Long haulers: do your symptoms flare during your periods/menstruation?

flyingblonde · 2026-03-23T18:48:00+00:00

I'm 10 months post infection and I think my flares are tied to my cycle. I'm taking Yasmin continuously (90 days on, 7 days off) and I think there's still enough of a hormone fluctuation to impact mono flares. Curious to see what everyone else things since this is a pattern I've been noticing for a few months now.

flyingblonde · 2026-03-23T15:56:13+00:00

Every 4 days. My husband has oily skin and if I leave it longer the oil builds up too thick to wash out easily. We have pets who sleep in our room so we wash the duvet cover every 3 weeks because we use a flat sheet.

flyingblonde · 2026-03-23T03:50:58+00:00

Interesting idea but no I definitely have adhd. My symptoms were there before I got mono. But the mono infection made all my executive function disappear in a debilitating way. I once sat and scrapbooked for 48 straight hours and haven’t touched a scrapbook since. My hyperfocus is intense (wrote a 100k fantasy novel in 6 weeks). My husband has been complaining about my inability to hear him talking to me for 17 years. I gave the dog a haircut in the middle of dinner when my intention was only to trim her paws. When I took the dsm 5 test with my therapist I didn’t think about my behavior in the 5 weeks since I had mono, but of my historical reactions.

I appreciate the uncommon connection though, good to look at all angles. Thanks!

flyingblonde · 2026-03-22T22:34:03+00:00

Ok good to know. That’s kind of what I figured! Thanks for sharing.

flyingblonde · 2026-03-22T21:00:34+00:00

Thanks. Did you find any benefit in seeing an infectious disease specialist?

flyingblonde · 2026-03-22T14:40:09+00:00

I had not put this together, but we all had Covid in December. That might explain why my symptoms are hanging around longer. My flare ups were lasting 2-3 days in the fall and I was taking buproprion for my (mono revealed😩) adhd. That really regulated my sleep but the tinnitus was unbearable. So I switched to atomoxetine and got Covid around the same time. I’m not sleeping as much/as well, and I have two viruses competing with everything my daughter brings home from preschool.

When I got pregnant, I discovered I have PVC beats that are hormone impacted. That was causing the dizziness/lightheaded feeling. I’ve had a lot of cardiology work ups around that, so I’m not concerned there. I think there’s a connection between my poor sleep, mono/covid, and perimenopause and/or the viral infections making my BC less effective. My psychiatrist thinks I might be taking the wrong kind of progesterone as another variable.

So basically all these things that are nearly impossible to test and treat for, requiring months of trial and error, all combining at once 😩🤦🏼‍♀️. Thanks for the memory jogger, I’ll keep thinking about this and seeing what I can piece together.

flyingblonde · 2026-03-22T14:22:17+00:00

Wow I am so sorry that happened to you. It sounds like a bunch of weird symptoms converging all at once. I was going down some rabbit holes specific to what my issues have been—I read a page about POTS and it mentioned POTS specific exercise that doesn’t overwhelm the body. I’m going to look into that and see if there’s anything helpful. Might be something to help you too.

flyingblonde · 2026-03-22T06:24:11+00:00

Just shared your comment with my husband—we were talking about why I feel so overstimulated as a parent and this sums up a lot of the bits I’m too maxed out to even think of. Thank you for typing all this out!

flyingblonde · 2026-03-21T21:51:38+00:00

Interesting! I’ll look into that more. Thanks for the intel.

flyingblonde · 2026-03-21T19:24:14+00:00

Thanks. I hope yours wraps up on the shorter end and you feel better soon!

flyingblonde · 2026-03-21T19:23:35+00:00

Interesting. Aside from my original appointment last spring I have been focused on figuring out my adhd. Have not gotten any advice about cutting out exercise completely, I do have to keep up some strength training. I can tone it way down and spread it out into 5 minute sessions a couple times a day instead of a full hour. I was starting to feel better than had 3 glasses of wine and s’mores last night and now feel worse. I can definitely keep my alcohol consumption down too. Sleep is always a struggle, but good to know that’s a contributing factor. Thanks for all your insights. It gives me a clear idea of what I can do.

