Evidence of the pandemic?

[LaceWingMother]

Just idly wondering whether it's clear from any aspect of my life that the covid era ever happened.

Fortunately, no one I knew died or became seriously unwell from it, DH and I don't work from home because of it, DC now going through secondary school as normal, I didn't make any large purchases linked to it (one friend built a home office and a feckless neighbour bought a now-neglected dog). Apart from a few face masks stuffed in a drawer and forgotten about, I don't think there's any evidence of it in the house.

Does the impact of the pandemic appear in your life now?

I think there will be a risk in the future that everyone will still be touched by it. I thought I was one of the fortunate ones. But Covid will still go round every year (actually the whole time) and each time you catch it you could end up with issues.

I worry for my children. A strong immune system does not protect you from long covid. I haven’t had a cold or an illness for well over a year (other than Covid). But still developed issues. Lots of healthy young people do. It’s indiscriminate.

Absolutely this. You have to compare like with like. Also, they did not have the same financial support for those who lost their jobs, as we did.

I lost my Dad and other members of my family 😔

We didn't lose anyone close to us fortunately but my DH nearly died from a massive pulmonary embolism after he had Covid and has long term heart problems as a result. Also my DS who had well controlled asthma before he had Covid twice is now on pretty much maximal treatment and his asthma is still quite brittle.
My DD's career was significantly affected as she was newly graduated in the performing arts and of course there were no jobs and by the time things really got back to normal in that field there were another couple of year's worth of grads and an already competitive field was even worse than ever. She's teaching now, and happy, but she certainly lost opportunities.
Both my DS's definitely had their education impacted but they've bounced back OK.
I coach a sport and I think we're still seeing effects there. A lot of our participants never came back after Covid, especially those who were tweens/teens at the time, so we've got a gap in our older teen/young adult range with very low numbers. And as a group, I think the kids who missed out starting because of covid are still behind where I'd expect otherwise, in terms of both physical and social skills. There's also a lot more anxiety. If I can see that in an extracurricular sport setting I'm assuming their broader education is similarly affected.
We got off pretty lightly in our family compared to many others but I think the signs are still all around us.

My uncle died from cancer due to late diagnosis and lack of treatment due to Covid

I was frightened for my parents health especially my immune compromised DF, we were lucky they came though OK and had each other for company

Our oldest DD started school refusing (high school & college) after Covid due to severe anxiety and is now a medicated university student living at home, as we are her safe space.

I was diagnosed with a neurological disease during Covid and now am a wheelchair user. As normal waiting list for scans and other tests had been cancelled due to Covid, I was treated quick enough to save my arms from being too badly damaged, which is life changing in a good way.

I was looking to return to work as Covid hit, I managed to get a WFH job after Covid, which was only WFH because of Covid. Due to my disability, I would not be capable of commuting daily whilst working full time. Even working from home all I can manage is work and sleep, due to my pain and tiredness.

So yes, Covid affected our lives then and now.

No, I was realistic and didn't by into the hysteria at the expense of mine or my family's mental health and I'm glad i did

No. I didn’t catch it and no one in my family or friend circle did either. I worked all the way through it so nothing changed in that respect either.

Shame your empathy seems to have taken a hit….

lots of us did what we felt (rightly or wrongly) what was best for our families mental heath but most of us seem to be able to not have a pop at other people

It was an astonishing time to live through. My life changed lots. Retired from work because of their policy of the pandemic not existing and staff would be made to clean the desks of those that had gone off sick with covid. My dad died (not covid related but of old age) and we could only have a small funeral. My mental health suffered as a result and I’m still on antidepressants

We had some positive effects, DH loved furlough and ended up redundant but that wasn't a bad thing. I ultimately also was made redundant, partly as hated WFH, again didn't turn out badly at all.

However, I have a close young family member who wasn't able to go to school / socialise again and it's likely had a permanent adverse effect on their mental health. My own late teenage child enjoyed lockdown and socialising online, though I question if it was healthy for them. Exams worked out fine thankfully.

With no respect for others and the impact on them
And still no self awareness even on a thread like thus. Hysteria indeed

Hugs to you and agree with this.

Yet the scientific data suggests a very different picture.

@arcticpandas

So sorry to hear that. Are you sure it's covid related though?

I am pretty sure the poster knows the cause of her daughter's disability. What a horrible person you are to gaslight and demean their experiences which are horrible enough without someone like you not believing them.

I don't think it's the same. What I read about Long Covid is that many of them have something wrong with their blood platelets, like tiny little clots all over the place and this probably accounts for some of them being tried and having breathing issues still. I believe others have serious damage to the nervous system, and that's a very tricky thing to heal.

Lockdowns were not a good thing. They caused a lot of harm. One of my family members died during lockdown because the NHS didn't care about other conditions, only covid. The doctors kept cancelling appointments and delays in diagnosis meant delays in treatment. This resulted in death.

