Long Covid is highlighting conditions that have been around much longer than the pandemic. Ten readers share their experiences
“The endless cycle of seeing doctors and never seeing any change or improvement” is how one 43-year-old woman from the US described what it’s like to live with chronic overlapping pain conditions. Long Covid has helped highlight issues surrrounding chronic illness but many people around the world have had to cope with debilitating symptoms of chronic pain for years, often without receiving adequate professional help.
A 2011 report by the US Institute of Medicine recognised a cluster of chronic pain conditions that predominantly affect women and frequently co-occur. They were dubbed “chronic overlapping pain conditions” by the US Congress and include: vulvodynia, temporomandibular disorders, myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome, fibromyalgia, endometriosis, chronic tension-type and migraine headache and chronic low back pain.
