Covid diaries

J.W.

Dec 14 feel muscle aches at night and chills
Dec15 test positive. Aches, chills, fatigue
Dec 16 Aches chills fatigue
Dec 17 Aches chills fatigue
Dec 18 All above symptoms gone except fatigue. That night I went to emergency as I had had palpitations for 24 hours. I had EKG and blood work. In and out in 3 hours. Heart fine. Doctor said I was either stressed or most likely dehydrated.
Dec 19 fatigue
Dec 20 fatigue
Dec 21 fatigue
Dec 22 fatigue
Dec 23 OK!!!!

I took: Zinc, Vit D, Vit C, ….and marshmallow root tincture in large amounts as I have asthma and usually get wicked colds and lung issues. I don’t know if that was what did the trick but I didn’t get any cough! I had lots of hot baths. I also made a salt sole and did that a few times.
6 advil for major aches in beginning of flu. Helped of course but it initiated my Gerd/ibs again.

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B.C.

1. Covid early 2020? I am guessing I had Covid 1st time around, end of Jan. 2020. I had been to a youth-run conference in Montreal the week-end before, with 500 people, and eaten some delicious dumplings in Chinatown, had coffee at a big cafe.…. My symptoms were like the ones I experience this year, but worse. I had to sleep for 4 weeks sitting up due to the coughing. I tried different kinds of puffers, prescribed by a GP in my later 3rd week, thinking it was a flu-triggered asthma, but they did nothing.

2. Covid 2021

Dec. 22, 23 - began to cough. Lost my sense of taste & smell. Chest infection - coughing up yellow stuff
Dec. 24 - lots of coughing, felt very tired
Dec. 25 - early January - felt very tired, bad cough, also that ‘evil sense’ - that something bad was inside me - different from just feeling crummy
Dec. 30 - no more infection, but still lung congestion
Jan 1 - 4 - felt more energy in the morning, but then after going out for a very short walk, etc, felt exhausted, & cough was worse
Jan. 5 - 7 - feeling better, still coughing
Jan. 8 - 18 - feel mostly like myself except lack of taste & smell
Jan. 19 - glory be! I can taste the am coffee and other foods that I really love now at about 60%.

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J.M.

Dec.17: party at S.C.’s.
Dec.20: I shovelled snow in the morning with a bit of congestion in my throat. Felt sick around noon, got worse and that turned into a bad night.
Dec.21: felt the worst today at noon, and since then, so far anyway, I seem to be returning to the land of the living. Took Ibu and Tylenol to slow down the cough so I could sleep at night. Cough almost stopped.
Dec.24: Feeling a touch better today but still under the weather, for sure. Not sleeping well at all.
Dec.25: cooked half the turkey, made gravy, drove to Kate and Lea’s for 6, stayed for two hours. Ate a little, but didn’t want to. Zero sense of smell. Waves of feeling almost normal alternating with waves of feeling quite strange.
Dec.26: I managed to sleep (had hardly been able to sleep since the day before). Sleeping a lot. Still never any fever.
Dec.28: This morning I was unable to go up the stairs (actually had to sink down on the floor) until David helped me to the big easy chair for half an hour and I breathed deeply. That's the second time in three days. It's like being a rag doll when all the stuffing is taken out. I have more of a cough again. Asked F., A., C. for more help (“scared”). I've been taking the Vit.D drops every day, and the zinc lozenges, and that's about it. Plus of course the morning ayurvedic ginger/garlic-lemon-apple cider vinegar-honey drink we’ve been taking every morning for over a year.
I don't feel like it's a crisis, I feel like it's more part of a slide. Can’t eat.
Dec.28: Drugs
1. CV Nosode - a few pellets, enough to cover the base of the lid of the vial, one time only.
2. Ars Alb 200C - (after taking one dose of the CV Nosode) a few pellets every few hours, then a few times a day over the next few days.
3. Bryonia 200C – a few times a day over the next few days
4. Vitamin D - 5000 IUs per day
5. Vitamin C – 3000 mg per day.
6. Zinc 50 mg - once per day
7. Quercitin, 500 mg - 2 per day for 5 days, then 1 per day
8. NAC 500/600mg 2/day
9. 325 mg Aspirin once a day
Three nights hydrotherapy treatment (Wet Sock Treatment). Wet cotton socks with dry wool socks overtop.
****
In the evening: I am SO tired. Not much coughing.

