To my fellow #costochondritis sufferers, protip: belting out "Bleed American" by #JimmyEatWorld at top volume with the radio in the car is not conducive to healing. 😖

But it just might be worth it for your mental health! 😍🤩

Today is #LongCovidAwarenessDay.

I'm exhausted, but I'll try to add some data.

16 months ago I contracted COVID and had medium to light symptoms. Flu-like chills, low spo2, fever, horrendous body aches, and brain fog like you wouldn't believe.

1) The brain fog has never lifted. 16 months I've been operating at 30-50% brain capacity. Memories are tougher to access, words more difficult to grasp, absolutely no focus.

2) I have now had a Shingles outbreak TWICE in the last 9 months.

3) Last July, my false ribs started popping, and now I have constant costochondritis pain.

4) In November, I suffered some emotional setbacks, and was treated with outrageous tachycardia. This has developed into POTS-like symptoms, which means I almost pass out walking to the bathroom. *The heart complications also mean that I can no longer take my #ADHD meds, so there's no climbing out of this brain fog.*

I've had every blood test anyone can think of, and on paper I'm completely "normal". I had a Holter monitor installed, which showed nothing. Finally getting an echo and a tilt table test in May.

Yes. May. It'll be 18 months since my initial infection, and 7 months from my first heart-related symptoms.

I have little faith that anything will change.

I do not remember what "okay" feels like. Please read that sentence again and let it settle in your gut, it's important to understand where we're coming from.

I don't have answers, and the amount of work I have had to do by myself to get testing and taken seriously is ridiculous. Long COVID is a disability, and our society has never been good to people like us. I've been through the SSDI process before with the spouse who was rejected despite gnarly x-rays showing her Arthritis damage.

Be kind to the Longhaulers in your life. They may be cranky because the internal state of their organs is off. They may forget things because their brain no longer functions the way it did.

#BrainFog #LongCOVID #covidlonghaulers #POTS #dysautonomia #Costochondritis #Disabled #SSDI #Disability

@firesheep67 Understood. I’m in a similar situation. I am finally feeling significantly recovered from the last effects of a chest wall injury that really sucked for a long time. The last part to heal (and still not quite 100%) was #costochondritis and that is a fairly common symptom of #Covid along with lots of other types of #inflammation. I will just sit home rather than take a chance of having that make me miserable again.

Tonight's random symptom:
Pain between my ribs.
Cheers, body. You certainly can't be accused of being boring.

#Costochondritis #Fibromyalgia
#pwME #MEcfs
#SymptomRoulette
#RCCX #ConnectiveTissue

Stupid rib cartilage, I hate you.

#LongCovid #costochondritis