Managing pets while dealing with long COVID can be challenging yet rewarding. Different pets require varying energy levels; low-energy pets like fish or cats may offer companionship without much effort, while dogs demand more attention. With careful planning and energy management, pets can enhance mental health and provide a comforting presence.
Category: Living With Long Covid
Practical tips for managing fatigue, energy levels, nutrition, and daily activities while living with Long COVID. Learn how to pace yourself, maintain independence, and adapt your lifestyle for better wellbeing.
Why is standing still harder than walking with Long COVID?
Why can standing still feel harder than walking with Long COVID? This article explains how blood pooling, the calf muscle pump and autonomic dysfunction can make queues, conversations and waiting upright surprisingly difficult.
Dizziness After COVID and Long COVID: Why You Feel Faint and What Helps
Dizziness is a prevalent but misunderstood symptom in long Covid, often misdiagnosed. It arises from various mechanisms, including autonomic dysfunction, cerebral hypoperfusion, and vestibular involvement, rather than just anxiety. Effective management involves understanding these complexities, focusing on patient education, and reducing symptoms through non-invasive strategies without excessive testing.
Why Did I Suddenly Develop New Food Intolerances After Covid?
Have foods you once tolerated suddenly started causing bloating, flushing, headaches or fatigue after COVID? Discover why new food intolerances are common in Long COVID, the possible role of histamine intolerance and mast cell activation, and practical ways to identify your personal triggers.
Why Can I Not Find the Right Word Anymore?
Struggling to find everyday words after COVID? Word finding difficulty is one of the most common symptoms of Long COVID brain fog. Discover why it happens, how it differs from memory loss and what current research says about recovery.
Why Do I Feel Better When I Lie Down? Understanding Long COVID, POTS and Blood Flow
Many people with Long COVID notice they feel much better when they lie down. This article explains how gravity, blood pooling, low blood volume and orthostatic intolerance affect circulation, why symptoms improve when lying flat, and what this can reveal about the body's response to standing.
Long Covid in Adolescents: The Hidden Social and Psychological Impact of Invisible Illness
Long Covid doesn't pause for adolescence. It arrives during the years when identity and friendships are being built and disrupts all of them.
Long Covid Psychological Support: Why Trust Is Often Broken First
Most Long Covid patients arrive at therapy feeling the referral means nobody believes them. That feeling is valid. This article names it before anything else.
Invisible Illness Long COVID: Why You Can Look Healthy But Still Be Sick
You look fine. You are not fine. This is about living in the gap between those two things.
Long Covid Masking: Why Patients Often Look Fine Before They Crash
Performing wellness when you are not well is exhausting. This is why people do it and what it costs.
Long Covid Loss of Identity: Why You Don’t Feel Like Yourself
Many individuals with Long Covid experience a unique, often invisible grief stemming from a gradual loss of capacity and identity, without a clear endpoint. This ongoing uncertainty complicates closure and can affect self-worth. Embracing grief is essential for adaptation, allowing new meanings to emerge while navigating these changes.
Dressing With Long Covid: Clothing, Temperature, Sensitivity, and Energy in Daily Life
Dressing for individuals with Long Covid can be a challenging and exhausting task, intertwining fatigue, pain, and sensory sensitivity. Clothing choices directly impact energy levels and daily function, making adaptations crucial. Recognizing the relationship between attire and identity offers significant emotional support, emphasizing the need for compassionate assistance from caregivers and healthcare professionals.
Long Covid Healthcare Workers: Symptoms, Work Impact and Return to Work Challenges
Long Covid significantly impacts healthcare workers, causing persistent symptoms like fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, and dysautonomia, leading to challenges in patient safety and workforce sustainability. Many affected professionals struggle with identity, guilt, and systemic pressures, risking reduced work capacity and early retirement. Addressing these issues is essential for supporting this vital workforce.
Understanding Long COVID Fatigue: A Guide for Family, Friends and Carers
Long Covid fatigue can appear confusing for others, as symptoms can fluctuate unexpectedly, causing distress for both those affected and their loved ones. This fatigue differs from ordinary tiredness; rest doesn't always help, and activities can lead to delayed worsening. Genuine support involves flexibility, understanding, and patience rather than pressure to perform.
Is Long Covid a Disability? Invisible Disability, Work Impact and Your Rights
Long Covid challenges traditional perceptions of disability. Many affected appear “fine” yet struggle with significant daily tasks. The unpredictable nature of their condition leads to confusion and lack of understanding. Recognition of Long Covid as a disability is crucial for access to necessary support, legal protection, and accommodations, fostering hope amid uncertainty.
