If you’ve had COVID

[rubysoh0]

I am presumed positive waiting on results. My husband tested positive on Thursday.
I have a splitting headache, back pain, deep painful cough. Symptoms started for me on Friday evening.
For those that have had it, can you walk me through what you went through?
I’ve got anxiety so my thoughts are going to the bad place and am just hoping other peoples experiences may settle my nerves.

[waverly]

@ if you consider parent relationship of adults need to be tagged?


I’ve not had it personally, but I know a lot of people who have. These are all adults. The 20 year olds had fevers and congestion, 2 didn’t even have fevers.

The 50 year olds had chills and headaches. One was done through a weekend. The other one had a full 2 weeks, but I think the chills ebbed off and then she lost taste and smell and thought that was the worst part because everything was tasteless and it was right before Christmas. Heaviness in the chest, exhaustion. Her entire family had it. The older man was the worst. One of her adult daughters have lingering symptoms. The others all milder than their mom.

The 40 year old also has asthma. She went to the ER, but was not admitted.

The only ones I know that were in the ICU were significantly older with health issues.

Headaches and exhaustion seem to be the 2 symptoms I hear the most.

I was very worried about the one co-worker and her husband since they have health issues, but they came through it.

[lilac05]

Sorry to hear you’re down.

I haven’t had it (yet), but wanted to share my good friend’s experience because I think it might help with your anxiety.

She had a pre-existing lung issue that made her at high risk. (The lung issue almost took her life several years ago.) She felt pretty sure that if she got it, she would at least be hospitalized and would be lucky to survive it.

She had it rough at home for a week. She slept a lot and had a lot of the symptoms you are describing. She told me it felt like a tornado ripping through her body. She had a high fever and did round the clock alternating Tylenol-Ibuprofen. The worst of it lasted about 5 days.

BUT the thing I hope brings you comfort: She never needed to go to the hospital. Once she started feeling better, she didn’t have any symptoms return. Her full energy (which is a LOT) was back about 2 weeks later. She has no long-hauler symptoms, and is back to full health.

Everyone else I know who has had it felt bad for a few days and then recovered fully (in varying timelines...only one took a long time). I hope you’re feeling better soon!

[sunshineluv]

I am 40 and had it in November. Day 1 slight cough and fever. Day 2 through day 8 body aches, major fatigue. Day 8 (or 7) loss of taste and smell. Day 9 vomiting. Day 10 on the mend! Taster and smell came slowly over the course of a couple weeks. I had some moments of brain fog and fatigue after day 10 that would amp up my anxiety, but those stopped after around day 14.

I had it the worst of any of my friends but it was still pretty mild.

I hope you feel better soon, and are able to control the anxiety spiral. Try not to google, it didn’t help me to read the really tough cases.

[sunshineluv]

If you haven’t already, I would get an oxygen meter off Amazon, they are cheap. My doc said that’s the first thing they would check if I had to go in, it made me feel better to check it obsessively

[imimahoney]

I did not have it but my 70 year old father did.

Starting on a Saturday he began to feel very tired and kinda out of it. Starting on Sunday afternoom he started having GI issues (vomiting, nausea and diarrhea). He calles his doc on Tuesday who then told him to call his cardiologist (he has heart disease, had a triple bypass 30 yrs ago). He then went and got tested Wednesday morning and it was positive.

The GI issues lasted for almost 10 days. Over time they started to lessen to just nausea and now, 3 weeks since the symptoms started he feels fine. He did start sneezing last night but no coughing, etc.

I hope you get well soon. It's such a crazy virus because everyone has such different experiences.

[konapoppy]

My household has it now.

Two adults are mainly fatigued with headaches. One has congestion.

One adult (lucky me) - fever, cough, headache, chills, lost sense of taste and smell 2 days ago, tired.

I’m sorry, it really sucks. I am hopeful we will all recover fully.

[rubysoh0]

Jan 24, 2021 16:03:06 GMT -5 konapoppy said:

My household has it now.

Two adults are mainly fatigued with headaches. One has congestion.

One adult (lucky me) - fever, cough, headache, chills, lost sense of taste and smell 2 days ago, tired.

I’m sorry, it really sucks. I am hopeful we will all recover fully.

I hope you feel better soon! It’s the unpredictability of this that messes with my anxiety!

