40+

[MilesJuppIsMyBitch]

A thread for people with CV19 symptoms that have lasted for more than a couple of weeks.

First thread here

(Called 40+ to keep a rough tab on when the first symptoms started being reported on MN).

@rosesofeyam Yeah my GP said they same, and it retrospect I should have as my breathing was awful, but have moderate asthma and other conditions and also work for the NHS and very conscious of not going in unless am not coping at home which i was, just. Also cognitively I felt quite confused so wasnt making good decisions. Fortunately having a oximeter meant I could be very poorly but stay safe ish. I do wonder now if I had given my body a break and had some oxygen for a bit I might have faired better in my recovery (day 45 today) but no point worrying about that now! Sadly theres very little they can do for covid19 other than breathing support.

tangledyarn My oximeter has saved my life. I think also being on asthma meds has helped with the inflammation. I also take multivitamins and tumeric as I have OA/arthritis. Day 33.
Who knows?

I don't know why all the GPs are saying we should have gone to hospital. Easy to say that for the past. Didn't advise that at the time though did they??
@TheDrsWife46 good that you might be having an examination from your GP soon. Have you also thought of psychosomatic symptoms? They are real symptoms but caused by stress and anxiety. Maybe you do need something to take the edge off and help you sleep x

@TheDrsWife46 It is very erratic it is hard to type a message as the screen goes funny touch wood it seems to be working right now! I totally feel you lovely... If I am counting right I'm on D36! Since 18th March that's when breathless started but a few days before that I had a dreadful sore throat and fatigue so possibly longer.. but I never thought it would be covid I just automatically assumed I was coming down with a cold but didn't turn out that way. Crikey it's been that long already.... but seems like yesterday! X

dorual My GP has been great.
I was advised to go into hospital for oxygen therapy/nebulizer treatment. My GP agreed as long as my SATS were above 90 then I could stay at home.

@TheDrsWife46. You sound like you are suffering so much physically and mentally I would get your husband to take you to A&E.

A gp friend of mine told me that at this stage the virus really will be out our bodies but that she is seeing many of her friends and colleagues take a long time to recover.

Well that's almost certainly not true is it. There have been well over a hundred recorded incidences of people having a relapse of the virus in Korea. (Where they actually test people as much as necessary.) They have the virus, their viral load diminishes and becomes undetectable and then after a few weeks they relapse and the virus is detected again. So far it seems that at the point of relapse they are not infectious as there hasn't yet been a single case of viral transfer from a relapsed patient. It's not actually that unusual with some viruses. My DS had Epstein Barr last year and whenever he played sport his viral load shot up. It took a few months of keeping him fairly rested to stop that happening. I suspect that this virus is similar, though hopefully it has a shorter recovery time than Epstein Barr. A good thing about the long recovery time though, is that usually when a virus takes for fucking ever to fuck off, is that the neutralising antibodies stick around long term.

@alittleprivacy that's very helpful to read. Knowing that a virus can take forever to shift.

I feel that on the occasions where my symptoms have resurfaced, that it's been for shorter periods. I feel as though my body/immune system is on to to it more quickly. The last few days I've mainly had hot back coming and going, and very tired after a bit of light exercise (a walk on flat ground) .In the mornings too I feel as though my lungs are shallower and a bit sore and dented, although that disappears after I've got up and moved around. I sort of feel as though it will be a month more before I'm back to where I was.

Where they've had those relapses in South Korea, @alittleprivacy, have there beem any instances of needing hospitalisation? I wonder if it ever reappears to a dangerous level, or if it just hangs around. Too scared to Google!

@Dorual my understanding is that many of them were asymptomatic the second time, hence why many are questioning whether the testing was accurate.

For those worried about lung issues (SoB) this study shows that it does resolve within about a month. Should ease some anxiety.

pubs.rsna.org/doi/10.1148/radiol.2020200527

@thedrswife46 sorry you’ve had a bad night
@kevintheorangecarrot good to see you pop in

Day 34, am watching out for symptoms, just going to google pleurisy and pneumonia again. After coughing fit yesterday, lungs were killing. Woke up coughing and had green come out. Sore throat and feel I am losing my voice...I’d say I feel like I’m getting a chest infection

For anyone still suffering sore throats, sore muscles etc have a look at post-viral fatigue. These sorts of things can go on for ages

Thanks @LetsBeSensible. It is reassuring to know that my sore throat could be post-viral. I will read more and see whether the breathlessness could be too. It would be good to have this bastard virus out of my body.

