‘Boom and Bust’ Syndrome - Prioritising recovery and getting back on track with your health
What to do if you have caught Covid-19 or are recovering from other health issues
As of March 2022, it is estimated that one in four New Zealanders have already had covid-19. Since covid-19 is still a relatively recent health issue, guidelines around what to do once you’ve already had it don’t seem to be very clear. This is also partially due to the shifting variants of the virus, with previous variants having much more of an obvious impact on health than the omicron variant, which is the one currently most prevalent. Symptoms of omicron are often hardly different to a common cold or flu that most of us have experienced. Therefore, our expectation once we have had the virus is that within 10 days or so, we will be recovered and able to resume our normal daily activities, including exercise, work and socialising.
However, more recently guidelines around recovery post covid have insinuated the importance of not getting back into a normal exercise routine too soon. In fact, the sooner you decide to get back into exercise, the greater the chance of developing ‘long-covid’ seems to be.
What is Long-Covid?
Long-covid is when you experience symptoms related to the virus at least 4 weeks after initially contracting the virus. Even once the initial symptoms of covid-19 have subsided, it is possible for long-covid symptoms to emerge later on. Your initial experience of covid-19 might not have been too serious, yet it is entirely possible for the symptoms of long-covid to have a more serious effect on your quality of life.
The symptoms of long-covid include fatigue, brain fog, joint or muscle aches, depression or anxiety, changes in taste and smell, along with other less common symptoms.
Long-covid actually presents many similarities to the other more recently understood conditions Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia- both of which are also often triggered by pathogenic infections in the body, such as viruses.
In order to set guidelines around the recovery of long-covid, it might therefore be useful to look at some of the guidelines that are set for those who suffer from Chronic Fatigue or Fibromyalgia.
One of the recommendations most commonly given to people with either of those conditions is to focus on rest and recovery.
This means adequate, good quality sleep, a nutrient dense diet, plenty of hydration and gentle movement that encourages circulation and oxygen delivery to cells without placing too much stress on the body.
What can often happen is when we feel ‘ready’ to get back to exercising and daily life too soon, we actually delay the body’s recovery process even more.
What is ‘Boom and Bust’ syndrome?
When we are resting, staying home and taking a break - we can come under the false illusion that we are fully recovered when we are actually not. It’s easy to become eager to get back to doing things just how we were doing them before getting sick. What this leads to is an inevitable ‘crash’. Sooner or later, the fatigue will hit, and it will be worse than if you had allowed your body the extra time to gradually ease back into your routine.
This cycle is known as the ‘Boom and Bust’ syndrome- which is also a common experience for those with chronic pain or a serious injury. We think we are all good, so it’s full steam ahead and back to normality, yet if we have pushed it too much too soon, we will ‘bust’ and slow our recovery even more.
Prioritising your recovery
If you want to get better more quickly, you really need to focus on getting good quality rest as your first priority. Sleep is the best place to start. Are you getting enough sleep first of all? When you are recovering, you can’t afford to compromise. The late nights and too early mornings will catch up to you. If you are struggling to relax, try a cup of relaxation or sleepy tea before bed and some lavender drops on your pillow. Wearing an eye mask or listening to sleep music or white noise can also help.
Restorative yoga is another extremely powerful tool for physical and emotional healing. The breathing and mindfulness component of these classes shuts down stress, which can alleviate inflammation in the body and encourage faster healing. It helps create body-mind awareness and allows space for emotions to be felt more deeply. Search for classes online or see if your local studio offers any restorative or yin yoga practices.
Acknowledging your emotions is actually one of the hardest parts about recovery. Being forced to slow down or not be in your usual routine can feel frustrating as it can affect more than just your physical wellbeing, but your social, financial and creative capacities as well. It’s understandable to want to go back to normal to avoid these strains, but it’s so important to feel them through. Remember, if you are struggling with any of these components, it’s so important to seek out and ask for help when you need it. Often help comes easier than you think.
Lastly, just because you cannot exercise doesn’t mean that you should forget to eat healthy. Focus on preparing your own food as an act of self love and care, rather than something you only do when you’re trying to diet or do some sort of fitness ‘challenge’. Eating plenty of whole foods that contain fibre, micronutrients and antioxidants will be really appreciated by your body. Try to reduce the amount of caffeine and alcohol you are consuming, especially if you are doing so to try and mask the fatigue symptoms.
Get back into exercise slowly, and don’t start with anything that forces your heart rate up too much. A daily walk, then some yoga, pilates or swimming, and then some light resistance training - building up to 2 months to return to your usual routine if possible.
Catching covid certainly isn’t fun, but long-covid is even worse! Make sure to prioritise your health first and foremost, and sometimes that just means taking a step back.