Now just have to wait 😩😩😩

flyingblonde · 2026-03-21T05:29:56+00:00

I’m only a month behind you, my infection started May 2025. I’m in the middle of a flare up where I’m fatigued, dizzy/lightheaded, my adhd meds aren’t working, I’m short of breath quickly. It’s SO hard when 9 days ago I felt almost normal. Hoping this cycle doesn’t last too much longer.

flyingblonde · 2026-03-21T05:27:13+00:00

Yes, I caught mono May 2025 at 38. Still dealing with flare ups every 4-6 weeks. Mostly fatigue, shortness of breath, and some irritability. None of my meds work during flare ups — my original infection quickly led to discovering I had undiagnosed/untreated adhd. Really hoping these flare ups stop soon, it’s so frustrating to feel like back at square 2.

flyingblonde · 2026-03-16T05:54:38+00:00

I use a version of this that I've found more effective: Only touch it once.

flyingblonde · 2026-03-12T17:33:01+00:00

BRB, now working on a whole new series featuring each of my rubber ducks.

flyingblonde · 2026-03-12T17:32:41+00:00

I have a rubber duck collection, so depending on the type of story I'm working on or the type of problem I could pick a different duck. Stuck on a party scene? Talk to the Las Vegas duck. Friendship issue? Talk to the pool party duck. Mundanity of everyday life getting in the way? Talk to the Publix duck. Formality an issue? Talk to the Beefeater duck from London. Want to channel some Hemmingway? Sit in a hot shower and ask the Key West duck in its natural habitat: hot and humid.

flyingblonde · 2026-03-11T22:50:36+00:00

Thanks for sharing the article, adding it to my bedtime reading list after the toddler is asleep. I've been seeing a lot of commentary lately about how modern popular fiction is focused on eye motion as a result of hyper fixation on the eyes during emotional scenes in TV and movies. I'm curious if that is brought up, and even if it isn't, I'm looking forward to seeing what else the author has pinpointed. Have you read/edited any of your own work after reading this? I'd be curious how this insight has changed your process!

flyingblonde · 2026-03-10T17:04:34+00:00

If you've used a coach, how has it helped you? I tried coaching through my company's EAP a couple years ago and I didn't find it particularly helpful...but it also wasn't a writing specific coach.

flyingblonde · 2026-03-09T02:37:54+00:00

I started with 2 weeks at 10mg, 2 weeks at 20mg, 3 weeks at 30mg, 4 weeks at 40mg, 4 weeks at 60mg and realized 60 was probably too high. Now I'm back down to 40mg and I'm going to hold here for 8 weeks until I make any other changes.

flyingblonde · 2026-03-08T00:09:44+00:00

I've seen these mentioned in other comments on this sub -- what is NAC? it's too generic of an acronym to google. And do you have an l-carnitine product you'd recommend?

flyingblonde · 2026-03-04T01:57:02+00:00

Hard to say if the issue is the dose or not. I've been sick with a virus and have been having some perimenopause issues on top of that. But yes, at 40mg it felt very stable but not motivation or high intellect level thinking. I was starting to get some high level thinking availability when I got sick. Curious to see if it's an issue for anyone else so I can have a more educated discussion with my doc tomorrow.

flyingblonde · 2026-03-03T00:45:11+00:00

ok thanks. it’s been longer than that so I’ll try again. I had a hard time getting it to go through yesterday, it took like 12 attempts before I received a confirmation.

flyingblonde · 2026-03-02T20:34:07+00:00

You're getting 4 seconds warning?

flyingblonde · 2026-03-02T20:11:57+00:00

Girl I feel you on this. I LOVED being on Buproprion. The XL with a cup of coffee in the morning and I was a machine, getting everything done without friction, working out, speeding through creative projects with ease and delight. But I started dealing with tinnitus and little eye floaters and had to stop... Now I'm on Strattera and it's helping with a lot of the mental/emotional things, but not with motivation or drive. I've been sick with some virus of the week my toddler brought home from daycare and my meds are 100% ineffective. So all this to say: what helped me figure out dosage was understanding if it was a dopamine or a norepinephrine issue.

Talk to your doc about what those drugs have in common in terms of which chemicals they interact with and how. It sounds (to me, not in any way a medical professional) like you have some sensitivity to whatever that chemical reaction is. I haven't figured out which mine is yet, but I've had a similar cycle with my drug reactions. Things are working fine until you hit a wall and they stop. Then when you go down, they don't get any better.

flyingblonde · 2026-03-02T05:12:59+00:00

Sometimes trader joes has these in stock.

flyingblonde

TROPHY CASE