Corine *, a childcare assistant, contracted Covid-19 in March 2020. She has since been fighting a long form of the disease, which has affected her neurologically. She delivers her testimony "so that people will realize and pay attention for good."
* At his request, the first name has been changed
I am a childcare assistant and I work at night. I was healthy and athletic before the outbreak of the Covid, but in March I fell ill for three weeks. I stayed in bed: I thought I was going to die several times, I consulted 6 times in all in March … The hospital was not accessible, so I just had the chance to access my attending physician, who was very kind and saw me several times. Normally, it was in the hospital to take care of me: my saturation was low, I could not walk, I had to crawl on all fours and I held on to the walls … It was really sofa trips / toilet, I couldn't do anything else!
I was not even conscious anymore, I was spoken to and I did not understand anything… I had blurry vision; for 15 days I saw like waves, it was pretty impressive. I was short of breath too, in waves: for three or four days I was in great pain, then two days later I thought I was healing because I felt better. Then I dived again, before leaving for a week when I was better, and then I dived again! It lasted three weeks.
I couldn't walk, I had to crawl on all fours, and I stood by the walls.
My doctor told me to be patient, to take Doliprane and nose spray. After a while, I finally came out of this phase and returned to a normal life. I even returned to sport and work! Then after twelve days, the problems gradually returned. I thought : "It's nothing, it's a stroke of fatigue". Except that the symptoms returned one by one. I had three weeks of fever without complaining because it is not in my habit. I was going to work, taking care of my children, until May 6, 2020 when I had to consult because I was too out of breath. When I went back to my doctor, he listened to my lungs and told me that half of one was not working, while I was not coughing. I was very short of breath just walking. In addition to the pain in the muscles that I had been dragging since March …
There the doctor gave me an antibiotic and had a chest CT scan. This did not reveal any pulmonary sequelae. No trace of Covid in my lungs, because I have a so-called neurological Covid. My breathing problems are due to neurological disautonomous. But that I only learned in July …
Relapses every two months
At the end of May 2020, things were still not going well, with fever, tachycardia and muscle pain. My doctor sent me to a cardiologist and the tests showed that I needed to be put on beta blockers to slow my heart down. But I couldn't stand them, the pace was getting too low. So I remained bedridden from May until the end of July 2020: it was impossible for me to get up, I could not do anything.
Gradually, I recovered again. In August, I was not in good shape, but I could stand up. At the end of September, I started physiotherapy and rehabilitation sessions, because due to bed rest, I suffered muscle deconditioning (muscle dysfunction caused by a sedentary lifestyle, in particular, editor's note). I also re-educated my breath. I have continued since, but there are regular relapses.
Every two and a half months I fall ill again with the same symptoms as in March. No matter how much my doctor gives me all the antibiotics he wants, it just doesn't work!
In January 2021, I fell ill again. I was given a month of different antibiotics to help ease my throat, even cortisone, but nothing helped. In all, since March, I have accumulated 8 and a half months of fever! It doesn’t work, as if the inflammation and the virus are in my body and reactivating. And we don't know why. Doctors are lost.
My GP became ill in March 2020, too. He is closely following what is happening elsewhere and has found that some people come back with the same symptoms soon after being cured. So he believed me when I came back in May, and he keeps listening. I was lucky because not all the specialists I saw believe in persistent Covid. In addition, I did not have a positive PCR in March so for them there is no intangible evidence that it is the Covid.
The difficult recognition of long Covid
For my part, I made a donation to the association after D20 to support them and I am very grateful for the work they are doing, especially regarding the recommendations of the Haute Autorité de Santé to doctors to talk about the Covid. long.
Recognizing the disease is very complicated. I'm in work stoppage. My employer asked me several times if I had indeed had the Covid in March and September 2020. I think he remains suspicious, because it is disturbing: I am sick then I come back to work, then I am sick again … On the side of my relatives, my husband obviously believes me, because he sees me. My children did not get sick and I am the only persistent covid.
Part of my family thinks it's depression …
To find some support, I follow the Facebook groups of people with persistent Covid. I know several other patients. When I discovered these bands at the end of May, it was amazing to tell myself that I was not alone in going through this! We realize that others have exactly the same symptoms: for example, my skin turns red like after a sunburn without me exposing myself, and another patient who is in Brittany too. Others find that like me, they have spontaneous bruises on their legs. Still others lose a lot of hair, others have chest pain… These groups also allowed me not to be surprised by the appearance of certain symptoms of my neurological Covid, such as when tingling and burns have happened.
So I also saw a neurologist who gave me lots of tests, who referred me to a gastroenterologist … It takes a lot of time, a lot of tests, a lot of money. Everything is not reimbursed so you have to have a good mutual. Not to mention the fact that only earns half a salary since June.
Moral level, I hold on thanks to my children. I had a deep dip in October, where I spent 10 days bedridden and thought I would never get out of it. I also had a relapse in January 2021. It is therefore complicated, because between relapses, you are very tired and out of breath. I have trouble taking a shower, for example. If I have to shampoo, I have to go lie down afterwards because my heart is beating too hard. I can't cook so much anymore, I have to sit down. I also have memory loss, I find it hard to think, to project myself. Preparing a menu becomes terrible: I cannot do the shopping, I am dependent on my husband.
I try to raise awareness with my testimony, but it's complicated! I must explain to my relatives: "No it's not okay, I've been sick for a year". I would like to tell people to watch out for them and realize: yes, covid can make you sick for months.