Congrats on the milestone! I did chair yoga for a while (it was in between jobs) and keep saying I should get back to it (I have recordings) but do I? No … I even tossed my yoga mat when we moved. Maybe this is a sign to give it another go.
That’s funny, Leanne - I gave away my really nice yoga mat and carry bag a few years ago only to have to buy a new mat when I discovered Shannon. Maybe this is a sign to you! 🧘♀️
I loved doing chair yoga! I went to a few classes with a lot of older women and they kept referring to me as “young Amber” and saying I was showing off because I could cross my legs on the chair 😆 it was very gentle but as I’ve come to (reluctantly) find with yoga, we are always doing more than we think. And the power of meeting our body where it’s at and taking it from there cannot be underestimated.
I remember early on in my long haul journey going to a "gentle" yoga class at my gym. I thought for sure, this was something I could do. Most of the other yogis were much older than me, so I felt confident this would be a breese. Nope. It sent me into PEM for a week. That was a real eye opener for me, since I didn't consider this "real" yoga. Prior to Long Covid, I would at minimum do a quick 3 mile run before a regular yoga class to ensure I got a "real" work out in. Now, gentle yoga was too much and that blew my mind. At this point I still didn't understand that mental or emotional activity could also cause PEM. A fellow long hauler turned me onto Suzy Bolt Yoga. She has long covid too and sounds very similar to your Shannon. Her videos are on YouTube.
Molly, you made me remember a part of my yoga history that I forgot: when I was a year or so into my long haul and still working, I took several sessions of a free online chair yoga class offered through a local library. Just me at age 45 with a large group of 65-85 year olds, and like you, I couldn’t hack it. They all had more energy than I did and it felt humiliating (though in hindsight, why should it? They were all presumably healthy or at least not suffering from energy limiting conditions). I eventually stopped logging in for it, because I couldn’t go back to remote work after the class due to PEM.
I’ve heard of Suzy Bolt. Thanks for sharing that too. I’m so glad there are options for folks.
As much as I love moving my body in all sorts of ways, I sadly discovered that yoga HURTS me more than it helps. This is true for many hyper-mobile people, we over-rely on our flexibly joints and connective tissue rather than the muscle necessary for the poses. Thanks for writing this piece!
Thank you for sharing this with us. I don’t have hypermobility (it feels like I have quite the opposite), so I can’t know what that feels like. Not sure if you caught the part where o said Shannon is always sharing modifications and/or expressing concern for folks with EDS not going too far with any of the poses. She’s super gentle. But, if it doesn’t feel good, then it doesn’t. Have you found any other kind of movement that you can safely enjoy?
I used to teach yoga, and restorative yoga was one of my specialties! When I got sick with ME/CFS and was told to not exert myself I had years of experience to draw from. Even then, it was tricky to pull back as much as I needed to. But I do feel that yoga has made a big difference for me over time. I still get irked when people who don’t know me ask if I’ve tried yoga. On my less patient days I sometimes reply with “I’ve probably forgotten more yoga poses than you’ve done in your life!” 😅
I hate yoga, and yoga hates me, but I do love Pilates. And I'm so happy you've found something that works for you... and that you hit 700 subscribers! You go, girl!
I’ve heard Pilates is great too! It’s working especially well for a few friends I know who have adhd and who couldn’t stand yoga. There’s movement out there for everyone, at every ability. Including for those of us who found our ability incredibly low. And this has got to be such great news 🤩💛🙏
Ha, I hear you!! I think the fact that Shannon’s yoga didn’t feel like yoga to my inflexible body, and so I got tricked into liking it because it was so relaxing ☺️. Now Pilates, to me, can go straight to hell. I hate core work!
