Prabhavati Nilve, a resident of Bhandup, wakes up at 6.30 a.m., but it takes her another two hours to muster the energy to get out of bed. “The weakness irritates me,” said the 50-year-old, who tested positive for Covid-19 in January but is still suffering from the virus’s aftereffects. Nilve, like hundreds of other Covid-19 patients dealing with the virus’s long-term effects, frequently visits post-Covid outpatient departments (OPDs) with the same question: “Why is my body not feeling right?”
Although the second wave in Mumbai has subsided, post-Covid OPDs remain overflowing with patients. Patients from all over the city come to the OPD on a typical day, many of whom were admitted for Covid treatment at Fortis and others, like Nilve, who were treated at other hospitals but require post-Covid rehabilitation.
After testing positive for Covid, Nilve, an IT manager for a pharmaceutical company, was admitted to Surana Hospital in Chembur for five days. She was prescribed a cocktail of drugs, including steroids, antibiotics, and Remdesivir, after doctors discovered the infection had spread to her lungs. She felt better after discharge, but her sugar levels and blood pressure had skyrocketed, necessitating medication. Her palpitations, weakness, and shortness of breath became so severe in May that she was admitted to a local nursing home for four days and given nutritional supplements.
“My family doctor told me that the symptoms I was experiencing were all a part of the post-Covid effect,” said Nilve who was among the six patients who visited the OPD on Thursday. This was her second visit to the OPD. “I have become irritable. At times, it’s hard for me to have a conversation with people,” Nilve said, adding that she is also troubled by immense hair fall.
