I recovered from Covid after 3 weeks. Here’s what helped.

[Turin]

I hope I can help in some ways as I recovered from the awful virus. I had it for three weeks and believe I caught it from colleagues/students at school who presented mild symptoms. The virus attacked me very slowly (headaches and fatigue very normal with teachers) and the aggressively- coughing and flu like symptoms. I was in bed for weeks after.

It was so bad at one point I gave my DS (single parent) the “if Mummy dies” talk. Breaks my heart that he had to hear those words.

So I just want to share what helped me in case anything can alleviate your pain:

1. Plenty of fluids despite making me vomit. The emptying of my stomachs helped clear mucus in my lungs/throat and helped me breathe. The only food I could graze on was flat breads or fruit.

1. Antibiotics- the GP said this was to treat a secondary bacterial infection on my lungs in the second week which helped me breath. It did.

1. Paracetamol x2 every four hours. Some days I was so weak it would take me two hours at 4am to take these. During the day DS was trying to nurse me the best he could.

1. Lucozade. I could not eat and my sugar levels were desperately low. Some days/hours I had no idea where DS was (big garden) as I was so lethargic and fatigued. The lucozade gave me the sugar rush I needed to gradually get up and try and be a parent to him. He is 9.

1. Steaming. My friend recommended doing this with whole cloves as this is used for colds in her culture. Again helped massively when I had the energy to boil the water and place in a bowl.

1. Turn of sky news if you have it! The sight of the giant red virus cell as their background was nauseating! Turn off the news in general. It doesn’t help morale hearing about death rates.

1. Have a heated pad or hot water bottle on stand by if you do get the chills. I had a microwaveable heat pad used for pets.

1. Don’t be afraid to call nhs for advice if you think you are getting worse. At one point, my son called 999 and said “my mum can’t breath”. He was told “unless her lips are blue and her head has gone floppy we won’t be coming out we are too busy”. My poor love having to listen to that.

However, It helped me focus on getting better massively as I understood the nhs was on its knees and my recovery was going to be better at home even though I was gasping for breath.

1. As my course of antibiotics finished and the steaming was helping, I started to do things like clean up and wash clothes. Don’t. Stop. They will exhaust you. Baby steps for at least a week as you will get a false sense of confidence thinking you are better and then relapse. This happened to me 3 times.

Hope this helps someone who needed hope that the chances of you getting better are higher than if you don’t.

Feel free to ask me any questions.

X

@sittingonacornflake I really do encourage you to think about what you would do, especially if you're in an area with higher number of cases. Make a plan, sort out practical support, inform family/friends of the plans, get enough supplies in the house etc if you haven't already done so. Hundreds of thousands of us, if not millions, will have to deal with us or family members being ill at home. It's so scary, I understand that, but taking some action has made me feel a bit calmer about it.

@Pokemontrainer my GP confirmed it with almost certainty before I got worse and then after too.

Can you share the name or details of your oxygen machine? I would really like to invest in one

How does vomiting help clear mucus from the trachea? The oesophagus and the trachea are very separate passages

@Turin sounds like an awful few weeks. I'm shocked at what your son was told. I work in a hospital and had no idea getting an ambulance was that difficult as the hospital seems to be coping atm, although I knew the threshold for Covid-19 admission is pretty high.

Would they have taken you in if you could get to hospital another way (I don't know how!) or did they advise you to stay home?

So glad you're on the mend and you didn't need to be admitted, at least you got to stay with your son that way.

Op what day did bresthing difficulty start.
I started feeling worse day 14

@Bringringbring12 I was struggling to breathe. Literally gasping and choking on my own words. He had to know how much I loved him.

You were at home?

So glad you're on the mend OP - can't imagine what it must have been like to only have your DS with you, and being unable to protect him.

For those who have a device for oxygen in the body, I know that 95-100% is fine - at what level should you take any action?

'How do you know it was Covid 19'

Flu season is over. Any respiratory infections are now assumed to be Covid 19.

