Prayer Request for Me (Long Covid, Insomnia, Retirement)

I wanted to share a few prayer requests with you. I don't normally post things like this for me as I try to keep some aspects of my life close to the chest, but I wanted to share these as they continue to be things that I am dealing with, some of them for quite some time.

First off, Long Covid. As many of you know, I retired from my job in Apr 23 because of Long Covid. I was infected with Covid 19 in February 2022, but in Nov 22 I developed Long Covid. I initially recovered from Covid and was on my way to what I thought was a full recovery when Long Covid hit me, and hard. Nov 2022 to Apr 2023 were very difficult months, and Long Covid has stayed with me since then, and although it's not quite as bad as it was, I'm still disabled. What I got hit with was a combination of chronic fatigue, extreme nausea, insomnia and dizziness/confusion. While the fatigue and nausea are not as bad, I still suffer with all of those symptoms. It's only by pacing myself, resting and eating very bland foods that I am able to get by. And that leads me to my next request.

Second, Insomnia. That aspect of my condition has been extremely rough. From Nov 22 to Apr 23 I was taking a fist full of drugs in order to sleep. I did not put in a full day’s work that entire timeframe because of the Long Covid, and not being to get a good night’s rest made things worse. Even though I was taking those drugs my days were still hard to get through. It’s a good thing I had over 400 hours of sick leave. It came in very handy.

When I finally retired I tried to get myself off those drugs but it proved very difficult. I was basically addicted to them by that point and trying to go “cold turkey” was not a good idea. It wasn't until late December that I finally hit upon a game plan to get rid of the sleep meds but it's taking this long to play out.

With the assistance of a VA counselor helping me with my insomnia, I was able to reduce my intake over the months until, just this week, I finally stopped taking the sleep drug, Temazepam/Restoril, altogether. When I started taking that medication, I was taking 30 MG capsules. I was able to reduce that to 22.5 MG by Nov/Dec 23, then to 15 MG in Jan 24, then 7.5 MG since March. Just a couple of days ago I stopped taking it altogether. But it wasn't without assistance from the VA counselor helping me modifying my sleep patterns that I was able to do so. He’s also had me keep a diary to chronicle the entire process. HOWEVER, I now have to give my body time to adjust and hopefully get my sleeping pattern on track again. With each reduction in medication it normally takes about two months to re-regulate my sleep.

Third, Retirement. Since I retired I've been trying to get various aspects of my retirement in order, but there have been bumps along the way.

1. OPM had to adjust my retirement because they didn't calculate it correctly when retired in Apr 23. It took about two months but it finally got fixed. However, I was short changed in that my retirement pay is $200 less than I was quoted before I retired. The GRB website the government uses was not accurate in how it calculated my retirement. I come to find out that I did not have 30 years of total government service, but instead had 26 years and 8 months. They neglected to tell me that almost 4 years of temporary employment didn't count towards my time. GRRRRRRRR.

SS denied my in February of this year, after a wait of over 6 months, and I hired a SS disability lawyer to appeal my case. It's ongoing.

The VA is another matter entirely, and honestly, I am extremely angry at the VA because they continue to deny appeals to get my disability claims approved. For instance, even though they now admit that military service caused hearing loss and tinnitus, they won't overturn their previous denial from 2006. The lawyers I hired to file the appeals have received three denials since summer last year. So in addition to being denied in 2006 and 2011, that's now five total denials on that one condition alone. And there are others.

The lawyers are trying to figure out what to do next, but I know what I want to do, and that is fire off a letter to the VA expressing my anger. The department in the VA that deals with disability claims no longer works for the veteran. They actively work against them, and I really want to express my outrage to them.

4. Retirement location. I really need to move from where I am. The housing I’m in is old military housing and is not in good shape. I would like to move to better housing but of course housing, whether one rents or owns, is priced through the roof. If either, or both, of the disability claims get approved I'll bring in more funds, but I could be waiting for several months, if not a few years, for that to happen. I am on a waiting list for senior apartments in West Lafayette, IN. That location would be ideal because I would be real close to my daughter, but the waiting list is extremely long and it could be years before there is an open unit. I’ve been trying to locate other places to move to but it’s difficult to get out since Long Covid reduces my endurance, and Google Maps doesn’t do a good job in keeping its database updated.

Whew, that took longer than I anticipated to type out. I know that is a lot to take in, but those are the areas I really need prayer for. I appreciate the time you took to read all that. Thank you and God bless you all.

Remdesivir.

I thought the same thing. When I heard that I was being prescribed that I didn't take notice because I was too out of it at the time. Looking back now, I know it was a huge mistake on my doctors part. Even my VA doctor admits Remdesivir was a mistake. A friend at work marveled that I survived as he told me that medication has a 50% mortality rate.

I have Ivermectin, in pill form, that I acquired from India and I've used it from time to time. I really need to order some more.

Thanks for the link. I'll check it out.

Thought I’d update you all on my situation. SSDI was denied yesterday. As such, my lawyer will now have to file an appeal and that means I’ll have to go before a judge. That process will likely take 12-15 months to happen. Of course the VA keeps denying me but that’s really no surprise to me anymore. IMHO, the VA disability system no longer cares for its veterans.

As for my physical/medical condition, I am ok I guess. The insomnia treatment is coming along, and I’m able to sleep better (although I have to stick to my sleep regimen), but I still suffer the fatigue, nausea and dizziness on a daily basis. Even though they are not as bad as they once were, I still can’t work, not even part time, which means I’ll likely be filing for bankruptcy soon. It’s not something I want to do, but it’s looking more and more likely to happen.

Thank you all for your prayers.

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