Drew Pinsky Among COVID-19 ‘Long Haulers’ With Lingering Symptoms: ‘I Am Forced to Lie Down Every Hour or Two'

Celeb doctor Drew Pinsky still isn’t over COVID-19. He’s one of many so-called “long haulers” who continue to suffer the ill effects of the virus months after their diagnosis.

Some of them are wrestling with debilitating and often strange symptoms.

“I’m irritable. I’m moody. I have ringing in my ears. I have fogginess. I have trouble concentrating and people give me a series of commands — I can't even hear them, really. And then on top of that, I'm intermittently short of breath,” Pinksy told Inside Edition.

Fatigue is another big issue.

“If I could just go back to a normal level of activity, this would not be so disabling, but as it is, I am forced to lie down after every hour or two,” Pinksy said.

On the brain fog, Pinsky said, “It is as though my brain fatigues, and I'm just sort of unable to go further. Then I have trouble concentrating, literally colors kind of get dull. I feel a fullness in my head. It's a very, very strange feeling.”

Pinsky, now entering the sixth week of his affliction, is far from alone. Lyss Stern of New York has seen her life turned upside down after being diagnosed with COVID-19 almost a year ago.

“I call it a rollercoaster, because I never know how I’m going to feel one day from the next,” Stern said.

Stern, 46, is a mom of three. Fatigue has been a problem for her.

“Sometimes I have to, in the middle of a meeting, like I'll say, ‘I have to get off the Zoom now, but I'll get back on in a little bit,' if I feel my energy getting really low,” Stern said.

Stern also suffers from brain fog.

“I could be having a conversation with you and literally just forget what I'm saying," Stern said.

Charlie McCone, 31, was a great athlete before he got COVID-19 last March.

“I have not been on a run, I have not been on my bike since the day before I got sick,” McCone told Inside Edition.

His most challenging problem is shortness of breath.

“I’m sitting here and I can still feel it,” he said.

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