[atomashpolskiy]

One more example: itch in one's throat and nasty suffocating cough that does not stop for an hour. Surprisingly, this might be caused by reflux (without the accompanying stomachache).

I imagine it would be pretty easy for someone not used to dealing with gastritis on a regular basis to attribute such a symptom to "COVID".

[timr]

Yeah, all of these "long covid" symptoms overlap substantially with other, common things, or have otherwise been defined so liberally by these terrible, self-reported "studies" that anyone with a normal human immune system and a head cold would qualify. Just consider the three most common complaints (by far):

Cough & Shortness of breath: allergies, asthma, typical recovery process from any cold or flu

Fatigue: depression, anxiety, insomnia, recovery from most illness

Brain fog (whatever that is): depression, anxiety, insomnia, recovery from illness...

It's not that "long covid" isn't real...it's just that the scientific data for it at present are so vague that you can "have" it by being a normal person.