Long Covid: Falkirk area support group open to all who have been affected by condition

A group which aims to bring together long Covid sufferers and provide support meets again this week.
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Set up by two local women to give others with the condition an opportunity to meet and chat, the next meeting is on Friday, July 15 from 2pm-5pm in Brightons community hall in the village’s Main Street.

Suzanne Grant and Noreen Walton were delighted at the response to last month’s inaugural meeting and said the number of people attending, some from a distance away, indicates the need for their group.

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Over 130,000 Scots are believed to be suffering from long Covid with many still having symptoms after a year.

The group for long Covid sufferers meets again this weekThe group for long Covid sufferers meets again this week
The group for long Covid sufferers meets again this week

The illness sees them suffer a range of symptoms including severe fatigue or post-exertion malaise (PEM), shortness of breath, myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle, joint pain, headaches, rashes. Long covid patients can also develop anxiety and depression, as a result of the severity of physical symptoms they endure.

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There have been demands for urgent action to help sufferers with patients having to push to get the right care and treatment.

Suzanne, 48, from Redding, said when she contracted Covid last summer the symptoms appeared mild, but it is the after effects which she has found so debilitating.

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She added: “It was like having a cold but a couple of weeks later I just went downhill. In the last year I’ve picked up a lot of other illnesses and there are days when my legs just don’t seem to work. I feel that I’ve been robbed of my life by long Covid.”

Noreen, 61, from Bo’ness, said despite being double vaccinated she has been “floored” by the symptoms of long Covid.

She said: “It’s been horrendous. I had terrible headaches which are only easing off now and constantly caught other infections. I was so concerned by the brain fog that I asked my GP if I had early onset dementia but she said it was a classic symptom of long Covid.

"Neither Suzanne or I have any medical knowledge but thought it would be a good idea to set up this group to give people the opportunity to meet up, talk and share experiences.”

The meeting is open to anyone to come along on the day or for further information email [email protected].

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