My lungs Part 5

[Spacecadetagain]

New thread for us

Morning all, I've had two nights of interrupted sleep I think from anxiety .. but a worry thing is I have terrible Diarrhoea 🤷‍♀️ my tummy really isn't great. Have many other experienced this?

Loving the graph! Imagine that smooth line is a jagged zig zag though, you will have good and bad days as you get ill, and as you get better.

CFSis chronic fatigue syndrome, us3d to be called ME

Today I have fatigue, muscle pain and a bit of dizziness, and the stabby pains in hands and feet. Could be CFS or CV. Am very glad I quit smoking a few months ago, my lungs feel like I’ve smoked about 60 a day then been scrubbed by a Brillo pad.

@Yummypalmtree just had a long shower. Put on an oil burner with eucalyptus oil in. Got the shower really going so loads of steam and did the deep breathing and coughing exercises- god my lungs feel great now. Day 27

@stoptherideiwanttogetoff yes, right at the beginning for about 4 days then again a week later. A horrid version worse than a normal ‘upset tummy’.

My timeline, as requested, is something like this;

Weeks 1 and 2 Fever, dry cough - this was late January so no idea at the time that it was Covid-19. Also a lot of dizziness, feinting and nausea that continued until Week 7 (other than feeling better in week 3)

Week 3 - Felt much better, cough almost gone, went back to work, did too much and at the end of the week I relapsed with tight chest, nausea and fever.

Week 4 - given Antibiotics for suspected kidney infection, still had tightness in chest and generally feeling nauseous and too ill to work or even read a book. Visited the GP as I had no idea at this stage that it was Covid-19 (unaware that I had been in contact with someone who had been close to someone that had been tested). My dry cough had disappeared after week 2 so GP put symptoms down to kidney issue. Test results a few days later came back negative for kidney infection but did reveal that my liver was affected too.

Week 5 - Diarrhea (not sure if this was part of the illness or due to antibiotics). Dioralyte helped me feel better but I got through a lot of sachets as I think dehydration was contributing to the dizziness. Not really able to do anything more than very basic meals for myself as I was feeling really weak. Drank lots of lemon and honey, lucozade and Ribena! My chest was still very tight, my oxygen sats dipped to about 94 so kept a close eye on them. I called GP and was told it was not typical Covid but maybe. Later spoke via telephone to cardiologist who had been working in hospital with cases and he said it probably was Covid as symptoms matched others (kidney issues have been seen in hospitalised cases). I then heard that I had been in close indirect contact with two confirmed cases so was highly likely to be Covid.

Week 6 and 7 - continuing fatigue and spending most of my time laying on my bed. Would get up and do something then need to lie down again. Mild chest symptoms persisting but constriction around chest was definitely easing, especially after epsom salt baths which I highly recommend.

Week 8 - Feeling much better. I do think that this virus has affected all my organs, stomach, heart, liver, kidneys and lungs. I am still very weak and am being careful not to do too much. I think it will possibly take at least six months for me to get back to normal.

Day 20 here, Better night last night, temp ok, energy up slightly. Only negative is a change to chest symptoms that I now have a heaviness on my chest, affecting my breathing slightly, that I didn’t have before and quite a lots of phlegm in my throat (sorry) - feels like I need a major clear out but don’t have a cough and if I force it nothing comes up. My breathing had been ok recently so it’s frustrating and worrying me. Could be because I slept on my front I suppose. Anyone else got this at a late stage?

Hope everyone manages a little chill out in some sunshine today - surely it’s got to help.

@Notgoingouttoday wow... thank you.

Definitely in this for the long haul, good reminder about the Epsom salts as I'd forgotten how helpful they were.

DH took a similar 8 weeks to recover and feels no after affects now.

Notgoingouttoday that sounds so awful, I really do hope you have a smooth recovery.
I have reduced kidney function so I'm expecting problems there, it's something I've been mentally shrugging over as a given really.

I feel a bit better today. My face feels hot again but my temperature is currently down. I haven't even tried getting out of bed yet, I'm not sure I will. As long as I lie down quietly I can feel almost normal.
I had a better night too, only once woke drenched in sweat and no chills at all.

@Needsomegoodnews yes I dipped around day 20 with far more chest/back pain and tightness.

It eased again after a few days of enforced rest and self care.

@Crayfishforyou not too much lying down as I think (no medical background) it might increase your pneumonia risks.

On about day 24 here. Feeling frustrated after a couple of good days I'm now very fatigued with aching limbs and feeling spaced out again.
I know I did too much yesterday - I'd say that this was still less than half of my usual capacity.
I'm taking multivitamins and trying to eat kefir. Don't know what else I can do to try and promote healing?
Resting is difficult in the current circumstances and my family don't understand.

Day 12 here and this is the worst I've felt. I feel like I've shoved cotton wool into my airways and I'm trying to breathe through it. Constant dizziness so I'm still in bed. Couldn't stop coughing last night so my chest is sore. I'm absolutely wiped out.

