Yesterday was a revisit to put the nurse thinking hat back on. Some time spent on a bit of deeper thinking in health matters. After the joys from a year in retirement it is strange to look at research into health related questions again. 

After the Covid virus got it’s claws in and invaded my body’s system I looked at the familiar, previously used research sources I accessed as a professional. Research regarding the sequelae conditions which are the consequence of a disease or injury. Covid? It’s all too new in many ways, but familiarity of symptoms are beginning to become recognised. Usually it takes years of research and reflection to nail colours to the mast with answers becoming true certainties. 

My own attitude to any happenstance illness affecting myself has been a simple self made verbal reaction throughout my life. A bolshie one. ‘Sorry! I don’t do ill!’. Not a great nurse’s attribute, but I can honestly tell you that it only applies to my own performance when illness invades. I do have underlying empathy for others’ struggles. However, currently, I do do ill. I have been particularly affected with exhaustion, fatigue and massively disrupted sleep patterns post being infected with Covid. For a few weeks now. I came through the acute infection and felt ok. Got back into the garden and enjoyed digging and general pottering and planning. But slowly sleeplessness dug it’s claws in and a couple of hours was the realisation to overnight sleep. Night after night after night. This obviously affects the daytime abilities to simply get on with life properly and the need for daytime sleep encompasses quite often. An overwhelming need to sleep for many of the daytime hours. Maybe I’ve become a vampire! 

Reading research sources, specifically linked to the prevalence concerning the long-term sequelae to Covid infection, it would seem that this fatigue, insomnia and general poor sleep patterns has high incidence numbers. And for so very many people in both the long Covid and after acute infections.  

Thinking laterally? I wonder if current symptoms of post Covid fatigue/insomnia/poor sleep patterns is a result of years in us all experiencing a long term drip, drip, drip in terms of the Covid phenomena. With Covid’s Social and Worldwide presence contributing to ongoing and persistent stress, fears, feeling the alien presence of the unknown, generally a varying intensity to how worried we are (often daily, at some level, for weeks and months on end) and all those times we each had in forced home isolation. Or if not in isolation, carrying on at the forefront and working under stressful conditions during those initial months and months of ‘heady’ periods. If we do then get infected, especially with these new variants to consider too, is the body now adequately prepared, post persistent stress, to actually experience recovering with gusto. 

We read the news. Is the virus changing to a nastier form or more benign? My thoughts are…Is the virus learning to invade a body’s complex defence systems with ease but bringing milder disease results? Or have the body’s defence systems simply now become too overwhelmed with the Covid entity of recent years. A result of seeing our struggles mentally, biologically and socially may have impacted on our well being in general? In other words. Have we coped holistically? It seems, from recent reading research, Covid and it’s variants are far ‘too complex a virus’ and it is probably far too early for the research to be clear as clear. Will it ever be truly understood? 

Trouble is. For myself and the timing of finally catching the ‘Beer Bug’. It felt like a particularly nasty dose of influenza. One very similar to the only other time I contracted ‘flu’ when an 18 year old. That was a time of post osteomyelitis which kept me in hospital for 10 weeks. A bashing to my body’s immune systems followed by a bout of influenza? Familiar country it seems. Because now there is also impacting phenomena. This extraordinary heat; the impact of current worrisome financial hardships with ever increasing costs to living whilst existing on a meagre NHS minimal pension only; and generally often tired physically and mentally through keeping purposefully ‘over busy’ in daily retirement life. Much to consider. Many questionable impacting entities that may affect Circadian rhythm and sleep profile. What is the answer? A conundrum indeed. 

Writing this? I just this second shrugged my shoulders and said ‘Man oh Man Gray! Bit heavy this me old fella!’. 

But whatever the reason for typing this stuff and reflecting on having stated my Mantra of ‘I don’t do ill!’. I am feeling at present that life after being infected with Covid, in reality, is certainly a huge struggle. Burn out? Probably holistically speaking it’s the culmination of very many reasons over the past few years. Especially the daily impacts when a professional nurse. All contributing to giving the body a proverbial ‘massive kick up the a**e’. Maybe we need to be more gentle on ourselves. We have all looked at a lot of ‘frighteners’ in the eyes and tolerated some massive S**t over the last few years.  Or maybe it is just simply how the virus performs and the body’s post reaction to fighting it.

Illness? ‘I do do ill’ apparently. Either that or, after 7 months of having no alcohol whatsoever, I need a Jack Daniels, Guinness, Earthy Strong Dry Cider or a decent bottle of Red Wine back in my life! Simply for it giving holistic protection of course.