Any tips on coping w/isolation, loss of support. LC since 2020

Yes--I agree I would love to be part of this group if possible. Thanks. Fran

Hi to all. Reading these posts and @rinadbq has once again so succinctly described this journey and believe we all know how valuable and extraordinary a person she is regardless of having to leave ER medicine. The essence of who we are is still there, and with time as she shares, there are small ongoing improvements or changes we make to hopefully find joy in the smallest things. I am not downplaying the extraordinary physical and mental difficulties as know most of us have specialist physicians and therapists, but even they really dont understand it unless theyve had it. I truly hope all here can find the simplest thing to bring the smallest peace like completing a sudoku puzzle, holding a grandchild's hand, calling a loved one across the country even if hard to talk so use oxygen, and take a rare trip using a wheelchair, as I am, as you never know what symptom is coming yet peace and joy can be found in new and sometimes even better ways. Truly healing and blessings to all🌈

I understand. I got covid while working as an adult NP in a clinic in 2020. My husband got it too. We used to motorcycle on our off time. After covid, I had little energy and worrying a out forgetting things. I finally stopped working altogether and lost what my life was about. So sorry for all your losses, too. I wish we could somehow recover...

I’m in the same boat. Long covid since 2020, leading to epilepsy in 2023. For most people the pandemic is over. I still fear getting reinfected, though after epilepsy not sure what else covid can throw at me (plenty). My partner has worked remotely from home since covid, mostly to avoid infecting me. But remote work is drying up, and now that the pandemic is ‘over’ his therapist is encouraging him to get an on-site job. “We have ways of protecting ourselves” the therapist says, but the problem is no one protects themselves anymore, there is enormous social pressure to act like the pandemic really is over, even if it is still the third leading cause of death in the US behind heart disease and cancer. Social distancing and masking are no longer practiced - we just don’t care to keep each other safe anymore. Covid has messed up my body and my mind, I do not want put myself in a situation where I could get reinfected. I mask, I avoid crowds, I don’t eat in restaurants, I get groceries delivered. Friends have been going out to restaurants and bars for years. Doctors and hospitals here no longer mask. So I have to choose between masking - staying safe and being regarded as a freak, or not masking and pretending nothing is wrong in order to have some semblance of a social life. I have lost a lot of faith in my humanity’s ability to unite and survive future challenges. So to wrap up, what about us long covid patients - how can we move on when the rest of the world has left us behind? I have a feeling covid still has global surprises in store. I don’t think this is over by any means. And I don’t want to simply get give up and get reinfected - lord knows what that would do to me. I would like to see more research on what reinfection does to people with long covid, as opposed to people who have had Covid at least once but feel it was no big deal. We are entirely on our own, the world has moved on.

Hi @kate2020. So sorry you are experiencing this and hope these suggestions come across in helpful light. Over the years I have focused on what brought me a smile that I did on my own and find smaller or new ways to do it. For instance, I love being outside in nature, so as I was able to go few more steps with walker, I would find plant to cut flower off of, then months later could trim plant, then walk short distance to plan spring seed planting. Maybe not digging in ground but I can get pot to put where I see my accomplishment everyday. Same for things inside home as just rearranging a lightweight momento from a loved one reminds me of grateful happy times and their love. Hope this helped to find your different ways on healing journey🌈

Hi..I am interested in a long covid support group..yep..the isolation and loneliness is so real..plus there are alot of those that do not believe this syndrome is for real..if they had it, they would believe us. Alot of people and medical professionals do not get it. I do not like how we are treated. I have seen a few providers lately that were rude and did not care one bit about what I was dealing with on a daily basis. One provider asked me why I was there when he walked in the room...he had this sick looking grin on his face..I was there to have a followup due to my brain anuerysm. He said it was no big deal..How would he like it if he had a time bomb in his head. Thanks for your post. Kitty2

Thank you. It helps to share with others who have some of the same symptoms.

Hi, everyone, and
Hi RMS, your post really resonated with me!

RMS, thank you for your service as a nurse! I can only imagine how difficult it was in the early days of Covid. And "difficult" is a completely insufficient word to describe it.

RMS, I was a classroom teacher until my first bout of Covid in Oct. of 2020. I am pretty sure that I caught it at school even though I was super vigilant about following all protocols. Unfortunately, many of my co-workers and the school families were not.

Long Covid in 2020-- nobody believed it! Such gas-lighting. I was made to feel guilty about not returning to work or doing extended family chores. The doctors were little help-- not really their fault at the time. Post-exertion malaise was accute! It's been 2 years and 364 days, and I still am not back to where I was pre-Covid. I can't work.

RMS, your use of the word "grief" to describe the loss of a profession is so apt. That is how I have been feeling. While I didn't save lives like you, I hope that as a teacher I helped my students improve theirs. I miss everything about teaching. Well, I don't miss doing grades, to be scrupulously honest. Since my own children are grown and out of the house, my students really filled that void. I miss the intellectual stimulation, the conversation with colleagues, the challenges...all the stuff you mentioned. It's like my purpose in life is gone. I don't have grandkids, and I think that realistically my husband might be better off without me now.

I am talking with a therapist, and she has been very helpful, especially with bizarre post-Covid anxiety. We haven't really discussed the grief aspect of not teaching anymore.

A few weeks ago-- probably at the start of the new school year, I finally realized that I probably will never have my own classroom again, never will teach again. It's time to give away or throw out all of the goofy things that I kept around my classroom to make it a cheerful, fun, happy place. And all of the tests and handouts and learning aides that I worked so hard on to help my students learn...Still makes me wanna cry now as I type.

I'm afraid to volunteer because of Covid and because of the immunosupressant (spelling?) medication I take for another, pre-existing condition.
I'm afraid to socialize inside for the same reasons. Most of my siblings are anti-vaxers and don't follow any kind of protocols-- even though they know what kind of medication I take.
I have one friend left.

Here's my last bit: When the governor of my state closed all of the schools in March of 2020, I found out when I had an IV dripping my immune-system suppressing medication into my arm. It was a shock. It was a good idea to shut down but still a shock. One of the most challenging times of my life was teaching via Zoom and computers. The students struggled mightily, too.

Well, if anyone has read all of this post, I thank you!
I never would have believed it, but there is comfort to be had on this computer forum, knowing other people feel the same things!

Brain fog and stupid = me, too!

Hope everyone has "as good as it gets" ! 🙂

You are a hero. I'm sorry you have paid a huge price for your service to others. Praying your condition improves with time and you can return to your career and social life. Thank you for your service!

annewoodmayo
you are not alone. My 40-year career is gone. I would love to do something simple, part time, but my energy level is consistently inconsistent, I'm not dependable to show up for anything.
sometimes I just feel broken; the tatters and forgotten toy in the back of the closet. I am getting better at remembering the Serenity Prayer- Grant me the serenity to accept the things I can't change (Long Covid), courage to change the things I can (delivered groceries, cleaning crew, automatic bill pay), and wisdom to know the difference. The acceptance part is one heck of a hurdle!