I wouldn't want to say, ‘It’s all going to be OK,’ because I don't know, and I worry about myself.  I think I'd say to a…I don't know, just like, don't give up, like just keep trying and keep like pushing until you find a solution that helps you, like don't…like I don't want to do the thing where eventually I give up and I go, ‘Ahh, I can't be bothered anymore,’ that I'll just live with it, no because I think it has changed so many people’s lives and that would be really sad if it was to change someone’s life forever. So I would also say educate yourself on it, because even though it’s annoying, that I feel like I know a lot, it’s also helped in the way that I get…at least I really understand what’s going on in my body and I think a lot of people are able to like…it’s just the doing the reading, I'd say also read about it yourself so you're not just being told it and then maybe forgetting it.

And then my GP, I've seen a lot of GPs, but she’s the same one that my mum told me to go to and she is absolutely amazing, she’s so lovely, and has like really listened and like just been really helpful and not made me feel like…that I'm making it up or like it’s not as bad as it is or like, ‘Oh, just…we'll refer you to like a…it’s like a counsellor or something,’ Like she’s like listened to the fact that I am knowledgeable and I have…I am going to therapy and like I have been on certain antidepr—I’ve been on sertraline before, and so she sent me information about different antidepressants, and obviously like when I…like I've learnt about antidepressants before, but it was just helpful to the fact that like I've learnt about them in a way that I've got to recite the information and do it in an exam and never learnt about them in like, ‘Oh, I'd actually be taking this and like the effects of it actually have on my body,’ so it was just really helpful like all of that, and she was like thinking about other things that would help, like I used to struggle with sleep so she merely suggest you going on the antidepressants that make you a bit drowsy, but yeah, so I think everyone I've seen has been really amazing.

Yeah, I'm…when I think about moving out and being away from my parents, I literally get so anxious because the only person that can stop me from having a panic attack is my mum, and when I have panic attacks like they are like genuinely one of the worst things I've ever experienced, and they last for like hours, so I'm nervous about that, but obviously that won't be for a few years, I need to like be work and have a job for like a few years before I move out. I am a bit nervous that when I…obviously the job I'm going into is going to be nine-five, I'm nervous that I'm going to…because I do get tired easily, and obviously I was doing a lot of work for my degree, but it was on my terms: like if wanted to lay in a bit later and do work later, that was OK, so I'm nervous that that schedule’s going to make me really exhausted and I'm not going to be able to cope with it and I'm not going to be able to perform as well as I want to.

I also do have a trait to just like even like just push through and be like, ‘you're doing it anyway,’ and so am I'm worried that I'm going to make myself worse, which I don't want to do at all. I'm not worried for the anxiety to go, I'm really excited if that goes, but that would be amazing if it did go. And I want normality, I want my old life back where I can like…not even…no, I'm not bothered about the alcohol, but just like be able to have fun and not sit there worrying I'm going to throw up, if I stay out then I'm going to get like a sick bug, or I'm going to get poorly, that I want that part of my life back, like I miss that part of me a lot; it was fun, yeah that.

So, how’ve you found it moving back home from uni?

I actually always hated living at uni [chuckles]. I even hated in the first year when there wasn't Covid, so I actually was glad that I got to be at home, even in the second year I was basically home the whole time, so that hasn't really been a problem. I did get… because obviously uni all went back in-person in January, I think, but I had a meeting with my head of neuroscience and I basically told him what was going on and he was like, “It’s fine for you to do it from home,” so I've been glad that I've been able to stay home [chuckles].

So, would you say that your uni’s been supportive with that—?

Yeah, really supportive, yeah.

So, are they then allowing you to stay at home; have they done anything else in regards to allowing you to manage your Long Covid symptoms?

They've encouraged me to apply for extenuating circumstances and like a support plan, but I didn't want to. I… maybe it would have been smart to, because I definitely… oh, one of the things I miss, my… I do have brain fog and forget a lot of things, and obviously that has changed the way that like my performance in my exams and stuff, but I just… I just wanted to get on with it and have the same circumstances as everyone else. But they… they wouldn't… they wanted me to have one and they would have like… that would have given me extra time maybe and like whatnot but that’s not something I… the only thing that would have benefited me is to not have as much work, and that’s not something they can offer me: like I don't need extra time, I work quick, like I've got good organisational skills so I just didn't think to, so those are the only things they really offered. They… so they… she also did stress I'd stop uni and take a year out, but I would… was… I would never have done that, so… yeah.

I realised who my true friends are who they… who aren’t, some of them have just left and like… not left, but just haven't really been interested in like seeing me, like they would never… like it was always… if I wanted to see them it’s me that has to make plans, like they never ask like… some of them never ever ask to make plans with me anymore. Some of them are… well, a lot of them don't understand the anxiety, which even though they don't understand, some of them are still able to support me with it, but others literally just would like rather not be around it. But then on the other side of things it’s made some of my friendships a lot stronger because they've given so much support, so it’s just made us like grow closer, which has been really nice.

It made my mum super anxious, and they kind of like coddle me and baby me a bit, which I'm not complaining about, it’s quite nice, but I would say it hasn't made things in my family that difficult, like I'm quite lucky to have quite an understanding family and they're really willing to help me and stuff, and we all help each other, the only thing I think it’s changed is just anxiety levels, like my mum just gets worried about me doing certain things, but that’s all really.