Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask how did Covid affect you emotionally while you were ill?

26 replies

Changednamesorry · 28/07/2022 17:38

Hi, please no horror stories of physical things I am feeling extremely emotionally delicate.

I am 6 months pregnant and have Covid. I am feeling like I have a bad cold and very tired and rough.

I am feeling bouts of ange,sadness and loneliness intermittently without any real reason except that I'm very worn out I guess.
Did anyone else feel this? I'm just absolutely miserable 😔

OP posts:
10HailMarys · 28/07/2022 17:50

I think it's pretty normal to feel miserable as hell and really sorry for yourself when you're feeling unwell in general - I always feel incredibly gloomy and irritable when I'm ill. Everything seems bleak and I don't want anyone around me at all.

However - I suspect the mood swings you describe are probably more to do with pregnancy hormones and the general stress of being ill and knackered at the same time, rather than the virus itself, if that makes sense. If you're feeling rough and wiped out with Covid (I certainly did, I was utterly knackered!) then that in combination with being six months pregnant and hormonal is probably just a bit overwhelming emotionally, really. I really feel for you - I hope you can get some rest and feel better soon.

If you really feel like things are beyond control and you start to feel seriously unbalanced or feel like you might do something extreme, do not be afraid to seek help, though. I'm sure it's more likely that you're just feeling super delicate and fed-up right now, but don't feel like you can't seek support if you need it. Take care xx

JesusInTheCabbageVan · 28/07/2022 17:53

Covid can cause anxiety and low mood in some people. I struggled a lot when I had it in December, and continued feeling flat and grumpy for a few weeks after. Hope you feel better soon Flowers

cushioncovers · 28/07/2022 17:55

I haven't had covid but the people I know that have (women) have been very tearful and emotional when they had it. It lasted about a week in general. Hope you feel better soon op.

QuestionableMouse · 28/07/2022 17:55

I had all the anxiety, but the first time it was compounded by other factors.

Tiredeyes84 · 28/07/2022 18:01

Myself and my DH had covid at Easter for the first time and our baby was 4 months old at the time. We both found the physical side really tough whilst trying to take care of him and I really struggled mentally for quite sometime afterwards with terrible anxiety! It was a tough time and I lost my confidence as a mother for a while too. It knocked me for six and I didn't expect it to! I hope you feel better soon OP.

birdling · 28/07/2022 18:29

I was a bit bored....

TruJay · 28/07/2022 18:31

We first had covid in October, I was worse physically than emotionally but dh cried a lot. It was so bizarre, we binged a lot of tv and emotional scenes just set him off massively, it was uncontrollable. He isn’t one to hide emotions normally or anything but gosh this was something else!

We’ve been exceptionally poorly this past week, tested negative every time we’ve tested but it is certainly covid, it feels the same but my breathing has been badly affected this time and I’ve had the awful cough.
Think breathing has been worse as I’m 7 months pregnant.
This time I feel very emotional, I’ve cried several times out of sheer desperation. I’m a fairly strong person but I’ve been on my arse. That’s partly due to me caring for dh while he was at his worse but when I have been, he’s just fucked off and left me to it, heavily pregnant with our two other children to care for (they’re both autistic) I fucking hate him right now so, yeh, like you I also feel pretty angry.

Thepeopleversuswork · 28/07/2022 18:33

I have always felt depressed and low in mood in general when I am I’ll.

Not necessarily COVID per se. If your body is fighting an infection it depletes nutrition, uses up vital energy and hammers the immune system.

There’s more information about COVID coming out all the time so it may be related but I think it’s fairly universal.

ariesalien · 28/07/2022 18:40

COVID affected me mentally more than any illness I'd encountered - it was so odd! It sent me into such a depression, I literally lost the will to live (my symptoms were equivalent to that of flu), and the drop in my mood lasted for days after the symptoms had cleared.

I don't feel mentally great with any illness, but COVID sent me into a spiral.

Sunnysideup999 · 28/07/2022 18:43

I felt bat shit mental when I had covid.
it did pass but it took a long while to feel like myself again mentally
hang tight - lots of calming tea helped me and distractions

MollyRover · 28/07/2022 19:02

We were away from home at the time and routinely testing when I very unexpectedly tested positive (no symptoms, 4 months pregnant). Didn't want DH or DC1 to catch it at least until we were safely at home so isolated from them. Found it very very difficult having no physical contact with either, made me realize how tactile we are as a family and how much I need hugs from them multiple times a day. Never want to go without again!!

