I’ve lived with long Covid for a year… at times I thought I would die
FIT, healthy and in her early forties, Sarah Dring thought she was unlikely to fall seriously ill from Covid-19. Yet a year after contracting the virus, Sarah is still suffering the consequences. The 43-year-old mother of three has been plagued by long Covid – and experts believe symptoms persist for five months or more among […]
FIT, healthy and in her early forties, Sarah Dring thought she was unlikely to fall seriously ill from Covid-19.
Yet a year after contracting the virus, Sarah is still suffering the consequences.
Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates…
The 43-year-old mother of three has been plagued by long Covid – and experts believe symptoms persist for five months or more among one in ten of those infected.
Sarah, from Ashbourne, Derbys, tells Lynsey Hope how she coped with her year of health setbacks, while single-parenting Izac, 16, Noah, 13 and Cassie, five.
MARCH 2020: VERTIGO
I FELL ill before the first lockdown, suffering cold-like symptoms of a sore throat and runny nose.
I didn’t have a cough or high temperature — the symptoms we were warned about — so I carried on going into the school where I work as a lunchtime supervisor.
A couple of days later, my chest felt very tight and my ribs hurt. It was like someone was sitting on my chest. But after a few more days, my symptoms eased and I didn’t think any more of it.
I was never tested for Covid, but back then testing wasn’t as accessible. Three days after lockdown was announced, I suffered a bout of vertigo. I’d had it before but never as bad as that.
I rarely get ill and have always been quite fit and healthy, going for lots of runs and walks. Now I started to feel really poorly again, feeling quite breathless at times. But I just took paracetamol and soldiered on.
APRIL: BRAIN FOG
COME mid-April, my health went downhill quite rapidly.
I experienced chronic fatigue and could barely stand up in the shower. I felt sick and couldn’t eat.
My vision kept going blurry. I was finding everyday tasks hard and struggling to look after the kids. The brain fog was unbelievable. I was putting food in the washing machine instead of the fridge. Then I’d put my door keys in the fridge.
I was breath-less, tired and became very sensitive to the heat. I couldn’t sit in the sun — it felt like my skin was burning.
I felt guilty when I watched other families go for walks in lockdown, know-ing I couldn’t do any of that. My daughter would sit next to me drawing but I didn’t even have the energy to lift a pencil.
I could barely string a sentence together, let alone cook. A kind neighbour did my shopping and fortunately my sons are old enough to help look after their sister.
MAY: BLURRED VISION
I CALLED my GP at the start of the month, knowing something wasn’t right. I was told I was suffering anxiety and offered diazepam and antidepressants. I tried to explain I didn’t need them and that I wasn’t feeling very well.
Some days I was so exhausted I struggled to get off the sofa or would sleep for 20 hours. I’d have to crawl up the stairs to go to the toilet. Still unable to eat properly, I lost a stone in three weeks.
I didn’t think I’d ever get better again and told my mum it felt like I was going to die. Despite constantly being on the phone to the doctors, they thought it was all in my head. I wasn’t offered any tests or referrals.
As well as the blurry vision, it felt like my eyes were more sensitive to light. I was getting migraines all the time. It got to the point where I couldn’t really read or watch TV.
I went to the optician, where they did a glaucoma test and checked my sight.
I was told my sight had deteriorated very quickly — much more so than they’d expect.
JUNE: ANAEMIA
SOME days I could barely walk. I felt unsteady on my feet. It was as if someone had stamped every last bit of energy out of me, or like I was drunk 24 hours a day.
I rang Mum in tears, begging for help. She moved in to help me look after the kids. Again I called my GP — and finally a doctor agreed to see me.
I burst into tears, explaining that I couldn’t function and telling them something was really wrong with me.
When the doctor arranged a blood test, I was so grateful someone was finally listening.
Within 24 hours, the results showed I was severely anaemic, so I had to start taking iron supplements. After months of being told I was depressed or suffering anxiety, I was relieved to hear something was physically wrong.
I was offered cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) but turned that down. I didn’t have the energy to talk to anyone.
JULY: ECTOPIC HEARTBEAT
BY mid-summer, I started suffering heart palpitations when I got out of bed or stood up. It got worse and worse. I was terrified and thought I must be having a heart attack. I couldn’t breathe and it felt like my heart was skipping a beat.
I dialled NHS 111, and they sent an ambulance. The paramedics arrived within 20 minutes. My daughter, now aged five, was terrified to see them coming in, wearing full PPE.
I kept telling her: “Mummy’s OK.” But privately I thought I was dying. The paramedics did an ECG (to check the heart’s rhythm) but said they had to take me to A&E at Royal Derby Hospital.
I left the house not knowing if I’d see my family again. I was convinced something was seriously wrong with me.
I was sent home with a portable ECG machine to monitor my heart. The results 72 hours later showed I had an ectopic heartbeat and I now have to take medication daily to treat it.
I had never felt as low. I thought my time was up.
THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT IT’S NOT A LIFE SENTENCE
TOBY HILLMAN is a consultant respiratory physician at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
So far, his team has seen 1,300 patients at the Post Covid Service, and there are a further 1,000 from the second wave that medics are trying to catch up with.
He says: “Long Covid is a huge problem for the NHS. It’s being diagnosed in people who still have symptoms 12 weeks after their initial infection. Typically, it happens in a patient who was not admitted to hospital and suffered quite a mild Covid infection.
“The two most common symptoms are breathlessness and overwhelming fatigue. But people may also suffer chest pains and skin rashes, and some have neurological symptoms such as shooting pains or pins and needles or joint pain and muscle aches, as well as mental health issues such as PTSD, anxiety and depression.
“It’s not a condition that only affects the elderly. We are seeing patients of working age – the average age of our first 500 patients was 47. They have families, often young children, and they are struggling to do the housework and get back to work. If you think you may be suffering from long Covid, your first port of call should be your GP.
Getting better
“It can be diagnosed and you can be referred to one of the 70 assessment clinics around the country. Patients will often ask if others are getting better, and the answer is yes.
“Not only are they getting better but they are getting back to high levels of fitness and they are not suffering further relapses. There is no evidence that this is a life sentence.”
AUGUST: HEARING LOSS
THE dizziness and headaches just wouldn’t go away. Tests at my GP’s surgery found nothing wrong, so I paid £200 to see a private doctor.
He said I was suffering severe vertigo and referred me to an ENT specialist.
There I was given a hearing test, which showed slight hearing loss in my left ear, and a few weeks later, I was offered a hearing aid. I couldn’t believe it.
I thought: “I’m only 43.” I was angry with Covid. I felt it was robbing the life from me.
SEPTEMBER: BACK PAIN
AFTER taking iron tablets for three months, I was still feeling poorly. So I went back to the GP. I was tested me for almost everything — cancer, leukaemia, lupus — but all my results came back clear.
Eventually they discovered my vitamin D levels were low, so I started using an oral supplement spray. The schools were open again by now but I was still too poorly for work and was signed off sick. I started seeing a physiotherapist to ease my pain, particularly in my back and neck.
OCTOBER: CBT
THE iron tablets and vitamin D were helping but I still felt awful I went back to the GP and took my mum along for moral support.
The doctor told me: “We’ve done all the tests we can. You’ve got long Covid.” He sat there with his head in his hands saying he didn’t know what to do or how he could help me.
There were no long Covid clinics back then but he referred me for CBT to help with the issues with my mental health.
He checked me over again and ran more tests, including blood tests, a liver function test and a chest X-ray. It is disheartening when everything comes back clear but you still don’t feel well.
NOVEMBER: SUPPORT GROUP
I BEGAN to hear more about long Covid — little snippets on TV or in the newspaper. I was relieved that it was finally being recognised. I joined a Facebook forum for sufferers which now has more than 7,000 members.
We joke it’s “the gift that keeps on giving”. But there are members of the group who are really struggling. I’ve had to point some people towards Samaritans.
DECEMBER: SINUS PAIN
SUDDENLY I started to suffer horrendous sinus pain. I tried steroid nasal sprays but nothing helped. I went back to the GP and was again referred to an ENT specialist but this time was told I’d have to wait months to see someone.
The GP said he could finally refer me to a long Covid clinic. I was over the moon. The fatigue had eased and I noticed I was having better days. Christmas Day was good but I overdid it and struggled to get out of bed on Boxing Day.
JANUARY 2021: PTSD
I FINALLY spoke to a doctor from the long Covid clinic based at Chesterfield Royal Hospital. They were fantastic.
They diagnosed me with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and referred me to mental health services. I was on the phone to one doctor for more than an hour. Being able to talk through all my symptoms was amazing.
I asked them about the problems I was having with my head and my hearing. They told me they think people who get a mild bout of Covid at first are seeing the infection attack other parts of the body, such as the heart and brain.
I was referred for another X-ray, which came back clear.
FEBRUARY: DIET OVERHAUL
AS my physiotherapy came to an end, my back and neck pain was much better. I overhauled my lifestyle trying to cope and now spend ten minutes a day in quiet meditation.
I started on a gluten-free and dairy-free diet and I haven’t drunk alcohol since May. I felt better and I could walk to the shops or spend more time with the kids without feeling a failure.
MARCH: STILL SICK
I’M not 100 per cent but I do feel better.
I’ve been on sick leave for more than a year and still suffer extreme dizziness, so I’m unable to drive. It’s possible my employer may terminate my contract.
Most read in Fabulous
The doctors have said I will get better but they can’t give me a timeframe. A year ago I was fit and healthy, running regularly. Now I’m on beta blockers and need a hearing aid. I take amitriptyline for the pain.
It has taken me a long time to develop a positive mental attitude but I’m determined to beat this now. I still have down days, when I feel it’s never going to end.
I feel guilty that I’m here. Some days I wake up and think: “Why me? Why did I survive Covid when so many people have died?” I’m really keen to put this behind me. I want to start making the most of my life again.