Therapy in Long Covid: Support Without Dismissing the Illness
Long Covid is a complex illness affecting various physiological systems, leading to significant identity disruption and psychological trauma. Effective therapy focuses on acknowledging these realities, addressing grief, and supporting patients through uncertainty without attempting to reframe their experiences. Therapy helps reduce isolation, restores self-trust, and enables psychological survival amidst chronic illness challenges.
Dysautonomia After COVID: A Personal Story of POTS, Symptoms, and Recovery
The author recounts their struggle with persistent symptoms after COVID, initially mistaken for anxiety, later diagnosed as Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) and mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS). They detail managing autonomic dysfunction through lifestyle adjustments and support, emphasizing the emotional impact on family and the ongoing nature of recovery.
Living With Long Covid in 2026: Persistent Symptoms, and Life Left Behind
Many people assume COVID ended years ago. But for those living with Long Covid in 2026, symptoms persist and life feels fundamentally different. This article explores what it is like to navigate ongoing fatigue, brain fog, and invisible illness while the world moves on. Recognising Long Covid Symptoms in 2026 By 2026, COVID is something … Continue reading Living With Long Covid in 2026: Persistent Symptoms, and Life Left Behind
Redefining Strength: Coping with Long COVID
Long COVID dramatically altered my life, transforming simple tasks into strategic challenges. The symptoms, like dizziness and tachycardia, necessitate constant planning and acceptance of help. I've learned that strength is now about awareness and adaptation rather than endurance, cultivating gratitude for small moments amidst this new reality.
Parenting with Long Covid: The Invisible Struggle and Small Wins That Matter
After a long struggle with Long COVID, the author celebrates the monumental experience of attending her daughter's school performance. This brief but significant moment highlights the joy of presence and small victories amid invisible challenges. Despite exhaustion, attending the show symbolizes the resilience of parenting through chronic illness.
Clean Air in Schools: How Ventilation Improves Attendance, Health, and Learning
The manifesto highlights the critical need for improved ventilation in UK schools to combat airborne viruses and maintain student health. It argues that current attendance policies overlook infection spread through air, leading to increased illness. By prioritizing clean air through ventilation and filtration, schools can enhance overall wellbeing and learning continuity.
Living with Long Covid: Navigating Energy Changes
Living with Long Covid significantly alters one's energy management, making it unpredictable and limited. Unlike typical fatigue, those affected face a gap between intention and capability, leading to emotional distress and altered identity. Adaptation becomes essential for stability and self-respect, emphasizing understanding energy differently rather than relying on past norms.
Can You Travel with Long COVID in Winter? What No One Tells You
Winter retreats in the mountains can be challenging for those with mild Long COVID due to altitude and cold exacerbating symptoms. However, with careful planning and a focus on gentle activities like short walks or relaxing in cabins, individuals can enjoy the scenery while prioritizing their health and well-being.
Faith and Chronic Illness: Finding Meaning While Living With Long COVID
Long COVID can change your health, identity and sense of the future. Explore how faith, spirituality and other sources of meaning can help some people navigate chronic illness and uncertainty.
Long COVID Pacing: How to Protect Your Energy & Avoid Crashes
Long COVID pacing is one of the most important self-management strategies for people living with Long COVID who experience post-exertional malaise (PEM). Learning how to pace effectively can help reduce crashes, protect your energy envelope and improve day-to-day quality of life. Living with Long Covid, ME CFS, or other chronic illnesses often feels like walking a … Continue reading Long COVID Pacing: How to Protect Your Energy & Avoid Crashes
How Long Covid Interrupts Careers, Hobbies, and Identity
Long Covid results in a profound, gradual erasure of identity, impacting daily routines, work, hobbies, and social connections. Those affected often experience fatigue, cognitive challenges, and increased isolation, leading to identity crises. Despite institutional neglect, individuals can adapt, finding new ways to connect and redefine themselves, maintaining resilience and humanity.
Giving Voice to Chronic Illnesses
The article explores the challenges faced by individuals with severe chronic illnesses, particularly those who are housebound or bedbound. It highlights the importance of digital communities that provide connection and support for these often-invisible individuals. The author emphasizes the responsibility of sharing their stories and understanding their experiences, acknowledging their silence and resilience.
When the World Has Moved On: Life After COVID with Long Covid
Life is divided between those who have moved on from COVID and those with long COVID, facing daily struggles. Small achievements feel monumental, while society neglects the ongoing crisis. Advocating for ourselves and supporting each other is vital as we navigate fatigue and isolation, striving for recognition and change. Hope lies in community and shared victories.
Dry Mouth, Burning Mouth, Mouth Ulcers, Taste Changes and More
The article discusses unexpected post-COVID symptoms affecting the mouth and eyes, including dry mouth, mouth ulcers, taste changes, and various eye irritations like conjunctivitis. It highlights the role of the immune system and suggests management options such as antivirals and eye drops. Understanding these symptoms can alleviate concerns for affected individuals.
