Thread by @doctorasadkhan

A few mths before getting #LongCovid in Nov 20 I was a frontline NHS respiratory consultant; 6am gym goer; couldn’t sit still, always travelling the world with my wife & 2 gorgeous children. Sep 21- bedbound, gastroparesis, complete sound & light intolerance, bladder incontinence

post-viral urticaria that made me suicidal, pericarditis, angina, cognitive impairment, crippling #POTS resistant to all medication, renal impairment, impaired glucose tolerance, intolerant of most foods. Was waiting for life to end. Got v little help from @NHSEngland 2/n

Have spent over £35,000 on supplements, private specialists & experimental treatment in Germany. I am better but still housebound, 50% bedbound, with work or family life a distant dream. Yet I am one of the lucky ones- had the resources to give myself a fighting chance 3/n

#LongCovid sufferers are riddled with #microclots & hyperactivated platelets. Everyone deserves access to the same diagnostics & therapeutics I have had. They are available- it is a crime that people continue to suffer, die & commit suicide 4/n

#ResearchLongCovid @NIHRresearch @NHSEngland @UKParliament @sajidjavid @CMO_England @TheBMA @LaylaMoran @rcgp @RCPLondon @RCPEdin @CMonaghanSNP #TreatLongCovid #MedTwitter #MedEd #POTS #MCAS #vaccineinjuries #EDS #HSD @patientled @NICEComms @richardhorton1 @ManchesterHCC

If it wasn’t for clinicians like @BeateJaegerMD @resiapretorius @rkhamis Dr Jaco Laubscher, the trail blazed by my brother from another mother @gezmedinger & the support of @HarryLeeming @edkirbyz @BinitaKane & the #LongCovid #MECFS communities I would not be here today. 🙏🏾

What hurts the most is that this was completely avoidable for me & many others. We were not protected with proper #PPE; instead given flimsy surgical masks & plastic aprons against an airborne pathogen. The mass disabling event continues with no mitigations on #PlagueIsland.

I am also lucky to have the unflinching belief & support of my parents who have not seen me ill due to pandemic travel restrictions- I am grateful they have been spared seeing me at my worst. And of course my siblings who have been my fiercest protectors.

Apart from them, when it comes to pre-pandemic friendships I can count those left on one hand. At least I know who is deserving of my limited energies now. I know so many who have nobody; I am fortunate indeed.