My lungs Part 5

[Spacecadetagain]

New thread for us

Hi all, I'm so glad I've found you! I've been feeling unwell for around 2 weeks but unfortunately, I suffer with pretty severe health anxiety so it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish. Both my children were sick over the last 10 days and had fever and cough. DP had diarrhoea around the same time and felt unwell for a day. Fast forward to the weekend...
28th: felt really unwell in the evening. Couldn't stomach foot. Went to bed and had the chills.
29th: most the day lazing in bed. Terrible headache which I attributed to period and not eating enough.
30th: didn't feel too bad but skin is red hot to the touch. Typically, thermometer broke 2 weeks ago.
31st: same. Flushing periodically throughout the day. Still have headache and sinus pain. Diarrhoea.
1st: same. Still in bed
2nd: same except for the squits. Panic attack at 12am. Couldn't breath. Shaking uncontrollably. Skin on fire from my chest to my ankles. Can feel the heat radiating off me. Rang 111. Lovely nurse rang back at 2am and was very reassuring.
Today (day 5 or 7) same. Managed a shower. No appetite. Was nauseous when I woke up. Was sick after shower but poss anxiety. Random little chest pains causing more panic.
Sorry for my long post. I'm so relieved to have found this thread. I have no cough and no sore throat. Absolutely terrified as to what is to come. Been catastrophising all week...

@mumlurker, I've been breathless all week (day 6/7 now). I have a lumpy upper throat and have coughed a little but not much. The GP and 111 do the Roth test (someone linked to this earlier or on the previous thread. I don't know how long it will take to go - seems to vary according to accounts on here.

@mumlurker for about 5 days my breathlessness was constant. I was breathing really fast and shallow like was running a marathon even when I was lying down. It was really terrible. I'm now 4 weeks in and I'm am still a bit breathless on exertion but not at rest and its improving all the time. Over the last couple of weeks I've had episodes where It would settle for a bit and then have a really bad patch of breathlessness for an hour or so when resting.

@mumlurker for about 5 days my breathlessness was constant. I was breathing really fast and shallow like was running a marathon even when I was lying down. It was really terrible. I'm now 4 weeks in and I'm am still a bit breathless on exertion but not at rest and its improving all the time despite me still feeling very unwell in myself. Over the last couple of weeks I've had episodes where It would settle for a bit and then have a really bad patch of breathlessness for an hour or so when resting.

@Tangledyarn thanks for posting that, as it is helpful to know that others have had similar experiences. I climbed the stairs the day before yesterday and it might as well have been a mountain!

Thanks for your responses everyone. I'm getting it even when I'm lying down too, sometimes for hours on end. I wonder what causes it if we don't actually have pneumonia?

I'm definitely trying to take heart in the idea that if we're all this far along, it's unlikely we'll take a serious turn for the worst, even if we feel totally rotten!

Pneumonia happens when the lungs fill w fluid. But coronavirus in the lungs will make them inflamed and irritated even without the pneumonia.

@tangledyarn

That sounds horrible! The few hours of respite I get from it are the only thing keeping me sane because when it starts up again I can focus on the idea that it will ease off eventually. At what point in your illness would you say it was at its worst?

@Porcupineinwaiting

Thanks, that makes sense

Phoned 111 and they were next to useless. I said I’d been told by GP hub to phone them for possible antibiotics because they weren’t dealing with Covid symptoms.

She took me through the same questionnaire I’ve done online (which said phone them) and because I’m breathing she said “government advice is to self isolate for 7 days”. I’ve been self isolating for bloody 4 weeks! I’m on day 24! I protested a bit and said GP said I might need antibiotics but they can’t deal with it as it might be Covid related and she said “if you’ve got green mucus it’s not Covid because that’s a dry cough” I said I have had a dry cough for over 3 weeks, they think possible secondary infection.

She said “well we can’t deal with that, you need to go back to your GP”

So here I am on a cyclical journey back to where I started. To be fair the GP receptionist was lovely and could see on the screen the run around I’ve had. One of their own GPs is phoning me back but who knows when. Sigh. No wonder they are so overstretched.

@mumlurker that's what I needed to read, thank you. Just laid on the sofa feeling awful while the kids run riot. Was having a.panic that if its lasted this long maybe there's something really wrong, but then counteracting this with but if it was really bad I'd have been in hospital and probably died already

@mumlurker I'd say roughly days 12-18 were the worst breathing wise, it has honestly been totally awful, it all feels like a dream to be honest. Although I still feel rubbish and fed up with it all I am so glad that aspect of it is better.
I'm glad you are getting some respite and hopefully we'll get less and less breathless and symptomatic as the days pass, but its definitely up and down this recovery!

