NHS Post-Covid Syndrome resources

[Sly Saint]

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

Post-Covid Service is for people who cannot shake off the effects of the virus months after initially falling ill. Symptoms are wide-ranging and fluctuating, and can include breathlessness, chronic fatigue, “brain fog”, anxiety and stress.

The service has put together a number of resources for you to access. Each page also includes a leaflet version of the same information in case you want to print it off.

https://www.cpft.nhs.uk/post-covid-syndrome-resources/


Post-Covid: Fatigue

To help you stay active and independent, it is important to look at how you go about your everyday tasks. Your energy levels will have the biggest impact on your ability to do tasks. Energy conservation techniques can be invaluable and are often very simple solutions. You will probably find that you have already begun to do things differently. Everyone has a finite amount of energy, which is different from person to person; and you may find it’s different from day to day for yourself. It is important to find your own pace and to know how much energy you feel you have. It can be useful to think of your energy like a battery.

You only have so much energy, and the energy needs to be recharged. This is done through regular rest periods and sleep. Other things which may affect your energy levels include stress, anxiety, low mood, lack of sleep or adequate rests, weather, other health needs, and time of day. In case these affect you, we have included some information on these later in the booklet. It is important to conserve your energy to ensure you have enough to last throughout the day. Alternate activity and rest throughout the day – frequent short rests are more beneficial than infrequent long rests.

https://www.cpft.nhs.uk/post-covid-fatigue

(could have been taken straight out of an ME pacing leaflet)

 

[livinglighter]

(could have been taken straight out of an ME pacing leaflet)

According to the LC clinic, they are using ME material.

 

[BrightCandle]

They still can't help putting unproven psychology on the page though

Fatigue can arise in response to a mixture of physical illnesses and medical conditions including Covid, and/or to emotional/ psychological distress such as prolonged stress, trauma, anxiety or low mood.

Also is brain fog really "fatigue", its not its another symptom. No mention of PEM the accepted term or really any other symptoms to do with Long Covid and how PEM makes them all worse, its another reductive "its fatigue" advice which ends up being utterly wrong as a result.

Then there is thus lovely little dig, given sleep disturbance is a problem caused by Covid the idea that people can just get a good nights sleep is absurd. More Psychology.

ensuring good quality sleep and addressing anxiety or low mood.

The people they are talking to are very much more capable than most as well, household chores that are nonessential like ironing?! Vacuuming.

Household chores:

• Bring laundry downstairs each day to avoid carrying large loads or make several trips at once
• Keep a linen bin downstairs
• Iron only what is necessary and sit to complete the ironing if you need to
• Consider leaving your ironing board up
• Consider a washer/dryer or having help from others
• Could you have a vacuum cleaner upstairs and downstairs – and do a room at a time?

Outside activities!!!

Out and about – plan ahead:

• Try not to do too much in one day and know where you can rest
• Consider using mobility schemes available in shops / town centres (Shopmobility) or hiring an Attendant Wheelchair from the Red Cross.
• Use a trolley rather than a basket when shopping as you can rest on it. Shallow trolleys reduce distribute weight more evenly making it easier to push, and you do not have to bend to reach items.

They really don't seem to get the condition at all and are pushing a lot of the BPS nonsense as well. There are a lot of issues beyond this I have with this document beyond the massive minimising its doing of the severity of the condition for many.

 

[rvallee]

I guess they're not yet aware that nearly all patients know this before they see them. They are "teaching" things that patients came up with and healthcare systems rejected. To patients who know those things before they ever see them because they are shared in the patient community, still the only source of good information so far.

Professional services need to do professional grade stuff. We don't need professionals to do amateur stuff, that stuff is already done.

But, hey, at least they're not completely wrong. Progress, at the slowest pace possible in this universe. Even though they confuse the hell out of patients by adding conflicting stuff.