COVID recovery time

[Nearholmer]

Looked for a thread about this, but couldn’t find one.

Could I poll the collective experience and wisdom regarding getting going with cycling again after covid, duration of ‘build back’, that sort of thing?

I had one week of being pretty much floored by it, and am now 14 days from onset, and 4 days from testing clear. I started very short and very, very gentle walks (a long way from anyone else!) on day 7, and took a really, really gentle and really short bike ride today. I’m definitely building back, but it seems at a slow rate, so I still feel a bit “old man”.

I’m 62yo, considered myself reasonably, if not marvellously, fit until a fortnight ago, and at this time of year usually do two 30-40 mile 50/50 surfaced/non-surfaced rides each week, building up to sometimes as many as five 40-50 mile rides in a week in summer, dropping back down to two 20 milers in the worst part of the winter.

This guide that I found on-line looks relevant, but does it tally with practical experience?

[Jdsk]

I think that you're handling this sensibly.

I'm dubious about the value of a preset weekly plan. Building up gently, and dropping back a bit if necessary seems smarter. But some people find it difficult without some sort of target.

The NHS advice is at:

Supporting your recovery after COVID-19
https://www.yourcovidrecovery.nhs.uk

and specifically at:

Getting Moving Again
https://www.yourcovidrecovery.nhs.uk/yo ... ing-again/

Hope it goes well.

Jonathan

[David2504]

In early 2019 I was hospitalised through flu. At the time I was a runner. I found that it took quite a while to recover my pre illness fitness, My first few runs even though slow and short my heart rate was in over drive, and breathing laboured. Things gradually improved but took around three months to properly recover. So slow and steady is my advice, and the most important thing is to listen to your body and adjust any planned exercise accordingly.

[Nearholmer]

Seems to be working at this early stage - after today’s tiny sip of exercise I felt invigorated, and for the first time in two and a half weeks I now feel I’ve got energy to spare, rather than being short of it.

Flu can do funny things. One of the reasons I’m so keen to get this right is because I had flu in 2010, and it initiated a thyroid problem that took nearly two years to become apparent (losing weight consistently at 1kg/month while eating like a pig; heart-rate excursions) get diagnosed, and get medicated under control.

[mattsccm]

I must admit to being a fan of just going at it as hard as possible as soon as possible. Ride til I fall over then do the same tomorrow.

[Blondie]

I must admit to being a fan of just going at it as hard as possible as soon as possible. Ride til I fall over then do the same tomorrow.

Not a good idea if they have residual pericarditis

[Nearholmer]

My observation, admittedly of too few people for it to amount to anything scientific, is that it isn’t a good idea from the perspective of how long it takes to get back to full, normal fitness either.

My son and my neighbour both attempted “zero to hero” returns to full exercise after testing negative twice in a row, both sort-of sustained for about two weeks, and both then “crashed out”, having to take a complete week of rest before starting all over again on a more gentle build-up.

My neighbour is particularly vexed by all this because he has a pretty intense cycling holiday booked for the end of May and is now worried that he hasn’t got time to ‘train up’ for it.

[gbnz]

Have to admit I still take care - face mask, hand washing, cleaning surfaces, etc, etc. But had so many dozens of hours on congested buses and train recently, 3 hours on a packed train this weekend, standing room only, sans mask , no one remotely wearing a mask or taking care.
And? Still can't catch covid.

Perhaps it is time to forget it?

[Jdsk]

Have to admit I still take care - face mask, hand washing, cleaning surfaces, etc, etc. But had so many dozens of hours on congested buses and train recently, 3 hours on a packed train this weekend, standing room only, sans mask , no one remotely wearing a mask or taking care.
And? Still can't catch covid.

Perhaps it is time to forget it?

That would be a very bad idea.

And it's probably better for this thread to stick to the subject of recovery. There are plenty of others available.

Jonathan

[mjr]

Have to admit I still take care - face mask, hand washing, cleaning surfaces, etc, etc. But had so many dozens of hours on congested buses and train recently, 3 hours on a packed train this weekend, standing room only, sans mask , no one remotely wearing a mask or taking care.
And? Still can't catch covid.

Perhaps it is time to forget it?

That would be a very bad idea.

And it's probably better for this thread to stick to the subject of recovery. There are plenty of others available.

Jonathan

I replied in the main covid thread at viewtopic.php?p=1689095#p1689095

[Paulatic]

You might need to cycle with an oxygen bottle… https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland- ... s-61221546 Long Covid cyclist in Etape Loch Ness carried oxygen on his back

[Nearholmer]

Crikey!

That’s serious stuff, and serious commitment.

[Cowsham]

I'm a great believer in routine exercise ( no matter what ) , setting achievable goals, most importantly having an event to look forward to and train for.

When you're sick rest but as soon as your able, get an achievable progressive plan in place for each session.

The routine bit is very important ie even when feeling a bit sore or tired just get on with it, try hard to achieve the usual standard you have attained to that point. I usually find fairly soon in the session whether or not I can achieve my usual goal and I mostly achieve that or better ( when on a ramp up )

I've always found that on the very rare occasions where I can't carry on with the routine I always find there's a very good reason and I just stop and let myself recover for a few days but usually find I've been taking a cold or something._

This is my experience but it's all I can relate to. I've had two major setbacks one early in life and one most recently and recovered fully from both.

A collapsed lung when I was 17 and recovered to win a competition the following year. The last time 42 years later an even worse injury was this time last year following my bad off on May 30th well documented here.

I'm now back to better than I was before it happened even with a bout of covid in late February.

Health wise I feel better now than before I had the covid almost feel like it gave me a boost. Summer is here and I'm ready.

[Psamathe]

Likely an "Old Wives Tale" but when I was younger I was told that the reason people catch Upper Respiratory Infections in winter is when you go out in cold air the blood circulation in your sinuses/nose changes making it easier for bugs to get into your body. Not wearing a coat was nothing to do with the explanation.

Like I say, probably just an "Old Wives Tale" and I certainly can't quote any authoritative sources (no doubt Mums Net would provide pages of confirmation - which would "say it all!!!). Not trying to spread medical misinformation.

It's interesting how some quite plausible yet baseless theories can gain so much traction. Like the losing <large number>% of body heat through your scalp and hence the importance of wearing a beanie.

Ian

[Jdsk]

Likely an "Old Wives Tale" but when I was younger I was told that the reason people catch Upper Respiratory Infections in winter is when you go out in cold air the blood circulation in your sinuses/nose changes making it easier for bugs to get into your body. Not wearing a coat was nothing to do with the explanation.

Like I say, probably just an "Old Wives Tale" and I certainly can't quote any authoritative sources (no doubt Mums Net would provide pages of confirmation - which would "say it all!!!). Not trying to spread medical misinformation.

It's interesting how some quite plausible yet baseless theories can gain so much traction. Like the losing <large number>% of body heat through your scalp and hence the importance of wearing a beanie.

It sure is.

Jonathan