Why Do Long COVID Symptoms Fluctuate? Understanding Good Days, Bad Days and Setbacks
Why do Long COVID symptoms come and go? Learn why recovery is often non-linear, what can trigger setbacks, and why good days, bad days and symptom fluctuations are a recognised part of many people's recovery journey.
Understanding Life with Long COVID
The narrator reflects on the challenges of living with Long COVID, detailing the emotional and physical toll it takes on daily life. They describe careful management of energy, the unpredictability of symptoms, and the persistent grief for their past self. Yet, amidst the struggle, they find moments of joy and resilience.
Long COVID Treatment: Why Talking Therapy Isn’t Enough
Long COVID is a complex biomedical condition, not a psychological disorder that can be treated through talking therapy or exercise alone. It involves physiological issues like endothelial and mitochondrial dysfunction, persistent inflammation, and immune dysregulation. Psychological support may help patients cope with emotional trauma, but it cannot replace necessary medical interventions for their condition.
How Fascia Affects Long COVID Symptoms
Long COVID is characterized by persistent symptoms affecting millions, potentially linked to fascia, a connective tissue network. Inflammation, microvascular damage, and nervous system dysregulation may impact fascia, exacerbating symptoms. Treatment can include gentle therapies, mindful movement, hydration, and vagus nerve stimulation, emphasizing patience and holistic approaches for recovery.
10 Must-Have Kitchen Tools for Long COVID & POTS Relief
Living with long COVID and AUTONOMIC DYSFUNCTION conditions like POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome) can turn even simple kitchen tasks into an Olympic event. Fatigue, dizziness, breathlessness and cognitive fog can make cooking challenging, but the right tools and strategies can make life a whole lot easier. Here are 10 kitchen game changers that help long-haulers stay … Continue reading 10 Must-Have Kitchen Tools for Long COVID & POTS Relief
Long COVID and Beauty: When You Don’t Feel Like Yourself Anymore
Long COVID can change more than how you feel. Hair shedding, skin changes, fragrance intolerance and the effort of everyday grooming can affect confidence and even your sense of identity. Here’s why these changes happen, what may improve with time and when they deserve further investigation.
The Impact of Chronic Illness on Friendships
Chronic illness, including Long COVID, profoundly affects friendships due to unpredictability, energy limits, and invisible symptoms. While losses can lead to grief, understanding the dynamics can ease feelings of isolation. It's crucial to acknowledge pain, foster supportive connections, and seek empathy from friends. The experience can highlight meaningful relationships.
Understanding Weight Changes with Long Covid
Long Covid can cause significant weight fluctuations due to gut inflammation, immune dysfunction, and gut dysbiosis. These factors lead to inefficiencies in digestion and metabolism, resulting in either weight loss or gain. To manage these issues, adopting anti-inflammatory diets, probiotics, stress management, and hydration are recommended for restoring balance.
Navigating Long COVID: Lessons from Sea Turtles
Living with Long COVID parallels the life of a sea turtle, emphasizing endurance and adaptability. This journey involves embracing a slower pace, managing energy wisely, and learning to navigate life's currents with resilience. The struggle teaches the importance of self-care and finding beauty in the journey, valuing moments over speed.
Men and Long COVID: Breaking the Silence
Long COVID affects men in unique ways that often remain unnoticed amid the focus on women's experiences. Men frequently under-report symptoms due to cultural stigma, which leads to misdiagnosis. Many face psychological challenges alongside physical symptoms. Increased awareness and tailored healthcare responses are crucial for supporting male patients dealing with Long COVID.
“We’re All Bored of COVID” But That Doesn’t Mean It’s Over
A new wave of COVID-19 is causing fatigue and exhaustion among the public, who desire to return to normalcy. However, the virus continues to affect lives, with many experiencing long-term health issues. It is essential to acknowledge ongoing risks, promote clean air, and extend compassion to those still suffering from post-COVID symptoms.
Long COVID in Pop Culture: TV & Film That Got It Right
Media significantly influences societal perceptions of chronic illnesses like ME/CFS and Long COVID, often misunderstood and underrepresented. Key portrayals in shows like "The Golden Girls" and documentaries like "Unrest" raise awareness yet reveal gaps in representation. More nuanced narratives are crucial for fostering understanding and reducing stigma surrounding these complex conditions.
When Your Doctor Doesn’t Believe Your Long COVID
Feeling dismissed by your doctor? Learn why normal tests don't rule out Long COVID, how to communicate your symptoms effectively and when to seek a second opinion.
