What does recovery from Long Covid look like?
Can we recover from Long Covid? The answer I’ve come to, based on this research, is: Yes - but…
Yes…
Yes, recovery is possible. Many of the ten people interviewed for this research have experienced significant improvements. Some stories are incredibly inspiring:
🏃♀️ One interviewee ran a marathon post-Long Covid; another walked an ultra-marathon.
🥋 One achieved her Black Belt in Taekwondo.
🧑💻 Many returned to work - part time or full time - even after experiencing severe cognitive dysfunction during the worst stages of illness.
But…
But most interviewees placed themselves at only 50–70% of their pre-Covid health. Only one person said they were back to 100%. Most were still making daily decisions about how to manage their energy, carefully building rest into their lives. Several had made achievements in one area of life at the expense of another - returning to work but no longer able to exercise, for example. Between one to four years into Long Covid, recovery was still an active, ongoing process.
For many of us, there’s a sense that we may never return to who we were before. Life will look different now.
A deeper healing
And yet, after moving through the anger, grief, and letting go, some people said that life after Long Covid was, in some ways, even better than before.
Some people described:
No longer overriding their needs
Learning to rest and set boundaries
Taking better care of themselves
Addressing lifelong patterns or buried trauma
Having Long Covid can be traumatic, deeply distressing and lonely. For many of us, it’s one of the hardest things we’ve ever experienced. But this condition, for some, became a catalyst for healing in deeper ways.
“I'm actually much better than I was [before I got Covid] because I'm much more relaxed. I'm much more at ease with myself and with other people. I've got that sort of stillness and activity in balance. I'm actually feeling better [even though] I'm not as physically fit as I was at all.”
- Interviewee with Long Covid
“Now I'm running 5k, I'm going swimming once a week, and I'm out dog walking. So probably I'm healthier than I was before I got Covid […] I do feel like I've found more enjoyment just in a different way. And that comes with the acceptance of, I can't do that as much, but there's other things that I can enjoy […] Now I'm so much more relaxed than I used to be. My perception of what's important has totally changed.”
- Interviewee with Long Covid
Another important “but”…
This research focused on ten people who have made a good recovery. Many others have not. Many are still housebound, isolated, in pain, and dismissed.
More understanding, more services, and more research are urgently needed for those of us who haven’t yet recovered.
A different life
My own life looks very different post-Covid; different, but not necessarily worse.
I can’t yet do the long-distance walks I long to do - but I can walk for an hour and sleep out under the stars. I can’t rush around socially - but I can sit in my garden and listen to the birds, something I was always too busy to enjoy before.
I no longer pour everything into work at the expense of my well-being. I work part time and live more simply. I’ve learned to rest, to prioritise myself, to live by gentler rhythms. I have a deep gratitude for my body, and a deeper sense of connection with others living with long-term illness.
And I’ve gained some wonderful friendships in the Long Covid community.
These are not small things. These are the things that add up to a good life.
And they’re a reminder that recovery isn’t just about going back to how things were - it can also be about finding a way forward.