My short story is: illness for several years before an accident causing brain trauma followed by covid resulting in long covid.
I was able to stay home during 2020, which helped the illness and mental fatigue caused by it. I felt good and hopeful.
2021 i went back to work, almost immediately had my accident was navigating that when i got covid 3 months later and was bed bound 3 weeks. 6 months later developed long covid symptoms which added to the chaos.
Everything happening to my body at once made healing any of it impossible.
Clearly i was in shut down, but had to continue working to pay the rent. I focused on food / fuel, meditation, rest and sleep. Movement became an issue and had to carefully plan my day and night so basic needs were met.
2024 I felt good enough to start working with a personal trainer to get some strength back. That lasted 9 months before i quit. Focused strength training was only causing injury, I had to go back to basics.
2025 I've switched jobs to one less physical and less stressful. I've focused on joy and art and bringing more of both into everyday. I unapologetically have set rediculous boundaries and promises to myself. No matter what i want to do or plan to do, how my body feels in this moment is the true indicator of what happens next. I've stopped living in my head and listen carefully to my bodys signals.
Congratulations, I've had a similar journey of ill health, multiple comorbidities, work place accident, subsequent permanent impairment. Get better 6 months later, get Covid bad, go back to work still unwell. Second severe impairment from workplace accident. Have major limb replacement operation to correct 1st accident, it backfires giving me neuropathies with major nerve damage. Subsequent pain syndromes, unable to work or drive, or look after myself. A year ago, I caught covid a second time. Severe muscle pains and subsequent Long Covid. Trouble walking, muscles ceasing. Diagnosed with COPD, Emphysema, Costochondritis, GERD, Fibromyalgia, and Polymyalgia Rheumatica.
Couldn't walk without a walker for 6 months.
Opioids and CBD oil no help at all. Became addicted to those drugs, then had to detox from them. Diagnosed with Hyperalgesia, which amplifies any pain to a 9.5 out of ten.
And now, I've had my first good week in 4 entire years.
This iscthe most important and pertinent article I've read in regards to my personal health journey, which after almost 4 years is finally coming out of a massive trauma cycle of covid, comorbidities, 2 severe work place injuries, nerve damage from a botched knee replacement,5 COPD, teo auto immune diseases, hyperalgesia, emphysema, osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, and intractable chronic pain syndromes including Fibromyalgia and Polymyalgia Rheumatica, just to name a few problems.
Excellent article, Cody. The step make perfect sense. In hindsight, I can see clearly times in the past I experienced shutdown and was treating it like stress.
Hand on tummy exercise was soothing. First I sneezed, then smiled, my whole body relaxed.
This is amazing. It makes perfect sense now.
My short story is: illness for several years before an accident causing brain trauma followed by covid resulting in long covid.
I was able to stay home during 2020, which helped the illness and mental fatigue caused by it. I felt good and hopeful.
2021 i went back to work, almost immediately had my accident was navigating that when i got covid 3 months later and was bed bound 3 weeks. 6 months later developed long covid symptoms which added to the chaos.
Everything happening to my body at once made healing any of it impossible.
Clearly i was in shut down, but had to continue working to pay the rent. I focused on food / fuel, meditation, rest and sleep. Movement became an issue and had to carefully plan my day and night so basic needs were met.
2024 I felt good enough to start working with a personal trainer to get some strength back. That lasted 9 months before i quit. Focused strength training was only causing injury, I had to go back to basics.
2025 I've switched jobs to one less physical and less stressful. I've focused on joy and art and bringing more of both into everyday. I unapologetically have set rediculous boundaries and promises to myself. No matter what i want to do or plan to do, how my body feels in this moment is the true indicator of what happens next. I've stopped living in my head and listen carefully to my bodys signals.
Congratulations, I've had a similar journey of ill health, multiple comorbidities, work place accident, subsequent permanent impairment. Get better 6 months later, get Covid bad, go back to work still unwell. Second severe impairment from workplace accident. Have major limb replacement operation to correct 1st accident, it backfires giving me neuropathies with major nerve damage. Subsequent pain syndromes, unable to work or drive, or look after myself. A year ago, I caught covid a second time. Severe muscle pains and subsequent Long Covid. Trouble walking, muscles ceasing. Diagnosed with COPD, Emphysema, Costochondritis, GERD, Fibromyalgia, and Polymyalgia Rheumatica.
Couldn't walk without a walker for 6 months.
Opioids and CBD oil no help at all. Became addicted to those drugs, then had to detox from them. Diagnosed with Hyperalgesia, which amplifies any pain to a 9.5 out of ten.
And now, I've had my first good week in 4 entire years.
So, yes, similar story.
Shitty times really.
So, congratulations!
I have a bit of an idea what you've been though.
Keep going, it gets easier.
You are doing really well.
Pat yourself on the back.
Thanks Therese, wishing you continued improved health. 🙏🏼🧡
This iscthe most important and pertinent article I've read in regards to my personal health journey, which after almost 4 years is finally coming out of a massive trauma cycle of covid, comorbidities, 2 severe work place injuries, nerve damage from a botched knee replacement,5 COPD, teo auto immune diseases, hyperalgesia, emphysema, osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, and intractable chronic pain syndromes including Fibromyalgia and Polymyalgia Rheumatica, just to name a few problems.
Very helpful post. Wow! Still teasing out when it is freeze and when it is stress.
Me too. But, I think I've tried to navigate all the stages multiple times on an endless loop already, trying to get off the freeze-pain roundabout.
Excellent article, Cody. The step make perfect sense. In hindsight, I can see clearly times in the past I experienced shutdown and was treating it like stress.
Hand on tummy exercise was soothing. First I sneezed, then smiled, my whole body relaxed.