Short and sweet
Unlike the effects of Long COVID (LC), this article will be short and sweet! 🙂
I wanted to make a point; a positive point; about the fact that LC is finally lifting!
It’s been about two years since the first symptom of LC appeared and it feels like I’m finally breaking free of it!
The symptoms
What were the symptoms? It began with warped taste and smell. As other symptoms appeared, the existing ones did NOT fall away. Therefore, I ended up with a collection of them! The symptoms included:
- warped taste and smell
- skin sensitivity on my face
- brain fog
- struggling to fall asleep
- waking up due to pain whilst sleeping
- waking up as if I’d had no sleep at all
- fatigue
- memory issues
- inability or slow to process information
- struggling to articulate thoughts
- fluctuations with appetite
- unable to cope with ‘too much’ stimuli
- muffled hearing
- less hearing in one ear
- vivid dreams
- reduced spatial awareness
- dropping things
There could be more but this is what I recall at the moment.
What’s changed?
- the warped taste and smell has become milder
- the skin on my face is no longer sensitive
- I no longer find myself feeling frustrated with the time it takes me to fall asleep
- I no longer wake up feeling as if I’ve had no sleep at all
- the vivid dreams occur less often
- my quality of sleep has improved hugely after I got a weighted blanket
Although the other symptoms remain, it feels like something has changed. The only way I can describe it is that LC feels like it’s finally shifting. It feels liberating and brings me hope.
Referrals: previously attended and those that have been scheduled
After reporting new symptoms (as they came) and repeatedly expressing how I was struggling with the effects of LC, different GPs have referred me to receive support from the following health professionals:
- The Long COVID Hub
- ENT for the warped taste and smell and again for the more recent hearing issues
- CBT because of the issues with sleep
- Pain Management
- Neurology because of the brain fog, warped taste and smell, difficulties with memory, issues with processing, struggling with articulating thoughts, fluctuations with appetite, issues with hearing, spatial awareness and dropping things
What I’ve tried
Please keep in mind that I’ve had LC for over 2 years so I’ve tried a number of things.
At first, I didn’t do much but I reached out for help once I realised that it wasn’t reducing or becoming easier to manage. Various professionals said they couldn’t help me so I looked elsewhere.
Below, you’ll find a list of people that I’ve reached out to, or been referred to so far, as well as, some purchases that I’ve made to help me manage better:
- GPs
- The Long COVID Hub
- The Optimum Health Clinic
- A nutritionist from the Optimum Health Clinic
- Recipe boxes
- CBT for sleep
- The Pain Management Clinic
- Reflexology
- A Hypnotherapist who used a Scenar machine for healing the physical symptoms of LC
- A weighted blanket
- A Herbologist who uses a variety of methods including homoeopathic treatments
- Essential oils
Previous articles about COVID
The articles listed below describe everything I can remember from catching COVID, to being free of the symptoms, to experiencing new symptoms, being told it was LC, how it’s dragged on and how I managed it.
Surviving COVID and the after-effects
Living with Long COVID
