I realized there was nothing spectacularly wrong with my body. My fear of never getting better had kept me from getting better!
- Condition
- Long COVID
- At worst
- Very severe (bedbound, unable to do basic care)
- Ill for
- 8 months
- Published
- Sep 2021
Summary
Esther's breakthrough came after hearing a podcast featuring psychotherapist Nicole Sachs and "Lieke from Amsterdam," which led her to journal about her emotions and read books by Dr. Sarno and Nicole Sachs, following roughly eight months of illness that began with fever, cough, breathlessness and tingling fingers, progressed to suspected chronic fatigue syndrome, and left her unable to walk five meters, bedridden for weeks after activity and searching for a wheelchair; earlier care included occupational therapy, physiotherapy, breathing exercises, Chinese herbal medicine, massage and support from C-support, a long-COVID support centre. She writes that after concentrating on "the fear that had caused the first covid-like symptoms," "80% of my symptoms disappeared" that same day, and "two weeks later, I had gotten rid of 95% of my symptoms, only the tinnitus is still there." She says she is back at work "doing almost everything again," concluding "my fear of never getting better had kept me from getting better." No relapse is reported, but the tinnitus is named as a persisting symptom, with no further follow-up given.
Read it in their words
recoverynorway.org — a recovery advocacy site.
What they credit
Credits Brain retraining, Trauma & somatic work, Herbal and Chinese medicine, Sarno / TMS / somatic tracking / JournalSpeak.
Symptoms mentioned
Symptoms: Brain fog, Breathlessness, Neuropathy & tingling, Tinnitus.
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