Earlier this week, comedian, actor, and dancer Casey Frey disclosed to that he may have Long COVID to his nearly two million Instagram followers.
Frey became a popular public figure after creating videos on the now-defunct social media app, Vine, before starring in music videos by Tiësto and The Knocks. The 31-year-old has also appeared on the popular sit-com, “Abbot Elementary”.
“I got COVID in 2020 before tour and have been struggling with really bad neurological shit since then,” Frey wrote in a recent Instagram story. “Easily [the] hardest fuckin years of my life.”
The comedian said he originally thought the symptoms were from drinking alcohol while on tour, as well as not getting enough sleep. But after not touring or drinking for 10 months, he says his symptoms still haven’t gone away.
Long COVID is a multi-systemic disease affecting nearly every organ system. It can manifest in over 200 symptoms, cause disability, and can be fatal. Leading theories of the disease include viral persistence of SARS-CoV-2, autoimmunity, and reactivated viruses.
“I have good days but man it’s been so [debilitating] and depressing,” he wrote. “I’m pretty damn sure it’s Long COVID so l’m [about] to start treating it soon, l’ll let [you] know if it works.”
There are currently no approved treatments for Long COVID, but there are available treatments for common diseases that overlap with Long COVID like dysautonomia and mast cell activation syndrome if people have these diagnoses.
Still, these treatments don’t always work for everyone and they aren’t a cure. One study found that Long COVID, which can last for years and may be indefinite, has a quality of life worse than some advanced cancers.
A lack of treatments, slow research, poor provider education, and little government support have led some people with Long COVID to search for treatments in overseas pharmacies, The Sick Time reported on earlier this month.
A recent study in Annals of Neurology found that Long COVID is more burdensome in younger and middle age adults, while another in The Lancet: Regional Health Americas found that 25% of U.S. marines developed Long COVID after SARS-CoV-2 infections.
According to a review in Nature, more than 400 million people are affected by Long COVID globally. Other public figures have also recently shared their experiences with the disease including actor Matt McGorry, filmmaker Jesse Ridgeway, and musician Shaun Ross.
They join millions of other people who have been sharing their experiences with the disease since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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