‘Dynasty’ Star Emma Samms Is Living With Brutal Fatigue and Breathlessness as a COVID Long-Hauler
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Emma Samms, 60, revealed that she’s still experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and side effects one year after her diagnosis.
The Dynasty star is mainly dealing with unrelenting fatigue and shortness of breath.
“Some days I can barely get out of bed and it is the most incredibly frustrating thing,” she revealed in a new interview.
One year after being diagnosed with COVID-19, Emma Samms is still struggling to feel like her healthiest self. In a recent interview with People, the General Hospital actress said she’s continuing to experience symptoms as a long-hauler.
“Everybody said, ‘10 days and it will be over and you’ll come out the other side,’” she said. “But some days I can barely get out of bed and it is the most incredibly frustrating thing.”
The fatigue has been especially unrelenting. “It’s the kind that you might imagine marathon runners feeling when you see them staggering over a finish line and they can barely stand up,” she explained. “Some days I don’t want to get out of bed even if I have to go to the bathroom. Even that feels like too much effort.”
The “horrible sensation” that comes with shortness of breath has also been constant. “On a good day, I feel like there’s a small dog sitting on my chest,” she said. “On a bad day, it feels like an elephant. It’s so hard for me to catch my breath, to feel enough oxygen is in me.”
While most people can expect to recover within a couple of weeks after falling ill with COVID-19, research finds that anywhere between 2% to 25% of people suffer from lingering symptoms.
Known as “long-haulers,” these patients can experience a wide range of symptoms and side effects following a COVID-19 diagnosis, including fatigue, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, brain fog, and more, according to a survey conducted by Survivor Corps, a Facebook group for coronavirus survivors, and Natalie Lambert, Ph.D., of Indiana University’s School of Medicine.
Doctors are now referring to the condition as long COVID or post-COVID syndrome (PCS). Some studies suggest that only patients who have had symptoms for 12 weeks or more qualify as having PCS, but many experts say persistent symptoms may be qualified at the four-week mark.
According to panelists at a webinar host by The BMJ in September 2020, “profound fatigue” was one of the most common symptoms in those with long COVID, in addition to lingering cough, breathlessness, body aches, and more. Last month, the National Institute of Health (NIH), launched a new study into long COVID, as more research is needed around the prognosis, symptoms, and treatment of the developing condition.
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To bring light to the issue, Samms and the cast of Dynasty have organized a reunion as a fundraiser to raise money and awareness around long COVID, taking place on March 20. In the meantime, she’s remaining positive about her experience and is looking forward to making a full recovery.
“I’m well aware that I am one of the lucky ones. So many people have had much, much more horrendous outcomes from COVID,” she said. “And I’m not going to allow myself to worry about the possibility of being like this forever.”
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