When I wrote my book on Long Covid (with Shelia Granger) I dealt with fatigue at some length. I know it is one of the major problems people who are dealing with Long Covid have to face. This week I am going to run through one of the main issues which people have to cope with and I hope to give some tips to lessen the symptoms.
Long Covid brings a special sort of fatigue
Fatigue is a symptom of modern life. It is estimated about 10 percent of people are experiencing some degree of fatigue at any time. But the fatigue which Long Covid brings does seem to have some unique symptoms.
- It is severe exhaustion not just tiredness.
- It is not relieved by rest or sleep
- It affects cognition, and is related to ‘brain fog’
- It can be made worse by exercise
- It is unpredictable
What causes fatigue after Covid
We are still learning about how Covid affects the body. But we do know that Coivd affects all our organs, and afterward, they may have difficulty functioning well again. If one major organ is not functioning well, this can put more pressure on all the other organs. This can cause fatigue.
The effort the body puts into fighting infections can damage organs and affect all our systems, such as blood pressure, heart function, breathing for example.
Fighting Covid can cause inflammation of the nervous system and the brain. This can often lead to fatigue. Then the information systems in our bodies, which pass messages from the brain to the body, can malfunction, causing fatigue.
Being seriously ill takes its toll on our mental health. Many people who suffer from any serious illness suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD). It can take a long time to overcome this and get back to normal. Often people suffering from PTSD need professional help.
Managing fatigue with Long Covid
Watch your thoughts
It is very easy, if you are feeling fatigued, to despair of ever getting your life back to normal. Then you can fall into a spiral of depression.
Be very vigilant about your thoughts. Remember, you may feel out of control of your fatigue, but you can be in control of your thoughts. If you notice you are falling into a negative thought pattern then it is time to take action. Try this simple exercise, which I mention in the book.
- Recognise the thought as a negative one, such as ‘I can’t cope with my problem’
- Challenge and change the thought, for example ‘some things I can’t do but others I can. If I pace myself, I can do quite a lot. I can cope better if I don’t get too tense’
- Think positively about what you can do, saying things to yourself like ‘I know I can cope if I plan properly’.
The ten point checklist to help you (you can find this in the book, with other similar tips and support)
Challenging negative thoughts – 10 questions it may be helpful to ask yourself:.
1. Am I confusing a thought with a fact? (What is the evidence?)
2. Am I jumping to conclusions?
3. Am I asking questions that have no answers?
4. Am I thinking in ‘all or nothing’ terms (always/ never/ nothing/ everything)?
5. Am I concentrating on my weaknesses rather than my strengths?
6. Am I expecting myself to be perfect?
7. Am I overestimating the chances of disaster?
8. Am I exaggerating the importance of events?
9. Am I fretting about the way things ought to be (or how I wish they were?)
10. Am I predicting the future instead of experimenting with it?
Be realistic.
- Do not expect immediate change.
- Do not expect every day to be a good day.
- But be confident. Over a relatively short time, you can change your thinking patterns.
The dangers of depression
Long Covid can lead to depression. You may feel that your life has changed irrevocably for the worse and there is no future. The fatigue you feel may make you feel hopeless and sad. You can combat this, although it is important to seek professional help. Here are some tips to protect yourself.
Speak to your GP about the best treatment for you. It may be that a course of anti-depressants can help you stablise while you recover from the effects of Covid. Talking therapies can help as well.
Depending upon the severity of your depression, there are also a few steps you can take yourself, to help you cope with it.
- Eat well and work to control your diet. Make sure you do not comfort eat too often and make sure you do not go the other way and skip meals. Keep your meals healthy and stick to a Mediterranean-style diet. It will help you cope with brain fog.
- Get enough sleep. If you need help take a look at my book Sleeping with Pain.
- Do things you enjoy. Do not over-exert yourself, this can be damaging in cases of Long Covid. But set yourself a rule of doing a couple of nice things every day, even if they are small.
- Do not tell yourself off. Use the rule of never talking badly to yourself. Do not talk to yourself in a way you would not talk to someone you love. Be kind to yourself. Share with your friends and your family. Be honest about how you are feeling.
- Get out into nature. It is proven to help with depression
- Celebrate your victories. Even if this is just going into the garden or reading a chapter of a book, anything you do which you enjoy is worth remembering. If you want to record what you do, either by writing or by making an audio or taking pictures on your phone. You can see then how you progress.