How To Beat COVID-19 Fatigue And Get Your Energy Back

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• 1Latest News
• 2What Is COVID-19? Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention
• 3What Is Long COVID? Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention
• 4What Is a Coronavirus?
• 5How to Cope With a COVID-19 Cough
• 6How to Beat COVID-19 Fatigue and Get Your Energy Back

SEE MOREHow to Beat COVID-19 Fatigue and Get Your Energy BackByBecky UphamUpdated on December 12, 2023Medically Reviewed byJane Yoon Scott, MDON THIS PAGE

• Causes of COVID-19 Fatigue
• Fatigue Is a Sign of the Body Healing Itself
• Is COVID-19 Fatigue Different Than Fatigue Caused by Other Viruses?
• How Long Does COVID-19 Fatigue Last?
• Rest, Healthy Foods, and Medication Are All Part of COVID-19 Fatigue Treatment
• Fatigue That Lingers or Gets Worse Is a Top Symptom of Long COVID
• Practice the Three P’s to Manage Long COVID Fatigue

ON THIS PAGE

• Causes of COVID-19 Fatigue
• Fatigue Is a Sign of the Body Healing Itself
• Is COVID-19 Fatigue Different Than Fatigue Caused by Other Viruses?
• How Long Does COVID-19 Fatigue Last?
• Rest, Healthy Foods, and Medication Are All Part of COVID-19 Fatigue Treatment
• Fatigue That Lingers or Gets Worse Is a Top Symptom of Long COVID
• Practice the Three P’s to Manage Long COVID Fatigue

If you’ve had COVID-19, you’re probably familiar with a key symptom: fatigue.

While common COVID-19 symptoms like sore throat, runny nose, and cough are pretty self-explanatory, fatigue is harder to define. Experts agree that while fatigue generally includes feeling sleepy or lacking energy, it also encompasses other issues that make it difficult to get through the day.

“Fatigue can include brain fog and tiredness. Additional symptoms may include headaches, achy muscles, poor decision-making, irritability, short-term memory problems, blurry vision, and poor concentration,” says Anita Gupta, DO, PharmD, adjunct assistant professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine and pain medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.

Causes of COVID-19 Fatigue

Fatigue is associated with many illnesses, says R. Scott McClelland, MD, MPH, professor of medicine, epidemiology, and global health and clinical attending physician in infectious diseases at UW Medicine in Seattle. “What it is about COVID-19 specifically that causes a substantial amount of fatigue for a large proportion of people isn’t completely understood; it’s likely a combination of several factors,” says Dr. McClelland.

One factor is the body’s immune response. “Although we’re still learning why COVID-19 causes fatigue, we do know it’s related to interplay between the immune system, the endocrine system, and neuroinflammation,” says Anita Chopra, MD, clinical assistant professor and internal medicine doctor at UW Medicine in Seattle. Neuroinflammation is the activation of the brain’s immune system, which leads to cellular and molecular changes in the brain.

COVID-19 causes the immune system to go into overdrive, leading to the release of chemicals called cytokines that trigger inflammation, fever, and tissue death, all of which contribute to fatigue, says Dr. Chopra.

While not considered conclusive, previous research has linked higher levels of some cytokines with chronic fatigue disease severity, as have studies examining chronic fatigue in stroke survivors.

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Fatigue Is a Sign of the Body Healing Itself

After this kind of stress response to COVID-19, the body needs to go into rest-and-recovery mode, experienced as fatigue. “It’s similar to what happens after you overexert yourself with vigorous exercise or a marathon,” says Tania Mucci-Elliott, MD, infectious disease doctor at NYU Langone in New York City.

Dr. Gupta agrees that fatigue is a sign that the body is healing itself. “When you have a sense of tiredness, you should be concerned, but keep in mind that this is the natural state. It’s your body mounting an immune response and telling you to rest,” says Gupta.

She adds: “Fatigue can be like an internal alarm system saying, ‘Hey, you need to sit down and take a break.’”

How COVID-19 Fatigue Differs From Fatigue Caused by Other Viruses

Even a relatively mild case of COVID-19 can wipe you out. “A lot of people who have had COVID-19 describe the fatigue they feel as worse than they have experienced at any time in their lives,” says McClelland. “It’s certainly a unique feature of the illness.”

Chopra agrees, saying, “It’s not just feeling tired — it’s an extraordinary sense of weariness and a lack of energy that is not only physical but also cognitive, emotional, and mental.”

Again, it may go back to the extent and type of inflammation triggered by the viral infection. “COVID-19 is a systemic illness; it affects many parts of the body, such as the whole respiratory mucosa, the kidneys, fat cells, parts of the brain. The illness causes a remarkable amount of inflammation — and that, as it is resolving, is likely to leave people feeling fatigued,” says McClelland.

How Long COVID-19 Fatigue Lasts

The severity and duration of COVID-19 fatigue is often correlated with the severity and duration of the illness itself. “Typically, the worse the illness, the longer the fatigue is likely to last. For people who had to be admitted to intensive care for COVID-19, it might be a few months before they get back to where they were before they got sick,” says McClelland.

