Has Covid changed life for you?

I totally agree with you. Before Covid I was a very happy cheerful very active person.
Now I’m the shell of myself. I hate going out. I make plans to go to community activities and then when the time comes I can’t go - no motivation. I hate going to the shops, rarely go for ‘coffee’ - very low morale. My two eldest live in France where before Covid, I’d go to see them 2/3 times a year. I’ve been once since! I feel I’m waiting for God!
Money is tight, but just no motivation. I had counselling which I loved but it’s so expensive, I’ve had to stop. Not a gym goer.
Daytime tv is my friend as is Gransnet -
Thank you

yes I suffer long covid,affected my whole system from head to toe, cannot read for long,brain fog, life sometimes feels like it is in lock down, it's grim......

Covid changed me. I have Long Covid. Many people have LC worse than I do, but I can no longer do what I did. Helping my daughter choose her wedding dress meant spending almost a week on and off the sofa afterwards. The fatigue means no proper walks any more. No more Am Dram as it affected how my brain worked for a while. Before L C I could memorise pages of script (main character roles) with no problem. I couldn't remember 4 lines afterwards. LC has had some benefits. I think I'm less inclined to rush into decisions and less immediately reactive to irritations. It's made me much more aware of my own mortality - but that's a good thing.

My life has changed a lot since Covid. Had volunteered for over 27 years in a Charity shop after being told that I could no longer work due to the state my spine & hips were in after an early hip replacement. When Covid Lockdowns hit the shop had to close then just as we were picking up again another Lockdown! So not being as active as I had been seemed to give Rheumatoid Arthritis a chance to jump in & join the Osteo Arthritis I had been told at age 21 I had. So became harder to get about. Moved to be nearer to family & now spend most days just reading or doing nothing as everything now hurts more thanks to RA! Have no friends locally & had only one nearby after 3 friends died in one year! Even with not going out I still caught Covid. Horrid experience as felt so ill! So my life has all but disappeared thanks to Covid! Miss my volunteering but at 79 do not feel capable of starting again!

Just adding to my comment about favourite shops closing, our local MS closed. And that was a place to have a wander, have a coffee and often have a chat to a stranger with whom for just 10 minutes you build up such a rapport. You didn't need to even buy anything clothes wise just have a good look. That's probably one reason why they closed.

I agree Tenko.
I think we were all driven into such a state of acute anxiety during the lockdowns that many people have not been able to throw off that fear. Combined with the state of the NHS and lack of care in the community many are fearful of falling ill.
Maybe this should be studied and resources put in place to help people get back into some form of society. But as there are few resources available for child mental health I doubt if that is likely.

I take my hat off to my 84 year old friend who has had several quite serious heart problems over the last few years, but that has not stopped her from going to a local spa every day to swim and also to chat to everyone and anyone there. That has kept her buoyant. I think the just getting out if you can daily for a short walk and a chat to anyone is a help. So many little things we took for granted before Covid. So many changes since including favourite shops closing for good and the High Street changing.

Thank you annisixty for this post . Reading other peoples experiences had made me more sympathetic to my older friends and family members who are still very anxious 4 years on from the pandemic. One couple 78 loved their holidays and would have 4-5 trips a year . They haven’t been away for 4 years , not even in the uk . They avoid crowds , trains and buses . They used to love going up to london to the theatre and exhibitions . They’re not CV , have had all the jabs and haven’t had covid .
It’s well documented that school aged children have mental health issues due to covid , so it’s interesting that older people are also affected.

Yes, Covid broke up my little gang of friends here. One moved to be nearer her children because of it. Others became scared to mingle in public places. It's never been the same since.
I think it has affected me a little. I'm more careful about being in crowds. I prefer to drive my car rather than catch the bus, for example.

Covid, DH’s increasing ill health and death and age have all played a part in restricting my life. I am glad we travelled when we could because I have no urge to do so now, and find my more restricted life is fine if a bit lonely. I find myself reluctant to initiate meetings with friends now though always happy to fall in with suggestions and feel I need turbo charging to get out of my rut. Clearly I am not unique.

