The ‘Ongoing Battle’ of Long COVID: What It’s Like To Live With Debilitating Sequelae For Almost A Year | UK News

More than a year after the first COVID-19 infections were reported in the UK, some people who contracted the virus in the first weeks of the pandemic are still suffering from symptoms.

“Long COVIDIt is believed to have affected thousands of people across the country, with ongoing physical effects ranging from fatigue and “brain fog” to nerve pain and paralysis.

There are now calls for the condition to be recognized as an “occupational disease” for frontline workers – while concerns have been expressed about the virus’s long-term effect on some children.

So what is it like to struggle with a COVID long almost a year after contracting the virus – and when could the symptoms finally go away?

‘It’s just an ongoing battle’: mother and daughter bedridden by long COVID

Sammie McFarland and her 15-year-old daughter, Kitty, spent most of their days in bed for almost eight months after contracting COVID-19 in March of last year – and they are still suffering from the after-effects today.

After initially having a sore throat and headache, Ms McFarland, from Dorchester in Dorset, said she developed a range of symptoms over the following months, including difficulty breathing and a persistent cough .

She told Sky News: “I had a strange tingling in my hands, weakness in my arms – I couldn’t have a cup of tea without using two hands – unable to stay awake, unable to sit up for eating my meals I have become intolerant of getting up.

“It’s just an ongoing battle.”

Ms McFarland, who was diagnosed as having had COVID by a doctor in May, said it was “horrible” when she was too sick to help Kitty whose condition also worsened.

She described how her daughter became “floppy … as if someone had ripped her bones”.

“It was like she just got flowing, it just didn’t have any structure – it was the strangest thing I had ever witnessed,” Ms. McFarland added.

“Sometimes she would crawl on the floor to get to the bathroom because it was easier than trying to get up. It was just awful.

“My husband was our caregiver for seven months and I know he found it absolutely scary.”

Ms McFarland said her family had accepted that “our lives have become much smaller and we are now used to doing less”.

“We are now largely able to sit and have our meals standing or at the table, so this is progress,” she added.

Ms McFarland leads the Long COVID Kids support group which is in contact with nearly 1,000 families, including around 1,500 children affected by the disease.

The group is collecting data anonymously to learn more about the long COVID and a recent survey of more than 300 members found more than 100 reported symptoms.

They included the common symptoms of fatigue, headache, stomach pain, dizziness, and muscle pain, as well as long-term ‘scary’ effects such as paralysis, electric shock, nerve pain, testicular pain, appendicitis, liver damage and new epileptic seizures, says Ms. McFarland.

Anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and extremely volatile mood swings have also been reported, she added.

“ I was so weak that even something like brushing my teeth was impossible ”

The scale of the problem is evident as more than 35,000 people have joined the Long COVID support group – including Christina Barratt who is now helping manage it.

The 50-year-old from Manchester said she was still suffering from the long-term effects of COVID-19 after she became ill with flu-like symptoms at the end of March, initially battling shortness of breath and heart palpitations at night.

She told Sky News: “There were times when I thought I might not get through the night, which sounds really dramatic, but when you come across a new virus that’s killing people and you’re in. home alone and there is no help it’s pretty scary.

“My body was so weak, it was like it was shutting down.

“I remember not wanting to fall asleep at night because I was too scared.”

In the weeks after contracting COVID-19, Ms Barratt said she could “barely walk anywhere” or stand.

“I was so weak that even something like brushing my teeth was impossible,” she added. “I live alone and have just spent weeks and weeks and weeks in bed.

“I was crawling on my hands and knees in the kitchen. I just haven’t improved.

“Each month, different symptoms seemed to appear.”

Among the long-term effects, Ms Barratt said she suffered from “brain fog” and developed tingling and numbness in her body.

She says she was fired from a sales job in July and can now only function “at a very low level.”

A doctor said her long-term symptoms could be “post-viral” and due to the “weirdness of COVID” affecting many parts of the body, Ms. Barratt said.

“I’m trying to realistically tell myself that it could take between 18 months and two years – who knows? she added.

“I try not to dwell on the fact that it may never be right.

What causes a long COVID?

Long-term COVID could be a combination of four different syndromes affecting the body at the same time, according to a study by the National Institute for Health Research.

He revealed that people struggling with the long-term effects of the coronavirus may suffer from a mixture of post-viral fatigue syndrome, post-intensive care syndrome, permanent organ damage and long-term COVID syndrome. term.

Dr Elaine Maxwell, author of the review, told Sky News: “The problem with the long-term COVID term is that it covers such a wide range of experiences that it’s hard to understand a common thread. between them. The only thing between them. is an initial COVID infection. “

She said researchers were increasingly finding that there were “different patterns of symptoms” caused by “different causal mechanisms.”

The common symptom of “brain fog” is thought to be caused by “continued inflammation” of the brain following infection with COVID, she added.

According to Dr Maxwell, surveys of people with long-lasting COVID have suggested that it is more common in women than men and affects young people more.

The long-term COVID also does not appear to be related to the severity of the illness of patients when they first contracted the virus, she said.

“You’re not necessarily going to have a long COVID if you were ventilated than if you were on the ward,” Dr. Maxwell said.

“Different groups are suffering from long COVID that you could have predicted from people who have fallen seriously ill and have been admitted to intensive care.”

‘This is potentially a major problem for the NHS’

Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, who chairs the all-party group on the coronavirus, said lower estimates suggested 10% of people with COVID-19 had suffered symptoms more than five weeks after contracting the virus, or nearly of 400,000 people.

She told Sky News: “It is getting to the point where most people at the end of this pandemic will likely know someone who has suffered from a long COVID.

“This is potentially a huge problem for the NHS which at the moment is hardly recognized by the government.”

Ms Moran has called for a national registry to record the number of people suffering from a long COVID.

She also wants the disease to be recognized as an “occupational disease” for frontline workers who can no longer work because of the virus, as well as a compensation scheme for those with long-standing COVID.

Ms Moran said: “Given how bad it is for some people, where they describe long COVID as worse than having coronavirus in the first place, I don’t think the government takes it seriously enough. “

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs said: “We are well aware of the indiscriminate and lasting impact that COVID-19 can have. It should be a clear reminder to everyone that COVID-19 can affect anyone and they should continue to follow the guidelines and think hands, face and space to get this virus under control.

“We continue to work with our outstanding scientists to improve our collective understanding of the long-standing impact of COVID on people of all ages – ensuring that we provide the best possible support to those affected.