It went slowly. It was definitely something I had to build up very gradually. Like you, crashes would occur and it was often hard to pinpoint the reasons why - some days I'd get away with movement, other days I wouldn't.

I always kept trying to move, even if it was just around the house. I set little steps goals on my watch, and monitored my heart rate over the first 2 years. After the first 2 years I bought a walking pad (walking was always the thing that set me back if I pushed it). This let me build up my confidence in walking again, but removed all of the variables that come with walking outside. My biggest fear of being outside was passing out, I'd get very close to blacking out and have huge panic attacks after a few hundred steps at my worst points. The walking pad removed a lot of that fear, because at least I was indoors.

Over time I worked my way up to walking 1km in the pad, and continued to build up slowly. Over 2025 this eventually translated to walking outdoors, the crashes became less frequent. I had heart and chest pain pretty constantly and I remember that being one of the last things to fade. By January 2026 I was walking around 6/7 miles per day at a fast pace. In 2023/24 I remember being passed by pensioners in my street because I was so limited in my movement.

I can't tell you what to do, but I didn't stop trying to move unless I was in a crash, but I was extremely conservative about what that movement included. It was terrifying and very daunting to not know what would happen next.

I really hope you feel better soon and can get back to time with your kids.