Living with long Covid - Suki Newman's story

The first coronavirus symptoms

Before the virus Suki Newman, 47, was always on the go, balancing a busy career as a finance director with looking after her two daughters, aged nine and ten. After returning home from a family skiing holiday, she developed a continuous cough, chest pain and had trouble breathing. She remembers, “Whenever I laid down, I felt like I was suffocating. I was crawling up the stairs on my hands and knees, going to bed at six o’clock.”

Feeling very sick, Suki, from Godalming in Surrey, went to her GP. As the pandemic had just begun, she was told Covid tests weren’t available for her. She was prescribed antibiotics for a secondary chest infection and in March 2020 her cough and breathing started to improve.

Long Covid and its impact on daily life

But in April she developed new symptoms. She was extremely tired, had bad headaches and difficulty thinking clearly. “Normally I am a very strategic and analytical thinker,” she says. “But I was unable to manage complex information and I was forgetting words. I had problems doing simple tasks and basic logic problems. I would normally do these easily.”

Suki’s symptoms left her struggling at work and she left her job in June. Suki says: “It was really hard because I was in the first wave of sufferers and the impact was not understood. It’s important employers are aware how to handle anyone with long Covid.” 

For months, Suki went through cycles of feeling better, then getting worse again. As well as brain fog, debilitating headaches and fatigue, she developed many other symptoms including heart palpitations: “I could be sitting down watching the television or having a cuddle with my children and suddenly I’d feel my heart racing.” 

Being diagnosed with long Covid and getting support

Suki’s symptoms were initially put down to anxiety by two GPs. Feeling like her health concerns were being dismissed, Suki saw a third GP, who diagnosed her with long Covid and referred her to a long Covid clinic. In January 2021, she saw a cardiologist privately, and was given a heart monitor to wear for five days, which showed an abnormal heart rhythm. She was put on beta blockers, which helped improve many of her symptoms. 

She feels lots of bed rest and taking vitamins and supplements improved her energy levels. She also started feeling much better after her first dose of the Covid vaccine.

Although not fully recovered, she says, “I am able to go for walks with my family, play the piano, and help the girls with their homework, which I wasn’t able to do before.”

Advice for people living with long Covid

Suki’s advice to others is: “Find supportive doctors who will listen to you, and ask for specialist help if you think you need it.” She also found joining the Long Covid Support Group on Facebook helpful, as she was able to share her experience and learn from people suffering from similar symptoms. She says: “Talking to a BHF helpline nurse also helped in understanding my symptoms, as well as providing information and support.”

She found she needed to take things slowly and accept the support of her family too: “I couldn’t have got better without the unfaltering support of my husband who allowed me to completely rest. He has been amazing.” She advises others not to feel bad asking for help. She says: “My husband was working, looking after the kids, and the house. I would feel so guilty that I would end up helping out. But I found the only way to get better is to stop and rest for as long as it takes.”

Have you been affected by long Covid? Would you like to share your story to help other Heart Matters readers? Get in touch with us at [email protected] to find out more. 

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