Hi Sally, I've been taking half a 100mg tablet in the mornings since I posted this, and it does really help for a while!! ... and then I'm exhausted and struggling to focus again, but no worse than usual. When I phoned the Long Covid Clinic at the Royal Adelaide Hospital last week to ask how I'm progressing through their 8-month waiting list (and that's with a classification of semi-urgent!), they advised they're going to review their waiting list next month, and push people back onto their GPs - so what a total waste of all those months I've been waiting for help and struggling along. Anyway, on the plus side, I've just been to see my GP, and she is fully behind me giving this caffeine idea a "proper try", and not mess around with half tablets (as she so eloquently put it). The half tablets haven't adversely affected my blood pressure, so I'm free to ramp it up to whole tablets and experiment with how many per day (up to 4) and ease back if I get palpitations or other adverse effects. Meanwhile, she's going to look into other suggested treatments, because GPs are actually in the dark here in Adelaide, thinking that the Long Covid Clinic was taking care of people. If you like, I'll let you know how I go. I do want to stress that I'm trying this under the supervision of my doctor. Warm regards, Liz.

I think self-care can look a bit different when you live alone. Certainly, living with others means you have to take their needs into account too, but living alone also means there's nobody there to cook a healthy meal for you when you're wrung out (so you end up eating cheese and crackers!), and there's nobody there to do some gentle exercise with (especially when all your pre-Covid exercise buddies expect that you're back to normal since you had Covid so long ago) ... and there's nobody there just to ask how your day was, make you a warm drink and encourage you to have a rest. Of course the upside is that you can do what you want, when you want, but equally there's no-one to share chores with, and help on those days when it takes a supreme effort just to roll out of bed and you're already running late even before you've left the house. Having said all that though, some self-care for me is gentle walking and accepting that I'm not as fast as I was pre-Covid, it also means giving myself permission to read fiction just for pleasure (and not persevere with books I'm not enjoying), and sometimes getting a movie from the library and putting my feet up on the couch to watch it. Also, having ice-cream once a week ;-)

Hi Andrew and Sam, I totally understand - sheer exhaustion is my worst symptom too. On the weekend, one of my team-mates (I'm a dragon-boat paddler) suggested it's all in my head!!?? Then went on to ask me about my diet, iron levels, walking etc.etc. These are things we've all already looked at. Anyway, I wish I had a magic pill or solution for this. I'm regularly so tired that it's all I can do to not cry. I belong to another forum as well, and it was suggested that I'm pushing myself to do too much exercise and that's making this worse - apparently pacing yourself and rest are the keys. I need to work full-time and I need to exercise, although I'm exercising less and a weight gain is the result of that (combined with eating to try and get extra energy). I have been taking guarana and ginseng tablets when I need to get work done and I'm so tired I can barely focus. They do contain 23mg caffeine, but say that a cup of instant coffee contains 80mg of caffeine. I've been sorely tempted to just get caffeine tablets, but I'm concerned about addiction so I've avoided that so far. I make sure I have some days without the guarana and ginseng tablets, but occasionally I do take two in a day. I'm not a coffee drinker, so I'm hoping this is ok. Sometimes I'm just desperate for an energy boost and focus. All the very best.

Hi everyone. I hope this finds you mostly well. It's nice to be able to interact with people who know that Long Covid is real! Too many people dismiss it as changes in the weather, stress, low iron, etc.etc., not understanding how debilitating it can be. I tried to avoid catching Covid, but it caught up with me in July last year. The main things since then have been exhaustion, shortness of breath and Covid fog ... and I've gained weight! I hate it, and it's not budging. I think I put it on because I'm in a research role at the moment, and I was getting so tired with my study participants that I couldn't think clearly and wasn't performing at my best, and so I'd snack beforehand, and I'd worry about staying alert driving between participants, so I'd snack some more, and there wasn't time to go for a walk in between, then I was too tired to exercise at the end of the day, and I'm too out-of-breath for the gym. I used to love walking and hiking, and now I push myself to do it, but I puff and pant on the smallest incline. I can get out of breath just having a conversation sometimes! I'm on the waiting list for the Long Covid clinic at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. I'd love some tips for getting some energy back ... and for being productive when you're simply wrung-out. Take care.