In this episode, Sarah talks with Roweena, a community organiser in North East England, UK, about her first wave Long Covid story. Roweena shares her story with us today but also shares her poetry that she wrote through this experience. Roweena describes having a horrendous time with swallowing disorders, which led to an inability to eat and losing a great deal of weight. Roweena and I discuss her experiences with inability to eat and retain food, having a feeding tube and time spent back and forth to hospital. She shares how taking amitriptyline off-label significantly helped her fatigue, and how deep-thinking visualisation exercises helped her get back to cycling and indeed cycling with her electric bike 20 miles a day back and forth to work. **Please note that we are not medical professionals and this does not constitute medical advice. The Long Covid Hope Podcast or Sarah, Long Haul Yogi does not endorse any treatments described in the podcast episodes. Always speak to your doctor or medical practitioner before starting any new treatments, supplements or beginning a new exercise routine.**
Trigger Warnings: severe illness, weight loss, difficulty receiving healthcare, UK public health policies
Time stamps:
(00:00) Introduction
(1:52) Interview with Roweena
(11:40) Her acute Covid infection
(16:00) Swallowing disorder and Achalasia diagnosis
(32:00) Recovery journey - ‘Deep-thinking’ visualisation exercises into cycling to work
(43:00) Discussion of movement alongside ME/CFS
(49:00) Roweena’s message to listeners
Links mentioned (A-Z):
Achalasia - rare swallowing disorder: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/achalasia/
Amitriptyline for CFS (off-label): https://www.verywellhealth.com/amitriptyline-for-fibromyalgia-mecfs-715765
Visualisations for Athletes: https://www.peaksports.com/sports-psychology-blog/sports-visualization-athletes/
