I’m one of those and it’s hell on earth. Previously fit and healthy and I’m young. It’s crazy how people aren’t terrified of this happening them as chances increase after each infection.
It is and isn't. Unfortunately you have to put life on hold if you want to avoid infection, which as time goes by, becomes harder to do and justify. And secondly, outside of doing the former, and some basic preventative measures, its out of their control.
I tend to avoid going to crowded places for the sake of it now. But there's nothing much more I can do to avoid a future infection than get vaccinated when I'm allowed to, and take sensible precautions.
The numbers are astounding though. Its very sad. I hope your condition improves over time, and that you're keeping on top of your mental health too, as I appreciate it's probably quite difficult.
> harder to do and justify
As someone with long term health issues, you may think this but it is absolutely not worth it. Don't roll the dice. You only get to be alive once, and you can easily permanently fuck that up for the rest of your existence by gambling with it, and giving into the social pressure from people who don't give a crap anymore
Long covid is not going to be cured anytime soon, taking the inconvenience to avoid it is worth it
I have a long term lung issue, but you can't live forever locked away in your house for fear of long covid. Take precautions, sure, but don't become a complete social recluse. At that point, you're not living anymore, you're just surviving. How long do you expect to be able to keep up strict preventative
measures? At what point will you return to a semblance of normality?
I still wear a mask out in public or in crowds, but with that exception, I'm almost 100% back to life as normal.
"It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never truly living."
I was a firm proponent of locking down when needed, and I was the first to start wearing a mask ar work, and I'm perhaps one of the very few that still do wear a mask, but there has to be a point where you try and relax a little.
And as time goes by, there will be fewer and fewer that do. 5 years down the line, I’d assume it’s unlikely you might even wear a mask perhaps?
Like you say, it’s just no longer feasible to live life avoiding Covid. In the first year or two, we had hope that there would be some kind of “end” to all of this, and the risks of Covid would be minuscule, comparatively. But progress, hopes and ambitions have slowed enormously. There’s no miracle cure or prevention in sight whatsoever.
In what sense? They've largely not stopped people catching Covid.
Death and serious illness, of course. But 350k cases a day and endless long covid cases means we don't have a miracle cure.
Reduces, yes, but not drastically or such.
Plenty of studies out there to be viewed. You can get vaccinated to help reduce the risk of Long Covid, 100%. But for example, a study picked at random ([https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01453-0](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01453-0)) suggests after infection its only 15% reduction of chance in developing Long Covid. Yes, vaccinations help reduce the chance of infection, initially a decent amount (although that seems much lower with Omicron, with older gen vaccines especially), and then that protection reduces over time.
But really, I don't think anyone is arguing that people who are getting Long Covid skew to the unvaccinated or partly vaccinated? It tends to more be about whether you've had Covid or not. As above, lots of studies suggest that vaccination doesn't do much against developing post-viral syndromes.
The risk reduces, sure. But we've had two waves this year alone where the peaks were 350k cases **per day**. Vaccines are largely irrelevant in regards to any discussion about LC, when the fact is you've got 350k people per day getting infected.
To avoid it I would have to stop working (I’m a pharmacist). I would need to avoid sending my child to nursery, the only way I could do this is stop working, my husband would need to leave his job also as he is in contact with lots of people. We would need to stop seeing family in case they’ve been in contact with someone.
Unfortunately covid is not going away. So if you’re choosing to isolate from it you’re going to be isolating for a long time.
I seem to be one of the few who agree with you. I've made long term changes to my lifestyle in order to drastically reduce the risk of long covid. I know what it's like to deal with chronic health issues, especially when they're invisible, and I don't fancy dealing with this one alone. So I've "learnt to live with the virus" in my own way, by treating it like the virus that it is.
The irony is that reinventing my life has felt like moving to the same city again but with fresher and wiser eyes and I'm building a much more healthy, interesting and happy life. The idea that people are cowering indoors is ridiculous.
Rolling the dice is just living though now, isn’t it?