LadyAnglerfish · 29/07/2022 11:09

I’m just recovering and I’m irrationally furious. Or I was five minutes ago, now I’m tired and want to cry.

oh Ffs, it’s like being 3 years old again. 😭

Saucery · 29/07/2022 11:12

I was ridiculously weepy and not because I had Covid after avoiding it for 2 years. I wasn’t worried about having it at that stage because of vaccinations but the smallest thing would set me off - not hearing something DH said properly, news reports on Tv, things I read in books…….. It was like the effort of fighting it off meant I had no emotional resilience reserves left.
Hope you start to feel better soon.

Original poster
Changednamesorry · 29/07/2022 18:50

Yes it's rough! I am having huge mood swings it's really tricky!

On the plus side physically it's not too bad, day 3 now and it's like a bad cold. Given that I was very worried about catching it (immunosupressed) in a way I'm relieved that turns out it's not been too awful.

Oh well. Thank you all for the replies. It is a very odd illness indeed!

OP posts:
sonjadog · 29/07/2022 19:00

Yes, both times I have had it I have felt very down and sad and been very anxious. First time it passed after a few weeks, currently I am recovering again and I seem to gradually be getting past it in much the same amount of time.

SherbetDips · 29/07/2022 19:04

It didn’t bother me, was nice to have an excuse to go nowhere for a few days.

ScreamingInfidelities · 29/07/2022 19:06

I cried a lot when I had covid, I just felt so miserable and weak. That was week 1, by week 2 I was so exhausted I couldn’t stand and just lay there staring into space or sleeping. My DH called an ambulance and the paramedics were very worried about my breathing and heart rate. I remember thinking I might die but I was genuinely too knackered to give a fuck.

HesterShaw1 · 29/07/2022 19:07

I was mainly bored and tired. When I had been tired for a long time I started to worry that this was it forever, but then I suddenly got better. Took about a month. That was Delta anyway

With Omicron I just had a cold and was a bit weepy and clumsy for a couple of days.

stayathomegardener · 29/07/2022 19:24

When I had covid 03/20 before we were allowed to have it officially my emotions were all over the place for months, I thought that could be down to fear and anxiety regarding being abandoned and unable to breathe and PTSD as many of that cohort had.
However I'm just recovering from round 2 and despite being relatively mild omg my emotions are all over the shop again, anxiety, fury, tearful and now questioning my life choices.

100% it's a thing.

Peckhampalace · 29/07/2022 19:27

Complete sense of humour failure, grumpy and anxious. Had it for the first time about a month ago.

FatCatSkinnyRat · 29/07/2022 19:29

I am in general a pretty happy go lucky person. A coupel of days before I tested positive for covid I had what I could only explain as PMT x 10000. I took myself to bed at 7pm because I could not cope with anything and cried myself to sleep. I woke up in the middle of the night and sent hysterical emails to people who had been annoying me - tradespeople being late etc. This is not like me at all. I really thought something was seriously wrong with me, then I tested + and over a week came back to normal.

Very weird.

Funny things is the tradespeople all got my work does quickly and and properly after my midnight rant - they must have thought I was on the edge and they didn't want to mess with me ha ha. My DH thinks I should employ this tactic wider ha ha

Babdoc · 29/07/2022 19:33

Got the original strain 2 years ago, before vaccines.
After 2 weeks alone at home, short of breath, coughing all night, getting barely 2 hours sleep per 24 hours, too fatigued to even wash myself, I was depressed, anxious, weepy, and initially afraid I would die, then wishing I could, to get it over with!
Admission to hospital and treatment with oxygen, plus bed rest and someone else preparing my food and bed bathing me, improved my mental state greatly.
I have had long Covid for 2 years and then caught the Omicron strain on top, a few weeks ago.
Much less severe, just fatigued, high temp and depressed. Also fainted on the floor, hit my head and vomited, but recovered in about ten days.
I think most viruses affect mood - flu certainly does - and you should start to pick up as you recover, OP.

stayathomegardener · 29/07/2022 19:38

Hello @Babdoc
I remember you from round one.

Good to hear this bout has been much easier.

I'm struggling with neurological stuff this time which is both frustrating and frightening.

Babdoc · 29/07/2022 19:47

How long have you been infected this time, stayathomegardener? Are the neuro symptoms early acute phase, or delayed like long Covid?

Porcupineintherough · 29/07/2022 19:51

For me it's brain fog and horrendous crippling insomnia- had it 3 times for sure and happens each and every time.

I also had huge anxiety and, honestly, trauma from the first infection in 03/2020 <waves to @Babdoc and @stayathomegardener > but think that was a combination of the severity of the illness and the situation. Certainly didn't feel like that with alpha or omicron.