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Covid

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Long covid - when did you start to improve?

60 replies

BG2015 · 28/07/2022 08:52

I had covid 16 weeks ago. Very mild case, I've honestly had worse colds.

However it's now been confirmed I have Long Covid.
Symptoms are:
Breathlessness on any exertion
Cough
Irritated throat
Choking occasionally when eating/drinking

I have asthma so my GP has been trying to tweak my inhalers etc to help but can't say it's made much difference.

I'm managing the symptoms as best I can and still working but the breathlessness is getting me down.

The nurse I spoke to yesterday did say that 'most' people do recover but it can take time!

OP posts:
Rispa42 · 28/07/2022 10:01

I’m over 6 months in and still suffering, although slightly better than I was a few months ago. However I think my symptoms are quite different to yours and seem to have impacted my nervous system. So I have headaches, fatigue, tinnitus, adrenaline rushes at night, insomnia, heart rate issues, muscle twitching, pins and needles and breathlessness. It’s been pretty hellish tbh. I don’t have any issues with coughing or my throat.

like you, my initial symptoms were very mild and the long covid hell only set in about a month after my recovery.

I had no underlying health conditions, am 39, slim (size 8) and was very fit, so besides my gender, didn’t think I’d be as impacted as I was…

I do think your symptoms seem more post-covid related rather than have impacted the nervous system, so hopefully you’ll recover reasonably quickly! Were you fully vaxxed?

BG2015 · 28/07/2022 11:02

Yes, fully vaccinated.

I've just recently completed treatment for breast cancer in early March. We went to Egypt on holiday and we think we caught Covid on the plane coming back, so I started to feel better regarding chemo etc only to be hit with long Covid.

I think my symptoms are quite mild compared to many people (you included) so I'm hoping they abate eventually.

OP posts:
Jules912 · 28/07/2022 11:34

I had Covid in March and still suffering with long Covid, mostly breathlessness on exertion and all over pain if I do too much. The GP just keeps telling me to come back if not better in a few weeks, but they don't refer to the long Covid clinic until 6 months. I'm lucky in that mine's relatively mild but as someone previously healthy and active I struggle with how little I can do.

BG2015 · 28/07/2022 12:03

Yes it's so debilitating isn't it. We live in a three storey house and going up and down stairs carrying washing leaves me gasping. I have to make myself slow down and take my time.

The nurse suggested taking an antihistamine called Allevia which you can now buy over the counter. I bought some and have started taking them but can't say I've noticed any difference.

It's just a waiting game I suppose.

OP posts:
JumpTheGun · 28/07/2022 20:01

I also had mild cold-like symptoms and was previously fit.

I had a mix of respiratory symptoms (I think I have some persistent lung damage) and nervous system damage which caused cardiac issues, tinnitus, balance problems, pain and possibly triggered anxiety attacks too (or maybe that was unrelated, hard to say).

2.5 years now and I think I am 95% back to normal, it doesn’t seriously impact my day to day life any more but I am still a little cautious about over-exertion - I ran 5km today which would have been unthinkable last year, but it has aggravated my lungs a bit.

First year was miserable, not because I was ever that unwell but it was very up and down and new symptoms emerged months after the initial infection and I felt like things would never resolve. The last year has felt much more positive - not sure I will ever be 100% but 95% I can live with.

SortingOffice · 29/07/2022 14:49

I didn't have long covid but I was hospitalised with covid last year (so Delta).
I was very ill for about 6 weeks but fully recovered by 3 months.
By the time I was discharged from hospital I could breath without oxygen but couldn't stand or walk more than a few steps.
I was given lots of really helpful advice and breathing exercises which I did scrupulously and they definitely aided recovery.
Have a look at the NHS website called Your Covid Recovery.

Starrr123 · 08/05/2023 21:30

How are u all now ? Ive had covid 4 times, the last time was feb! And i have have weird rashes and burningi g feeling?
im due to go away Saturday with my little girl and partner. I dont know if i should go! Im sooo upset and down :( x

Pocketfullofdogtreats · 08/05/2023 21:37

It was nine months before my lungs felt back to normal. But it's three years now since I got long Covid and I still have to pace myself and I get tired more easily. So it feels like very slow progress, but gradually, I am making progress.

BG2015 · 09/05/2023 07:22

I don't have long covid. They now believe that my right lung was damaged by radiotherapy.

I have something called eosinophiic asthma.

OP posts:
Atissue123 · 09/05/2023 12:11

I am sorry you are suffering! I have had Long Covid for 3 years now but I am about 90% fully recovered - so doing well overall compared to where I was which was about 20% ok at the initial stages (in hospital and then in bed for 3 months). I would say the first 12 months were bad (much worse than you are describing) I am not trying to minimise your experience in any way but I hope that by 12 months you are significantly better overall. Then by 2 years in I was like 75-80% my old self (struggled with exercise and heart stuff and breathlessness and didn't work very much but could manage some) and now 3 years on I am 90% better. I can exercise again and breathlessness is pretty normal and I work 3 days a week again. You will get there. It's really hard, do ask to be referred for help with from a respiratory physio.

Nimbostratus100 · 09/05/2023 12:13

3 years and counting

Bringonthesunforthewashing · 09/05/2023 12:16

My dd12 had covid in oct 2021, she was asymptomatic apart from loss of smell.