How to Answer How Are You? When You Have Long COVID
The article offers practical responses for people with long COVID facing the common question, "How are you?" It suggests tailored replies for different relationships, balancing honesty and simplicity without oversharing. The overarching message encourages individuals to share their struggles when comfortable while reminding them that it's okay to keep conversations light.
Long COVID Pacing and Fatigue: Lessons from a Cat on Rest and Recovery
Living with Long COVID often means learning to slow down. Discover five gentle lessons about pacing, rest, boundaries and finding joy in everyday life through the unexpected wisdom of a Siberian cat.
Recurrent COVID Infections: What Insurers See That Governments Ignore
A recent Swiss Re analysis warns that recurrent COVID-19 infections are causing long-term harm to individuals, healthcare systems, and the economy. Insurers report rising disability claims and mortality, while healthcare systems struggle under increased patient loads. Governments often ignore the ongoing crisis, leaving individuals vulnerable. Personal protection and advocacy for better policies are crucial.
Why Has Long COVID Become Political? – Long Covid Politics
Long COVID is not a political condition, but it has become intertwined with wider debates about the COVID-19 pandemic. Discover why this happened, how it affects patients, and why science and lived experience should remain at the centre of the conversation.
Long COVID and “You Look Fine”: How to Respond When People Think You’re Better
“You look great” is often meant kindly, but for people with Long COVID it can feel surprisingly complicated. Explore why invisible illness changes the meaning of this common compliment and how to respond without exhausting yourself.
Should You Use a Wheelchair When Travelling with Long COVID?
Travelling with Long COVID often means balancing independence with energy conservation. Discover why using a wheelchair can be a pacing decision that helps reduce post-exertional malaise and preserves energy for the journey ahead
Air Quality and Long COVID: Why the Air You Breathe Can Make Symptoms Worse
Clean air significantly impacts the management of long COVID by reducing inflammation and enhancing overall health. Poor air quality can worsen symptoms like fatigue and shortness of breath, while clean air promotes better sleep and lung function. Strategies to improve indoor and outdoor air quality can support recovery efforts.
Finding Strength in the Slow: My Long COVID Journey
LSometimes Long COVID takes away more than your energy. But slowing down can also reveal unexpected moments of wonder. This personal story explores how sea turtles, cats and learning to embrace a slower pace became part of my recovery journey.
Winter Holidays Long Covid: 7 Tips to Avoid Crashes and Enjoy
The article provides strategies for managing long COVID symptoms during winter holidays. It emphasizes the importance of planning, pacing, and setting boundaries to balance festivities and health. Tips include dressing warmly, staying hydrated, monitoring food choices, using air purifiers, and scheduling recovery days to ensure enjoyable gatherings without overwhelming fatigue or discomfort.
Wearing a Mask While Traveling: Why It’s Still Smart (Even in 2026)
In 2024, wearing a mask while traveling evokes mixed reactions, from confusion to sympathy. The author, who has Long COVID, explains that masking is a protective measure against various illnesses in crowded spaces. Despite discomfort and odd assumptions, they prioritize health, humorously navigating societal perceptions of masked individuals.
Christmas with Long Covid: The Part Nobody Sees
Navigating Christmas with long COVID presents unique challenges, including fatigue and sensory overload. Balancing festive activities requires strategic planning, such as pacing tasks and prioritizing self-care. Embrace simplicity, establish boundaries, and cherish small joys while adapting holiday traditions to promote well-being. Ultimately, surviving the festive season becomes a significant personal achievement.
COVID in Winter: Why We Are Quietly Forgetting About It
As winter brings seasonal festivities, COVID-19's presence fades from media attention, overshadowed by flu and RSV discussions. This shift reflects pandemic fatigue and a strategic choice by health officials to avoid controversy. Ignoring COVID risks undermines public health awareness, complicating healthcare systems and neglecting ongoing long COVID effects. Transparency is crucial for safety.
Long COVID Daily Life: Living in a World That Moved On
Living with Long COVID means far more than managing symptoms. Daily life often revolves around pacing, unpredictable crashes, invisible challenges and constant energy management. This article explores what everyday life with Long COVID really feels like, why the world can seem to have moved on, and how small steps can still represent meaningful progress.
Perching Stool for Long COVID and POTS Relief: How a Simple Stool Became My Recovery Sidekick
The author shares their unexpected journey with a perching stool, initially viewed with skepticism due to its unappealing design. However, it soon becomes a vital tool during their Long COVID recovery, providing comfort and stability, particularly for those with autonomic dysfunction. The stool proves functional, despite its lack of aesthetics.
Hello world! The Story Behind LongCovidJourney
Discover how LongCovidJourney grew from one person's search for answers into a trusted resource combining evidence-based information, lived experience, and practical guidance for Long COVID.