Reports of Strange New 'Fizzing' Symptom Emerge in COVID Patients
Some patients have reported on social media a new coronavirus symptom described as “fizzing” throughout their body.
Doctors told the New York Post that while uncommon, this buzzing sensation could be one of the last symptoms a patient feels as the body fights COVID-19.
“Clearly it’s been identified, but we’re just not sure yet how widespread it is,” Dr. Daniel Griffin, chief of infectious disease at ProHealth Care Associates, said.
Patients have started posting symptoms they experienced on social media, including loss of smell and taste, breathlessness, dry cough, diarrhea, fever, aches, fatigue, strokes and seizures.
“People are used to being sick and then in a few days being all good,” Griffin said.
“This infection seems to have this tail to it — a lingering fatigue,” he said
“There’s kind of a foggy, zombie-like state, where their eyes get glassy and they’re not quite as sharp.”
Twitter user Mia described the mysterious sensation as “an electric feeling on my skin.”
Tarana Burke, the founder of the #MeToo movement, tweeted that her partner experienced a similar feeling.
“Along with the fever he had something we had not read about: sensitive skin,” Burke tweeted.
“His skin felt like it was burning – even when he barely had a fever of 99+. We literally used aloe gel for sunburn to soothe it.”
Along with the fever he had something we had not read about: sensitive skin. His skin felt like it was burning – even when he barely had a fever of 99+ We literally used aloe gel for sunburn to soothe it. The NP later told us she had heard others say that too.
— Tarana (@TaranaBurke) April 9, 2020
Another patient, Peter Jukes, said that even after he started to recover, “there are lingering ‘Covid’ feelings.”
“Hard to describe the alien, dissociated buzz in some parts of my body,” he tweeted.
Yes, ate a full meal yesterday. But still there are lingering ‘Covid’ feelings. Do you get that? Hard to describe the alien, dissociated buzz in some parts of my body. I’m fine, but there’s an element of exhaustion and physical wariness.
— Peter Jukes (@peterjukes) March 30, 2020
Griffin said that the sensation could be created by disease-fighting “antibodies interfering with the way nerves work.”
Another doctor, Vipul Shah of telehealth service Pack Health, suggested it could be tied to fevers.
“If people aren’t used to having fevers, maybe their skin really does feel like an electric sensation,” he told the Post.
Other doctors have observed COVID-19 patients having strokes, blood clots and tingling or numbness in the extremities, called acroparesthesia, The New York Times reported.
Shah added that the tingling feeling itself does not mean people should go get tested right away.
“It’s not a symptom that’s been well described yet, so just make sure you’re still following isolation procedures,” he told the Post.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