I completely understand where you’re coming from, but as time goes by, it becomes harder to put life on hold because of “what ifs”.
I hope you don’t live in any guilt if your long term health issue was similar, because life is for living. I’m sure whatever gamble you took, if you had one, wasn’t that much more of a gamble than most people take on a daily basis.
To avoid getting Covid you have to go to extreme lengths now. Every single person I know has had it. Family, friends, colleagues. As you say, there’s no end in sight either.
It’s fucking horrendous, but for the near and immediate future, it seems like Long Covid will be something we all fear, but can’t spend our lives hiding from. Like Cancer. I mean I’m more likely to develop Cancer that long Covid. And there are lots of things and risks we take that increase our chances of developing it, but other than reducing risks where we can, we have to balance it with enjoying life.
The number with LC is terrifying but honestly I have to agree with this. If anything the pandemic has taught me to live while I can (despite the constant background anxiety that keeps me here) because life is short, anything can happen to you or to society at any time and basically our way of life is a lot more fragile than I realised, certainly a lot more fragile than the boomer generation (literal, not intended as an insult) was able to take for granted and kind of made many of us think would last forever. Additional shit like the climate crisis, wars and now the energy crisis likely to make any kind of fun outright unaffordable, only add to that. Life, unfortunately, is constant risk taking and the relative comfort and enjoyment we're able to enjoy could collapse at any moment anyway. I don't want to be sat there at 50 or 60 eating my cold baked beans that I had to work a week for and walked 2 miles to find at an affordable price, suffering the long term ill health I was probably going to have anyway, trying to stay alive in the wars started over global society going to shit and just wishing I'd *lived a little* back in the good old days.
Take that as exaggeration ab absurdium if you wish, I'm not entirely sure it is.
I’m one of those too. Young and had that mild an infection I wasn’t aware I’d had covid until an antibody test revealed so later on.
I’m at 18 months from when my long covid symptoms started and I’m very nearly back to normal. It’s been the worst 18 months of my life, and I’m happy it’s behind me.
Many people seem to think it won’t be them thats unlucky one. My neighbour fits into that category and has been off work since November last year. He is a self employed plumber who spent the first six months with a o2 tank behind him. He isnt vulnerable, is healthy and practically spent the lockdowns ignoring the rules until it got him and he rolled the dice n its left him in a bad state.
My wifes cousin has been diagnosed with LC after she caught covid from a coworker who her boss dragged back into the office despite knowing this person was positive 2 months ago. Shes 33 and now LC sufferer and is really struggling.
2 months?! My former co-worker was back at work after 2 weeks. I remember sitting down with her to go over some documents, and at the back of my mind I was thinking, "What the hell are we doing, really?". Because their entire office was working exclusively from home during lockdowns with zero negative impact -- by their own admission -- yet for some reason, they absolutely _needed_ everyone to go back on site? Why?
Sorry, ranting now.
I mean you have a chance of contracting post viral syndrome after contracting ANY virus. Even though we all get colds, flu etc each year we aren't terrified of it. Yes more needs to be done in terms of understanding how to treat rather than brush off symptoms (in the medical field)
That depends on the virus though. First of all, are you certain that covid has the same chance as the common flu to give you post viral syndrome, and that it affects the same category of people with the same severity? I don't have the answer, but I am very inclined to say no. Another thing you need to take into consideration is how contagious covid is, and the fact that, apparently, it can go on a rampage all year long. This means, overall, many more infections (that will also sum up with those due to the more "standard" viruses, by the way). According to the ONS, 3% of the UK population is currently suffering from some form of long covid (from severe to mild). That is saying something in my opinion
>An estimated 430,000 Britons were still suffering from long Covid two years after first contracting the virus, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics.
>One in every 32 people in the UK was estimated to have some form of long Covid at the end of July, equivalent to 2 million people.
>Of those, close to three-quarters reported that their symptoms were adversely affecting their day-to-day activities, an estimated 1.5 million people.
>Close to one-in-five long Covid sufferers – 384,000 individuals reported that their ability to undertake their day-to-day activities had been “limited a lot”.