[rubysoh0]

Jan 24, 2021 15:02:23 GMT -5 sunshineluv said:

If you haven’t already, I would get an oxygen meter off Amazon, they are cheap. My doc said that’s the first thing they would check if I had to go in, it made me feel better to check it obsessively

I do have one and have been using it hourly!

[katespade]

I had COVID in December. The headache hit me first, along with a significant amount of sinus congestion. Sore throat started on day two, but only lasted a couple of days. My cough started up and got worse as my sore throat got better. Lost taste and smell on day five of symptoms. That day was also the turning point for when my symptoms started improving. By the time my official 10 day quarantine/isolation was over, I only had a lingering cough and minor congestion left.

I don’t know if this anecdote will help your anxiety, but:
I was one of three people in my household who had it. We were all symptomatic, but I was the sickest for the longest. None of us required any medical care and we are all fully recovered (minus some lingering loss of taste/smell). It wasn’t pleasant, but it also wasn’t the sickest I’ve ever been.

[keh2oblue]

I had it the week of Christmas. My symptoms were:

Day 1: Scratchy throat
Day 2: Scratchy throat, slight cough, runny nose
Day 3: Scratchy throat, worsening cough, runny nose, sore back
Days 4-6: Worst days...cough, sore throat, runny nose, headache, fatigue
Days 7-9: Symptoms start improving...loss of taste/smell
Days 10-14: Taste and smell come back gradually, most symptoms subside except a little nasal congestion.
Day 17: I returned to work
It took about 2 weeks after this to feel 100%. I had a super dry mouth at night and would go through a full cup of water every night. My main concern was lingering heart conditions or blood clots. Luckily, I had an appointment with a cardiologist scheduled already for a suspected heart murmur, but that all came back clear last week.

Fingers crossed for you all. Rest and drink lots of fluids.

[katb]

My 25 year old with asthma and epilepsy had it two weeks ago. Her symptoms were quick to appear and it took just about 9 days for her to be able to do more than get out of bed and shower.

The worst was the headache - she described it as the worst headache ever.
Her chest and cough hurt, the worst was days 5 -7. Her 02 levels never went below 96 thankfully. She checked her lungs with her own stethoscope. She could hear rattling but her cough was productive so that was good.

Sore throat while she was waiting for the test results.

General fatigue as I mentioned before. She works in health care and on day 11 she went back to work. She worked the front desk but was still exhausted after 6 hours.

She seems to be fully recovered. I was extrememly worried because of her asthma - anytime she gets upper resporitory in the past it had turned in severe bronchities or pneumonia.

The biggest thing is to get a pulse oximeter if you can and keep an eye on that. Lots of rest and fluids even if you don't want to - broth, soup, gatorade, etc

[pandora89]

Our household had it in December, tested positive right after Christmas. My H had a bad headache, awful fatigue and a bad cough. I had awful congestion and fatigue. I had a fever and body aches for just one evening. Both our symptoms lasted about 10 days. The congestion cleared around 10 days but I still had a runny nose until just a few days ago.

[Pom]

BFF 51yo F and 22 yo daughter both had it. Heavy congestion in head, used musinex to keep chest congestion away. Felt that helped along with cough drops. Exhaustion. Sick for 10 days (daughter) and 15 days (mother). No breathing issues but some dizziness for a couple of days.

[tiramisu]

I had congestion, headache, and fatigue. I remember being so paranoid for at least the first week that I was going to suddenly take a turn for the worse. My symptoms thankfully never got worse and the only thing I'm really dealing with now is post-exertional malaise (just really tired from exercising unless I drink lots of electrolytes and eat a bit during). While I was home sick I took my temperature at least three times per day and used my pulse oximeter. I also tried to find things to distract me instead of letting myself go down internet Google rabbit holes.


ETA: I forgot, I also lost my sense of smell, but not my sense of taste. I tested it every day by seeing how close I had to be to an open container of Clorox wipes to smell them. Also, I thought I would be ready to go back to work at the end of 10 days, but I was getting these "head rushes" that were like very mild vertigo without the spinning sensation. Kind of like that feeling your get when you stand up too quickly. But they would sometimes happen while I was sitting down, or driving, or walking slowly. I had it in early December.

[wildfloweragain]

My husband and I had it.
He has it worse than I did though it was pretty mild for both of us. H's exposure to the coworker with it was brief and I think that's a factor in how little we had it.