I continue to avoid crowded, enclosed spaces. I have certainly lost some of my confidence. My life is quieter but we are both content in the smaller world we now inhabit. Neither of us has any desire to negotiate airports or sit in planes with germ-ridden fellow passengers. Been there, done that, happy with what I now have and grateful for it

100% with GSM on this. I sometimes wonder how I had the courage to go off alone to some of the counties Ive visited independently. I would not do it now even if I had my mobility.

Even before the lockdown the amount of headspace I was willing to devote to other random people had declined considerably. So I cant say its because of covid that I prefer to be at home.

Ive got the gas engineer calling this morning to do the annual check and service and he is likely to be my only visitor untill the weekend. Suits me fine.

Like BlueBelle it doesn’t figure in my life at all, only here on GN.
We live in a small close with hardly any traffic so we would meet up in the close. Bring a chair, a cup of tea. We did quizzes, charades, chose non covid subjects to discuss.
Then we all decided that it was far more pleasant to meet in my garden, no different to meeting in the road.
I have 2 very elderly neighbours whose mental health was fragile so as they had always come to us for Sunday dinner, that carried on.
We are also fortunate in that our garden fences can be no higher than 4’ so we could all communicate over the fences.
I also saw my children and grandchildren because I took the view that if Neil Ferguson ( who predicted the figures) can have his squeeze over for some afternoon rumpy pumpy ) I can see my family.
I live very close to the beach. In the first lockdown there were crowds of people walking along the front.

Sympathies Coronation. My daughter has had long covid now for more than 18 months. She is only mid forties and it is a struggle. She was very active kayaking, climbing and walking. And now has to plan every day and pace herself. Has a Blue Badge so she can park close to appointments. I never thpught my active energetic daughter would need a blue badge. I am so sad for her. And it has been a case of one step forward 2 steps back in her recovery. Lucky are those for whom it has been "just a cold". So far.

One of the big things that has changed for me is that I now read less. I have always been an avid reader but during lockdown we watched far too much television but also did more walking which we have tried to keep up. We are going out and about more but not to London for days out which we also did

Catching covid has been life changing for me. I now have long covid, I've lost my job, some friends and fitness.

I will slowly improve I hope, I'm not sure how to rebuild my life yet but I've really lost confidence and feel more vulnerable.

I hope at some point there will be a positive in this.

Oreo

So very sad maddyone I hope there will be a happy outcome in the end.It was selfish of your SIL in the first place and doubly so now.

Thank you for your kindness Oreo.

Finding out I was CEV when covid happened was a real shock to me.
It was almost 15 years since I had blood cancer and have not relapsed but it seems that after a blood cancer and months of chemo you are always immunocompromised.
Consequently our lives have changed and despite all the jabs covid is still a threat as it is for many others.
Thus we avoid crowds,public transport etc ,shop mainly on line and wear a mask for appointments.
However we are happy with our quieter lives and get pleasure from what we can do,walks,gardening,reading and still having each other.
Family are careful around us now, so yes, covid has changed life but so can many things that can happen to anyone anytime.

My life went back to normal as soon as we were allowed out and about . I returned to work after a 3 month break because dental surgeries were closed . I think returning to work boosted my confidence in a normal life.
However I’m a lot younger than many on here and both my dh and I are fit and healthy and have no health problems. Ourselves and family and friends who had covid weren’t too ill , like a normal cold , so covid didn’t really impact on us .
I do appreciate that others have been badly affected by covid and the lockdown and that mental health issues are more prevalent.

It certainly changed mine. I had to shield for two years and missed out on hospital treatment as I was too vulnerable to attend clinics, was told a DNR had been put on my records (without my knowledge) and that I would not be admitted to hospital, if I contracted Covid. That was an enormous blow to my confidence and I became very anxious. I naively hadn't realised how vulnerable I was.
My physical and mental health deteriorated dramatically, as a result. I had a second heart attack, because my condition wasn't being monitored and spent less than twenty four hours in coronary care, because it wasn't safe for me to be there.

