Help navigating the mental and emotional toll of long COVID

We are no longer who we were. I have accepted my new normal as much as I can. I have had to work really hard to not think about who I was before but figure out who I am now. I kept thinking I would be that person again one day, but realistically I am not. I have so many non-curable things from LC. I have found some low energy hobbies. I have started a family history and am gathering pictures, articles, etc. I love this, who knew? I am making annual memory books for my grandson. I love making them and he loves looking through them. I am thrilled if I can make it through a work week laying on the sofa while working to conserve energy and control pain and swelling. I am taking life one day at a time. I find it easier to manage one day at the time. This has been a very long, painful, messy road with many people not understanding or believing I was sick. I found doctors locally and at my LC clinic who know. It took a while but what a life changer that has been. I still have bad days, sadly there will always be bad days. But I have set my bar so low for happy things such as the fact I woke up this morning. I made coffee, it tasted good and I was able to drink it. I will have one meal today, as food has become my enemy on so many levels; smell, taste, having energy to figure out what I can eat and make it, and then the fun GI issues. But I am doing it. I am looking at anything I can accomplish as a victory. I love Christmas and used to have a great social life and go shopping etc, now my house is full of decorations I love in every room. And I can find anything and everything online to window shop and buy.
I can't take antidepressants due to medication I am now taking. At first I was able to take low dose anti-depressants. It is okay to take these. If we were miracle workers we would all be healed and healthy. Your mental state is just as important as your physical. Do/find what works for you. Take care of you. We are all worthwhile and have value in being among the living. Don't lose sight of that. I wish you and all of us the best year we can have in 2024. I wish us things that make us happy, big or small. I wish us as much mitigation as we can find for our health issues, mental and physical.

You’re so right, I need to start looking/finding happiness in the small things. I can’t jog my 2+ miles anymore, for now maybe trying to walk around my neighborhood for a little while. I Love being in nature, sit in the park and feel happy and grateful to be able to do so.
This community has been so helpful, so many people (even doctors) didn’t understand or even believe I was experiencing what I am. I felt so isolated and alone I thank all of you! ❤️

Mood meds - no one wants to take more pills than necessary, but mood is important since it influences thinking and behavior. After resisting for years, I’m now working with my docs to get some sort of baseline of relief. We have each been through our own personal hell - anxiety &/or depression are a normal response. However unmitigated stress is not good and can lead to additional problems.

*drug not drunk!

I’m sorry you’re going through this. Keep venting. FYI, everyone copes differently. Don’t stop believing...this too shall pass and you’ll have a story of triumph to tell that will help motivate someone experiencing what you are experiencing. Many blessings to you all.

70 YO female here, homebound with Long COVID. Last spring I started weekly telehealth sessions with a medical social worker. This has been really helpful . I also started using the Calm app over a year ago, initially for the sleep stories but now also for daily 10 mi minute lite meditation sessions. Also helpful. Hang in there. This is really tough.

It is so tough. I know I am mad about my lost life!
How to be happy I woke up this morning?? Feels like one more day of torture to me.
A wedding I was looking forward to is out of reach. I cannot make the long plane ride to Hawaii.
I know...sounds childish. I love these people and would give anything to be there.
I’m helping the mother-of the- groom find a beautiful dress online.
It makes me feel useful.

I know exactly how you feel!! Waking up to the same horrible symptoms everyday is hard. I’m sorry you’re going through this too. So crappy you have to miss your trip. Not childish at all to feel the way you do. Going on trips, being with loved ones, experiences and adventures, that’s what makes life joyful.

I hope and pray for healing for you.

I am so sorry to read what you are experiencing. I am glad that you are seeing that you are far from alone. The uncharted nature of post-Covid illness certainly magnifies the normal feeling of helplessness and makes it far harder for others to understand what you are going through.

FWIW, the book "Full Catastrophe Living" by Jon Kabat-Zinn is an excellent resource for people in (y)our situation. It is a classic, written by someone with decades of clinical experience with people going through severe stressors of all types and degrees, and written in a down-to-earth style.

Many of us keep a journal as a way to validate our experience and provide data for coping better.

I wish you and all of us strength.

I found it helpful to work with a psychiatrist to manage the depression. We now meet monthly.
I see a neuropsychologist that works with people learning to live with brain injuries and diseases. Sue gets the mental the disease side.