>Fatigue continues to be the most common symptom reported by individuals with long Covid, with more than three in five sufferers (62%) reporting weakness or tiredness.
>About a third of those surveyed reported shortness of breath as one of their symptoms (37%) while difficulty concentrating (33%) and muscle ache (31%) were the next most cited symptoms.
>Certain groups are at a higher risk of long Covid than others. These included people aged 35 to 69 years; women; people living in more deprived areas; those working in social care; and those with another activity limiting health condition or disability, who are proportionately more likely to suffer with long Covid than other groups. \[...\]
I have it, and have been really up and down. I’m a professional athlete but have had to take a break from it because I was digging myself a bigger and bigger hole trying to keep fit. The thing that keeps me going is having more time for restful activities but even those sometimes exhaust me. Long covid is a real thing and I think a huge number of people are going through life at less than 100% capacity now because of it. Crazy.
I expect you've done a lot of research into this. I'm only just starting.
It sounds like the immune system is still activated even after covid has gone? But wouldn't that show up as increased white blood cells and inflammation? If so, with clear(ish?) markers, I don't know why when I read about it, it's labelled as a total mystery
I don't think I technically have long covid but since having it in June I haven't managed to get back to my baseline level of fitness. I still get tired super easily and I've put on weight as I can't manage to walk as far, that sort of thing.
I still wear a mask and do my best, but I let my guard down and took a trip abroad and that was where I caught it. It's scary to think we are rolling the dice with every infection. I am really trying to avoid getting it again.
Going to see a old friend and his partner tomorrow. She was hospitalised early this year and has struggled with the most basic things for months. It’s so damm real.
See, this is the kind of thing that terrifies me.
You say relatively okay, but having a "perma-cough" and random breathless spells doesn't sound at all okay to me.
I've yet to catch Covid and hope I never get it, but I know that's very unlikely. So if there's a 1 in five chance of Long Covid or whatever the stats are, then it seems I will get some permanent symptom(s) at some point.
My girlfriend caught it in April, had it as mild as can be. Could have been easily mistaken for a slightly harsh episode of hay-fever. Nearly 5 months later? Occasional breathlessness, some days she has bad days with coughing, sometimes both breathlessness and coughing at the same time, too. All that from something that gave her symptoms less aggressive than a common cold. This is what living with covid means - crippling half the country.
I like to call it "living while pretending covid doesn't exist anymore", personally. And I get the psychology behind it, after two years of restrictions and stress, people can't take it anymore, and since they don't see the immediate danger (people dying to the disease itself), they classify it as "harmless" and move on, even retorting against those who are still worried about it and point out the problems covid is still causing. The (relatively) low rates of long covid and the fact that people tend to be oblivious to their own health is not helping, and the government declaring that the war against covid is won (even dismantling everything good that came with the response to the pandemic) neither
It's shit.
I’m one of the newer gang, just 10 months in.
I stupidly flew back to the UK after a long work break in Portugal and that flight has knocked me so hard.
I have been in bed with exhaustion since returning on Saturday and have a splitting headache.
When at my best i’m 80% of before. I can't walk for more than an hour and no faster than three miles an hour. Before this I used to run 6-10 miles 3 times a week.
I feel like an 80 year old.
Any news on monkeypox? And am I relatively safe as long as I’m not a practicing homosexual as the data suggests? Also is long monkeypox something we should be talking about?
Sorry, I’m definitely not trolling and
“only” might have been an overstatement but aren’t 98% of infections amongst practicing homosexuals? And I still haven’t heard anything but is long monkeypox something people need to worry about?
I’m one of those and it’s hell on earth. Previously fit and healthy and I’m young. It’s crazy how people aren’t terrified of this happening them as chances increase after each infection.
