Having been a journalist, information officer and marketer for the past 15 years, Ms. Landry tried to return to work after three weeks of COVID in April 2022, but her persistence may have contributed to worsening her case, a factor of reason which helps her to accept this retired status, which she wholeheartedly wishes to be temporary
Despite the bad luck taking its toll on her body, she considers herself “lucky” to be able to count on insurance which gives her 70% of her salary, perhaps until the age of 65, if her condition does not improve. not improve.
“I am considered retired. It stands out that I am in the process of retiring from the Canadian public service. I would otherwise receive $1,600 per month from the RRQ [Régie des rentes du Québec] because I’m considered disabled, or on welfare, at $900. I qualified. After two years of absence from work, the employer can terminate the employment relationship. My group insurance [en tant qu’employée de Parcs Canada] takes me, accepts me up to 65 years old, if necessary. They will continue to pay me. As soon as I can work 20 hours a week, my insurance lets me down,” explains Sonia Landry.
She claims to have been able to count on other “chances” during her journey over the last 30 months, notably a good family doctor, “a fairy tale in the nightmare”, and a partner, Guillaume, on the verge of obtaining their status as a caregiver.
“I am lucky to be followed by Alain Piché, a career infectious disease specialist, the great specialist in long COVID, who opened a clinic at the start of the pandemic. You should know that there is not necessarily a doctor in all clinics treating long COVID. There are physiotherapists, occupational therapists, but not necessarily doctors,” she emphasizes.
A long descent into hell
Sonia Landry therefore contracted Covid in March 2022 even though she worked from home.
“I don’t know who gave it to me. It lasted like three weeks, the infection intense. During the first week, I felt very tired. I wasn’t working. I stayed in bed all day. During the second week, a flu was added. During the third week, I suffered from extreme fatigue, which prevented me from working even though my office is next to my room. After the third week, I told myself: “it’s over, it’s time to return to work”. I did this for a month and a half, thinking that the residual fatigue would pass. At one point, it crashed. I experienced post-exercise discomfort. In June, I was completely shut down, stuck with a two-hour “battery,” she says, speaking of her autonomy without the need for rest.
“In the year that followed, my battery capacity dropped to half an hour, with symptoms like extreme fatigue — fatigue being an understatement — physical and cognitive, to the point that it limited me to watching TV 25- 30 minutes, no more at the moment, and not every day. I also have tinnitus, sensitivity to noise and light. The intensity of my symptoms will vary. I have a cognitive limitation that prevents me from driving. The stimuli exceed my limits. If I insist, I feel post-exercise discomfort. This interview risks giving me post-exercise discomfort,” specifies Sonia Landry.
Over the past year, she has managed to better identify certain warning signs of these discomforts.
“I managed to find my limit to the effort, with occupational therapists specializing in long COVID. The most important thing to do is learn to stabilize yourself and not experience post-exercise discomfort. An accumulation of post-exercise discomfort can lead to a permanent deterioration of physical and cognitive abilities,” she notes.
Sonia Landry has to measure her efforts most of the time when she walks her dog Sardine, She accompanying her on a four-wheeler when she lacks energy. (Gilles Gagné/Special collaboration)
Its condition may depend on the weather, even if research on this subject is embryonic.
“A change in atmospheric pressure is intense. There aren’t many of us who talk about it. I deduced it. Whenever I’m not feeling well, I check the weather forecast. These days, there are solar storms, which trigger the northern lights. It’s like May, and I don’t feel good in this context. Yesterday there was a solar storm and I had a massive headache. It reassures me to know that there is a reason,” emphasizes Sonia Landry.
It’s not just the physical effects that undermine the ability to lead a normal day, she assures.
“Having long Covid is an extreme mental load. You are still calculating your energy reserve. For two and a half years, my brain has been constantly spinning. We spend our time asking questions. It is an illness which, by default, is fluctuating, which causes energy and symptoms to fluctuate,” she insists.
Medicines by the shovel
Sonia Landry stayed away from medications before her long COVID. Her reality has changed completely over the past 30 months, and especially during the first year, when her weight dropped by 25 pounds, even though she had none to lose.
“Medicines, I take special ones. When I sent my mother to pick up my medicine, the pharmacist questioned it a bit. My mother wondered if I was a guinea pig. In particular, I take microdoses of Naltrexone, which is usually given to drug addicts, but I take five milligrams of it, whereas it’s 50 milligrams for drug addicts. It fights insomnia and fatigue. In Quebec, it is given to people suffering from fibromyalgia,” she says, speaking of this form of chronic fatigue.
The play of emotions can also be quite a challenge for people suffering from long Covid, explains Sonia Landry.
“We learn that having emotions can generate an effect. They are to be counted in the pacing [l’évaluation] activities that can make us tired. Are there people who don’t have the energy to go jogging every morning? I don’t have the energy to have an anxiety attack for a week. We can control the desire not to jog or work, but not the anxiety. Anti-depressants are part of the list of medications I take.
The public gaze sometimes hurts, when she finds the strength to come out.
“I wear the mask in public. I must say that I am not sick, that I am protecting myself. It’s the same thing when I use the scooter to walk my dog. I have to measure my efforts. I see people shocked when they see me get down and walk. But I’m lucky. I am surrounded by kind and intelligent people.”
— Sonia Landry
Sonia Landry remains hopeful that her immune system will return to normal, which would rid her of most of the effects of long COVID.
“We have histamines, the messengers in the body, which multiply, and this tells the white blood cells to activate. I accumulate too many histamines in the body, which creates fatigue. I have become intolerant to a bunch of foods that contain histamines, tomatoes, alcohol, vinegar, cheese, yogurt, citrus fruits, tofu and leftover fish. This triggers major gastric attacks, which have a domino effect for which it is hard to find a solution. But I have hope. We managed to calm my pain attacks, my fibromyalgia. Over the past year, I have felt small improvements,” she concludes.
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