Dec.29: Made it through the night :) Unpleasant in the early part but then more peaceful for the rest. Restarted with the ars alb, at 8 will do that every few hours whenever I can wake up long enough. Did the wet cotton socks, dry wool socks overtop – surprisingly nice.
Lots of coughing at intervals but it settles down in between.
****
Something good: For the last half week I've felt that there is something "evil" inside me. It's a weird thing to say but I didn't know how else to describe it. At night I felt like I could taste it, specifically. The last time I felt it was in the early part of last night. I've mainly been sleeping all day, but I realized around noon that so far, that "evil" thing is missing. Are the dark grey clouds starting to thin out?
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Kate and Lea heard that there's a program out of Women's College called "covid at home," and they come by and check you out and lend you an oximeter and also some O2. So I'll see if the GP can register us for that.

Dec.30: Lea tried to find out more – turns out the program is virtual, i.e. no O2. Kate and Lea brought over some O2 from Tia. O2 level ranging from 93 to 95. After the first half hour with the mask on, it turned out it wasn’t running (then Lea fixed it), but I still felt better. Called the GP but she seemed quite uninterested. I didn’t mention the O2 but did ask about steroids. She said she didn’t want to prescribe it without seeing me but wouldn’t see me. Said she’d call back tomorrow after thinking about it. Ate some good soup and sweet potato, first time eating, taking most of the drugs. Now more sleep. I can't keep my eyes from closing even when I'm sitting up.

Dec.31: Spoke to Alan A. to get an O2 prescription from Vitalair (sourced by Lea). He did that and also prescribed a corticosteroid puffer, which Kate picked up. Used O2 for about an hour at a time, maybe three times. O2 level 95 to 97.
97 feels like I’ve aced a math test.

Jan.1, late morning: Had a shower, with David's help, still unsteady. Feels really nice.
5 p.m.: Spent half an hour sitting up in the chair downstairs, watching Penn State play football. Now more sleep before supper. No O2 from late morning until after supper. O2 level 95/96. Steroids: 400 mcg twice a day.

Jan.2 the "dark sky" of sickness seems to be clearing gradually. I think I can safely say this now. My O2 is good, and I stayed up for some hours, which even yesterday would have seemed impossible. Ate David’s omelette, with some appetite.

Jan.4: posted some rink reports!

Jan.5: went outside to the garden for the first time to pick some parsley. Lay down for an hour afterwards. Last use of O2 for an hour in the night, because I woke up breathing as bit harder. It seems so obvious by now that the O2 is a friendly placebo. I don’t bother measuring my level anymore.

Jan.9: I invited Kate and the kids for lunch. I cooked before they all came and they served while I sat and took it easy. Worked out fine.

Jan.10: short bike ride to Walmart. Long rest afterwards. Scale says I’ve lost 20 pounds.
The GP never called back after that first call.
Drugs reduced.
1. Vitamin D - 2500 IUs per day 2. Vitamin C – 2000 mg per day. 3. Zinc 25 mg - once per day 4. Quercitin, 500 mg – 1 per day 5. NAC 500/600mg 2/day, (stopped on Jan.15) 6. 325 mg Aspirin once a day 7. 200 mcg steroids twice a day.

I had it bad maybe in part because I'm one of the covid target groups -- 74 (old). But David, 75, got it the same day as me and he was not very sick and mostly better after a week.

Mystery. But ++ gratitude for friends and family.

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S.C.

Friday December 17, hosted apparently super spreader event :)

Felt fine on Saturday
Sunday night could feel aches and chills and knew I was getting sick.
Monday woke up and was throwing up all morning and afternoon until around 5. Stopped, was able to eat and drink, then went to sleep.
Tuesday woke up feeling a lot better, started doing errands and getting ready for Christmas. Felt very tired and not great but figured I was on the upswing.
Wednesday still didn't feel great but again did some more shopping and house stuff. Wednesday afternoon got messages from my sisters saying they didn't think I should see them or my parents at Christmas since I was sick, likely with COVID. Even though asking me for some distance when I had COVID is perfectly reasonable, I still took it as a devastating blow, probably because of all the media stuff and talk over the past two years.
December 24th I had an very low mental health day, and also felt extremely sick and tired. No desire to celebrate Christmas or do anything at that point! Every painful thought I had, whether about my sisters' remarks or the world around or anything, felt like a knife stabbing me in my chest. I felt like I wanted to escape from my body and pondered if this is what hell was like. I feel the intensity of my emotional response was due to COVID - I get affected by things all the time, but I have not experienced that painful stabbing feeling before. It was literally as if a knife was stabbing me in my chest.
December 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 (Day 7-12) I was completely exhausted, barely did anything around the house, would force myself to go for a daily walk or two just for the fresh air, had a couple of episodes of nausea as well.
Day 12 at midnight I went to the hospital with shortness of breath, that I now think was a panic attack. I really had never been worried about COVID before but my extreme exhaustion and failure to get better made me worry I was going to be one of the rare people with no comorbidities or health conditions to die from it. The hospital discharged me after a couple of hours (I later received the test results indicating it was COVID, Omicron strain) saying I had 100% oxygen and was fine.
Day 13 I woke up feeling still not great
Day 14 (January 1, the new year!) I woke up and felt human.

