The Moment It Hit Me
It hit me during a Sunday morning pickup game of basketball—something was off. Back in 2022, every Sunday morning at 7am, a group of friends—most of whom I’d been playing with for 15 years—would rock up to Auburn Basketball Centre fighting through a combination of a lack of sleep, hangovers, or creaky joints to play 8 minute games of full court basketball for an hour.
For months, I had been making the weekly Sunday pilgrimage, reigniting my love for the game, and regaining much of the fitness I had lost due to the challenges of being a first time parent. But this week felt different. Where I could have run for an hour, I was out of breath just 2–3 minutes in, hands on my knees, sucking in deep breaths, and walking back on defence (a cardinal sin in the eyes of my highschool coach). I thought it was odd, but chalked it up to still not having recovered entirely after having had my first run in with Covid-19 two weeks earlier.
Pushing Through, But Things Got Worse
I returned determined the following week, thinking surely after another week of rest and recovery I’d be back to at least 80%. I soldiered through the hour, but I didn’t just feel awful during the games—it carried into my entire week, seeping into everyday life. At first, I tried to ignore it, but as the days passed, the fatigue wasn’t just lingering—it was taking over. I could no longer keep up with my wife and young daughter on our morning walks, and my mind would lose track of trains of thought when speaking with clients at work. This was just the beginning, but it was the moment I knew something was definitely not right.
Facing the Reality
For me, it was easy to remain in a state of denial during the early stages. I was relatively young, fit, and healthy—Covid-19 wasn’t meant to affect me in this way. But after weeks of progressively feeling worse and worse, I finally went to my GP for help. I was fortunate enough to have an incredibly supportive GP, one who listened and took action, which I know is not the case for many people seeking diagnoses of chronic fatigue syndrome or long covid. He sent me off for a suite of tests, which all came back normal. With everything else excluded, he gave me a diagnosis of Long Covid–which is where the frustrations with the health system really began.
Frustrations with the Health System
My GP referred me to the long covid clinics at St. Vincent’s and RPA – the only two operating clinics in Sydney at the time. After waiting for a few weeks and hearing nothing, I found the energy to chase up the referrals. It was as if the RPA Long Covid Clinic had vanished from the internet, and after giving the general line a call, they informed me that they had received my referral, but unfortunately the clinic was no longer in operation – there was talk of it reopening in some capacity, for which I could put my name down. I went back to my GP to speak with him, and he informed me that the St Vincent’s clinic had rejected my referral as their wait list was 1-2 years long. My options now were to seek specialist help for each of my symptoms–fatigue, breathlessness, POTS, and muscle soreness/weakness.
Finding Help That Made a Difference
I would first put my focus on fatigue, as it was by far the most debilitating of the issues I was managing. I asked my GP to refer me to the Fatigue Clinic at UNSW, where I had actually completed some practical placement hours for my bachelors some 9 years earlier. It was 6 months before I was able to get in for my initial appointment in September 2023, as understandably, their wait list had also ballooned out due to increased demand from covid. I worked with the incredible team there over the next 4 months, and made significant progress regaining control of my energy and improving my quality of life. The lessons that I learnt over those four months I still use now, over a year after being discharged, to help manage my fatigue.
Where I’m At Now
While I’m still not 100%, my capacity for life has improved drastically–I’ve recently returned to resistance training, I’m feeling ready to return to some social weeknight netball, and most importantly, I’m able to spend quality time with my family and keep up with (for the most part) my 3 year old daughter (and thankfully, my 8 month old daughter is not yet on the move).
Why I’m Sharing This
Before diving into this blog series in earnest, I wanted to give you a little insight as to my experiences (and frustrations) with long covid related fatigue, and why I’m so passionate about helping people who are going through similar journeys but might not be able to access the same level of support that I was able to access. Through this blog series, I want to share with you advice and tools that I’ve used to better help me manage my fatigue in the hope that it can help you too. If my story resonates with you, or if you’d like to share your own experience, I’d love to hear from you! Feel free to reach out at alex.burjan@ep360.com.au.
