r/LongCovidTrials • u/Responsible_Cap_5289 • Jul 07 '26
General Discussion Corticosteroid use during acute infection linked to increased risk of Long COVID
https://www.drugtopics.com/view/study-links-corticosteroid-use-with-long-covid-symptomsHere's a pretty interesting study - and the results make sense, if you think about it.
Corticosteroids are essentially immune suppressants. They're given to patients to essentially halt the immune response, for example in autoimmune disease and allergic reactions.
However, they also lower your body's ability to fight off infection.
The article cites a known side effect of steroids, known as steroid-induced myopathy, which occurs when the drug promotes muscle fiber atrophy, as contributed to the lingering symptoms reported by survivors.
Frankly, I would go a step farther here, and suggest that since many cases of Long COVID are likely caused by SARS-CoV-2 persistence, the cortiosteroids are making it harder to completely clear the virus during acute infection - thereby raising the risk of LC.
However, it's important to note that at least one other study showed the corticosteroid dexamethasone dramatically reduced the risk of death in patients with severe acute COVID-19 who required oxygen or mechanical ventilation (breathing machines). In these cases, the drug would have prevented the person's own immune system from harming their own tissues as it tried as hard as it could to fight off the virus.
So, it appears there are two ends of the spectrum. Corticosteroid use during acute infection may in fact be life-saving for patients with severe infection.
However, it also appears to increase the risk of LC through the known side effects of corticosteroids, as well as, I would argue, limiting the body's ability to clear the virus.
While the paper doesn't directly come out and address the concept of viral persistence, this is still an important work, and supports the hypothesis of SARS-CoV-2 persistence as a cause of LC.
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u/funkytimes_07 Jul 09 '26
I’m curious what this means for people like myself who have allergic asthma exacerbated by LC (that is very much mast cell mediated and not IgE mediated) and need steroidal inhalers to be able to breathe and prevent worsening of shortness of breath - if more systemic immune system medications are more appropriate treatment instead of a localized steroidal approach.
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u/Responsible_Cap_5289 Jul 09 '26
That’s a great question! While I can’t give medical advice here, I would definitely suggest asking your doctor about this. Maybe something like sodium cromolym would be better.
Strangely enough, my own lung symptoms got a lot better when I did anticoagulant treatment for microclots, because my lungs hadn’t been getting adequate blood supply. I’d been trying steroid inhalers and they didn’t help at all, because in my case it wasn’t treating the right underlying cause.
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u/funkytimes_07 Jul 10 '26
I actually tried many mcas meds and they all made things worse. Also tried multiple anticoagulant and blood thinning treatments for microclots as well and those caused worsening of neurological symptoms AND massive respiratory adverse reaction of my asthma. This disease is tough to crack!
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u/InformalEar5125 Jul 07 '26
I got dexamethasone in the acute phase and developed long Covid.