Helen X
Helen is in her 50s and is White British. She works as a midwife.
Helen caught Covid at a charity cycling event after the first lockdowns eased. She experienced severe headaches and sinus pain but did not have breathing issues. Helen's symptoms continued for several months after testing negative. Helen was interviewed in May 2021.
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Helen first heard about the Covid-19 pandemic at work. She remembers wondering “what on earth is this?” when she saw a poster warning about travelling to Wuhan. As lockdowns were put in place, her role as a midwife switched from office work to supporting clinical work. Helen worried about her elderly parents catching Covid but felt that she would probably be ok.
After the easing of the first lockdown measures, Helen returned to some of her usual activities. Helen thinks that she contracted Covid after taking part in a cycling challenge for charity. She felt achey and developed a cough by the time she got to work the next day. A PCR test confirmed that she was positive for Covid. Helen’s son and partner later also tested positive for Covid. While she was sick, Helen experienced severe headaches, coughing, and sinus pain.
Helen continued to experience symptoms for seven months after testing negative. She struggled with getting back to the active lifestyle she had before, and at times felt “desperate to feel better”. Symptoms like brain fog and memory lapses made it difficult to perform well in her job. She also sought support from her GP, who eventually prescribed her Valium to help with low mood and sleep issues.
Helen doesn’t feel that she has fully recovered from Covid yet. She still finds herself forgetting words and has noticed some issues with nerve sensation. Helen reflects that Covid has been: “more than just a virus for two weeks, it’s a lot more than that”.
Helen X was frustrated that her GP offered no plan of care or follow-up.
Helen X was frustrated that her GP offered no plan of care or follow-up.
So, I went to see her and I kept, I said, I kept telling her, I felt, you know and as a healthcare professional, you need to know these cues when people are asking for help. I felt I was asking for help. And I was begging her to help me, in a way. I was like, if she’d given me prescriptions for antidepressants, I’d have taken them because that’s what I felt I needed. I needed somebody to just boost my mood and she gave me this week’s supply of Valium, and I, Valium, you know. And it would be 2mg. So I snapped them in half and I had one every other day [laughs]. I didn’t even take them all. And I thought to myself right, pull yourself together now. I did, I thought ‘Pull yourself together now for god’s sake’ and I did. And I have felt better since then.
How could that have been different for you, with the GP?
I think she…I was sort of telling her my plan of care, but she wasn’t giving me a plan of care and a follow-up. “Well let’s see how you are in 4 weeks.” So that’s what I needed. And I needed that from the first appointment, because I kept telling her I was really low in mood.
And was she saying anything about that?
She was just saying “Oh do you want to be referred to some Covid clinic or some…?” And I was like “No, I just want to feel better.” You’re the GP, treat me, you know. I am a person, I’m a fixer I have to fix things. And that’s where I felt, you know, I didn’t want to wait, and go on a waiting list for a Covid clinic. I didn’t feel like, we’d all sit in a group with people talking about how I felt. I’m not embarrassed by that, if I needed that I would do that, I didn’t feel that was what I needed.