Matthieu Lestage is a 44-year-old former army sergeant who was very active professionally and athletically, but following a Sars-CoV-2 infection in October 2020, he developed a very disabling form of long Covid which lasted two and a half years.
- 2 and a half years after his Sars-CoV-2 infection, Matthieu Lestage still has many symptoms that prevent him from living normally.
- The former army sergeant has become spokesperson for the association “#ApresJ20 – Association Covid Long France”, which aims to better recognize and care for patients affected by a long Covid.
- In an attempt to cure, he volunteered as a guinea pig: “if I try these experimental treatments, it’s also so that research progresses and that we find not things that soothe the symptoms but a protocol that heals and heals”.
“Unfortunately, there are still a lot of symptoms that my life is not what it was two and a half years ago. I still have cerebral hypometabolisms (lumps that create neurological problems), my nervous system is still damaged, which leads to poor management of effort, tremors, blackouts, problems with concentration and coordination that prevent me from driving…”, lists Matthieu Lestage.
The 44-year-old former army sergeant became a spokesperson for the association “#AfterJ20 – Association Covid Long France”, which aims to better recognize and care for patients affected by a long Covid. Interviewed last year for the YouTube channel of whydoctorhe returns today to Dr. Jean-Paul Marre on the evolution of his disease.
“There are mornings when I tell myself that I will do nothing today”
“It’s not an improvement that is rising and growing, it’s more about peaks and relapses. Keeping this curve as steep as possible is a daily struggle. It’s such a personal fight because I know that there are more than 2 million long Covid patients in France whom I represent with this interview.recognizes the quarantine. “There are mornings where when I put my foot down, I tell myself that I’m not going to do anything today because I feel like it’s going to be catastrophic, when the tremors and the brain fog are already there.”
While the Loiretain was sporty, he still cannot run to this day. “I just have to move 2 km and my legs no longer carry me. I have to be in a wheelchair.” Which is already a clear improvement compared to the first months of his illness: “I couldn’t get from my sofa to my chair, I lost consciousness in the middle. I was fainting when I went to get my mail when my mailbox is 10 meters from the house and (a few weeks ago) I was leading a life with 7 hours of work as the manager of an article store fishing.”
These blackouts made Matthieu aware of the consequences of his infection with the Covid virus in October 2020. He was one of the first patients with long Covid at a time when the disease was still very poorly understood. “The infection lasted three and a half weeks for me. At first, the doctor I saw in video told me that it was a mild form and that it should pass. Then, I was told that it was rather a moderate form because it did not correspond to serious forms requiring hospitalization. Unfortunately, the third week, it fell on my lungs. I still had to go to the hospital and I almost died in my car”he says.
“The treatments I tested did not necessarily improve things”
Doctors discover that his lungs are 10% infected. “I was in respiratory distress but I didn’t tick any boxes allowing me to be accepted by the medical system. I was sent home and told that in a few weeks I should get back into shape by resting. And here I am at the end of, unfortunately not three weeks, but two and a half years.
To obtain answers about his disease and try to find solutions to cure it, Matthieu offered himself as a “guinea pig” in order to test different treatments. “Unfortunately, so far what I’ve tested hasn’t necessarily improved things. They made me test a month of pure aspirin, neuroleptic products, anti-depressants… Clearly, there is no protocol that cures the long Covid but treatments that improve the symptoms”he regrets. “For example, to calm the tremors, I take magnesium, it works well. I also have homeopathy which soothes the horrible muscle cramps I may be having. But, unfortunately, the proposed treatments do not work on all types of people”continues Matthew.
“The Covid and the long Covid are still there and we must remain vigilant”
“Today, we are moving forward hand in hand with the doctors, it is an exchange and we are not moving forward on the future.” Despite the difficulties, Matthieu wants to send a message of hope: “You have to hold on, even if it’s not easy. Doctors are rallying more and more to our cause and are trying to give hope to patients through research. If I try these experimental treatments, it is also so that the research progresses and that we find not things that soothe the symptoms but a protocol that treats and cures.
Finally, Matthieu recalls that, despite the current health context where the Covid seems less dangerous, “it is still there, the long Covid is still there and we must remain vigilant”.