© BBC
Sian used to ride a bike regularly and was working as a physiotherapist before contracting Covid in May 2020.
Sian Griffiths has been with long-term covid for 18 months.
She is desperate to get back to work, but feels “embarrassed” that the coronavirus has kept her in a mental “fog” that prevents her from concentrating.
“I can’t drive far, I forget to lock the doors, I burn the food. And when I’m reading, my brain turns one word into another. I lose concentration,” the 43-year-old told BBC journalist Owain Clarke.
Sian, who lives in Wales, is one of those around 1.3 million people in the UK living with long-term covidwhich represents more than 2% of the nation.
There is no internationally agreed definition of long-term covid, so specialists do not yet know how common it is or what symptoms are involved.
Symptoms may differ. They last longer than four weeks and may include extreme tiredness, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, joint pain, or changes in taste and smell.
Griffiths contracted covid in May 2020 while working as a physiotherapist in the British public health service (NHS).
He recounts that before he got sick, “I was fine, I had a full-time job and I rode a bicycle in the mountains and traveled 64 kilometers on the road.”
“Now I have to have my mom and dad basically trying to remind me to do stuff all the time. It’s heartbreaking,” she says.
swimming in open water
A specialist told him to swim to recover. She now takes up open water swimming three times a week in North Wales, near his home.
© BBC
Sian joined an open water swimming group to help her with her long recovery.
“It feels like the fog lifts, I can think a little bit more clearly,” he says.
“It lasts about an hour and a half after I go out and I hope that the more I do it, the effect will last a little longer.”
For swimming use a wetsuit that helps the understanding of the blood and oxygen of the brain.
But there are times when she feels embarrassed about leaving the house to go swimming but not to go to work.
“I feel embarrassed by what people think of me because I can go in the water but I can’t go to work. That just doesn’t sit well with me, even though I’ve been told to do it.”
© BBC
Swim for 20 minutes, three times a week
Health professionals they are still learning how to deal with prolonged covid.
“In Wales we are committed to ensuring that all long-term Covid sufferers receive support and care tailored to their particular needs and symptoms, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, as close to home as possible,” the minister said. of Health for Wales, Eluned Morgan.
“We are still learning about prolonged covid and this review will help us further improve services. We will continue to monitor required support and adapt accordingly as we learn more to ensure services are available to all who need support,” he added.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ae6XHLUCGmM&t=3s