Navigating Return to Work with Long COVID

Apr 15, 2022 | Greg Vanichkachorn | @drvan | Comments (7)

Symptoms are only half of the picture when it comes to Post COVID Syndrome (PCS). The other half is how long covid affects a person’s ability to live their lives. And one part of life that many patients with PCS have trouble with is work. In our Covid Activity Rehabilitation Program (CARP) at Mayo Clinic, only approximately 25% of patient were able to go back to their normal work 3 months out from their infection start. This is not surprising. It can be hard to come back to work after any medical condition, and this is especially true for long haul covid. As an occupational medicine clinic, CARP has helped many patients get back to work. Here are a few tips you can use to navigate the journey back to your livelihood.

Communicate

It will be hard for your work to offer support if they don’t know how to help you. Clear communication with your employer and medical team will maximize your chances of successfully returning to work. How can you communicate effectively?

  1. Make sure your employer receives regular work recommendations from your medical team. We like to provide updates roughly every 2-4 weeks.
  2. When meeting with your medical team to create work recommendations, be an active participant. After all, you know your work best.
  3. Finally, talk to your employer regularly. I know it can be difficult to have these kinds of discussions. As hard as this may be, keeping them in the dark for weeks on end will only make the situation worse.
  4. Finally, don’t wait until scheduled appointments to adjust your work recommendations. If you are feeling better and ready to take on more work, let your medical team know instead of waiting three weeks. Same is true if things are getting worse. Constant communication is key.

Reshape work

Many patients  are worried about returning to work because they are unsure how they will do when faced with their usual, busy workload. (I have never met anyone who said their work was easy). I have the same concern; it can take a long time for a patient to feel ready to jump back in at 100%. That is why we recommend a gradual return to work. For example, if you normally work eight hours a day, 5 days a week, then we might try a start back to work with 4-hour shifts, three days a week, with a day of rest between. This can help you ease back into the work environment.

Some employers, especially medium or large sized ones, have special jobs, called temporary alternative duties. These positions are usually less laborious and are designed to help employees with medical conditions re-enter the job environment. It is highly recommended that you explore such options with your work.

Do your homework

Unfortunately, temporary alternative duty is not available for everyone. To make matters worse, patients with long haul covid are often told not to return until they are “back to 100%.” This is not ideal as I’m not sure anyone starts working at 100%. In this case, you may find yourself out of the workplace for some time. But remember, that doesn’t mean you aren’t working. The important things that we all do during the day, like doing the laundry, cooking meals, and running errands; they can simulate work. For patients who find themselves at home, I recommend looking at daily activities as your job. By doing so, both you and your health team will be able to better estimate the kinds of activities you can do when it comes time to return to employment somehow. Remember, we work lots of ways. We just don’t always get a W-2 for it.

Focus on function

A question I often ask patients is “what are your goals for treatment.” One goal I hear a lot is “I want to be pain free and back to where I was before.” While I understand this desire, and one of my callings in medicine is to help with suffering, this goal can be very hard to reach. Instead, I recommend patients focus on improving their function. We have worked with many patients with Post COVID Syndrome now, and we know some patients will have a permanent change in their baseline health status. But just like with other serious medical conditions, that doesn’t mean you can’t live your life. When going back to work, you may have new challenges and even discomfort. But with treatment and new management strategies, you may be able to overcome such barriers and return back to work.

Connect with other people like you and share your recovery tips and successes in the Post-COVID Recovery & COVID-19 support group.

Interested in more newsfeed posts like this? Go to the Post-COVID Recovery blog.

How do I join a virtual Post COVID support group? TY!

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Thank you!!
The fear of 'how will I manage' is huge. Especially when I don't know that I overdid it till the next day. I don't know from one day to the next how I am going to feel-I think I am ok, then I crash the next day. I can't depend on myself to be able to show up for a job when I can't show up for a haircut appointment .

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@dsalvucci

How do I join a virtual Post COVID support group? TY!

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Hi @dsalvucci and welcome. According to your profile, you are following the Post-COVID Recovery & COVID-19 support group. You can click this link https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/post-covid-recovery-covid-19/ to see all the discussion topics, read and join in.

