Jennifer

Jennifer had Covid in March 2020. She developed symptoms of long Covid a few weeks after thinking she had recovered from Covid. It has taken over a year to begin to recover. She has found it helpful to share her experiences with other people with long Covid.

Jennifer is a self-employed Sports/Remedial Massage Therapist. Before she got Covid, Jennifer was busy, fit, active and training for a half marathon. After having Covid just before the lockdown; in March 2020, everything felt like a massive effort. She went from a buzzing; person to someone who could barely leave the house. Her husband also had Covid, but recovered quite quickly.

By around May 2020, she felt she was recovering and went back to some fitness training. Within a week she had a sudden and dramatic relapse: I felt awful, I could barely stand upI thought I might be having a heart attack;. Looking back, she wonders if she tried to get back to normal too quickly.

Over the next few months she had recurring symptoms, including extreme fatigue that is like a tsunami. It just hits you;. She also gets brain fog, a high heart rate, dizziness, breathing issues and headaches: it was like a roulette wheel not knowing what the next day was going to bring.; She also experienced flare-ups of illnesses – such as shingles and sinus problems.

She found 2020 very frustrating, because so many people didn’t understand long Covid. Her GP diagnosed suspected Covid; and post-Covid syndrome;. The treatment she was able to offer was limited. Jennifer began to look for answers herself. She had private consultations with cardiology, nutritional advisors and other therapists. She had helpful advice on breathing and gradually building back her muscle strength from physiotherapists. She found sharing her experiences with other people with long Covid through online networks very helpful. These provided emotional support and ideas for treatments and for pacing her recovery. They were a major lifesaver;.

Over a year later (2021), she is slowly making progress with her recovery. She has learnt how to pace herself, including with things that take mental energy, like reading and driving. Her messages for others with long Covid are: give yourself time to rest and recover; don’t push yourself; keep trying to find health professionals who can help; and be prepared to try new things and share experiences with people you trust.

Her message for health professionals is not to dismiss people’s symptoms and to be open to alternative therapies and peer-led sources of support.

Jennifer found a GP at her practice with a special interest in Long Covid. She said it was important that health professionals were not dismissive of Long Covid or keen to attribute symptoms to other causes, such as anxiety.

Jennifer believed doctors need an open mind about the therapies and treatments that could help people with Long Covid because “it’s not a normal thing. It doesn’t fit in their boxes”.

Jennifer found being ill with Long Covid in 2020 very frustrating. She said at that time it was hard for people to understand how she was feeling.

Jennifer felt shivery and like she had the flu after her first vaccine. She then had a couple of days feeling tired but explained this was not as bad as the overwhelming tsunami of being “Covid tired.”

Jennifer saw a breathing specialist. She was amazing because she explained that Jennifer had “bad breathing patterns” due to Covid and gave her lots of breathing exercises to help.

After taking advice from a cardiologist, Jennifer’s GP prescribed betablockers for her high heart rate. She had to stop taking them very quickly because they lowered her heart rate so much she could hardly stand up.

Jennifer said that online peer groups had been the best source of emotional support for her.

Jennifer was using private healthcare services to create her own version of a Long Covid clinic because there were no long Covid clinics in her area.

Jennifer found it hard not to be able to join in with social activities after Covid restrictions on daily life started to ease.

Jennifer has had some weeks when she has felt ‘almost normal’ because she has been careful with pacing. It has been difficult to keep pacing herself, but it gives her hope that she will get better.

Jennifer was advised how to get ‘positive rest’ by a fatigue specialist. She learnt that she needed to keep taking rests after doing anything.

Jennifer said she did not realise how much energy it takes to do everyday things like reading a book, driving a car or doing a jigsaw.

Jennifer had shingles a few months after getting Covid. Her sinus problems flare up when she is having a ‘bad patch’ with the Long Covid symptoms.

Jennifer thought she had recovered from Covid. When she tried to get back to her training for a half marathon, she felt “awful”. Her heart rate and blood pressure were high.

Jennifer found a GP at her practice with a special interest in Long Covid. She said it was important that health professionals were not dismissive of Long Covid or keen to attribute symptoms to other causes, such as anxiety.

Jennifer believed doctors need an open mind about the therapies and treatments that could help people with Long Covid because “it’s not a normal thing. It doesn’t fit in their boxes”.

Jennifer found being ill with Long Covid in 2020 very frustrating. She said at that time it was hard for people to understand how she was feeling.

Jennifer felt shivery and like she had the flu after her first vaccine. She then had a couple of days feeling tired but explained this was not as bad as the overwhelming tsunami of being “Covid tired.”

Jennifer saw a breathing specialist. She was amazing because she explained that Jennifer had “bad breathing patterns” due to Covid and gave her lots of breathing exercises to help.

After taking advice from a cardiologist, Jennifer’s GP prescribed betablockers for her high heart rate. She had to stop taking them very quickly because they lowered her heart rate so much she could hardly stand up.

Jennifer said that online peer groups had been the best source of emotional support for her.

Jennifer was using private healthcare services to create her own version of a Long Covid clinic because there were no long Covid clinics in her area.

Jennifer found it hard not to be able to join in with social activities after Covid restrictions on daily life started to ease.

Jennifer has had some weeks when she has felt ‘almost normal’ because she has been careful with pacing. It has been difficult to keep pacing herself, but it gives her hope that she will get better.

Jennifer was advised how to get ‘positive rest’ by a fatigue specialist. She learnt that she needed to keep taking rests after doing anything.

Jennifer said she did not realise how much energy it takes to do everyday things like reading a book, driving a car or doing a jigsaw.

Jennifer had shingles a few months after getting Covid. Her sinus problems flare up when she is having a ‘bad patch’ with the Long Covid symptoms.

Jennifer thought she had recovered from Covid. When she tried to get back to her training for a half marathon, she felt “awful”. Her heart rate and blood pressure were high.