I had many laughs reading about your love-hate relationship with yoga. This is important in and of itself because it feels so good to laugh, it's such good "medicine", and it doesn't happen so much these days. But I digress! Being a person with strong competitive and perfectionist inclinations, I have jumped in and out of yoga myself many times over the past few decades, typically throwing myself into classes with vigor and enthusiasm, only to have to stop abruptly due to injuries. Like you and many readers here, I am now learning how best to manage my long covid symptoms and have deliberated whether or not to try yoga once again. I've hesitated because I feel like so much of every day already revolves around monitoring my health and doing other things to try to get better or even to just maintain. As folks here know, it can be overwhelming at times. I think if I can get over my mental hurdle, change my mindset and sprinkle in even a few yoga poses, it would help. Thanks and I enjoy your posts!
Diane, thanks so much for your comment and I’m so glad you got a few laughs! I’ve been making a point of watching more comedies myself and it indeed has felt good to laugh more.
I totally hear you on how overwhelming it can be to be so laser-focused on recovery activities and behavior all day long. I have been learning to gradually loosen my grip on the most “activating” things for my nervous system. For example, I stopped wearing all my trackers (FitBit, Visible Plus, etc.) and that’s been a game changer. While these wee helpful tools in the beginning (Visible Plus in particular really helped me understand pacing and what activities were really sending me over the edge), I realized that I learned everything I needed from them and I no longer needed to obsess over the numbers and my so-called restrictions. I think this has gotten my body out of fear mode a bit more. My POTS is also noticeably better since I stopped monitoring all my numbers.
If you decide to try adding a little yoga back in, use the referral code in my post. That way you can take one class for free and see if it’s a fit for you. Plus, it’s only once a week for 30 minutes, so it’s a light lift. Whatever you decide, I wish you the best 🧡
Hi Amy, I appreciate your comments and it's good to hear of your positive experience in ditching your trackers. I've been very tempted to ditch my Apple watch which I very reluctantly bought for the sole purpose of tracking my paroxysmal atrial fibrillation which was another health issue that was triggered by my covid infection 14 months ago. I've found over time that I've also been monitoring some of the other many things that it tracks (pulse ox, heart rate variability, sleep stages to name a few). You're right--placing one's focus on these things may have a place at first but it can pretty easily morph into an ongoing unhealthy attention on the things that are "wrong" with us or restricting us and this can add to one's stress. Prior to getting covid I only used a simple pedometer for step goals and I viewed even the FitBit as having too much technology for me so I've gotten pretty far away from my personal preferences. You've given me things to consider going forward and I appreciate that! Thanks for the yoga code and for writing back and my very best wishes to you and to your readers as well!
Love this post! I get frustrated when people say things like ‘have you tried yoga etc not realising how much mental or physical energy it takes just to get started. Before I had long covid I used to do yoga and I did find it supportive for my mental health and well-being. I have adapted so I do tiny bits of stretches here and there but will look up shannons work. I’m also naturally unbendy which yoga teachers seem to hate so online classes seem like a better idea for sticks like me! 💛
Give Shannon a try - use the referral link, since that essentially gives you one free class (and I’ll get a discount too). As you read here, I am super inflexible, but it’s very humbling to be in an online class with people who may have once been flexible, but are now confined to doing micro movements from bed. I am not bedbound myself, but this fact helped me get over my “I’m so inflexible” pity party around yoga 😬
I’m unbendy too! (& I trained to be a yoga teacher to which someone told me I wasn’t allowed because I hadn’t been doing yoga all my life!) it does seem that a lot of teachers don’t have sight of those of us who aren’t ballet trained and are new to it for health reasons. My favourite people to work with are those who’ve never tried yoga and don’t think they’d be any good at it. I love introducing them to what yoga means to me🧘🏼♀️💜