We each isolated and he was a few days ahead of me, actually I wouldn't have gotten it, but after 8 days and 2 negative tests we decided to sleep in the same bed on xmas eve and xmas...cue positive test on day 14 from his exposure.

For both it was fatigue and headache,body aches, brain fog. Like menstrual cramps for your whole body, most intense in shoulders and back. For both it was a few days of feeling like We had a sinus infection. Neither of us had a fever.

H also had a cough, not horrible but it did linger after the other symptoms improved. I had a few chest pains, not painful but feeling something there, but that went away.

H lost sense of smell and I lost sense of taste.

We both had some gastrointestinal issues for 1-2 days.




I say we had it mildly but it felt like the world was ending when we had it, and also it made him incredibly irritable. I tell you that not to increase your anxiety, but to let you now it may be normal, just the virus, roll with it.

Things we did in hopes of making it better, many of them not proven but didn't hurt:

Isolation from each other self and the others in the house - Dr. said we could make each other worse??

The deep breath and cough things you read about (me - idk if he did).

zinc lozenges, lay back and let pool in throat - the thought is it can inhibit virus multiplying there.

oscillococcinum - helps with flu-like symptoms

NAC - seriously seems like my secret go to for a lot of issues and helps clear the chest

We had already been taking airborne and daily vitamins and I was taking probiotics, so we continued those.

Pushing water and tea.
Very hot bath.

Sleep



Symptoms were random, coming and going, better and worse for about a week for the most part, then less and less.


At Urgent care, they said I had an increased blood pressure and heart rate. My blood pressure is usually very low. I didn't think a lot of it at the time because it was super irritated at what was going on there, but a few days later the headache was unbearable and felt similar to when I started mirena and my blood pressure had spiked. So I stopped taking my adhd meds and when a friend asked for a grocery list I put blood pressure-lowering things on there (sweet potatoes, bananas, dark chocolate). Again could be not related but I did feel better the next day.

I could look back at anything I did and it might seem like it helped/hurt. Might try playing Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon...


My advice to you just reading where you are with it:

lower your blood pressure by easing anxiety as much as possible.
hot baths
NAC supplements
mucinex (I think D?)
walk outside and breathe deeply each day
push fluids and rest
sleep on your stomach
pulse ox


I hope you feel better soon!

[pearls]

I haven't, but my parents have in the last month. Both of my parents are recovering currently, but they're in their late 60s with a few high risk conditions so likely not applicable.

I am advised of symptoms/general course of cases every day due to my job (not a medical professional), so what I can say is most people I have talked with directly advised me of lessening symptoms within 10ish days, and a few have said that fatigue and confusion/forgetfulness (if you have those) lasts a bit longer, and that has seemed to be irrespective of age. The majority of people I've talked to have been able to work (remotely) the whole time as they have not been that ill.

Edited as I saw you have an oxygen meter. My parents Dr advised my mom to sleep on her stomach as much as possible (and that course of action was taken with my dad as well) as that seems to help with oxygen saturation, if you have any breathing issues. Hopefully it'll be a quick recovery for you and your husband!

[ans1999]

My family and I had it in late October. Our first major symptoms were slight cough, headache and back/muscle pain. I thought I had hurt my achilles or had thrown out my back... but it was just COVID. None of us ever had a fever and our oxygen levels stayed fine. Our coughs never really progressed. Our 13 year old had a day of back pain and stuffy nose. If my husband and I weren't positive, I wouldn't have thought he had it. We were really fatigued until day 10ish. I went back to work on day 11 and was still tired for probably 2 weeks after that. I had weird heart rate symptoms for about a month after (random spikes while sleeping) but those have gone away too. 

ETA: I lost taste/smell for about 4 days. My husband a few. My poor co-worker is still working on getting hers back. She unfortunately caught it through masked exposure to me. 

[starburst604]

Sorry to hear you're worried and feeling lousy. I had it a week before Christmas and was the only one in the household to get it.