Yesterday I was feeling quite positive and thought I could see the end of this in sight. Think I can scrap that thought now.

@TiddleTaddleTat I hear you on the frustration and feeling like you’ve gone backwards. Only day 20 so a little behind you but more fatigued / weak / spaced out again today than yesterday. Hoping if I have a little nap I’ll feel a bit better...

Has anyone felt better after just a week or two? There seems to be so many variants to this virus.

Soaking up some vitamin D in the garden now.

(While my nice but very dodgy neighbours smoke stinky weed next door.)

@simplekindoflife yes Ive 2 colleagues that were more or less back to normal within 10 and 14 days respectively.

@simplekindoflife yes I started to feel better at around day 11 and am fairly normal now (alth need a bit more rest and am taking things slow) at day 14. My DH had it more mildly and was better after a week.

Hi All

Just checking back in. Day 26. Yesterday I went downhill a bit - coughing a lot and breathless. I restarted my asthma reliever steroid inhaler which I had not used the whole time I was ill. Using half the dose I usually use when I have a chest infection, and it does seem to be working. Also tried the deep-breathing exercises someone posted yesterday and that helped quite a lot. I went to bed early and the viral / post-viral symptoms seem to be a bit better today.

I have a terrible flare-up of my lower back pain, though (long-standing issue): probably the result of lying down too much and not being able to go for walks. Starting to turn into sciatica which I can really do without.

DH has an MRI tomorrow in a hospital about a 20 minute drive away. Our next-door neighbour had volunteered to drive him, but she has woken up with a sore throat and is worried about giving him anything at the moment. It is so difficult - safe drivers would be people who have been shielding with no virus, but they obviously won't want to drive, and anyone else poses an additional risk. If he does have lymphoma again that puts him at very high risk from the virus (let alone the much much higher risk of the lymphoma itself). On balance, he's decided to drive himself. The headaches are very mild, the route is not on motorways, and we assume the roads will be pretty empty. Such difficult times.

I'm now worrying that I should have continued isolating from him and DS. I stopped about Day 22 when my symptoms had pretty much gone. I assumed that they would have been exposed to whatever they were going to get from me by then, despite my care (and particularly during the very infectious days at the beginning). But who knows? I suppose he will have to try to isolate from us for five days when he gets back from the hospital?

@SchrodingersKitty sorry to hear that. It must be worrying for you at the moment.

Thank you @Porcupineinwaiting and @mymoonmyman2020

I'm preparing for longer but it's reassuring to know that some have got better more quickly. 🤞

People I know seem to feel better or have very mild symptoms for much longer that I have(24 days of feeling dreadful so far, but still clinically 'mild' without medical intervention)
No idea why!!

Much less time than I have

I had been feeling better after the Davidson but the next day had a sore quickly throat and then a cough. Which I hadn't had before. Dh also started with the sore throat and cough on the same day. Then last night I felt weak in the legs and anxious and muscle achy.
I thought I was say 26 after starting chills. But who knows? We have hardly been out last day of school 6th mar. (Though dd2 had a fever 29th feb then runny green nose Then cough a week later that she still has). Only dp went out for MOT. And had a few deliveries including food etc
Day1 9th Mar chills
Day 2 breathless whic h continued for weeks.

I also lost appetite. Which has happened the last 2 days too.etc

So for us to start with sore throat and cough with no runny nose is very odd.etc
A cold would usually be sore throat then runny nose Then cough.

I’m having a really bad day here, day 13 (i think). I cant feel my legs properly, theres a pain in my back around my kidneys and tingly spine and my legs have absolutely zero strength and so tingly and bristling. I CAN stand up but its scaring me that I just cannot move around very well at all. Also have crushing chest pain today compared to the stinging lungs of before.

My kids are playing nicely, DH is running the home etc and I feel like Im slowly dying. Reason tells me I must be getting better because im not writhing in pain/tremors like last week but today I feel like i’m dying. I feel disgusting for even allowing my mind to go there, but life is carrying on without me in the home. The kids are “missing mummy” and i can barely stand up.

After last nights conversations about cfs etc I looked it up. And the symptoms are similiar to what feel now. Muscle pains and weakness, difficulty in being upright, i cant hold myself vertically at all sat at a table etc. I have to lie down. Im shaky all over, just complete fatigue and Im literally just existing. Is this was post viral fatigue is?? Is that what cfs suffers started with after an illness etc and we are expecting it to reduce etc as the virus leaves our body.

If I had meningitis, glandular fever, sepsis or something I’d be able to go to the doctor and say “im suffering ill effects/complications” wouldnt i?

(This’t to denigrate or undermine the suffering of those with cfs or autoimmune conditions I hasten to add, more a question is this the post viral shittiness that anyone with a bad virus experiences rather than the virus itself).

I hope im making sense im in complete turmoil today and my family when I say im still not well respond “dont be the voice if doom”.

Im not intending to, Im just finding it very difficult to manage this alone at home rudderless!

I'm sorry @SchrodingersKitty @TheDrsWife46 that sounds so tough on both of you.