I want to share my current situation with you because I think it highlights why I find myself wanting to retreat more and more from mainstream anything in Ireland. I live with my 87 yr old Dad, I moved home to take a new job and keep an eye on him during Covid. Win win situation Then we both caught #Covid several times and neither of us recovered fully. I developed full on #LongCovid and required quite a bit of care. Which my dad supplied. Ironic that I came home to mind him.

I'm going for #HBOT at 9am. I always look forward to a session. I feel so clear and vitalised when I come out of the tank. Plus the staff at Bandon Hyperbaric centre are awesome. So kind and encouraging and there is always a bit of craic. The clarity I experience however does not last for the whole week. And #brainfog and #tinnitus creep back in. However what does last is a feeling of welness or rather an absence of malaise which is miraculous. To not have to face that awful experience is a huge relief.

So I was overwhelmed by the response to yesterday's tweet on #Brainfog. Thanks to everyone who replied, engaged and I hope I got back to everyone. Today I want to talk a bit about post exertional malaise (PEM). For me this was probably the hardest part of #LongCovid. PEM is a feeling like nothing I've ever been through. It's hard to find the right words to express how distressing it was. It was like being poisoned. The physical feeling it produced the total despair and feeling so ill. At one point I lay on my bed in my clothes for 36 hours.

So #LongCovid has left me with a brain that doesn't always want to cooperare. The term #Brainfog gets used to describe the condition. I understand we have to name things but we could do a better job. I'll let you decide if you think brain fog captures what I have. Forgetfulness I never remember where anything is keys, wallet, other essentials. I now need a list for shopping even if only for 3 or 4 items and even then I'm not guaranteed to get them all. I put on washing and 3 days later its still in the machine.

A few people have asked for a single thread on my journey through #HBOT (Hyper baric oxygen therapy) for #LongCovid So here goes. Before I started I was in bad shape. Mostly bed bound. Profound tinnitus, PEM - 300 m was the absolute limit. A trip to the shops was tough going. I had coat hanger pain all the time. Neck and shoulders. Tremor in my hands, legs and jaw. Profound brainfog I couldn't read, had memory problems and couldn't complete any complex tasks. My mood was incredibly low. Hopelessness , despair and anger. I had sleeplessness

A funny thing is happening as I regain parts of my life as a result of receiving #HBOT after a 14 month battle with #LongCovid. While I'm incredibly grateful to be one of the lucky ones who found a treatment they respond to I'm also trying to come to terms with the possibility That some of the damage maybe permanent. For example the other day I was taking the boat out after a spin up the river, there is a winch on the stern that keeps the boat on the trailer. I couldn't figure out how it works. I've been using those winches for years. Literally like

I'm somewhere mid twenties in my #HBOT sessions. There was a four day gap between sessions this week. By last night I was starting to feel pretty wiped. The 3 hour drive is tough on my best days. After my session today I'm totally wiped. Grumpy and sleepy all day. #LongCovid What usually happens is by tmrw today's session will have taken effect and ill be feeling much better. Lots of people have asked questions about not feeling good or not feeling any relief after sessions. It takes time. I was on session 22 (ill have to look it up-brain fog) before