One night after work I just felt "off" and had a weird sensation in my chest when I bent over, hard to explain it. Just an ache of sorts. Overnight I felt hot/cold in bed and kept throwing the covers on and off me, slept very fitfully and coughed here and there. Woke up very congested with a bad headache (which I thought could be alcohol related) but no fever. I called in sick to work since I work in office and our policy is no coming in with any kind of sickness right now. My H brushed it off as a cold but I told him that ANY time I get a cold it starts with a serious sore throat then moves into a head cold, but I had no sore throat. Had a quick virtual appt with my PCP and was able to get a PCR test that morning, got a positive result the next day. The only consistent symptom for me was the headache for a few days, which was controlled with Advil but would come back when it wore off, and some congestion. I felt a bit brain foggy at times and slept a lot for a few days. A few days in I noticed my taste wasn't all there, and then my smell went out completely. But by Day 7 I felt back to normal and have had no lingering issues. For reference, I got sick on a Wed and taught kickboxing (virtually) that Sunday. I would say I didn't quite feel 100% and took more breaks than usual, but was otherwise ok. I was able to return to work on Day 11 without a problem. I hope if you do have it, it will be mild and quick for you and your husband also. Hang in there. It felt like a very big deal when I got that positive and I know that I got very lucky.

[lust2hart]

I had it in November. My first symptom was a very rapid onset of severe body aches. Within about an hour I went from fine to feeling like I'd been hit by a truck. I took some pain meds and slept for about 24 hours. After that, I was left with a mild cough and a mild headache, and my worst symptom was fatigue - for about 5 days, I would get up around 7am, nap around 1-4pm, and then go to bed at 8pm. I felt pretty much back to 100% after 2 weeks, although I did have a lingering cough for 5-6 weeks, and even now still struggle with brain fog, which is frustrating. 

[chedifuen]

I'm just recovering. It's been just over two weeks and I'm starting to feel much better but cough and fatigue are still lingering. I did not require any medical care and was able to manage my symptoms at home.

I will say, I was far sicker than I've been in a long time. I had a horrible headache, body aches, sore throat but the worst was the fatigue and brain fog. I was unable to do more than get out of bed to use the bathroom for several days.

[laladypoet]

I had it in July. my main symptoms were loss of smell and taste, and that tipped me off that something was wrong. I had a fever for literally one day. I felt back to normal by day 10. my husband had it in October and he had no symptoms at all; he randomly got tested because we were seeing elderly family.

[downtoearth]

I had it - pretty mild IMO. It started with a terrible headache - I thought I was just dehydrated b/c my boyfriend and I had slept in front of the fireplace. But about 9 hours later I started getting chills and a fever. My fever/chills would not go away - fever wasn't super high, just not really responding to ibuprofen and tylenol as I had hoped. The headache/fever/chills lasted about 48-72 hours on and off. During that time I was also just tired. I didn't start coughing until 3 days later. I was just confirmed to have Covid and hung up the phone and then had my first coughing fit. It wasn't ever too bad - just about 15 coughs in a row for about 4 days and then a tickle in my throat. My fever mostly went away by then and I was just tired. About 4 days in I lost my sense of smell and taste... I could put peppermint essential oils to my nose and my eyes would water, but I couldn't smell anything. It was unmooring to not be able to smell or taste much - only really salty or really sweet stuff. I lost my appetite for the next 7 days. But really by the end of a week, I was mostly better and just a little tired. By the end of quarantine (10 days after symptoms showed up) I was able to start working out and I actually hiked 5 miles into a remote cabin on day 14 after... so thus, my idea that mine was mild.

So how are you today? Do you need any food or distractions? I watched the whole Queens Gambit while sick - and had to rewatch some of it b/c I was pretty fever crazy for like 24 hours, but it fit well with the trippy parts of the ceiling chess playing. Hope you are better and that it's mild. Crossing my fingers for you!

ETA: And the things that helped me... baby asprin, generic musinex, lots of vitamin C, and tons of fluids. Also lay on your stomach as much as possible if you are coughing. My dad ended up in the hospital with it in November and the doctors agreed that stomach laying is the number one thing that is helping patients stay out of the hospital who have a serious cough. It basically needs to not settle in the deep back tissue of your lungs. My dad was asked to lay on his stomach in the hospital and ICU for up to 18 hours per day. It really helps. 

