Random low grade fever
Intense Fatigue
Burning eyes
Banging headaches on a different level of pain
Chills and cold patches on the back and chest
POTS
Tachycardia
Bradycardia
Severe Breathing difficulty
Sharp, burning pain inside chest. Crushing weight on chest.
Memory loss
Slurred speech and inability to find words.
Losing train of thought mid sentence.
Repeating sentences.
Tinnitus-Double layer. First layer is constant, second layer is sporadic
Pulsatile Tinnitus
Blood blisters inside mouth and inner cheeks
Rash
Fizzing body
Lightheadedness
Severe joint pain, hips, knees, shoulders, feet. Also neck pain
Problems swallowing and choking while drinking
Disruption to period
Bladder problems
Digestive disorder
An ominous sinking feeling of foreboding and dread that comes on suddenly.
Inability to walk more than 2-3 steps
Extraordinary extreme nightmares on some days
It was ALL of them, ALL at once.
This was me. This might be familiar to some people; others may have more or less. I will only say this. The very least we as humans can have for one another is compassion. You don’t have to walk in someone’s shoes to show compassion. The same suffering is dealt with differently, by different people. Some people may have no option to rest and figure it out. They may have to go to work and look after others while going through this impossible suffering. What they don’t need is judgement, scepticism and over-simplistic advice, even if is well meaning.
"Long Covid?” sufferers have invisible suffering. They are usually so shell-shocked by the assault that they won’t say much to you. It took me a lot of courage to face writing this. Ive never been able to verbalise and explain to someone who casually asks me, what was wrong with me. There is trauma attached to this experience. If possible just hold them, be there, ask how you can help, believe and accommodate your friends and loved ones.
I am writing this from a place of gratitude. I understand that recovery from "Long Covid?” is very random. I have worked very hard with conventional and unconventional methods. (I will write about what I did, and how I faced each one of the above). I understand that there is a massive element that you can call Luck, or Miracle. Most of all I understand that there are people out there who are probably working much harder than me, and for a much longer time. They haven’t improved. YET.
From a very humble place, I share this with you. This is not medical advice. This is an account of what I did. Consult your medical practitioner and your specific health dos and donts before you set out on your journey.
Give yourself a timeframe-1 year at a time, extendable indefinitely.
Make yourself a hero.
Expect a recovery every day. Go to sleep in anticipation of a recovery tomorrow.
Put in the work.
Avoid those who don’t believe and don’t support you. Cut out negativity.
Have a plan of action and paper printouts stuck on your wall. ( I’ll put mine together and post here soon).
As soon as possible, start drinking water throughout the day.
Add a bit of extra salt to your diet. I hated it, but did it as I had no issues or medications disallowing it and it was supposed to help with POTS.
Have a pulse oximeter attached to your finger at all times. (Much later when I improved, I got a smart watch) I also realised much later that I should take photographs/videos of the readings every few days or weekly. this shows progress, or lack of it. Most importantly in my case, I was so precarious initially that I changed my movements immediately depending on the reading. Again, I’ll write about this in detail later.
Believe…Believe…Believe…Do…Do…Do.
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