@onlinelinda I feel similar to you.

Today is day 41 for me. I’ve felt pretty ok (I wouldn’t use the word good) for a week now. However I have taken it very easy, yesterday I ‘did’ a little more. By more I mainly mean that I spoke to my parents on Skype at a time I shouldn’t have (I was tired) and on Skype you feel you have to keep talking and that was wrong I now know as I needed to be resting. I also did washing, cooking, washing up, went for a walk, played with kids and some very light gardening. It’s not loads but it was a little too much. I did sleep 45 mins also which felt good.

Last night my chest tightness and achey ribs came back a on. I slept ok but woke groggy (like I was maybe 5 days ago) and my achey back is there again mildly after having gone for two days.

What you say @onlinelinda feels it could be true re my viral load going up slightly. I feel like it will take a lot of rest for me to shift this.

The main thing I’m learning is at the first sign or feeling a bit weird or tired or ‘buzzy’ I go away and rest even if just for 10 mins and it seems to fade off again. I can sense when it’s coming on as I can’t cope with noise or much conversation etc so I just have to go somewhere quiet.

I’m not sure anyone will ever really understand how this feels (friends and work) and that concerns me. My mum had chronic fatigue at one point and does understand so that has been a good source of support for me.

@LetsBeSensible After having a scratchy throat before the weekend and feeling on and off phlegmy, I’m worried I’m getting a chest infection too.
@WorriesomeDad How are you? I think you were a bit similar before the weekend?

@alittleprivacy I hope you’re right!

@Moodgie not much better I’m afraid. Currently sat with palpitations and SOB. Heart rate in the 90’s despite doing bugger all. Really hope this is the last dip!

Where they've had those relapses in South Korea, @alittleprivacy, have there beem any instances of needing hospitalisation?

As far as I can tell they have all been hospitalised, not because they were so sick but because that's the policy. Korea is doing an excellent job of containing the virus (even in spite of the initial spread there being a deliberate act by a cult). There are also at the absolute forefront of studying the virus. So people with reoccurrences of the virus are going to hospital so the scientists can learn from them. And everyone they have been in contact with since the relapse are being quarantined and tested. So far not one single person who has been in contact with a relapsed person has been infected by them. Korea are still playing it careful and asking people to quarantine themselves for 14 days following release from hospital and are upping their testing of what they assumed to be recovered patients to investigate how prevalent relapse is.

If you do decide to read up on it, Professor Kim Woo-Joo is probably nearest thing we have to the world's expert on Covid-19 at the moment. Korea probably has the best handle on this disease. The best knowledge and research. The medical community there has experience of SARS and MERS, and is as on top of Covid as it's possible to be in every aspect from containment, to monitoring the spread, to research on the effects of the virus and how it compares to it's predecessors. And it is an open democratic society that is sharing knowledge instead of covering up.

Sorry to hear that @WorriesomeDad. I’m day 45 and really fed up. Surely this should be going now!

@moodgie @LetsBeSensible The throat thing is weird, minds really painful and if I talk for more than a few mins I start to lose my voice, am assuming its post viral, although I do have some white splodges on the back of my throat but am thinking that's probably oral thrush from still being on double inhaler. My glands are still quite swollen and my chest is sore and am still sob if I do much but i did hear from some gp on 5live that it would be normal for shortness of breath to last for quite a long time after you start to recover.

@Tangledyarn Thank you. I’m just worried about this phlegmy thing, keep clearing my throat, try to cough it out, steaming, hot drinks. Can’t get rid of it!

@moodgie Yeah mine is like that, weirdly I was never phelmgy in my chest!

@Tangledyarn It is so frustrating! Does anything help you with it?

Not really.. just drinking loads, loads of hot drinks seem to help a bit but it doesnt get rid of it!