Have been prescribed some antibiotics today so we'll see. GP said that the only info they really have on recovery is around people admitted to itu, but that she would expect that with me having been so ill and having preexisting health conditions she is not surprised I am still struggling and it might take a number of weeks more for me to feel better.

Good news! My heartburn has gone!
Bad news, I can no longer take deep breaths and the ones I do are on fire.

Sorry to bring bad news but I believe the virus can linger long after the symptoms are gone. So even when we start to feel better it is still there.
The couple on the Diamond Princess, David & Sally Able were kept in hospital in Japan for quite some time after they had recovered from pneumonia. I think it was a couple of weeks before they were clear of CV and were not allowed to leave hospital until they had 3 negative tests in a row. They would have a negative result and then the next one would be positive.

They were told the only treatment is rest.

SchrodingersKitty and KinderWild my parents are the same, in their 80s and my dad refused for ages to stop going out and about. In the end my sister and I had to both say all the really blunt things to them and I know it upset my mum.

I think the thing that really hit home was when I said I didn’t want to be dealing with a double funeral at this awful time, because I was seriously worried that was what it was going to lead to. I asked them to imagine what that would do to their children and grandchildren. They are at least isolating now. Once Boris told them to stay at home, my mum listened.

I hated upsetting them but I had to keep on and on being really blunt. My dad is fiercely independent in his 80s (and high risk too) and really doesn’t like having to stay in. But they seem to have accepted it. They still ask DSis to get non essential shopping but we are slowly pushing the point that they need to think in advance because every trip is a risk even to younger healthier family members.

@musicposy

I called 111 after experiencing hours of breathlessness where I could barely speak or move. Had to take a big breath after every single digit of my phone number! The doctor called me back but by that point my breathing had eased off and my temperature had dropped a little. He was incredibly patronising, told me that if I'd been ill for three weeks it was unlikely to be covid and might just be a cold! He even demonstrated what breathlessness sounds like for my edification...Also said that he hadn't heard me cough once during our three minute conversation so it probably wasn't covid, and that symptoms were rarely intermittent.

I get that they're overstretched beyond belief and lots of people must be phoning for reassurance, but was really upset/pissed off by the response as I've never been this ill in my life! But i'm guessing in a few weeks time there will be more and more people with the longer term symptoms and doctors will be more familiar with the symptoms beyond coughing/fever/breathlessness that people are experiencing.

Non CV related but one of my ears is bunged up with earwax so I've just put some ear drops in and I'm now enjoying the fuzzy silence of not having to listen to my house full of moaning family. It's quite nice

mumlurker that’s terrible. Just when you need to be taken seriously. I suspect we are among the earlier people and therefore they haven’t seen much yet at 3 or 4 weeks or beyond. My cough is extremely intermittent at the moment - I can be an hour or more without a cough - but it’s very much there and I’ve never had a virus (including flu and viral meningitis) that made me feel this ill for this long.

The feeling of being on our own is horrible.

@storyofcats

When my breathlessness has been really bad I've almost been laughing to myself thinking "I can't believe I was so miserable over mere nausea/fever/chest burning earlier in the week!".

I hope you're able to get some proper rest and that the antibiotics help. I'm just learning what 'rest' means, i.e. no faffing around the house doing chores etc. When it's over it will all seem like a bad dream! I think at least I'll appreciate my health a lot more after this...

Hi everyone . Day 21 here and after a couple of days of normalise temperatures .. I’ve woken up this morning feeling groggy and fluey and my temperature has shot up again to 37.8 .. I’ve totally had enough .. I was really hoping that maybe I was turning a corner but I’m also freaking myself out that maybe I didn’t have CV and I’ve contracted it from having paramedics here

Hello to my fellow prolonged fever sufferers - a club I never imagined joining! Day 18 and I’m just looking for a few words of comfort. Feeling utterly miserable as temperature up to 37.8 again, pulse racing and I am still stuck in bed. For those ahead of me and improving can you remember what days did the fever and palpitations stop?

@tallyapple,we are here!

@musicposy nearly a third get mucus , so 111 is wrong. Research from Wuhan of 55,000 cases on Feb.

I range them when I couldn't get a grip of my chills yesterday. They wanted to help but I suspect they're overwhelmed and exhausted, as I had to keep correcting them about what I had actually said to them re symptoms.

I have once or twice had a tiny twinge in my heart area, and hope it's nothing.

@Spacecadetagain it's hard to say.

@sambucus, I'm still having temperature issues on day 20.

Day 21, most things have subsided. Still got sore throat and pain between shoulders which I’ve had from the start. Really jittery all day really.

@musicposy Think that's totally true..when I spoke to the 111 nurse a couple of days ago he said he hadn't spoken to anyone else yet who was 3.5 weeks in and still really struggling yet. He did say a lot of people are reporting burning restricted lung feeling as well as all the other symptoms though.