Long covid

[Trekkerbabe]

I have posted previously. I got Covid in October. Was off work til early January with complete exhaustion. Exacerbated I think by work burn out. Chronic pain in my neck and shoulders from stress also.

I am now back at work 4 days a week after having been assessed by OH and am really struggling. I am exhausted, have lost all enthusiasm for work and can't concentrate.

I am not doing anything strenuous such as hard exercise as it tires me out completely.

Help! I don't know whether I should stop working for longer, reduce my hours further or just carry on.

Has anyone else been in this position over the last two years?

Can you speak to OH again and get their advice? 4 full days a week sounds quite a lot if you only started back 2 weeks ago.

I caught Covid in Sept and only returned to work at the start of Jan. I'm on a phased return working half days (9am-1pm) only and will start extending my hours by an additional daily hour each week i.e. next week I work 9am-2pm, the week after 9am-3pm etc until I'm back full time.

Whilst I suffer from exhaustion, the biggest challenge for me is brain fog as this makes it very hard to be competent at my job. It's improving slowly but...

I do exercise though. I've been doing weights 2-3 times a week since late Oct and this month I have also started back at HIIT classes plus I walk approx 8km every day. OH said it was important to exercise and they're fully supportive of what I'm doing.

Lack of concentration is a classic Covid brain fog symptom so don't beat yourself up too much.

Also, I forgot to add that I was also suffering significant work stress when I caught Covid (in the bloody office!). At first I thought Covid was doing me a favour by giving me a break from work! But now with long Covid affecting my memory, concentration and comprehension abilities, I'm cursing it. There's actually some scientific studies that say suffering from stress may be one of the reasons why certain people develop long Covid.

Try getting out and doing some walking at least. It will help to start building you back up again. I've been advised to only do 70% of what I feel capable of (if I do more, I crash and burn the following day or two).

When I first started walking in late Oct, I could barely walk 3k steps each day and I was absolutely shattered both during and after. But it does come back slowly and will help your energy levels.

Thanks so much for responding so quickly. Your circumstances at work sound vvv similar to mine. Do you mind me asking how old you are? I'm 49 and am wondering if my age is also affecting my recovery.

I think I'm going to speak to OH again and reduce my hours. What you are doing sounds very sensible.

I did one hiit session last Monday and it killed me. I usually knock out 5 a week. I am walking my kids to school and back though which helps with the mental health too.

I’m sorry, I used to work in income protection claims & you’d be laughed out the office if you couldn’t find the energy to work full time but could find the energy to walk 8k a day, do HITT classes & lift weights 2-3 times a week .. no wonder you are bloody tired. I would be too & I don’t have long covid! Maybe give your body days to rest (as everyone needs when exercising) & get back to bloody work Yes, exercising is important but not to the extent you are doing while claiming you are too tired to work. You’ll be helping to give long covid a bad name ..

@Trekkerbabe

Thanks so much for responding so quickly. Your circumstances at work sound vvv similar to mine. Do you mind me asking how old you are? I'm 49 and am wondering if my age is also affecting my recovery.

I think I'm going to speak to OH again and reduce my hours. What you are doing sounds very sensible.

I did one hiit session last Monday and it killed me. I usually knock out 5 a week. I am walking my kids to school and back though which helps with the mental health too.

I'm 51.

You have to build the exercise up really slowly. I used to train 6 times a week pre-Covid but it's felt like starting from a base of nothing. So frustrating!

I've learnt not to push things. I did a couple of extra hours at work last week (and felt fine at the time) but it then hit me hard on Thurs evening. I was pretty much wiped out until yesterday. It's all very tedious but it has to be baby steps. This has become an unpleasant lessons in patience for me. Especially as the majority of people know nothing about long Covid. Hang in there!

@Bobholll

I’m sorry, I used to work in income protection claims & you’d be laughed out the office if you couldn’t find the energy to work full time but could find the energy to walk 8k a day, do HITT classes & lift weights 2-3 times a week .. no wonder you are bloody tired. I would be too & I don’t have long covid! Maybe give your body days to rest (as everyone needs when exercising) & get back to bloody work Yes, exercising is important but not to the extent you are doing while claiming you are too tired to work. You’ll be helping to give long covid a bad name ..

Such bullshit. Clearly you don't know much about long Covid. Everything I'm doing is approved by my OH doctor as well as my GP.

And yes I know all about rest between exercise. I'm a qualified fitness professional. I assume you're qualified too if you're lecturing me?

By the way, 8km a day is 10,000 steps i.e. what we should all be walking every day.

@Hundredmiles

Has your eyesight been affected at all? Interested to know whether the recent deterioration in my eye sight (screens and reading) is just my age or could be covid-related..