My lungs....part 4

[Casino218]

Continued support for those who need a few kind words to help them through the dips.

Please do not come here to ask 'but how do you know if you haven't had a test'

@notangelinajie laughing at what your daughter said. My 14 year old said 'mum are you still in bed' to me yesterday. I think she thinks I'm putting it on as DH is back outside gardening and we had earlier symptoms at the same time.

Plus side of being awake at 3am - I got a supermarket slot! Not til 20th April, but still. Silver linings and all that.

Well done! @#porcupineinwaiting!
I've got a shop coming tomorrow, I'm so looking forward to not having to eat from my prepping cupboard. Been eating mainly tinned stuff all week.

Ok I've been meaning to do this for a while and it seems like I have a slot in my busy schedule right now:
Diary of symptoms

Day 1: loss of appetite; diarrhoea
Day 2: felt better
Day 3: diarrhoea; extreme fatigue; chills; faint burning sensation on skin of shoulders; sore throat; extreme nasal drip
Day 4 : diarrhoea; extreme fatigue; chills; faint burning sensation on skin of shoulders; sore throat; extreme nasal drip
Day 5: sore throat, burning skin, fatigue
Day 6: sore throat, burning skin, fatigue
Day 6: tight chest, burning skin, breathless
Day 7: Felt better
Day 8. Horrendous day, skin burning like crazy, felt really hard to breath (but breathing was actually ok)
Day 9. Felt better
Day 10. Another bad day, similar to day 8 but not quite so hard
Day 11. Felt better
Day 12: burning skin; breathlessness are back - tbc

Oh bugger days 5-7 should include a cough and days 10 and 12 a slight fever, as well as chills

Porcupine which day did u see the ambulance on the list?

@Spacecadetagain dont be scared of the ambulance. They will help you decide whats the right thing and may reassure you that you either need more help or that your doing well at home.

I conpletely get the desperation I am passibg through it myself multiple times each day. Let ua know what happens or we will be worried sick.

Day 8. Day 8 was awful.

Im a bit scared to post to be honest because im worried that i reignite my awarness of my symptoms by evaluating them.

Good morning! Today is my day 9. For 8 solid days I have stayed awake morning and night watching tv, youtube recovery stories, sitcoms etc. I have paced myself through each individual hour walking the garden, rocking my body, facetiming someone- anyone awake and posting incessantly on here.

Last night I had bad diarrhoea again but I proactively sought to “knock myself out” knowing my oximeter was stable and that my lungs are unlikely to crash at day 9 (if the sats are good im trying to be logical) that i took two sleeping pills. I slept 11.30(ish) to 2.30, took another tablet and dozed again until 3.

I feel like i could have remained asleep but i had horrible lucid dreams about reading comprehension test papers (daughter in in SATS year).

Only 10 hours ago I was begging to phone an ambulance. But if i focus in this feeling, that I have had a period of sleep, in relative calm without having to rock and pace through the night like labour, then maybe well ness is coming.

@Spacecadetagain I’m hoping your still at home. Im hoping that the ambulance crew are sitting with you for a while to gently reassure you back into rest. If you are sat anxiously waiting for them to arrive do please post.

And dont feel bad like you want to cancel them. They are dealing with these calls day and night. It is far preferable to touch base with a medical practitioner in PPE than drivinb yourself into A&E like we usually would argue for people in normal life.

Does anyone else have a humidifier?
I feel better after steam inhalation as my nose feels dry inside so I thought this may help for at night?
It will be here tomorrow.

Hi everyone . Two lovely paramedics have not long left .
I had a full MOT inc ECG which scared them a bit until I told them I have an electrical problem with my heart . Sats were 99 and pulse was around 75 .. also they were happy with my resps. I have some crackles deep down on my left side but the make paramedic said he had to listen hard and it’s possible it’s scarring from my pnuemonia . They were both lovely and said every single one of the symptoms I’ve described was consistent with what other potential sufferers are experiencing. They’ve put me at day 18 saying that the temp spike I had then felt well for a couple of days was probably day one . The awful rib pain and grating feeling is another symptom they said they are seeing a lot of and they’ve said they are 99 per cent sure I have Covid 19 . It was a relief to know my lungs seem ok for now .. I’m just hoping it stays that way .. temperature was ridiculously Normal after being elevated all day .. I felt more reassured after they left .. although slightly bothered by the small crackles they said they could hear . I was left with instructions if what to look out for in case of getting worse but said they hoped that this was it for me ..

I ordered a portable nebuiliser steamer thing @ofwarren. It wont get here til next week. Im keen to try a warm bath to attempt to ease the leg cramps/skin prickling sensations but I am also petrified of making myself hot!!

Thank you for looking out for me everyone
@TheDrsWife46 yes it was definitely preferable to ending up in a and e ! I hope you are able to get some rest too

@Porcupineinwaiting yes they were a godsend for me too .. such a relief !
I’m going to attempt a bit of sleep .. dreading wondering what vile symptoms I can look forward to tomorrow

@Spacecadetagain
Great to hear from you
How are you feeling now?
Did the ambulance people say anything about being ill for so long? I don't think I know of anyone who says they were better after the 7 days.

@Spacecadetagain I know this is selfish, but I think I am more delighted at that than you. For one of us to get such a thorough check over when NONE of us can be seen. Is so reassuring that what we are experiencing is what they are witnessing.

Im interested that they arent shocked that this is 7day thing for you. Did they indicate what level of timescales/progress they are observing in patients? Are there many people like us who just cant cope at home anymore and panicking?

Sorry my lovely, I know that you are exceptionally poorly and frightened, I dont know whether you feel able to keep posting or resting.

*isnt a 7 day thing

And can I ask if they just used a stethoscope to check for crackling?

@Spacecadetagain all very reassuring and makes sense. That Oximeter score seems to be the thing they really care about so wonderful it’s so high.

( rest of us order stethoscopes for our medical warkit)

That's what I was thinking TheDrsWife 😂

@ofwarren and @thedrswife46 . No they weren’t shocked at all at me still being ill 18 days in and we’re really sympathetic. They said in theory I should be headed fb towards recovery now but they are seeing people have good days followed by awful ones and recovery of up to several weeks. The lovely female paramedic laughed and said “you are definitely not selling this virus to me “ after I told her all my symptoms

@ofwarren. Yes just listened to my cgest with a stethoscope
@EMichel102 tbh my sats weren’t even that good when I had my blood clot at Christmas !

Did they come into your house to test you @spacecadetagain or did you get the tests done in the ambulance?

@spacecadetagain

I had a pulmonary embolisms in 2012. Funnily enough I think its whats keeping me calm at chest pains because the are my “normal” even at xmas I was in A&E for a D-Dimer cos i had chest pains. And after the embolisms I developed late onset asthma. I SHOULD be freaking out at my susceptible lungs but I keep saying it, its the sensations in my skin like its coursing through my nervous system that puts me in a spin.