For people who feel bad but are able to ride out COVID-19 at home, it might take just a week or two for the fatigue to abate, says McClelland.

Rest, Healthy Foods, and Medication Are All Part of COVID-19 Fatigue Treatment

When you are battling COVID-19, rest is critical. “I can’t emphasize it enough — make sure you get enough rest and sleep when you are acutely ill and during the week or two following,” says Chopra.

Even if you don’t have much of an appetite, focus your diet on nourishing foods and drinks and avoid alcohol during this time, she adds.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recommends treating symptoms with over-the-counter medications such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen — or, if you are at high risk of serious complications, with antiviral medications such as nirmatrelvir and ritonavir (Paxlovid).

Fatigue That Lingers or Gets Worse Is a Top Symptom of Long COVID

When people continue to have symptoms for weeks or months after their initial bout of COVID-19, they are considered to have long COVID.

Fatigue is one of the most reported symptoms of long COVID, says Chopra. “There are studies that suggest that a large number of people may continue to struggle with fatigue three to 12 months after infection,” she says, referencing research published in Brain, Behavior & Immunity-Health in 2022.

With long COVID, fatigue is also an aspect of post-exertional malaise, described as a kind of “energy crash” following an activity that involves any level of effort. For some people with long COVID, even a 10-minute walk can result in debilitating exhaustion that lasts for days, according to Yale Medicine.

If you still have bothersome COVID symptoms, including fatigue, at the three-month mark, McClelland recommends checking in with your healthcare provider (if you haven’t already).

“It’s important to note that most people don’t end up with long COVID, and even among the people who do, about 85 percent are better by the end of 12 months,” says McClelland. “I think psychologically it’s good to know that the fatigue is something that will go away,” he adds.

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Practice the Three P’s to Manage Long COVID Fatigue

McClelland recommends practicing three principles — the “three P’s” — if you are experiencing persistent, ongoing fatigue that interferes with daily life:

Pace. Pace yourself and don’t push yourself to exhaustion. “If you overdo it, it can make recovery harder and set you back in your progress. Make sure you build rest into your activities, even for small things like walking up the stairs,” McClelland says.

Plan. Map out your activities for the day and the week. If you find that your energy or ability to concentrate dips at certain times, strategize accordingly, suggests the Royal College of Occupational Therapists.

Prioritize. Figure out which items on your to-do list are essential and which can wait. “When you’re fatigued, dump the stuff that doesn’t have to get done, or ask someone to help you,” says McClelland.

EDITORIAL SOURCESEveryday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.SourcesAdditional Sources

• Yang T, Yang Y, Wang D, et al. The Clinical Value of Cytokines in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Journal of Translational Medicine. June 28, 2019.
• Kirchberger I, Meisinger C, Freuer D, et al. Association Between Fatigue and Cytokine Profiles in Patients With Ischemic Stroke. Frontiers in Neurology. January 23, 2020.
• COVID-19 Treatments and Medications. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. November 17, 2023.
• Chen AK, Wang X, McCluskey LP,  et al. Neuropsychiatric Sequelae of Long COVID-19: Pilot Results From the COVID-19 Neurological and Molecular Prospective Cohort Study in Georgia, USA. Brain, Behavior & Immunity-Health. October 2022.
• What Happens When You Still Have Long COVID Symptoms? Yale Medicine. October 27, 2023.
• Recovering From COVID-19: Post Viral-Fatigue and Conserving Energy. Royal College of Occupational Therapists.

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Jane Yoon Scott, MD

Medical Reviewer

Jane Yoon Scott, MD, is an infectious disease physician and an assistant professor of medicine at Emory University in Atlanta. Dr. Scott enjoys connecting with her patients, empowering them to understand and take ownership of their health, and encouraging them to ask questions so that they can make informed and thoughtful decisions.

She graduated with the highest honors from the Georgia Institute of Technology, then received her MD from the Medical College of Georgia. She completed her internal medicine residency training and chief residency at Temple University Hospital, as well as a fellowship in infectious diseases at Emory University. She is board-certified in both internal medicine and infectious diseases.

When she is not seeing patients, Dr. Scott works with neighboring health departments to promote public health, especially to communities that have been historically underserved. She also teaches medical trainees and lectures medical students at the Emory University School of Medicine.

In her free time, Dr. Scott appreciates a good coffee shop, weekend hikes, playing guitar, strolling through cities, sampling restaurants, and traveling to new places.

See full bio

Becky Upham

Author

Becky Upham has worked throughout the health and wellness world for over 25 years. She's been a race director, a team recruiter for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, a salesperson for a major pharmaceutical company, a blogger for Moogfest, a communications manager for Mission Health, a fitness instructor, and a health coach.

Upham majored in English at the University of North Carolina and has a master's in English writing from Hollins University.

Upham enjoys teaching cycling classes, running, reading fiction, and making playlists.

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