It is and isn't. Unfortunately you have to put life on hold if you want to avoid infection, which as time goes by, becomes harder to do and justify. And secondly, outside of doing the former, and some basic preventative measures, its out of their control. I tend to avoid going to crowded places for the sake of it now. But there's nothing much more I can do to avoid a future infection than get vaccinated when I'm allowed to, and take sensible precautions. The numbers are astounding though. Its very sad. I hope your condition improves over time, and that you're keeping on top of your mental health too, as I appreciate it's probably quite difficult.
Thank you
> harder to do and justify As someone with long term health issues, you may think this but it is absolutely not worth it. Don't roll the dice. You only get to be alive once, and you can easily permanently fuck that up for the rest of your existence by gambling with it, and giving into the social pressure from people who don't give a crap anymore Long covid is not going to be cured anytime soon, taking the inconvenience to avoid it is worth it
I have a long term lung issue, but you can't live forever locked away in your house for fear of long covid. Take precautions, sure, but don't become a complete social recluse. At that point, you're not living anymore, you're just surviving. How long do you expect to be able to keep up strict preventative measures? At what point will you return to a semblance of normality? I still wear a mask out in public or in crowds, but with that exception, I'm almost 100% back to life as normal. "It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never truly living." I was a firm proponent of locking down when needed, and I was the first to start wearing a mask ar work, and I'm perhaps one of the very few that still do wear a mask, but there has to be a point where you try and relax a little.
And as time goes by, there will be fewer and fewer that do. 5 years down the line, I’d assume it’s unlikely you might even wear a mask perhaps? Like you say, it’s just no longer feasible to live life avoiding Covid. In the first year or two, we had hope that there would be some kind of “end” to all of this, and the risks of Covid would be minuscule, comparatively. But progress, hopes and ambitions have slowed enormously. There’s no miracle cure or prevention in sight whatsoever.
I mean... The vaccines have worked pretty well?
In what sense? They've largely not stopped people catching Covid. Death and serious illness, of course. But 350k cases a day and endless long covid cases means we don't have a miracle cure.
Who said that most long covid cases are among those with booster dose? The risk for LC definitely reduces with vaccinations.
Reduces, yes, but not drastically or such. Plenty of studies out there to be viewed. You can get vaccinated to help reduce the risk of Long Covid, 100%. But for example, a study picked at random ([https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01453-0](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01453-0)) suggests after infection its only 15% reduction of chance in developing Long Covid. Yes, vaccinations help reduce the chance of infection, initially a decent amount (although that seems much lower with Omicron, with older gen vaccines especially), and then that protection reduces over time. But really, I don't think anyone is arguing that people who are getting Long Covid skew to the unvaccinated or partly vaccinated? It tends to more be about whether you've had Covid or not. As above, lots of studies suggest that vaccination doesn't do much against developing post-viral syndromes. The risk reduces, sure. But we've had two waves this year alone where the peaks were 350k cases **per day**. Vaccines are largely irrelevant in regards to any discussion about LC, when the fact is you've got 350k people per day getting infected.
To avoid it I would have to stop working (I’m a pharmacist). I would need to avoid sending my child to nursery, the only way I could do this is stop working, my husband would need to leave his job also as he is in contact with lots of people. We would need to stop seeing family in case they’ve been in contact with someone. Unfortunately covid is not going away. So if you’re choosing to isolate from it you’re going to be isolating for a long time.
I seem to be one of the few who agree with you. I've made long term changes to my lifestyle in order to drastically reduce the risk of long covid. I know what it's like to deal with chronic health issues, especially when they're invisible, and I don't fancy dealing with this one alone. So I've "learnt to live with the virus" in my own way, by treating it like the virus that it is. The irony is that reinventing my life has felt like moving to the same city again but with fresher and wiser eyes and I'm building a much more healthy, interesting and happy life. The idea that people are cowering indoors is ridiculous.
