I have seen an increasing discussion about how long recovery from COVID-19 is taking. I thought it might be helpful to outline my recover from (likely) SARS* in 2003. It's a grim tale. But I got there. And it might be helpful in setting expectations. This is a long thread. 1/?

*I almost certainly had SARS but wasn't tested specifically for that, so a formal diagnosis was never given. It doesn't really matter. It was severe community-aquired lung disease leading to pneumonia and pleurisy in an otherwise-healthy 29 year old. 2/?

Before I start - some caveats. 1) I'm not a medical Dr. I am reporting this 15 years on as a px. 2) My timeline is a little vaguer than I'd like in places for reasons that will become clear. 3) Any implied criticism of medics or the NHS is NOT a criticism of individuals. 3/?

Winter 2003 was grim. The war in Iraq was brewing. Protests were being organised. And a new virus started to spread. Higher education is on the front line of this kind of disease spread because of the international mobility of students and staff. I got sick in EARLY MARCH.

It hit rapidly. I was fine in the morning. (A Tuesday). Felt ill in the afternoon. Deteriorated rapidly. And was hallucinating heavily with sweats, chills, breathing difficulties (blue lips) and fever by 8pm. I lived alone, and didn't know much so no medics were involved.

Lesson 1: RING FOR EMERGENCY CARE IF YOUR LIPS AND NAILS GO BLUE. Fever for 2-3 days. No real memory. Fever broke. My Mum visited on Friday afternoon. Encouraged me to go to the Dr. appt for Monday. (Day 6). Dr took bloods, advised paracetamol & co-codamol and sent me home.

Managed pain and intermittent fever for 10 days. Fatigue. Barely got out of bed. Around day 16-20 started to recover energy. Did some light work (grading). Day 30(ish) could get dressed and get on a bus to take graded scripts to work. Exhausted by effort.

Wk 4-6: No appetite. Distorted smell/taste. Growing DEEP fatigue. Growing depression (kinda not surprisingly!). Some ability to engage with work. Growing discomfort sleeping. Week 6 - return to Dr and diagnosed with pneumonia and pleurisy. Antibiotics. Chest x-ray (lost).

Locum Dr reviews bloods from day 6 - off the scale. Causes alarm. Week 8 - send for new chest x-ray. Pneumonia resolved. Ongoing pleuritic pain. (Which I still have). Nominally case closed. Px recovered.

End of June - working relatively normally but reduced hours. My 30th birthday party goes ahead. I have 3 glasses of champagne over 12 hours. Collapse for a week.

Early-July: can't cope with pastoral care responsibilities at work. Too demanding. Reallocated by sympathetic boss. Late-July: travel 100 mile train journey for brother's birthday. Collapse in tears for 2 days. Takes 2 weeks to recover.

August - a bit of a blur. Start to recover. Have lost 2 stone without trying. Want to start to regulate my eating more healthily. Some return of taste. Start doing light exercise. More days feeling 'normal'. (New normal!) Ongoing chest problems and pain.

Sept-Dec: slow recovery. Normal lecturing duties. Offered mental health support via work. Very helpful. Depression eases. Spoons metaphors very helpful: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoon_theory

Dec-March: one year recovery feels good. I've lost nearly 4 stone by accident by this point. Relatively normal appetite. Start to jog to re-build CV fitness. Still very limited energy to travel. Seriously reassess whether I can work in long-term.

April-June: CV fitness improves rapidly. Take up yoga - focus on breath is emotionally challenging but very helpful. Appetite returning to normal. Taste/smell returns rapidly. Start to put on some weight. (Now nearly 5 stone lost accidentally - so need it!)

July onwards(15 months+): decide I can keep working. Especially if I focus activities and energies. Starting to think about the future again. Phew! STILL ONGOING (even now): chest problems, pleuritic pain when stressed.

My lessons: 1) measure progress week by week or month by month. NOT day by day which can be much more variable. 2) Be kind to yourself. There are some days when putting on your socks is a major achievement. 3) Medics aren't always that helpful. 4) Support is crucial.

Good things (for me) that came from it. 1) Always aware of limits of energy. Decide how to 'spend' it - even now. 2) Focus on healthy habits. 3) It DID get better. Bodies are amazing.

There you go. That's my story. I'm happy to answer questions if I can. Everyone's story will be different. But I hope it's helpful to some people who I know are struggling right now. Take care. x

Another lesson to add is that medics aren't always aware how much workers in higher education are 'on the front line' with many infectious diseases. So I do sometimes now make a point of telling them very explicitly.

I'm adding #LongCovid to this to find it more searchable by those who have told me that they have found it helpful. Take care.