Neurologist Details Four Serious Post-ARVI Complications

Complications after ARVI can be unexpected, for example, headaches. Krasnoyarsk neurologist Marina Dzhevagina told NGS24.RU correspondent Polina Borodkina that the virus is now attacking the central nervous system. This can lead to lifelong medication and even severe depression. How to recognize complications and why folk methods will only make things worse?

Flu Attacks Nerves

According to neurologist Marina Dzhevagina«s observations, in Krasnoyarsk Krai and, in particular, Krasnoyarsk, there are more and more people with complications after having ARVI. She links this to the coronavirus pandemic, which the world faced back in 2020, but which remains apparent to this day.

— After the coronavirus pandemic, all flu strains have a neurotropic character, meaning they penetrate the nervous system and affect the nerve sheaths. A person might handle ARVI well but face neurological complications afterward because the virus entered the nervous system, — says the doctor. — This existed before, but it sharply increased after 2020. The trend with complications after ARVI persists, and it is quite high.

Among the complications — headache, trigeminal neuralgia and occipital neuralgia (and also depression, but more on that later). But this doesn«t mean a person will necessarily face one of these three. The virus can strike in a completely unexpected place. It»s all highly individual.

— For example, there are now gastrointestinal complications after ARVI. These are various disorders, including diarrhea, — clarified the neurologist.

Trigeminal or occipital neuralgias are very easy to recognize. However, as Marina Dzhevagina says, the same trigeminal neuralgia can also be easily confused with toothache. As medical practice shows, in such cases, patients often rush to have teeth removed, like wisdom teeth. But typically, after tooth extraction, the pain returns or remains altogether. And only then do future neurology patients understand that the cause of discomfort lies elsewhere.

— With trigeminal neuralgia, half of the face hurts; with occipital neuralgia — the back of the head on one or both sides. This pain is quite strong. It«s hard to endure. It can be burning, aching, stabbing, pressing. There can be a pins-and-needles sensation, — explained the neurologist. — If it»s the trigeminal nerve, it can radiate to the teeth. People go to the dentist, re-treat all their teeth, remove wisdom teeth, but eventually end up with a neurologist and learn that it«s a complication after ARVI. And there»s a lot of this now.

Things aren«t so simple with headache as a complication after ARVI either. Because a person might not immediately connect it to the past illness.

— Here, the headache is severe, burning, pulsating; it distracts from normal life and prevents full work. If, for example, an elderly person encounters it, they might think they«ve had a stroke, — explained Marina Dzhevagina. — Notably, in such cases, the headache isn»t accompanied by fever.

One complication after ARVI that Marina Dzhevagina often diagnoses lately is neuroinflammation. It affects psychological state. More often, young people face it, especially students.

— This is when viruses penetrate the nervous system and cause apathy, panic attacks, and depression. There was a lot of this after coronavirus, but now there«s still a lot of it. So, you had ARVI and then panic attacks started, anxiety appeared, depression intensified if it existed before, — noted the neurologist.

To check if it«s really neuroinflammation, the S-100 protein needs to be tested. And what to do if it»s high?

— This is a reason to see a neurologist, immunologist, to start treatment, not just endure or work with psychologists, — added Marina Dzhevagina.

However, the same depression might knock on the door for another reason on this basis.

Don«t Endure Pain!

In Marina Dzhevagina«s practice, there have been patients who endured unbearable pain for a week or even two, relying only on painkillers. The latter, by the way, might not even help temporarily for everyone. However, there was a case where a person endured for a month and only then sought help. Such irresponsible attitude towards one»s health doesn«t pass without a trace. For mental health — first and foremost.

— Of course, this won«t lead to terrible tumors. But those who drink a lot of painkillers, especially every day, might face stomach ulcers, — noted the neurologist. — Overall, taking such drugs reduces quality of life. If something hurts severely every day, it can lead to depression. It might also be that a person already has anxiety, depression, and pain, which can become chronic if not treated, will only worsen them. And here, without the help of antidepressants, it won»t be possible.

According to the doctor, no one is immune from any of the above complications after ARVI, even if a person leads a healthy lifestyle. Most often, the working population faces them. For example, all those students. The youngest patient of Marina Dzhevagina is 18 years old.

— You need not only to be treated but also to work with your body overall. For example, replenish vitamin deficiencies, be it vitamin D and B vitamins, vitamin C and iron, the latter especially lacking in women, — says the doctor. — The nervous system is one of the most sensitive. It requires more oxygen than other systems, so deficiencies affect it the most. If a person leads a sedentary lifestyle, doesn«t take vitamins, doesn»t eat fruits, doesn«t walk, of course, all their systems are prone to such complications.

Besides the working population, grandparents suffer from complications after ARVI. And if the working population doesn«t delay treatment because they need to work, the situation is somewhat different with older people.

— Grandparents also suffer from this, but they are the ones who delay treatment. They will endure for a long time and think it will go away on its own. They«ll try folk remedies before seeing a therapist at the clinic. With the latter, by the way, it»s not so simple, because now it«s hard to get to doctors — the nearest appointment, for example, might be in a month, — explained Marina Dzhevagina. — Folk methods, which our grandparents love so much, won»t help here — there«s not even any point in trying them.

Now, Marina Dzhevagina sees two to three patients a day with complications after ARVI. She links this to the seasonal increase in the number of sick people. In summer, for example, such patients are significantly fewer.

— In summer, there might be two people a week. Then, similar pains are provoked by air conditioners. This isn«t related to ARVI but is linked to hypothermia. If you get a chill, the trigeminal nerve can become inflamed. Especially in cases where there»s a predisposition, — explained the neurologist.

The chief doctor of the Krasnoyarsk Krai Center for Public Health and Medical Prevention, chief external specialist in medical prevention of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irina Sergeeva, told NGS24.RU whether one can get sick from an air conditioner. According to her, you can«t exactly catch a cold from an air conditioner.

— A cold isn«t an official diagnosis but a collective term for acute respiratory infectious diseases, most often of viral etiology, which are accompanied by sneezing, runny nose, sore throat, cough. So, there»s no so-called cold caused by an air conditioner, — explained the doctor.

However, she continues, an air conditioner can contribute to infection with acute respiratory infections. These include flu, parainfluenza, adenoviral, respiratory syncytial, rhinovirus infections, and other diseases transmitted by airborne droplets. One reason why this happens — the effect of cold air from the air conditioner on the human body can lead to neuralgias and myositis.

I Don«t Want to Get Sick — What to Do?

The regional Rospotrebnadzor (the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing) told what can be done to avoid getting ARVI or flu.

Get a flu shot. According to Rospotrebnadzor, vaccinated people get sick less often, and if they do, they experience the disease in a mild form and without complications. It«s recommended to vaccinate once a year — in September–October.

Wash hands regularly with soap. Viruses settle on surrounding objects when sneezing, coughing, or talking, so the pathogen can easily be acquired through handshakes, door handles, and when visiting public places.

Clean gadgets regularly. We often touch them to our faces, which can lead to infection, states Rospotrebnadzor. Respiratory viruses can enter the body not only through the nasal mucosa but also through the eyes and upper respiratory tract.

Rinse the nose. Any saline solution will do, a teaspoon of salt per liter of water or pharmacy preparations of sea salt.

Clean regularly at home and ventilate rooms.

Engage in sports, eat properly, walk in the fresh air, lead a healthy lifestyle, and get adequate sleep.

Earlier, NGS24.RU reported on what migraine is, why it«s not the same as a regular headache, how to deal with it, and why even young children suffer from it.