I felt as if I had been taken over, like it was a hostile force inside me. The illness wasn't that painful, but it just felt completely wrong. When I say I woke up feeling human on day 14, it was that stark. Even though I was still very tired, I just felt as if the dark cloud was gone and I was myself again. So strange. I have heard the same comments of evil/alien/hostile from others. Of course it could be psychosomatic, but I never really worried about the whole Wuhan lab thing or concerned myself with origin theories, so I wasn't aware of that being any kind of factor going into my covid. It was only when the illness got bad on day 4 or 5 that I started feeling that "wrongness".

I'm still recovering - I feel pretty good and have a reasonable amount of energy, but I get very tired at night and still have had various minor symptoms each day - cough sometimes, mostly sinus congestion.

I never at all lost my sense of taste or smell, if anything, they intensified.

Words of support from everyone were hugely helpful, as were plenty of hot liquids - the only thing that really soothed me.

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C.R.

January 2nd: Tickle in throat
January 3rd: Morning, felt not so hot and by the evening had fever and chills
January 4th: Fever and chills and out like a light, no appetite
January 5th: Appetite back, fever gone, feeling better
January 6th: Congested, chest is sore, friend drops off rapid test.... positive... very tired
January 7th: so so tired, coughing, sore chest, tried smelling apple cider vinegar, lost sense of smell!! Strange!!!
January 8th: more fatigue, quarantine crazies
January 9th: voice is thin, cough is better (no singing)
January 10: voice is thin, nose is stuffed, chest is sore, smell is back!!
January 11th: same as day before
January 12th:same as day before
January 13th:same as day before
January 14th:same as day before but better
January 15th:better (still clearing throat and can't quite sing)

What helped:
1. Hibiscus Tea, Peppermint and Dandelion Tea (All day) 2. Vitamin D3 3. Blackseed Oil

But when things really started to shift for the better, in the second week, I put Tiger Balm on my chest and forehead when I went to sleep, and the very next day, I felt and unbelievable difference as far as the oppressive mucous in the back of throat and nose.
Tiger Balm was the game changer for me.

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A.M.

I had covid back in early 2020. My symptoms were quite mild - tickly cough, joint pain mostly in rib cage, headache, low fever in the evening and loss of sense of smell. My sense of smell was completely gone for about a month then slowly returned. All other symptoms lasted about three days before being completely resolved.

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F.H.

Felt spacey on Monday Dec. 21st, 3 days after the party
Slept Dec 22nd to 24th when I finally felt hungry so I got up to make miso soup with LOTS of salt.
(Realized I couldn't taste or smell anything except very salty food)
Also managed a rapid test (+) and to alert my parents that xmas would be delayed.
Spent Christmas on the couch for a change of scenery.
After that the days are a bit of a blur...
But my symptoms the first week included chills and sweats, muscle aches, and a deep phlegmy cough.
The second week a racing heart, and while a sense of evil would be a bit overstated, I did feel unusually blue, and was relieved I could attribute it to being sick as S. had told me a few days before that she felt the same. The exhaustion lasted for close to 3 weeks, as did the lightheadedness on exertion ie: getting up off the couch ;)
Now it's been a month and in good moments (when I remember to take my remedies and do sinus rinses), I think my sense of smell is slowly returning.

I took the same vitamins that everyone else did, although no more than 2,000IUs of vitamin D along with a long list of remedies. I didn't take any advil etc. although I considered taking aspirin.
I can't say there was one thing that I felt really helped, or that I could tout as a magic cure, except patience and sleep.
I'm sure checking in with others who got sick, to compare (and laugh!) about our symptoms also helped.

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D.C.

My husband was sick during the first wave and had more classic symptoms - grinding, high fever for 2 weeks, loss of taste, and his worst symptom - terrible headaches which made us scramble among our friends for codeine - the health clinic was both refusing to see him and also refusing to prescribe “addictive” medicine over the phone. :- Fyi, he got vaccinated last summer to be able to travel and relived all these symptoms for several days after his second shot.

What fascinates me is the variability between people - something in addition to age and other health factors - that determines disease severity. One theory is blood type - “O*s seem to fare better than “A" - does this hold more generally?