Amazing article Amy, I wondered where this one was going! I find it interesting that so many of us are looking at any one thing as a cure. I want so much to write about this but haven’t yet found the words to articulate what I want to say. It wasn’t so much that people were asking me “have you tried yoga” more that the signs just kept on coming in - yoga for migraine, yoga for tension, yoga for stress, yoga yoga yoga. In the end I was like “ok, ok, I’m listening”. That, and much like yourself, my boot camp, running for fun days were over and I couldn’t do a god damn aqua class with all the old ladies without triggering attack. A section on this is going in my book because my first thoughts about yoga (aside for the fact that I delayed going because I wouldn’t pay £10 a class), was at the end of my first class I thought to myself “I can’t F’ing believe I’ve paid £10 to sit on a mat and breath”. And again, much like yourself, I had to mentally speak to myself and tell myself I’d better get my arse down there every week because my health depended on it. A while later I’m paying £25 a class to deepen my practice and later went on to train to become a yoga teacher myself !!! I only work one to one with clients as part of the retreat days I offer here in the uk but it’s often said to me that they can’t believe how strong I am from “just doing yoga”. I think how we’ve westernised yoga and our little insight and understanding as to what yoga is (and isn’t) is a big barrier for many of us. Also, Where we’re at in our own journey (for me it had to be complete disability by illness before I considered other forms of movement that would take me further than I’d ever been before). And the teacher we’re working with is paramount. The true essence of yoga is to meet ourselves where we’re at and we need a teacher to support us as we (re)learn to do that. It’s from this place that the biggest health breakthroughs come irrespective of whether or not we’re on a mat.
This is so beautifully stated, Amber! And I loved hearing about how you went from skeptic to instructor - amazing!
What you said about people expecting one thing to be the thing that cures them is so spot on. When you find more words around that, I’ll be eager to read them 🧡
Thank you🥲 I’m not sure when the incurable cure post will come out as it’s one I’ve been wanting to write for probably about 18 months now. I know the words will flow when it’s meant to and boy, will it be some kind of masterpiece. Especially after being bottled up inside me for so long!
I think that one of the big advantages I’ve had on this journey I flung myself on is that I didn’t focus any of my efforts into cure (nor did I believe I was incurable - though I do find both words triggering at times). Neither did I ever believe that one thing would heal me in isolation (it’s always been an accumulation). I’ve been in it for the long game since I started and each year it’s paid off. This path of ease and release I’m on now is tricky as hell to stay on, but you know me…ever the determined Amber😉💛
I wasn’t sure if you were someone with long COVID or ME/CFS and maybe struggled to exercise. It sounds like maybe you’re not? Glad to hear you can get that much activity.
I did not see this ending coming! I am so happy you found a yoga practice that works for you. I am also working on finding a yoga practice that works with my current circumstances. It is a journey. . .
Ha! Surprise endings are kinda fun, no? Thank you for reading. In your particular case, is it a matter of amount of time, the timing of the class, and/or the ability level?
Congrats on hitting 700 subscribers first! What a great resource Shannon's classes sound like too. I get so discouraged by not being able to do exercise in its typical form that I often forget there's a world of adaptable exercise/movement resources out there. Also, my favorite response to telling someone about my disability: "have you tried waking up with a positive attitude?" Yes, clearly that's been the missing puzzle piece to fix my genetic makeup 😂
I renamed yoga poses creatively (Like Downward F#$*% Dog) just to make it through.
I did, however, discover Tai Chi.
I also found an excellent teacher a mere 40 minutes away—turns out that's just a bit further than I can drive without issues, so...
On the up-side, I too, am finding myself responding to things by finding way to appreciate the forced-zen of current circumstances.
Also, I finally got help to apply for disability—sigh...
Congrats on your subscribers! And, btw, If you hear from a lovely mom in Texas whose daughter has had horrible GI Sx, 24/7 migraines etc etc for nearly two years (yes, starting after she got COVID)—and has been seen by all the expensive doctors for useless findings ("your spinal tap says nothing is wrong with you,") just know that I sent her directly to you. She couldn't write anything down at the time, but I knew "AmyTheTonic" would stick.
I also helped her find some long-COVID clinics in TX.
