'It's a life-changing and scary illness I wouldn’t wish on anybody': Leeds yoga instructor left struggling to walk with 'long Covid'

Yet that proved no defence when it came to the after-effects of Covid-19 and the 42-year-old mum-of-two, from Chapel Allerton, is among the estimated two to five per cent of people to have been struck down with 'long-Covid'.

Gerda caught Covid-19 in March but its impact, she says, has been “life-changing” - to the extent that now, nine months on, she still struggles to walk very far.

As the Yorkshire Evening Post reported yesterday, a specialist team has been set up in the city in response to the rising number of people still experiencing symptoms months after their initial Covid-19 infection.

The Leeds Covid After-Care team - thought to be among the first of its kind in the country - has only been up and running for a few months but has so far found many of those with ‘long Covid’ were previously fit and healthy with an average age of 48.

Gerda is among those who have now been referred into this new team - which she says provides welcome support after many months of struggling on her own with various dismissals by medical professionals along the way, who provided diagnoses ranging from carbon monoxide poisoning to anxiety.

For Gerda, her long Covid journey began on March 26 when she suddenly collapsed.

She said: “I didn’t really think a massive amount about it, just thought maybe I’d had some kind of funny turn.

“But the following day I was sitting at a table with my son and suddenly I couldn’t sit up and I ended up on the floor again. I just lost all control of my body and I started to really struggle with my breathing as well.”

These episodes began to happen a few times a day, become progressively worse each time.

“It turned into me being quite ill. I was getting these really bad breathing attacks where I couldn’t breathe but between these I was also struggling and I couldn’t walk.

“We were on the phone to 111 quite a lot of the time. Which was really unhelpful. But I wasn’t presenting with the typical symptoms - I didn’t have a fever, didn’t have a cough.”

Gerda ended up bed-bound for lengthy periods of time over the ensuing months.

Once, when she felt a little stronger, she attempted a walk in her local park but she said: “A couple of days after that, it just had me again. I was back in bed, couldn’t walk at all. My husband was having to carry me to the bathroom.

“It was extreme fatigue, my breathing was really bad.”

She also describes severe headaches, her heart racing and slowing down and muscle aches.

“It has been a life-changing and scary illness which I wouldn’t wish on anybody,” she said.

But she refuses to let it devastate her life, she says, and as well as the help she receives from the Covid After-Care team, she says her Iyengar yoga has provided invaluable support over the past few months.

She said: “In some ways I have been a bit luckier than other people who have been struggling because I have been able to get myself into yoga positions that have helped me breathe but have also helped me to stop panicking about not breathing.

“It’s a really difficult thing to live with. If you’re in the situation, it’s difficult when you can’t walk, difficult when you can’t get out, difficult when you’re struggling with breathing but I definitely feel like I have got a good coping mechanism which is helping me.”

Gerda now feels strong enough to begin teaching a little at home - including helping others with long-Covid through online classes.

And alongside accessing the medical help which is now gaining momentum, Gerda urged those in need to give yoga a try.

“It has helped me breathe when I couldn’t, it has eased my nausea, palpitations, chest pain, headaches and muscle pains - and even when it couldn’t always ease my symptoms it has helped me with the anxiety surrounding this illness.

“I am hopeful that I will fully recover but relapses seem to happen often with long Covid so am just taking every day as it comes.”

For more information on Iyengar yoga visit https://iyengaryoga.org.uk/covid-yoga**Anyone in Leeds struggling with ongoing symptoms should consult their GP in the first instance.

Local information on recovering from Covid is available at https://www.leedsccg.nhs.uk/health/coronavirus/recovering-from-coronavirus/Also, www.yourcovidrecovery.nhs.uk is a self-care resource that people can access to help support Covid-19 recovery and the management of ongoing symptoms.

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