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Thanks for that Colleen, appreciate it!

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Got CoVid May 1, 2022 even though I had all my vaccinations. It was difficult to get in to see a doctor. When I did, he seemed to know less than I do about long CoVid, as I'd been reading articles from the Mayo Clinic and John Hopkins and other reliable sources. He pushed me to go back to work at the beginning of July for 4 hours. I still struggle to get through the 4-hour shift and am in so much pain by the end, that I don't do anything at home. I have diverticula that are aggravated by aspirin or ibuprofen. Other prescriptions for pain would bother my kidneys or make me unable to go to work. So I wait until 9:00 p.m. to take an edible, which takes an hour to kick in, but helps me alleviate the pain and sleep[ for 10-11 hours. This is no way to live. The doctor finally referred me to the long-haul clinic at OHSU in July, but the first available appointment is at the end of February this year. It's a good idea to have people confer with their doctors, but with CoVid, many many doctors have no idea what to do, and to get see a doctor that might have an inkling, is a long long process. I still feel I shouldn't be working because I can't pace myself as I can at home. On my days off, when I can stop as I feel the need, I do not have the constant incredible pain that only sitting still minimizes until I can take an edible. I do have some pain, but no where close to the intensity that working a straight 4 hours causes.

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@memcat

Got CoVid May 1, 2022 even though I had all my vaccinations. It was difficult to get in to see a doctor. When I did, he seemed to know less than I do about long CoVid, as I'd been reading articles from the Mayo Clinic and John Hopkins and other reliable sources. He pushed me to go back to work at the beginning of July for 4 hours. I still struggle to get through the 4-hour shift and am in so much pain by the end, that I don't do anything at home. I have diverticula that are aggravated by aspirin or ibuprofen. Other prescriptions for pain would bother my kidneys or make me unable to go to work. So I wait until 9:00 p.m. to take an edible, which takes an hour to kick in, but helps me alleviate the pain and sleep[ for 10-11 hours. This is no way to live. The doctor finally referred me to the long-haul clinic at OHSU in July, but the first available appointment is at the end of February this year. It's a good idea to have people confer with their doctors, but with CoVid, many many doctors have no idea what to do, and to get see a doctor that might have an inkling, is a long long process. I still feel I shouldn't be working because I can't pace myself as I can at home. On my days off, when I can stop as I feel the need, I do not have the constant incredible pain that only sitting still minimizes until I can take an edible. I do have some pain, but no where close to the intensity that working a straight 4 hours causes.

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Not being able to work.i believe is one of the hardest things to deal with. As for me I have worked sincere i was 15yrs. old. Here I am (49)
There is no help from anyone except at church that helped with my rent. There is some much cost when we have to pay $30 - $400 to go to get the medical care needed. My husband has lost his job for being sick and now he is to worried about me to leave my side. I have had a fundraiser running and I just have people being cruel. I am really about to throw in the towel. I fight every day to be a little bit better, but it still only lasts for a few hours and then I am back down for the day. Keep your head up. Here is praying everything goes well for you. Take care.

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This is me. Covid positive on aug 20,2022. Believe had it jan 2020 after trip to mayo clinic but wasnt world wide and no test done then. Had more flare up but not full blown like first and neg covid test. This one woke me up sick bathroom problems headache temp restless couldnt eat/drink coughing cant walk/talk thick mucus elphante on chest feeling. Many more problems tons of test dont feel much better year latter. Work was short term leave, now long term leave and they made me fill out social secutity disability. The question is what do I? Go back to work with no restrictions when I know this is not correct. Retire/quite job have had 34 years and hope disability will come though up to 7 months maybe wiĺl take. Go back to work part time but no insurance that I need because I also have other medical problems. Try work get fired because of medical call offs and have to start SSD paper again. Retire and start early medicare turned 62 in July had planned to work at least tell 67 1/2 for full benifits.
I am confused thinking about it let alone working 40 hours 5 days a week with no set days on or off /standing/walking/lifting/talking to people(voice goes out with coughing)/timed working freight/breaks/lunches at certain times.

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