Consequently, I became a bit of a recluse once lockdown was over, because I hadn't driven for two years and I was terrified of catching anything as I am permanently immuno suppressed. My clinicians kept reiterating that I had to be very careful.

However, I eventually decided I couldn't live like this and decided to do something about it.
I started driving again and going out, but it was still difficult, having lost my confidence, when once I would have driven anywhere.
I still can't be in crowded areas because a simple cold can result in a serious chest infection. I'm just recovering from one and have been very unwell.

I don't socialise on the scale I used to and have lost friends due to my reluctance to go out in crowded places and the fact that they do not understand how limiting my many health conditions are and how they impact on my daily life. You would never know how fragile my health is to look at me and I am very good at covering up.
I used to be such a social person, now I am content to just be with my family and a few friends.

Recently I bought a new automatic car (never thought I would live long enought to need a new car 😏) and am trying to get out more. Public transport and planes are no longer an option for me.
My life will never be what it was, but will anyone's?

Nothing much has changed here. We hadn’t been here long but during Covid with the clapping thing , we met more people. Also my neighbour has a huge garden and we went to drinks around their fire pit in the lull and made good friends.
During lockdown I got fed up of tv, knitting and jigsaws so started to write. First book has been published and the second on its way. A whole new world has opened, and it is wonderful.

All this is really interesting to me. I was really ill in September 2022 and it took me a long time to recover.

I had thought that the changes to our lives were related to my illness but looking at your posts has made me think that covid has had an impact too. And advancing years.

We have no desire to go anywhere that would involve lots of travel and are happy to go away for a few days at a time in this country.

We enjoy seeing family, friends and neighbours and our volunteering which were all curtailed during the lockdowns. We sometimes venture to the big city (well, Leicester) but not that often.

But, at our age, maybe that would all have happened anyway.

I too am reassured to read that I am not alone. Neither of us has had covid but, especially because I have asthma, I continue to avoid crowded, enclosed spaces. I have certainly lost some of my confidence. My life is quieter but we are both content in the smaller world we now inhabit. Neither of us has any desire to negotiate airports or sit in planes with germ-ridden fellow passengers. Been there, done that, happy with what I now have and grateful for it.

No not for me it was like a cut that healed up very quickly and life for me went back to normal as soon as we were allowed back into normality
I didn’t drive before Covid so no difference there I went back to my volunteering the minute we were allowed to I carried on walking, gardening swimming and doing my allotment when I could during Covid I meet up with my friends just as I did before no one’s dropped out except for one friend who now has advanced dementia nothing to do with Covid

I’ve had Covid twice and luckily no lasting problems and only like a bad cold

In fact I ve almost forgotten it ever happened

There have been changes in my life since COVID started, but none directly caused by COVID.

To begin with we are 4 years older and aging from 76 to 80. almost always sees a change in health in circumstances. My DH has had a heart attack and by pass surgery and recently had a pacemaker fitted. Again nothng to do with COVID but has happened and would have happened whether COVID happened or not.

I delat with the lack of confidence that comes from not driving by pushing myself to drive as much as possible for a month. Any long journey I drove, I wnet night driving as well as day driving. I drove 1,000 miles in under a month. It sent my driving confidence rightback up.

Most of the differences are second hand, the collapse of the GP system, the move to telephone appointments that nearly killed my daughter and put my DH's health at risk.

The rise of Zoom which meant I have been able to attend talks and meetings all over the place that I would never have otherwise have managed to do.

COVID hs changed life in someways but ageing and health conditions getting worse owe nothing to COVID.

Well, I hope that the WHO have learned from the pandemic and will act swiftly next time ( and there will be a next time) by closing borders immediately. And that countries lock down quicker but with a plan in place.

Yes it changed so many peoples lives, lockdownwas the biggest wrong done to people in the country.
I lost my confidence motorway driving, I don't like workmen in the house as they've obviously been out and about, I just had another bout of covid,isolated for 5 days, it's really messed with peoples mental health.
I've said no one will lock me up again.
Its why Im concerned re this WHO treaty, which will take away each countrys sovreignty regarding pandemic. Not signed by us, as yet, but if Labour get in I'm not so sure they won't abide by it.