Four weeks after San Diego pediatric nurse Jennifer Minhas fell ill with COVID-19 in March 2020, her cough and fever had resolved, but new symptoms had emerged: chest pain, an elevated heart rate, and crushing fatigue. Her primary care physician told her she was just anxious, and that none of her other COVID-19 patients had those issues. “That wasn’t what I needed to hear,” Minhas said. At times, she’s been too exhausted to hold up her head. “I was kind of a zombie for months, shuffling around unable to do much of anything.” The clinical term for the flattening fatigue Minhas describes is “post-exertional malaise.” It’s a common symptom among patients who haven’t recovered from COVID-19. It’s also consistent with a standard feature of another chronic illness: myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, or ME/CFS. ME/CFS patients also report cognitive impairment—“brain fog”—and orthostatic [standing upright] intolerance, in which standing …