As I opened my eyes today, the feeling of dread settled in just like it has for the last hundred days. Conducting a mental scan of my body, I try to gauge what kind of day it will be. Sometimes, the sweeping muscle aches are already present – a burning sensation in my calves and thighs. Other times, my body feels foreign to me – a dead finger, a numb foot, and a chilling sensation deep in my bones.
But even on my best days, by mid-afternoon, a flare of symptoms takes over with a strange, deadening exhaustion that doesn’t feel like fatigue, but more like I’ve been poisoned. My mood plummets, my facial muscles ache, and even speaking becomes a challenge – all symptoms of Long Covid. This unique syndrome manifests after the infectious period of Covid-19 and causes a cluster of debilitating symptoms, leaving its own unique fingerprint on every sufferer.
What seemed like lingering tiredness due to a slow recovery is far from the reality of Long Covid. Although doctors are still unsure of what it is, the most plausible theory that resonates with me is that it’s some kind of haywire immune response to the virus. Fear for myself wasn’t prevalent even though I was scared for the people around me, including my father who is 89 years old. I even made a mental list of everyone I cared for above the age of 65 at the start of the pandemic.
However, come November, I began to feel unwell with moments of odd exhaustion and strangely decreased appetite. I thought it was some other virus, but somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew it might be coronavirus. After a negative lateral flow test, I felt relieved, but as the symptoms worsened, I underwent multiple tests only to be diagnosed with Long Covid.
With over 30 similar cases of women aged 35 to 65 with comparable symptoms, I realized that I wasn’t an outlier but part of the ten million people suffering from the syndrome worldwide. However, doctors have no concrete answers on Long Covid. My doctor prescribed Paracetamol and time, with the reassurance that most people get better within 12 weeks. Frustratingly, there’s no set time frame for recovery, no known cure, and an endless ocean of unanswered questions.
Rajarshi Banerjee, who established a Long Covid trial, says that ten percent of people who contract Covid-19 are more prone to developing Long Covid – a statistic that sobers me. It is surprising to learn that there’s a higher incidence of Long Covid among Caucasian women aged 30 to 50.
The recovery from Long Covid is a grueling process of not finding out enough information from doctors, unable to determine the remarkable mysteries of how long it lasts, what causes it, and how it can be remedied. Though my doctor supplied a glimmer of hope with the possibility of recovering within a month in time for Christmas, I knew that it couldn’t be right.
Overall, Long Covid is a battle in which I fight every day, never knowing whether it would be a good or bad day. It’s a reminder that even after COVID-19, the long-term effects of the pandemic have a far-reaching impact.
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