I think it's fairly obvious from OP's symptoms and course of infection that she had CV

Stop being so nit picky

@sanityisamyth I’m really sorry I don’t know the science! The vomiting really helped though. I just assumed it was clogging my airways.

Yes I was at home. I could have gone to the A&E but didn’t want to expose my self Or family to further risk. At the time I just remember thinking “I just want someone to help me start breathing”. I think I thought paramedics could come and go. I really did not want to be admitted as the worry for me being away from DS would have been worse.

Thank you for the lovely words from so many of you about my wonderful son. I wish I could share more with you about him And the things he does or has done but it would be too outing. He really is my best friend and the love of my life.

PPs surprised at 999 not sending help, same thing has happened to me - fairly similar symptoms.
My local hospital is not overrun at all, but the whole system is designed to stop suspected covid patients going there. Less infection risk if we stay at home until we're blue. @Turin I hope you feel better soon.

If you are losing consciousness and turning blue because of lack of oxygen then surely you are at risk some tissue damage from the lack of oxygenation, if any of your organs are weak because of underlying health issues this could lead to organ failure.
On the one hand we have empty hospitals and lots of spare beds but on the other hand people who are at death's door are being kept out of hospitals, it's as if the nightingale units are just for show 😳

How are you supposed to call for help if you're alone, head floppy, going blue and can't speak?

This made me really sad, but I heartily appreciate your thread OP. I’m glad you are on the mend. Be extra kind to yourself and your son. Make sure you get him to talk and to reassure him that you are OK. I’ve 2 boys and they bottle things up but can have extreme anxiety. Hug him tight and tell him you are so proud of him.

[Flowers] OP

That's quite an ordeal you've been through. Glad you are feeling better and thank you for sharing your experience. I have no doubt this will help people. I hope I never need it, but I am glad to know how you got through it.

I really hope it helps. Even if it’s one thing that helps one person. A neighbour I’d not seen in months came over to check on me not realising I’d been unwell and was so appreciative of the smallest bits of advice I offered her when she asked for it. “In case I become unwell”. She was so grateful hence the thread.

Mind you I had LOTS of unhelpful advice too.

One nugget of joy was my lovely old Aunty telling me to eat a raw onion and place chopped up ones on my window sil. “I’ve not got the plague Aunty!” I said. Still makes me laugh

I have been in that situation and telling a child that mummy might die when you’re at home, no evidence that might happen, is inappropriate. As parents, we need to protect our children.

That said, hopefully your son will be resilient and bounce back. It’s not a given he will be long term impacted by this. Hopefully he’ll be fine, sounds like a lovely boy.

@JackJackIncredible does being at home make you somehow immune from dying
If that was the case then how are people dying from covid at home?

a child calling 999 to me is an absolute cry for help and then just leaving them with their very ill parent with 'advice'

I can’t stop thinking about this. I know OP said a paramedic called back an hour later, but... fucking hell.

What 9 year old talks like this?! Does he exclusively read Enid Blyton?

I am not sure this thread is very helpful. At all.

Different people definitely react differently. No way could I walk down the stairs at day seventeen never mind a two mile walk!

I agree this thread is unhelpful. And odd.

Maybe it's helpful for the OP to talk about her experience?

* Yes I was at home. I could have gone to the A&E but didn’t want to expose my self Or family to further risk*

You are a single parent.
You were gasping for breath. You thought you were going to die. You told your child “if mummy dies”.

But you didn’t want to go to hospital because you didn’t want to put others or your child at risk.

OP - that is odd. And I suspect you are a absolute drama queen. Which is your prerogative but deeply deeply unfair on your poor child.

Bringringbring12 why don’t you just bog off with your nasty posts

Yes, if this is true then I imagine the child's coping mechanisms have been well-honed over the years. No parent should ever tell their child they 'might die' and it speaks of a total lack of boundaries and placing far too much on a child's shoulders.