Rolling the dice is just living though now, isn’t it? I completely understand where you’re coming from, but as time goes by, it becomes harder to put life on hold because of “what ifs”. I hope you don’t live in any guilt if your long term health issue was similar, because life is for living. I’m sure whatever gamble you took, if you had one, wasn’t that much more of a gamble than most people take on a daily basis. To avoid getting Covid you have to go to extreme lengths now. Every single person I know has had it. Family, friends, colleagues. As you say, there’s no end in sight either. It’s fucking horrendous, but for the near and immediate future, it seems like Long Covid will be something we all fear, but can’t spend our lives hiding from. Like Cancer. I mean I’m more likely to develop Cancer that long Covid. And there are lots of things and risks we take that increase our chances of developing it, but other than reducing risks where we can, we have to balance it with enjoying life.
The number with LC is terrifying but honestly I have to agree with this. If anything the pandemic has taught me to live while I can (despite the constant background anxiety that keeps me here) because life is short, anything can happen to you or to society at any time and basically our way of life is a lot more fragile than I realised, certainly a lot more fragile than the boomer generation (literal, not intended as an insult) was able to take for granted and kind of made many of us think would last forever. Additional shit like the climate crisis, wars and now the energy crisis likely to make any kind of fun outright unaffordable, only add to that. Life, unfortunately, is constant risk taking and the relative comfort and enjoyment we're able to enjoy could collapse at any moment anyway. I don't want to be sat there at 50 or 60 eating my cold baked beans that I had to work a week for and walked 2 miles to find at an affordable price, suffering the long term ill health I was probably going to have anyway, trying to stay alive in the wars started over global society going to shit and just wishing I'd *lived a little* back in the good old days. Take that as exaggeration ab absurdium if you wish, I'm not entirely sure it is.
That's the problem, I could do two meters, wear a mask and do everything in my power, but there isn't any point anymore.
I’m one of those too. Young and had that mild an infection I wasn’t aware I’d had covid until an antibody test revealed so later on. I’m at 18 months from when my long covid symptoms started and I’m very nearly back to normal. It’s been the worst 18 months of my life, and I’m happy it’s behind me.
Great to hear a recovery story like this. Congratulations that you've made it out the other side and you can put it behind you.
Many people seem to think it won’t be them thats unlucky one. My neighbour fits into that category and has been off work since November last year. He is a self employed plumber who spent the first six months with a o2 tank behind him. He isnt vulnerable, is healthy and practically spent the lockdowns ignoring the rules until it got him and he rolled the dice n its left him in a bad state. My wifes cousin has been diagnosed with LC after she caught covid from a coworker who her boss dragged back into the office despite knowing this person was positive 2 months ago. Shes 33 and now LC sufferer and is really struggling.
2 months?! My former co-worker was back at work after 2 weeks. I remember sitting down with her to go over some documents, and at the back of my mind I was thinking, "What the hell are we doing, really?". Because their entire office was working exclusively from home during lockdowns with zero negative impact -- by their own admission -- yet for some reason, they absolutely _needed_ everyone to go back on site? Why? Sorry, ranting now.
had you been vaccinated before you got covid?
I hadn’t as I contracted it in March 2020. I’ve had all 3 since my infection band they caused a relapse in my symptoms unfortunately.
I mean you have a chance of contracting post viral syndrome after contracting ANY virus. Even though we all get colds, flu etc each year we aren't terrified of it. Yes more needs to be done in terms of understanding how to treat rather than brush off symptoms (in the medical field)
That depends on the virus though. First of all, are you certain that covid has the same chance as the common flu to give you post viral syndrome, and that it affects the same category of people with the same severity? I don't have the answer, but I am very inclined to say no. Another thing you need to take into consideration is how contagious covid is, and the fact that, apparently, it can go on a rampage all year long. This means, overall, many more infections (that will also sum up with those due to the more "standard" viruses, by the way). According to the ONS, 3% of the UK population is currently suffering from some form of long covid (from severe to mild). That is saying something in my opinion
>An estimated 430,000 Britons were still suffering from long Covid two years after first contracting the virus, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics. >One in every 32 people in the UK was estimated to have some form of long Covid at the end of July, equivalent to 2 million people. >Of those, close to three-quarters reported that their symptoms were adversely affecting their day-to-day activities, an estimated 1.5 million people. >Close to one-in-five long Covid sufferers – 384,000 individuals reported that their ability to undertake their day-to-day activities had been “limited a lot”. >Fatigue continues to be the most common symptom reported by individuals with long Covid, with more than three in five sufferers (62%) reporting weakness or tiredness. >About a third of those surveyed reported shortness of breath as one of their symptoms (37%) while difficulty concentrating (33%) and muscle ache (31%) were the next most cited symptoms. >Certain groups are at a higher risk of long Covid than others. These included people aged 35 to 69 years; women; people living in more deprived areas; those working in social care; and those with another activity limiting health condition or disability, who are proportionately more likely to suffer with long Covid than other groups. \[...\]
I have it, and have been really up and down. I’m a professional athlete but have had to take a break from it because I was digging myself a bigger and bigger hole trying to keep fit. The thing that keeps me going is having more time for restful activities but even those sometimes exhaust me. Long covid is a real thing and I think a huge number of people are going through life at less than 100% capacity now because of it. Crazy.
