“I was acutely sick with COVID-19 in April. I still have many symptoms,” the 47-year-old actress and activist said on Twitter Saturday. “I am what they call a ‘long hauler.’”
Milano shared in her social media post that the night before, she experienced a “real heaviness” in her chest.
“I went to the ER just to make sure it wasn’t a blood clot,” the actress continued, posting a photo from a hospital bed. “Thankfully, it wasn’t. This virus sucks. Please take it seriously.”
The following day, the “Sorry Not Sorry” podcast host uploaded a video saying that she suffers from hair loss, and that she believes it is caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.
“Thought I’d show you what COVID-19 does to your hair,” she wrote in a caption. “Please take this seriously.”
The video shows Milano brushing her newly-washed hair with a clean brush. After brushing through her hair several times, a sizable volume of hair comes out onto the brush.
“Hey everybody, I just wanted to show you the amount of hair that is coming out of my head as a result of COVID,” she said. “This is a detangler brush, my favorite detangler brush. As you can see in there is no hair in there right now.”
“One brushing, this is my hair loss from COVID-19. Wear a damn mask!” she said, holding up a clump of hair to the camera.
Experts have suggested that the type of hair loss CCP virus patients could be experiencing is telogen effluvium (TE), a temporary condition caused by a physical or emotional stress, high fever, illness, or weight loss of more than 20 pounds.
Gregory A. Poland, MD, an infectious disease expert at Mayo Clinic and spokesperson for the Infectious Diseases Society of America, told WebMD that TE is typically linked to “severe illness, autoimmune disorders, and people who have a stroke or heart attack.”
“This type of hair loss happens when people are immensely stressed,” he said.
The “Charmed” alum previously opened up about her COVID-19 experience, saying how “everything hurt” after she suffered from virus symptoms for 2 weeks.
“This was me on April 2 after being sick for 2 weeks. I had never been this kind of sick,” the actress said. “Everything hurt. Loss of smell. It felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t keep food in me. I lost 9 pounds in 2 weeks. I was confused. Low grade fever. And the headaches were horrible. I basically had every COVID symptom.”
Milano said she was tested for the virus in March, and both tests came back positive. However, she recently tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies, she said.
“After living the last 4 months with lingering symptoms like vertigo, stomach abnormalities, irregular periods, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, zero short term memory, and general malaise, I went and got an antibody test from a blood draw (not the finger prick) from a lab,” she continued. “I am POSITIVE for COVID antibodies. I had COVID-19.”
The actress said that she plans to donate her plasma for antibody research.
“Please take care of yourselves. Please wash your hands and wear a mask and social distance,“ she implored. ”I don’t want anyone to feel the way I felt. Be well. I love you all (well, maybe not the trolls. Just the kind people.)”