Whoda thunk I'd wind up evangelizing for more than knitting in my old-age?
Also, the “forced zen of current circumstances” is brilliant phrasing. Maybe the name of your book about all this shite?
Thank you for referring her to me. I’ll keep an eye out, though mostly I only see an email address and not much more. Hopefully she’ll engage/comment and I’ll get to know who she is. Have you found long COVID clinics to be useful? I personally have not, though to be fair, my experience was in 2020-2021 and there just wasn’t much known back then.
Congrats on hitting 700 subscribers Amy!
Thanks, Paula!! You are one of my “OG” readers. Thanks for sticking by me! 💃🏼
Congrats on the milestone! I did chair yoga for a while (it was in between jobs) and keep saying I should get back to it (I have recordings) but do I? No … I even tossed my yoga mat when we moved. Maybe this is a sign to give it another go.
That’s funny, Leanne - I gave away my really nice yoga mat and carry bag a few years ago only to have to buy a new mat when I discovered Shannon. Maybe this is a sign to you! 🧘♀️
I loved doing chair yoga! I went to a few classes with a lot of older women and they kept referring to me as “young Amber” and saying I was showing off because I could cross my legs on the chair 😆 it was very gentle but as I’ve come to (reluctantly) find with yoga, we are always doing more than we think. And the power of meeting our body where it’s at and taking it from there cannot be underestimated.
🤭🤭 scroll up and read my reply to Molly.
I remember early on in my long haul journey going to a "gentle" yoga class at my gym. I thought for sure, this was something I could do. Most of the other yogis were much older than me, so I felt confident this would be a breese. Nope. It sent me into PEM for a week. That was a real eye opener for me, since I didn't consider this "real" yoga. Prior to Long Covid, I would at minimum do a quick 3 mile run before a regular yoga class to ensure I got a "real" work out in. Now, gentle yoga was too much and that blew my mind. At this point I still didn't understand that mental or emotional activity could also cause PEM. A fellow long hauler turned me onto Suzy Bolt Yoga. She has long covid too and sounds very similar to your Shannon. Her videos are on YouTube.
Molly, you made me remember a part of my yoga history that I forgot: when I was a year or so into my long haul and still working, I took several sessions of a free online chair yoga class offered through a local library. Just me at age 45 with a large group of 65-85 year olds, and like you, I couldn’t hack it. They all had more energy than I did and it felt humiliating (though in hindsight, why should it? They were all presumably healthy or at least not suffering from energy limiting conditions). I eventually stopped logging in for it, because I couldn’t go back to remote work after the class due to PEM.
I’ve heard of Suzy Bolt. Thanks for sharing that too. I’m so glad there are options for folks.
Thanks for recommending Suzy too. I get PEM a lot so it’s good to find people who understand this as most don’t get it
As much as I love moving my body in all sorts of ways, I sadly discovered that yoga HURTS me more than it helps. This is true for many hyper-mobile people, we over-rely on our flexibly joints and connective tissue rather than the muscle necessary for the poses. Thanks for writing this piece!
Thank you for sharing this with us. I don’t have hypermobility (it feels like I have quite the opposite), so I can’t know what that feels like. Not sure if you caught the part where o said Shannon is always sharing modifications and/or expressing concern for folks with EDS not going too far with any of the poses. She’s super gentle. But, if it doesn’t feel good, then it doesn’t. Have you found any other kind of movement that you can safely enjoy?
I hope I’ll be able to find my way back to yoga when I gain some more strength. In the meantime I’m digging pilates and weight lifting!
Oh, very good! I can’t wait to get back to weightlifting myself.
I used to teach yoga, and restorative yoga was one of my specialties! When I got sick with ME/CFS and was told to not exert myself I had years of experience to draw from. Even then, it was tricky to pull back as much as I needed to. But I do feel that yoga has made a big difference for me over time. I still get irked when people who don’t know me ask if I’ve tried yoga. On my less patient days I sometimes reply with “I’ve probably forgotten more yoga poses than you’ve done in your life!” 😅
😂😂 that’s a good clap back!
