I am a 50 year-old software engineer who has experienced long COVD.
COVID Timeline
I tested positive for COVID in early August, 2023. The symptoms of my acute infection were very mild. Over and over again I thought I was recovered and returned to work, got exhausted, and crashed. The crashes would take days of bed rest to recover. Finally I took medical leave and rested 2.5 months. Then I tried returning to work again, but did not have the stamina even for half days, so in January of 2024 I went back on medical leave.
In late June of 2024 it’s like a switch flipped and suddenly I have more energy. I am currently exploring what I can and can’t do.
Read more about treatments I believe have helped.
Before COVID
Before COVID I was very active, woodworking with hand tools, mowing my grass with an old fashioned reel mower, kayak fishing, walking 2.5 miles every day, not to mention working every day. During most of my long COVID journey I was only been able to do a tiny fraction of what I used to.
Symptoms
I have been diagnosed with the chronic fatigue syndrome phenotype of long COVID.
My main symptom is fatigue, but sometimes I also have some brain fog (read more), a weird feeling in my head I call “bobblehead,” and chills. Sometimes when I feel bad my blood pressure is low.
Disclaimers
You may not want to listen to me. I have no medical training. Furthermore, I’m still in the middle of long COVID.
However, I hope that writing down my experiences could help someone else. Writing is also a way to rehab my brain so I can get back to work.
I have no sponsors, affiliate links, or other financial interests related to these articles.
Remember I am only sharing my experience. Long COVID looks very different for different people.