I was more stressed and tired than I thought after a few hours of driving and flying in consecutive days.
Thankfully my heart rate seems to have recovered towards the end of my sleep:
I was just thinking to myself recently how reliant I have grown to be on my oura ring. It is reassuring to have hard data on the state of my body instead of having to depend on ambiguous feelings. For comparison this is a typical overnight heart rate graph for me – I hardly get spikes above 70bpm while sleeping, yet yesterday it was about 90+ before I went to bed:
I tend to defer to my heart rate data each time I feel off for whatever reason. It tells me whether there is truly something wrong with my body or if it is just in my mind. I am grateful that I am able to have these tools, or I’ll be walking blindly in the dark.
I have to admit that I did feel more fatigued than usual yesterday morning, but still went for my run because my biometrics were fine. So they are not 100% foolproof. This is a lesson for me, that I still have a long way to go in terms of my relationship with my body.
I was worried I caught something because of the increase in my overnight body temperature. I did a 6-in-1 combo test and it was negative. Coupled with my recovering oura stats – my heart rate does not recover so quickly if I am ill – it is a dysautonomia episode due to too much stress. Thanks to the internet I learnt that low grade fevers are a common symptom for dysautonomia and post-exertional malaise.
I also had some aglio olio yesterday for dinner, I seem to have developed a sensitivity towards olive/vegetable oil. These oils contain linoleic acid and it is known to cause oxidative stress. One of my previous episodes also started after I had an italian dinner with a ton of olive oil. Since I know oxidative stress is a major trigger of my migraines, I wouldn’t be surprised if it triggers dysautonomia too. So far my triggers seem to be excessive linoleic acid, physical stress and certain times of my menstrual cycle.
I am dismayed that my dysautonomia is still lurking in the shadows, but I am also somewhat glad it is not worse. If I take really good care of my body I am still able to do most of the things I want to do. I am mindful of the long covid community, and hope that there will be advances in medical science for long covid soon. This is why I am still passionately covid cautious, it is really not fun getting elevated heart rate and mysterious fevers, and I definitely do not want to get early-onset dementia.
written 810 days after my covid infection