I hate yoga, and yoga hates me, but I do love Pilates. And I'm so happy you've found something that works for you... and that you hit 700 subscribers! You go, girl!
I’d like to try Pilates too, it sounds a little daunting though!
I was SO intimidated when I began, but after a few sessions, I was in love!
I’ve heard Pilates is great too! It’s working especially well for a few friends I know who have adhd and who couldn’t stand yoga. There’s movement out there for everyone, at every ability. Including for those of us who found our ability incredibly low. And this has got to be such great news 🤩💛🙏
Totally agree! 💃🏼
Ha, I hear you!! I think the fact that Shannon’s yoga didn’t feel like yoga to my inflexible body, and so I got tricked into liking it because it was so relaxing ☺️. Now Pilates, to me, can go straight to hell. I hate core work!
HA! But my core never looked as good as it did when I was doing Pilates. Sigh.
Your yoga teacher sounds great and that makes all the difference.
She’s a gem. I’ve emailed with her quite a bit on a few things and she’s such a generous, kind spirit 🧡
Also, check out Danny Fagan. She was able to heal herself from being in a wheelchair by calming her nervous system through somatic practice and yoga and she has a wonderful community. I like to her here. https://open.substack.com/pub/awaymessage/p/totos-take-tms-resorce-list?r=iunw&utm_medium=ios
Thanks for this, Rebecca. Looks like she’s doing similar work to Shannon. It’s good to see more yoga practitioners heading in this direction.
That’s amazing! ⭐️
Thanks for this recommendation!🙏
I had many laughs reading about your love-hate relationship with yoga. This is important in and of itself because it feels so good to laugh, it's such good "medicine", and it doesn't happen so much these days. But I digress! Being a person with strong competitive and perfectionist inclinations, I have jumped in and out of yoga myself many times over the past few decades, typically throwing myself into classes with vigor and enthusiasm, only to have to stop abruptly due to injuries. Like you and many readers here, I am now learning how best to manage my long covid symptoms and have deliberated whether or not to try yoga once again. I've hesitated because I feel like so much of every day already revolves around monitoring my health and doing other things to try to get better or even to just maintain. As folks here know, it can be overwhelming at times. I think if I can get over my mental hurdle, change my mindset and sprinkle in even a few yoga poses, it would help. Thanks and I enjoy your posts!
Diane, thanks so much for your comment and I’m so glad you got a few laughs! I’ve been making a point of watching more comedies myself and it indeed has felt good to laugh more.
I totally hear you on how overwhelming it can be to be so laser-focused on recovery activities and behavior all day long. I have been learning to gradually loosen my grip on the most “activating” things for my nervous system. For example, I stopped wearing all my trackers (FitBit, Visible Plus, etc.) and that’s been a game changer. While these wee helpful tools in the beginning (Visible Plus in particular really helped me understand pacing and what activities were really sending me over the edge), I realized that I learned everything I needed from them and I no longer needed to obsess over the numbers and my so-called restrictions. I think this has gotten my body out of fear mode a bit more. My POTS is also noticeably better since I stopped monitoring all my numbers.
If you decide to try adding a little yoga back in, use the referral code in my post. That way you can take one class for free and see if it’s a fit for you. Plus, it’s only once a week for 30 minutes, so it’s a light lift. Whatever you decide, I wish you the best 🧡
Hi Amy, I appreciate your comments and it's good to hear of your positive experience in ditching your trackers. I've been very tempted to ditch my Apple watch which I very reluctantly bought for the sole purpose of tracking my paroxysmal atrial fibrillation which was another health issue that was triggered by my covid infection 14 months ago. I've found over time that I've also been monitoring some of the other many things that it tracks (pulse ox, heart rate variability, sleep stages to name a few). You're right--placing one's focus on these things may have a place at first but it can pretty easily morph into an ongoing unhealthy attention on the things that are "wrong" with us or restricting us and this can add to one's stress. Prior to getting covid I only used a simple pedometer for step goals and I viewed even the FitBit as having too much technology for me so I've gotten pretty far away from my personal preferences. You've given me things to consider going forward and I appreciate that! Thanks for the yoga code and for writing back and my very best wishes to you and to your readers as well!