She still can’t smell anything bless her

Crikeyalmighty · 17/05/2023 18:05

I am 8 months in- mine are all neuro- back of head headaches, neck pain, weak leg, pins and needles, weird odd twitches, light headed ness. Some symptoms have improved a lot in last 2 months- it's all quite odd- 2 days it will be say headache and weak leg, then next day it will be light headed and pins and needles. My bloods are relatively ok apart from pre diabetic and slightly high ferretin . Mine came on post 4th vaccine

JumpTheGun · 18/05/2023 18:25

Crikeyalmighty · 17/05/2023 18:05

I am 8 months in- mine are all neuro- back of head headaches, neck pain, weak leg, pins and needles, weird odd twitches, light headed ness. Some symptoms have improved a lot in last 2 months- it's all quite odd- 2 days it will be say headache and weak leg, then next day it will be light headed and pins and needles. My bloods are relatively ok apart from pre diabetic and slightly high ferretin . Mine came on post 4th vaccine

I had a lot of similar neurological stuff and it’s 99% resolved now but took a couple of years of gradual improvement. I had a bad cold recently and it all came back again which was disheartening but it only lasted a few weeks thankfully.

Crikeyalmighty · 24/05/2023 20:54

@JumpTheGun yes I'm on a couple of forums and it seems to have gone 2 ways- those with heart and breathing issues and those with mainly neuro issues- it's odd as I can have hours where I feel fine and then suddenly am totally out of sorts for hours. Some things have definitely decreased

JumpTheGun · 24/05/2023 20:58

Crikeyalmighty · 24/05/2023 20:54

@JumpTheGun yes I'm on a couple of forums and it seems to have gone 2 ways- those with heart and breathing issues and those with mainly neuro issues- it's odd as I can have hours where I feel fine and then suddenly am totally out of sorts for hours. Some things have definitely decreased

Lucky me I had both! 😂

Lollygaggle · 24/05/2023 21:03

Had covid last year which was not too bad , ended up in hospital two weeks after and now have long covid.
Bad fatigue comes and goes, breathlessness, brain fog , memory problems and other neurological symptoms. I am better than I was but have had to give up clinical work as it is going to be a long haul and some damage is probably permanent.

SpringIet · 24/05/2023 21:12

My nausea has decreased a bit, but feel frustrated and gutted as I've given up so much, but have steadily got worse. I'm 14 months in, but unsure whether I had covid a few months prior to that which I'd just got over when I caught covid. (Earlier virus/covid took a few months to recover from - tested negative but was unlike anything I'd had previously and I am not normally floored).

Rispa42 · 18/06/2023 23:37

I’m about 18 months post covid, a lot better but probably around 85-90%. My initial symptoms were very mild, the LC kicked in about 6 weeks after testing positive. I had the weirdest symptoms, the worst was this very nasty head pain, like something I’d never experienced before, and very odd anxiety sensations. Also nasty insomnia, weird dreams, mottling skin on my thighs, tinnitus, muscle spasms, horrible fatigue, the list just went on.

Im currently left with breathing issues, tingling sensations and strange, disrupted sleep. Can’t exercise like I used to, but back to work full time (I ended up taking nearly 6 months off work, I’m self-employed so was a big hit to my finances). I’ve been in the same state for the last 6-9 months I reckon, so I wonder if this is now it.

prior to getting covid, I had no health issues, slim, very fit, young-ish (40), was double vaccinated at the time, so honestly was quite surprised at how hard it hit me. Also a sense of ‘unfairness’ when for most people it was no worse than a cold.

I was referred to the UCLH Long Covid clinic supposedly one of the best, but it wasn’t much help. Guess there’s so many unknowns about covid and a lack of research into post viral conditions, there’s a limit to what they can do. I found the FB groups the best resource, as it was a helpful way of at least understanding the weird shit that was happening to me, and knowing that I wasn’t alone, as I didn’t know anyone in real life that had anything similar.

Jules912 · 19/06/2023 09:30

I also seem to have improved ( despite having Covid twice more). I still can't run but can at least do the school run without getting breathless and manage any amount of walking so long as I do it slowly.

Rispa42 · 19/06/2023 09:38

Jules912 · 19/06/2023 09:30

I also seem to have improved ( despite having Covid twice more). I still can't run but can at least do the school run without getting breathless and manage any amount of walking so long as I do it slowly.

That’s good to hear! Did anything help with the breathlessness?

Highdaysandholidays1 · 19/06/2023 09:40

It seems to vary so much, and the symptoms vary so much that oftentimes I feel awful talking about my experience which is relatively trivial compared with some people who have been affected for years. I would say that the Covid itself was terrible, about two/three weeks completely bedridden and it took about two months to be able to sit up properly, walk up stairs, potter about normally. Then I had brain fog and exhaustion for a good couple of months, so it was difficult to watch TV and so on, and walking and exercising took a while to build back up from 100 metres walking down the road and getting tired out. A year on I'm fine to work in an office job sitting down all the time, but I do still get very tired a lot so spreading out activities is a must, and I also find when tired I can't understand the TV very well.

It might be more of a classic post-viral recovery than persistent Long Covid and I didn't have the chest symptoms but I know others that have.

Highdaysandholidays1 · 19/06/2023 09:42

The dizziness went after about three months, that was very pronounced but just seems to have got better over time.

I think going slowly and not overdoing it seems to be the best advice, rather than pushing through (often as mums we have no choice though). Once you get a bit better, then having a busy day, rest day, busy day seems to work better for me, I still do a lot of resting but at least I can read now and enjoy it, the thought of not being able to follow a book was terrible!

Jules912 · 19/06/2023 09:57

Honestly I tried all sorts but I think it was just a case of time. I still get the brain fog when I do too much but not sure if that's due to long covid or peri-menopause

sonjadog · 28/06/2023 20:53

I had a mild case in July last year and then about six weeks later developed tinnitus, neck pains and shoulder pains that I suspect may have been long covid symptoms. Now I am largely back to normal. I work and socialise normally. I have some pain and the tinnitus has never completely gone, but it doesn't bother me any more. I think the first 4 months with the symptoms were the worst and after that it has gradually improved.