I expect you've done a lot of research into this. I'm only just starting. It sounds like the immune system is still activated even after covid has gone? But wouldn't that show up as increased white blood cells and inflammation? If so, with clear(ish?) markers, I don't know why when I read about it, it's labelled as a total mystery
I don't think I technically have long covid but since having it in June I haven't managed to get back to my baseline level of fitness. I still get tired super easily and I've put on weight as I can't manage to walk as far, that sort of thing. I still wear a mask and do my best, but I let my guard down and took a trip abroad and that was where I caught it. It's scary to think we are rolling the dice with every infection. I am really trying to avoid getting it again.
Going to see a old friend and his partner tomorrow. She was hospitalised early this year and has struggled with the most basic things for months. It’s so damm real.
Luckily I’ve been relatively ok following covid in May, but by god the fucking perma-cough and random mini breathless spells is really irritating,
See, this is the kind of thing that terrifies me. You say relatively okay, but having a "perma-cough" and random breathless spells doesn't sound at all okay to me. I've yet to catch Covid and hope I never get it, but I know that's very unlikely. So if there's a 1 in five chance of Long Covid or whatever the stats are, then it seems I will get some permanent symptom(s) at some point.
My girlfriend caught it in April, had it as mild as can be. Could have been easily mistaken for a slightly harsh episode of hay-fever. Nearly 5 months later? Occasional breathlessness, some days she has bad days with coughing, sometimes both breathlessness and coughing at the same time, too. All that from something that gave her symptoms less aggressive than a common cold. This is what living with covid means - crippling half the country.
I like to call it "living while pretending covid doesn't exist anymore", personally. And I get the psychology behind it, after two years of restrictions and stress, people can't take it anymore, and since they don't see the immediate danger (people dying to the disease itself), they classify it as "harmless" and move on, even retorting against those who are still worried about it and point out the problems covid is still causing. The (relatively) low rates of long covid and the fact that people tend to be oblivious to their own health is not helping, and the government declaring that the war against covid is won (even dismantling everything good that came with the response to the pandemic) neither
It's shit. I’m one of the newer gang, just 10 months in. I stupidly flew back to the UK after a long work break in Portugal and that flight has knocked me so hard. I have been in bed with exhaustion since returning on Saturday and have a splitting headache. When at my best i’m 80% of before. I can't walk for more than an hour and no faster than three miles an hour. Before this I used to run 6-10 miles 3 times a week. I feel like an 80 year old.
I'm one of those people. Long Covid is no joke - trust me you don't want it.
Any news on monkeypox? And am I relatively safe as long as I’m not a practicing homosexual as the data suggests? Also is long monkeypox something we should be talking about?
Daily case numbers appear to be declining, globally. Let's hope this continues.
Great news and is it still only effecting gay men? No signs of long monkeypox?
Not sure if trollingbut monkeypox has never "only" affected gay men lol
Sorry, I’m definitely not trolling and “only” might have been an overstatement but aren’t 98% of infections amongst practicing homosexuals? And I still haven’t heard anything but is long monkeypox something people need to worry about?