Philip (Phil) England

Living with spondylitis, a type of inflammatory arthritis, comes with a long list of  symptoms . Alongside characteristic symptoms like back pain, a common complication of spondylitis and other inflammatory conditions is  cognitive impairment , or “brain fog." This includes mental changes like temporary memory loss, forgetfulness, and difficulty remembering words and phrases. Forgetting what you were about to say can be embarrassing, and not being sure if you took your medications can be scary. Luckily, there are some ways to manage memory loss and live better with spondylitis. What Does Memory Loss With Spondylitis Feel Like? As with any spondylitis symptom, each person experiences memory loss differently and to different degrees. Some MySpondylitisTeam members have shared that they feel as if their minds are in a confused fog, like one who wrote, “I have memory loss and fogginess.” Another member described her memory loss and brain fog as affecting mostly her sho...

Since the Covid-19 situation started, my mental health has been all over the place, a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. Now that things are looking like they are easing I am scared, frightened to be mixing with people. The friend I am in a bubble has noticed that I have changed. I am not sure I can mix with people again, my mind is not up to it, I am not sure I know how to properly anymore.  As daft as it sounds, I think being social for me is out of the question. I am scared to be social in person with people out in the world. Scared I will catch something, scared I can't get on any more, scared I can't live life again. I feel like I will be trapped in my mind when everyone else is venturing out in to the wide world to live again. I have breathing issues, blood pressure problems and depression, all of which Covid has impacted and amplified. Attempting to go to shops to get fresh produce that I really like to choose my self has led to shortness of breath and panic attacks...

So, Saturday I had the first part of the Covid vaccine . I had the Oxford AstraZeneca one. Don't get me wrong, I am over joyed to have been called up for it, but the side effects since are not too good, but as people keep telling me, "it's a sign it is working", geee, thanks for that! Before I go any further I want to say a massive thank you to AstraZeneca and also the University of Oxford, and the Swansea Bay NHS health board for getting this out. During yesterday afternoon my arm started hurting and then I started feeling as if I had a head cold coming on. Later in the evening my mind got a bit foggy. Day two since first part of vaccine jab,  I was woken at about 5am this morning. Feeling worse,  , woke up in a pool of sweat, and somehow managed to squash my pillow up and out of its pillowcase in the night. The sweat I could have done without, it was horrible waking up to that, when all I wanted to do was stay in bed, waking up in sweat just made me have to get up s...

I read on a friend's Facebook wall that "life as we know it ended last March, and will never be the same again", this is a negative way of looking at it. I want to shake my world up, get things sorted health wise so I can claw my life back and start doing long walks again, hence why I'm looking towards India for their health care Life as we know it may have ended, but soon enough with the vaccine and science life will be back, and may be better than before.  This time has given us all time to look at our lives and take stock. I did an online journalism course and got a pass grade, bettering my self in the process. Look to the future, life is what you make it. Learn something while we are all restricted, better yourself for your future. The future is yet to come, make it a positive bright one. Things seem gloomy right now, but that will change, the cloud cover will clear. As George Burns said 'I look to the future because that's where I'm going to spend the...