A YouTuber who was trapped in bed for two years after suffering from Long Covid has broken her silence.
Known to her YouTube followers as Physics Girl, Dianna Cowern has gained 3.4 million subscribers through her science-based videos including experiments, demonstrations, and cool new discoveries.
In one popular clip, she delved into a tunnel that uncovered 15,000-year-old organisms and in another video, she explained why an extremely rare and dangerous substance known as antimatter will set you back $2,700 trillion per gram.
However, in July 2022, Cowern began to experience symptoms of Long Covid.
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In an initial post on Instagram, the YouTuber wrote: “For me, the symptoms are, being unable to get out of bed for a few weeks after I pushed to finish my last YouTube video. (Post-Exertional Malaise).
“Becoming dizzy and nauseous if I walk more than 10 mins a day (Exercise Intolerance). Spelling cancel “cansul” in an email, losing my place in the sentence I was just writing, inability to process any scientific papers (Brain Fog).
“Getting extremely stressed while driving. (Emotional Disregulation) Along with extreme fatigue, sleeping like a teenager, breathlessness, digestive issues, chest pain, and kryptonite intolerance.”
But things seemed to go from bad to worse and now Cowern has finally made her return to YouTube, sharing that the condition left her bed bound for two years.
In the new video, Cowern said: “I want people to know about this disease, I want them to know how bad it can get and why it’s so urgent for people to know about the disease and for research to happen.”
The video includes a clip from Dr David Kaufman, who is an ME/CFS specialist. He said: “ It’s no surprise to those of us who do this work that Covid has led to a tsunami of post-infectious fatiguing syndrome which is Long Covid.
“There’s probably three million people in the country in the US with ME/CFS diagnosed, it’s huge but there’s probably going to be 30 plus million with Long Covid.”
Now, Cowern has seen huge improvements in recent months and now able to go for a walk outside, something that her husband Kyle Kitzmiller is still getting used to seeing her do.
Recalling a funny moment, Cowern said: “It was so funny because I went outside for the walk, I was like, ‘okay bye’. And then Kyle’s running behind me like trying to catch up.”
Kitzmiller added: “Yeah well she just starts going out the door and I’m like, ‘oh you’re just going for a walk without even letting me be a part of this?’
“Like you still scare me around the house sometimes cuz I’m not used to you being up and I’m coming back out of something that was really awful and prolonged, I mean it’s crazy to be completely used to you not being able to leave your bed.”
Describing how the condition has changed her life, Cowern went on to say: “I would sometimes see people like walking and running and it would make me depressed, like my favorite activities outside of making videos were surfing, snowboarding, hiking, running, everything active and I can’t do that now, it’s not the same.
“It feels like I’m way less stuck inside, it feels like I’m much more connected to the outside world, just being able to like process what I’m seeing outside the window which I couldn’t do for months.
“Even when I could handle looking out the window does that make sense like I could look out but I couldn’t process it which was frustrating and weird and hard.
“Oh gosh birds, sorry, there’s a lot of birds that fly by here and it’s so great.”