The patience to heal
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It’s that time of year — kids are back in school, office workers are back in their cubicles, and viruses are swirling around. Flu, COVID, RSV — choose your poison. Try to keep windows open, improve ventilation, maybe wear a mask, and for heaven’s sake, please stay home if you feel sick.
My family is quite cautious, but we still managed to catch COVID a few weeks ago — thanks, out-of-province visitors! It wasn’t as bad as the first time we had it in 2022, but it was enough to knock us all down for a few days. Then we started feeling better and went back to our usual activities, once we had tested negative of course.
I want to talk about the after-virus time, whether it’s COVID or any other. Long COVID has made itself known because of the relatively large number of sufferers, but post-viral syndrome is something that has been around for a long time. It’s not fun, and you don’t want to get it.
I should start by making it clear that I am not a physician and I don’t play one on the internet. Check everything I say with your own healthcare provider. There’s a lot of misinformation out there.
That having been said, I have some experience with doing research, and also unfortunately with a long recovery time (close to a year) from my family’s previous bout of COVID. We learned a few things, and I hope that my sharing them with you will be helpful.
The first rule in recovering from a viral infection is rest. Rest even when you think you don’t need to. Your brain may decide that your body is just being lazy, but it’s not. Research shows that many people who end up with long COVID or other post-viral syndromes suffer from post-exertional malaise, a worsening of their symptoms as a result of seemingly mild exertion. The virus has done a number on your body, and you need to give it a chance to recover.
I am someone who loves running and going to the gym, and I really chafed against this rule. But I knew that I would regret it if I didn’t follow it. So, once I started feeling better, I made myself spend a whole week resting, even when I started doing my usual activities otherwise. Find time to park yourself and rest whenever you can.
The second week I started doing gentle walks and then short runs. The third week I went back to the gym, but took it easy relative to what I had been doing before. I remembered how long it took me to get back up to speed last time, when I tried to do too much, too soon.
I hope you are able to stay healthy this winter, but if you do get infected, remember to be patient with yourself, and rest. Your body will thank you.