[rubysoh0]

Jan 25, 2021 15:00:43 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

I had it - pretty mild IMO. It started with a terrible headache - I thought I was just dehydrated b/c my boyfriend and I had slept in front of the fireplace. But about 9 hours later I started getting chills and a fever. My fever/chills would not go away - fever wasn't super high, just not really responding to ibuprofen and tylenol as I had hoped. The headache/fever/chills lasted about 48-72 hours on and off. During that time I was also just tired. I didn't start coughing until 3 days later. I was just confirmed to have Covid and hung up the phone and then had my first coughing fit. It wasn't ever too bad - just about 15 coughs in a row for about 4 days and then a tickle in my throat. My fever mostly went away by then and I was just tired. About 4 days in I lost my sense of smell and taste... I could put peppermint essential oils to my nose and my eyes would water, but I couldn't smell anything. It was unmooring to not be able to smell or taste much - only really salty or really sweet stuff. I lost my appetite for the next 7 days. But really by the end of a week, I was mostly better and just a little tired. By the end of quarantine (10 days after symptoms showed up) I was able to start working out and I actually hiked 5 miles into a remote cabin on day 14 after... so thus, my idea that mine was mild.

So how are you today? Do you need any food or distractions? I watched the whole Queens Gambit while sick - and had to rewatch some of it b/c I was pretty fever crazy for like 24 hours, but it fit well with the trippy parts of the ceiling chess playing. Hope you are better and that it's mild. Crossing my fingers for you!

ETA: And the things that helped me... baby asprin, generic musinex, lots of vitamin C, and tons of fluids. Also lay on your stomach as much as possible if you are coughing. My dad ended up in the hospital with it in November and the doctors agreed that stomach laying is the number one thing that is helping patients stay out of the hospital who have a serious cough. It basically needs to not settle in the deep back tissue of your lungs. My dad was asked to lay on his stomach in the hospital and ICU for up to 18 hours per day. It really helps. 

I woke up feeling much better, took a shower and now feel like I ran a marathon!
I started with a headache first. Then fever. Cough is not nearly as bad as my husbands. I am a stomach sleeper normally so maybe that’s why?
Now I’m just exhausted and out of it and my back is killing me. And 0 appetite.
I’m temping and pulse ox multiple times a day. Pushing fluids. Zinc, vitamin d and vitamin c. Husband is on day 7 and feeling much better. This is day 4 for me and I’ve heard 4-6 is the worst.


@@@

My daughter (9) tested positive today but my son (4) is still negative. Dd had a headache and a fever yesterday but is fine today. Grateful the littles have such mild symptoms.

[escrow]

Feel better soon B!

[rubysoh0]

Jan 25, 2021 15:36:01 GMT -5 escrow said:

Feel better soon B!

Thank you!

[kittenponypony]

Jan 24, 2021 16:12:01 GMT -5 rubysoh0 said:

Jan 24, 2021 15:02:23 GMT -5 sunshineluv said:

If you haven’t already, I would get an oxygen meter off Amazon, they are cheap. My doc said that’s the first thing they would check if I had to go in, it made me feel better to check it obsessively

I do have one and have been using it hourly!

I had super high fever for five days and fatigue, but my oxygen levels never dropped below normal (the biggest predictor of if you need to go to the hospital). If you are not geriatric you will likely be okay!

[keh2oblue]

rubysoh0 @@@@@@@@@
My 8 yo had zero symptoms; my 11yo had one day of headaches, then nothing. I’m so glad this virus seems to be taking it easier on kids because I would not have been a great caregiver during this time.

[rubysoh0]

I wanted to bump this up just to say thank you to everyone who shared here with me- it really helped a lot. I’m 12 days into it and feeing MUCH better. Still tired and like I’m getting over a horrible cold but today was the first day that’s felt relatively normal for weeks!
It is crazy how quickly things can get scary with covid- I went to my dr on Friday afternoon because I was coughing up blood and they sent me immediately for a CT scan to ensure it wasn’t a clot on my lungs. All clear, went home and then H was sent from his dr appt to the ER because his O2 was at 85 and his resting heart rate was 120+. He spent time being monitored and they discharged him with a bunch of meds but it isn’t lost on me how lucky we are to have the healthcare access that we do. So many don’t seek help when things are bad because they can’t get there, can’t pay for it, etc.

[sonrisa]

Feb 3, 2021 0:47:16 GMT -5 rubysoh0 said:

I wanted to bump this up just to say thank you to everyone who shared here with me- it really helped a lot. I’m 12 days into it and feeing MUCH better

Thats great