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M.C. (male, aged 46)

Friday Dec 17 - Day infected (contact traced back)
Dec 18/19 - a bit tired, a bit off, but had events both days and kept a full schedule. Did not infect any of the people I socialized with (16 people, most unv'd)
Dec 21 First Symptoms - some sinus, some phlegm, tiredness, headache. Very low energy Tested negative. Started steaming with oil of oregano - this helped my upper sinuses clear out.
Dec 22 - worsening - with addition of nerve 'flashes' (?) hard to describe. Just like electric shocks almost - last a moment
Dec 23 - worsening - tested positive. Added ivermectin, NAC and quercetin to my usual vitamin D, zinc, melatonin
Dec 24 - feeling almost better - thought I might get through it quickly!
Dec 25th - have a friend who was infected at the same time come and stay with me for xmas. Do a turkey etc. Began using chinese herbs to induce sweating
Dec 26th - exhaustion, sweats, chest congestion. Very vivid dreams (this happened throughout the illness) Lost my sense of smell completely.
Dec 27th - same - lots of napping and sweating - appetite gone.\\ Dec 28th - same - lots of napping and sweating
Dec 29th - feeling better - test negative, some symptoms remain
Dec 30th - slowly feeling better - mainly occasional loose, productive, phlegm cough (this cough remains with me somewhat almost a month later) Slowly recover over the next week or so to full energy. Used psilocybin to recover my sense of smell, a lot of my energy, and my appetite.

never checked my temperature, so not sure if I had fever but never felt extremely fevery. Didn't ever feel at risk of hospitalisation

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Report from Sweden, early in the epidemic (March/April 2020)

Male, 59, in fairly good health, not overweight.

Day 1, tired, went to bed early

Day 2, at work, felt headache late afternoon

Day 3, at home sick, felt ok during the afternoon, went to bed early

Day 4, sick in bed, fever 39.7

Day 5, very bad aches and pains, fever 38.8

Day 6, feeling better

Day 7, sick again, sweats overnight, fever 38.3

Day 8, very bad headache, fever 39.9

Day 9, very bad headache again, fever 39.4 dry mouth, nausea, began codeine for severe headache

Day 10, sweats overnight

Day 11, terrible headache, fever 39.5

Day 12, terrible headache, fever 39.4

Day 13, terrible headache, began drinking rehydration solution, says chills are gone, fever 39.0

Day 14, continued with rehydration solution, feels very tired, fever 39.0

Day 15, Very tired, mild sweats during the night, less headache, fever 38.7, using codeine less, headaches less intense

Day 16, Visit to clinic, temp down, 37.8, pulse 83, 62 low oxygen (ABG test, 60 is critical), C19 confirmation (no PCR at that time, diagnosis made via symptoms), trouble breathing at night (anxiety about breathing making it worse). The doctor thought it better he stay at home if possible, given there was someone there to look after him, but he was advised to go to the hospital if lips turn blue or fainting.

Day 17, eating better, generally better aspect, but feels difficulty getting enough oxygen in lungs, plus continued dehydration

Day 18, slept better, had breakfast, better energy but tired, 38.6

Day 19, feels better, less trouble breathing, less coughing, very low fever late afternoon, 38.3

Day 20, feels better again, no meds for 24 hours, 37.6

Day 21, worked from home, still very tired, 38.7

Day 22, temperature down, 38.0

Day 23, same condition, 38.2

Day 24, temperature down to 37.5

Day 25, temperature 37.5, feeling much better, back to work

Other: these were daily high temperatures, temperature was usually lowest in the morning, peaking between 4-9pm; dry mouth, “everything tastes like salt”; lost 8kg. Developed a numbness in his leg (a blodclot?) that resolved on its own over time. Very cold hands and feet, poor circulation. Regained his strength several weeks after illness and he says he has had no lasting issues.

Post script: It was early days. He received no care and had to ask friends for the codeine - they didn't want to see him at the clinic, yet wouldn't prescribe this “dependency-inducing” medicine until they had. Also, he felt much better once he started on rehydration solution, easily purchased at the pharmacy. He should have done that much earlier - and yet that was a tip from a friend, not a doctor. :-/

The most worrisome aspect was that the virus kept grinding along - wearing him down day by day. He didn’t fess up to his trouble breathing or the blood clot until later, he didn’t want us to be worried. Now I think he would have gone into hospital for oxygen but they were doing everything to keep people away at that point. I haven’t heard of home oxygen being used here.

I felt pretty strongly that I’d had the virus late 2019 - 3 weeks of extreme tiredness & dry cough, etc - so I figured I was done (natural immunity!) and I took care of Henrik without a worry - even went with him to the covid clinic where all the staff were in their hazmat suits - and never got sick. That summer, I tested for antibodies and didn’t have any. I didn’t pick it up from my son either when he had a mild case of covid last spring. So not sure of my own situation.

The positive that came out of this was a feeling of “better the devil you know” - which was strangely liberating, and we’ve lived fairly normally through the pandemic (as much as we could, anyway!).

Content last modified on March 02, 2022, at 08:39 PM EST