Thank you, Diane! And, I so relate. In the “before times,” when I refused to wear a tracker, I used to tell people, “my bits are plenty fit!” 🤣
Yay! A yoga convert!
Who’d have thunk it?! 😂
Love this post! I get frustrated when people say things like ‘have you tried yoga etc not realising how much mental or physical energy it takes just to get started. Before I had long covid I used to do yoga and I did find it supportive for my mental health and well-being. I have adapted so I do tiny bits of stretches here and there but will look up shannons work. I’m also naturally unbendy which yoga teachers seem to hate so online classes seem like a better idea for sticks like me! 💛
Right?? So, so frustrating!
Give Shannon a try - use the referral link, since that essentially gives you one free class (and I’ll get a discount too). As you read here, I am super inflexible, but it’s very humbling to be in an online class with people who may have once been flexible, but are now confined to doing micro movements from bed. I am not bedbound myself, but this fact helped me get over my “I’m so inflexible” pity party around yoga 😬
I’m unbendy too! (& I trained to be a yoga teacher to which someone told me I wasn’t allowed because I hadn’t been doing yoga all my life!) it does seem that a lot of teachers don’t have sight of those of us who aren’t ballet trained and are new to it for health reasons. My favourite people to work with are those who’ve never tried yoga and don’t think they’d be any good at it. I love introducing them to what yoga means to me🧘🏼♀️💜
I bet you are a lovely teacher! 🙏🏻
🥲🙏
Amazing article Amy, I wondered where this one was going! I find it interesting that so many of us are looking at any one thing as a cure. I want so much to write about this but haven’t yet found the words to articulate what I want to say. It wasn’t so much that people were asking me “have you tried yoga” more that the signs just kept on coming in - yoga for migraine, yoga for tension, yoga for stress, yoga yoga yoga. In the end I was like “ok, ok, I’m listening”. That, and much like yourself, my boot camp, running for fun days were over and I couldn’t do a god damn aqua class with all the old ladies without triggering attack. A section on this is going in my book because my first thoughts about yoga (aside for the fact that I delayed going because I wouldn’t pay £10 a class), was at the end of my first class I thought to myself “I can’t F’ing believe I’ve paid £10 to sit on a mat and breath”. And again, much like yourself, I had to mentally speak to myself and tell myself I’d better get my arse down there every week because my health depended on it. A while later I’m paying £25 a class to deepen my practice and later went on to train to become a yoga teacher myself !!! I only work one to one with clients as part of the retreat days I offer here in the uk but it’s often said to me that they can’t believe how strong I am from “just doing yoga”. I think how we’ve westernised yoga and our little insight and understanding as to what yoga is (and isn’t) is a big barrier for many of us. Also, Where we’re at in our own journey (for me it had to be complete disability by illness before I considered other forms of movement that would take me further than I’d ever been before). And the teacher we’re working with is paramount. The true essence of yoga is to meet ourselves where we’re at and we need a teacher to support us as we (re)learn to do that. It’s from this place that the biggest health breakthroughs come irrespective of whether or not we’re on a mat.
This is so beautifully stated, Amber! And I loved hearing about how you went from skeptic to instructor - amazing!
What you said about people expecting one thing to be the thing that cures them is so spot on. When you find more words around that, I’ll be eager to read them 🧡
Thank you🥲 I’m not sure when the incurable cure post will come out as it’s one I’ve been wanting to write for probably about 18 months now. I know the words will flow when it’s meant to and boy, will it be some kind of masterpiece. Especially after being bottled up inside me for so long!
