A mysterious long Covid symptom is making life miserable for one young woman.
Marianna Cisneros, 31, is suffering from long Covid, and with it, a condition that makes it 'torturous' to eat, causing her to be reliant on liquid food supplements.
The ICU nurse suffers from a condition called dysphasia since contracting the virus which means she has trouble swallowing food.
She is one of the millions living with the aftermath of the virus. In the UK alone, an estimated 1.3 million people are dealing with long Covid, The Mirror reported.
Marianna has been afflicted by several conditions since getting coronavirus, going from fitness competitions to struggling to walk.
In a TikTok video describing the "torturous" ailment, she said: "Doctors don't know why."
She said it could be down to neurological damage and adding it is a side effect which is not being discussed enough.
Marianna, from California, said there are a few reasons why she may be suffering the condition, including her autonomic nervous system because she has Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), or peripheral neuropathy, which she has on her entire right side.
She said: "Do you know how torturous it is to be this young and have to drink Ensure for most of your calories and on a good day mashed potatoes?"
Ensure is a ready-to-drink liquid food supplement sold in the US.
"I've been dealing with this for over a year now and I'm frustrated because I want to eat," said Marianna.
"I'm hungry a lot of the time and I just can't because I risk food getting stuck or aspirating on it."
The ICU nurse has documented her journey and recovery from Covid on TikTok - starting from when doctors initially believed she had a stroke after testing positive.
Marianna also suffers from dysphasia since getting the virus, a condition that affects your ability to understand and produce spoken language.
Marianna said: "I could hardly walk and I was having a lot of weird neurological conditions.
"That's why I fight so hard to bring awareness to it because a lot of people didn't believe [me]."
The mother-of-three previously shared her struggles with trying to walk after she was diagnosed with Covid.
She told NBC San Diego : "I did not expect to get knocked down as much as I did.
"My symptoms from the very beginning started out neurological, I started losing vision in the right eye and I developed pretty high blood pressure."
Marianna added: "It's just been a whirlwind. I'm you know numb on the right side, and sometimes it's very difficult to walk.
"It just comes in waves. I have good days, and I have bad days."
What are the symptoms of long Covid?
Recent Office for National Statistics data shows an estimated 1.3 million people living in the UK are suffering from self-reported Long Covid.
The figures, valid from November 9 to December 6 means around two percent of the UK have the condition.
Those at greatest risk of getting self-reported Long Covid including those aged 35-69, females, those living in more deprived areas, those working in health, social care, teaching or education, and those with another activity-limiting health condition or disability.
The NHS says common long Covid symptoms include:
- Fatigue
- Shortness of breath
- Chest pain or tightness
- Problems with memory and concentration ("brain fog")
- Difficulty sleeping (insomnia)
- Heart palpitations
- Dizziness
- Pins and needles
- Joint pain
- Depression and anxiety
- Tinnitus, earaches
- Feeling sick, diarrhoea, stomach aches, loss of appetite
- High temperature, cough, headaches, sore throat, changes to sense of smell or taste
- Rashes
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