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> As for lung capacity: I used to play saxophone pretty fanatically and I think that is one of the reasons I got through this with a relatively low amount of da

> As for lung capacity: I used to play saxophone pretty fanatically and I think that is one of the reasons I got through this with a relatively low amount of damage. Funnily enough, I used to play the flute and sing before contracting COVID. With my lung capacity halved, my ability is nowhere near what it used to be. Long COVID has taken all my hobbies away from me: running, singing, hip-hop dancing. If anyone knows of any support groups relating to Long COVID, please let me know.

jacquesm 5y ago
Gah that sucks, I really feel for you. But: you will recover. For the longest time I thought that I wouldn't and then bit by bit it got better. If you can find an exercise bike I would really recommend you find one, it is super motivating to see your distance creep up day-by-day as you regain your strength and wind.
fragmede 5y ago
There’s are many Facebook groups, and a Slack. (No idea the overlap.) http://survivorcorps.com http://survivorcorps.com The particular FB group I'm in is called (creatively enough) "Long Covid Support Group", but a search there reveals there are many more. My email is in my profile if you want to connect further over this. I consider myself mostly healed by this point (infected March 2020) and can share my vitamin regime (its efficacy is anecdotal, my sample size is 2) but I still have lingering health issues over a year later.
loopz 5y ago
Breathing exercises and meditation/yoga may help, both with heart and lungs. Worth a try along with long covid support/meetups.
- disabled 5y ago
  Yep. I do breathing exercises daily. It helps with the dysautonomia (long covid causes dysautonomia) too. You may want to look into the Airofit Pro: https://www.airofit.com/ https://www.airofit.com/
  - loopz 5y ago
    One may also learn Ujjayi breath. It needs no technology and has other benefits.
AnimalMuppet 5y ago
Have you tried postural drainage for your lungs? I ask because if you've lost half your lung capacity (and I expect a singer and flute player would know), then you must have some kind of junk in there. For those not familiar with the term: You position yourself with your head a foot lower than your hips (and your back straight). You hold that for 15 minutes or so. You let gravity pull the junk out of your lungs down to where you can cough it out. Warning: It's not fun. First, your head feels like it's going to explode from the lung pressure. Second, when a chunk comes out, oxygen starts hitting an area of your lungs for the first time in maybe months. That hurts. (Or so my daughter says. She had to do this.)
- MaxBarraclough 5y ago
  That sounds like the kind of thing you should do on the advice of your doctor, rather than on the advice of a stranger on the Internet.
  - AnimalMuppet 5y ago
    Well, my daughter did it on the advice of a retired nurse (her grandmother).
  - waterhouse 5y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postural_drainage#Risks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postural_drainage#Risks "Postural drainage is considered safe and effective, but may cause some side effects. The procedure is discontinued if the patient complains of headache, discomfort, dizziness, palpitations,[3] fatigue, or dyspnea. Patients may be dyspnic after the various manuovers, since the head-down position increases the work of breathing, reduces tidal volume, and decreases functional residual capacity (FRC).[citation needed]"
Invictus0 5y ago
We have a lively long covid discord group here: https://discord.gg/HcxrH7xZ https://discord.gg/HcxrH7xZ

jacquesm 5y ago

Gah that sucks, I really feel for you. But: you will recover. For the longest time I thought that I wouldn't and then bit by bit it got better. If you can find an exercise bike I would really recommend you find one, it is super motivating to see your distance creep up day-by-day as you regain your strength and wind.

fragmede 5y ago

There’s are many Facebook groups, and a Slack. (No idea the overlap.) http://survivorcorps.com http://survivorcorps.com The particular FB group I'm in is called (creatively enough) "Long Covid Support Group", but a search there reveals there are many more. My email is in my profile if you want to connect further over this. I consider myself mostly healed by this point (infected March 2020) and can share my vitamin regime (its efficacy is anecdotal, my sample size is 2) but I still have lingering health issues over a year later.

loopz 5y ago

Breathing exercises and meditation/yoga may help, both with heart and lungs. Worth a try along with long covid support/meetups.

disabled 5y ago
Yep. I do breathing exercises daily. It helps with the dysautonomia (long covid causes dysautonomia) too. You may want to look into the Airofit Pro: https://www.airofit.com/ https://www.airofit.com/
- loopz 5y ago
  One may also learn Ujjayi breath. It needs no technology and has other benefits.

AnimalMuppet 5y ago

Have you tried postural drainage for your lungs? I ask because if you've lost half your lung capacity (and I expect a singer and flute player would know), then you must have some kind of junk in there. For those not familiar with the term: You position yourself with your head a foot lower than your hips (and your back straight). You hold that for 15 minutes or so. You let gravity pull the junk out of your lungs down to where you can cough it out. Warning: It's not fun. First, your head feels like it's going to explode from the lung pressure. Second, when a chunk comes out, oxygen starts hitting an area of your lungs for the first time in maybe months. That hurts. (Or so my daughter says. She had to do this.)

MaxBarraclough 5y ago
That sounds like the kind of thing you should do on the advice of your doctor, rather than on the advice of a stranger on the Internet.
- AnimalMuppet 5y ago
  Well, my daughter did it on the advice of a retired nurse (her grandmother).
- waterhouse 5y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postural_drainage#Risks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postural_drainage#Risks "Postural drainage is considered safe and effective, but may cause some side effects. The procedure is discontinued if the patient complains of headache, discomfort, dizziness, palpitations,[3] fatigue, or dyspnea. Patients may be dyspnic after the various manuovers, since the head-down position increases the work of breathing, reduces tidal volume, and decreases functional residual capacity (FRC).[citation needed]"

Invictus0 5y ago

We have a lively long covid discord group here: https://discord.gg/HcxrH7xZ https://discord.gg/HcxrH7xZ