Overall, maybe, but for me it wasn't the case. I had Covid first unvaccinated, and it was weird, but was mostly ok after about 2 weeks, but the brain fog did take about 7 - 8 months to recover from.

Then later on when I was well, I thought that I should probably have the vaccine, hoping it would lessen the worst symptoms the next time I had covid (it didn't really and might as well have remained vaccinated).

After my 3rd Pfeifer jab, I started developing symptoms within two weeks. It was a pretty rapid progression downhill. Within about 3 months, I went from a woman who had always been easily organismic to the opposite. Zero libido, almost could orgasm at all any more, lost sensation in my vulva, my labia shrank. I often felt a chest-deep exhaustion even if I slept 8-9 hrs, lost my ability to cry almost completely, felt emotionally flat and felt like I'd lost my personality, had something similar to night sweats during the night.

The next year of my life felt like a confusing waste a no doctor could tell me what was the matter with me. My bloody results said I was not experiencing premature menopause, but I knew my hormones had somehow become damaged.

For a very long time (I think it might have been about 2 years), I didn't connect the dots, but now I think I was permanently damaged by that 3rd vaccine. For some reason, other people tend to say it was the 2nd or 3rd one that did them in as well.

At only 35 years old, I was put on testosterone, and now I'm on full HRT. Thank God I was so persistent to get them because I would be living a bit of a sad, almost half-life otherwise. FYI, previously had a positive towards this vaccine, but now I don't.

Not necessarily

There is now a public inquiry into the jabs and the harm they caused.

They keep sending me texts and letters to have another vaccine. I've declined.

I worry about the lumping together of long COVID patients when perhaps people really do have an issue that should be tested for and treated. My friend went to a support group at the hospital regularly. The symptoms were so myriad and different. Suppose there's a condition in those patients that has been missed?

Family member died alone in hospital
Not as bad as many people but my lungs never fully recovered after the first time i caught it.
DS3 has struggled at school ever since and I know he's not alone in that.
WFH for dh, never went back to the office which he loves.

On a slightly different kind of 'evidence' I started bullet journalling just before covid hit. The 2020 BJ turned into a record of Covid. Already when i look through it I am taken aback by what went on that id forgotten (selectively chosen to forget) and think WTF! It seems unreal.

On a less serious note, my social life has not recovered. Other factors do come into it now but my social group met frequently and impulsively beforehand. Once lockdown restrictions started to lift, we were all used to the new normal. It took a real effort on our part to return to meeting up regularly- we all forgot that we could and had to make a conscious effort to suggest drinks out regularly.

Worked all the way through while 5 other family members were at home on full pay.

@LaceWingMother

Those who 'met up anyway' (in what I presume means against the rules) must be rather self-centred and lacking in empathy for others. We stayed apart to protect each other, surely.

Not necessarily. Some people will have been meeting up with friends and family who otherwise would have been alone . We should all be aware now of the damage to people's mental health of time spent isolated so perhaps those who are lacking in empathy are those passing judgement when they do not know what was going on in other people's lives.

You are right. And I don’t think people are sitting in wheelchairs for nothing. It’s a multi-system disease. Many do have micro clots and dis regulated nervous systems. Some have heart inflammation and lung damage.

I was one of the naysayers. Right now I’d give anything to go for a run.

The most common age group to be affected by long Covid is women aged 35-50. I think it’s because this age group have kids/jobs and are juggling so much we push through and cause damage.

During the winter 20/21 lockdown, four of my loved ones were in hospital at the same time. One was on a CPAP machine and we thought we were going to lose her. (She has a lot of co-morbidities.) Thankfully, we didn't, but she needs oxygen all the time now and help at home. My MiL died early on in the pandemic (not covid, thankfully) and we had to attend her funeral online. At the time it felt very weird, now I know we were one family among very many with similar experiences.

I've had 3 or 4 bouts of covid and am currently getting over something that might be another bout. The cost of tests means I don't use one unless I'm going to be in close contact with someone who's clinically extremely vulnerable. (CEV.) The bouts I know about have been mild, but may still have something to do with the breathlessness I have when walking - long covid is a problem for people who've only had mild doses of the actual illness. More broadly, lockdown pushed a lot of businesses that were struggling over the edge; those that couldn't deliver or do click and collect really suffered.

On the whole, I'd say it wasn't a non-event and it was largely negative. There has been a lasting upside, that of remote working. I've been ill this week, (maybe another dose of covid, maybe just a rotten cold) and I had a PhD supervision meeting that was all set up to go on Teams. Even though I wasn't well, the meeting was still viable as I didn't have to commute for it. Pre-covid, I might have had to rearrange it or just get on a train, now I don't have to.