Thread by @Elisabethis

Last spring I didn't dare to share how I was doing because all my symptoms was vague and I didn't know for a fact what it was that made me change.

I got a cold in Jan last year after travelling in Spain.

The danger of Long Covid is twofold:
1. Physical
2. Psychological

1/n

After recovering from the cold I noticed I was easily out of breath, I thought it was strange how a few weeks holiday followed by a cold made me breath like an old person who had smoked for years. I blamed myself for not giving cardio enough focus as I love lifting weights. 2/n

I love running outdoors. So usually I run Apr-Oct, lift weights nov-March. I did my usual intervals as I do in spring. But my lungs hurt so bad. I felt so horrible. What had I done wrong? Even after 3 months of pressuring myself I kept breathing like an old smoker. 3/n

My family was asking me what was wrong because I was out of breath so easily. Corona was ravaging Sweden so I didn't want to bother the healthcare with this. But this wasn't my only problem. I was also beyond tired. I slept so much and I was so tired that keeping awake hurt. 4/n

I went to bed at the same time as the kids. My partner said "you are always tired" and by the summer he had forgotten how energetic I used to be. He started to feel that I was using "tired" as a way to excuse myself and put the burden on him. I felt like a failure. 5/n

Still there was more. I spent around two hours in the bathroom every day because my belly just let food through too fast. This affected my life so bad that I asked for a doctor's appointment after 6 months. It was declined because they couldn't give priority to such a thing! 6/n

To be declined a doctor's appointment when my life was so seriously affected brought me down. This was in August. No holidays in healthcare and there wasn't that much Corona. 7/n

But yet, the worst wasn't being put of breath, my difficult stomach, my tiredness, my headache. The worst was the brain fog. I just didn't manage to do work that required brain capacity. I forgot everything, I quit the start-up I was busy with because I lost faith in myself. 8/n

In the autumn it was like I suddenly felt lighter again even though I had given up all kinds of exercise except for daily walks. Suddenly I understood that it wasn't normal to have pain when breathing deep, I didn't feel out of breath from walking up the stairs anymore. 9/n

And I also realised that the oximeter I had bought wasn't faulty. Because it had always shown a maximum of 96. I had used it because I had often felt like I was close to fainting and a kind of unease that is hard to explain. Then I tried it and ever since it has shown 98/99 10/n

I am reluctant to share this, but I do because it is worth it if it can validate only one person who feels weird, who has vague symptoms, not enough to see a doctor, but life is still seriously damaged. Only after recovering did I understand that I had had Long-covid. 11/n

It hurts me to know that a lot of people are going through this trauma. The trauma of knowing that something is wrong with your body and you don't know what. It affects your life, your family and it can lead to depression.
#ZeroCovid #bytStrategiNu #LongCovid
12/n