I think that one of the big advantages I’ve had on this journey I flung myself on is that I didn’t focus any of my efforts into cure (nor did I believe I was incurable - though I do find both words triggering at times). Neither did I ever believe that one thing would heal me in isolation (it’s always been an accumulation). I’ve been in it for the long game since I started and each year it’s paid off. This path of ease and release I’m on now is tricky as hell to stay on, but you know me…ever the determined Amber😉💛
Ease and release…great way to put it. So tricky to balance for sure!
Yes amber, a little goes a long way. I think yoga has been hijacked by fitness fanatics when it’s really about balance, cantering and well-being ✨
You’re right about that - great way to frame it!
I've never tried yoga, but reading this post was really interesting nonetheless. You write so well and with lovely touches of humour.
Thanks very much for reading, Jeffrey. And for the lovely compliment 🧡. Are you able to get movement in?
Am I exercising? Yes, I do about 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week. Mostly walking.
I wasn’t sure if you were someone with long COVID or ME/CFS and maybe struggled to exercise. It sounds like maybe you’re not? Glad to hear you can get that much activity.
I did not see this ending coming! I am so happy you found a yoga practice that works for you. I am also working on finding a yoga practice that works with my current circumstances. It is a journey. . .
Ha! Surprise endings are kinda fun, no? Thank you for reading. In your particular case, is it a matter of amount of time, the timing of the class, and/or the ability level?
Mostly, in my particular case, it is the getting up off the couch and doing it, part. . . LOLOL.
😂😂 so relatable.
Congrats on hitting 700 subscribers first! What a great resource Shannon's classes sound like too. I get so discouraged by not being able to do exercise in its typical form that I often forget there's a world of adaptable exercise/movement resources out there. Also, my favorite response to telling someone about my disability: "have you tried waking up with a positive attitude?" Yes, clearly that's been the missing puzzle piece to fix my genetic makeup 😂
I love that response, Jackie 🤣
OMG - samezies!
I renamed yoga poses creatively (Like Downward F#$*% Dog) just to make it through.
I did, however, discover Tai Chi.
I also found an excellent teacher a mere 40 minutes away—turns out that's just a bit further than I can drive without issues, so...
On the up-side, I too, am finding myself responding to things by finding way to appreciate the forced-zen of current circumstances.
Also, I finally got help to apply for disability—sigh...
Congrats on your subscribers! And, btw, If you hear from a lovely mom in Texas whose daughter has had horrible GI Sx, 24/7 migraines etc etc for nearly two years (yes, starting after she got COVID)—and has been seen by all the expensive doctors for useless findings ("your spinal tap says nothing is wrong with you,") just know that I sent her directly to you. She couldn't write anything down at the time, but I knew "AmyTheTonic" would stick.
I also helped her find some long-COVID clinics in TX.
Whoda thunk I'd wind up evangelizing for more than knitting in my old-age?
I’m wild about your renamed pose! So good 😆
Also, the “forced zen of current circumstances” is brilliant phrasing. Maybe the name of your book about all this shite?
Thank you for referring her to me. I’ll keep an eye out, though mostly I only see an email address and not much more. Hopefully she’ll engage/comment and I’ll get to know who she is. Have you found long COVID clinics to be useful? I personally have not, though to be fair, my experience was in 2020-2021 and there just wasn’t much known back then.
The only reason I’m here is b/c of the Penn long-COVID clinic.
Not all of my doctors come from there but all of my solely-long-COVID doctors do.
It’s also useful to have all my medical records in central location where all of the doctors have access.
Plus,
I don’t have to try to convince this cohort of doctors that long- Covid exists. 😒
And you’re right.
I need to use that as a title for a book. (I’ll start working on what will go IN the book later. 🤓)
I’m so glad they’ve helped you 🧡