Covid Lungs 40 plus plus plus

[SimpleKindofLife]

New thread for those having longer symptoms of Covid.

Day 44/45

Main symptoms today - high heart rate unless lying down and various types of chest pain, some worse on breathing in deeply.

I’ve got a private ELISA antibody test coming too. You can buy them for £80 (NHS) to £100 using a link further back in the thread. They may well give false positives (e.g. if you have antibodies to a different coronavirus) but I suspect a negative is likely to be reliable.

Good luck in A&E @Dandyish

Dandy I hope you are okay and that you have been or do get checked out.
Without going into details, I have found that stress exacerbated my chest pain. I don’t know why. But what you describe sounds quite extreme after all this time. So difficult and definitely get a medical opinion.

I am six weeks in, and still got chest pain, I still get a racing heart walking up the stairs, yesterday I had shooting pains in my shoulders. I have tried to take the view that this is just a long recovery but occasionally I get really worried that actually no-one knows enough about this virus yet to actually know. I was laughing with DD yesterday afternoon and that made the chest pain worse, and incidentally also hurt her chest - she was more mildly ill and only had a small amount of chest pain which has mostly gone. She still gets breathless and easily fatigued. She is 15. She has also lost quite a bit of weight even though she has still been eating - we noticed this as well.

Anyway, I am not a regular poster, so forgive the random post. I am following you all along and wishing you well.

Seems I may be wrong about no false negatives from home antibody tests. This is from the Guardian:

“The holy grail in antibody testing is a home pregnancy test-style kit that would provide almost instant results. So far none on the market, including 17.5m ordered by the government, have been demonstrated as sufficiently accurate. Typically these tests produce false negatives about half to 70% of the time.”

@Egghead68 The ELISA tests have FAR better sensitivity/specificity than the pregnancy test style, rapid test cassette versions, as the blood gets sent off to a proper lab for testing. In the studies I was looking at, the ELISA tests are usually 95% to 100% accurate depending on the brand. Something to reassure you if you have an ELISA test on the way

@Uncomfortablebadger many thanks for your posts. That’s reassuring to know. I hadn’t appreciated that the ELIZA tests were different from the pregnancy-style tests. Very good to know. I have a Blue Horizon one coming.

Day 37/44. Sorry I haven't posted for a few days, I had a massive dip and I've been in bed since Weds! Worst dip since my i was at my worst in week 2, what's going on?? 

Racing heart, SOB, but the worst is the chest pain. It's worst at night when I'm trying to sleep and it feels like I'm having a heart attack most nights. And I'm absolutely exhausted from being in constant pain for all this time. I may have to try ibuprofen today... scared!

Glad to hear some of you are doing better @Gunner30 @WorriesomeDad @Crayfishforyou @baroqueandblue Sorry if I've missed anyone. It really helps to hear this and I hope others come back and post stories of feeling better. It feels almost impossible to me at the moment. I feel like the virus is winning and I'm running out of fight

@SimpleKindofLife it is good to see you back posting. I am sorry you have having such a horrible dip. It seems that lots of us are left with a racing heart/chest pain/SOB in the 40s. I hope the ibuprofen helps you.

Hi everyone
I posted in one of the original thread a few weeks back. Not sure what day I am now but I started with symptoms about 5 weeks ago.
I am still having days of breathlessness, tiredness, still get that burning lung on my right side of my chest and pains in my left side as well as ear pain.
Sorry everyone is still feeling rough

Thanks @Egghead68 sorry to hear you're still suffering too. It'll be interesting to see what your antibody test says. I'm so tempted to get a test but it's so expensive! I'm hoping the government are going to do them on the Nhs soon...

Thanks @SimpleKindofLife. Like you I don’t know whether I’ll ever get better now.

Good morning everybody on day 34ish
Lying in bed I feel almost normal.
I have had one bout of waking up covered in sweat in the night. I didn't have the vivid dreams or the chills that usually go with though. And I managed to go back to sleep. I didn't wake up with weird racing heart. Lying on my front is painful, and makes me feel palpitations.
I've got chest and shoulder blade pains but they feel like the deflating pain after childbirth, that could just be me feeling hopeful. My foot feels slightly nerve painy, but I have only just started leaving the house.
And my face still feels sunburned.
And, sorry for the detail, I went to the loo and it was almost normal.
I don't know what today will bring, or when/if the relapse is coming, but I've had three to four goodish nights of sleep. That must help fight thank good fight surely.
Thank god for CBD oil. Its given me the mental capacity to cope.

It's weird waking up isn't @Crayfishforyou
slowly moving to see what still hurts and what feels better.

What's CBD oil? I must've missed this one.

I've just called in sick again, they must be wondering what is going on. I hope they believe me!

Good morning
On day 50 here After a nasty blip on day 46, 47 and 48 where I ended up back in bed. Yesterday was an improvement and I found I could move around and was breathing better. Only had a couple of spikes of temperature and even managed to go out for a walk for 10 mins. The last two nights I have slept round the clock between 10 and 12 hours at a time. Woke up this morning feeling much better but will see what the day brings. Thinking of you who are not feeling so good and agree these blips are draining.

Day 47
I have had a couple of bad days.
Started with a sore throat. High temp 37.9/38. Feeling like I've got flu. Sweaty, shaky,headache, etc. My period started Friday 9 days early. (I'm usually spot on 28 days).
Around 3am this morning I was woken by intense shaking, it was my body doing the shaking, I nearly wet myself.
I managed to go back to sleep until 7am.
I don't feel so bad today. Usual aches and pains,tiredness,stiffness,wheezy.
I've still got a bit of a sore throat and temp 37.6.( normal temp. is 36.7). Headache.(putting that down to dehydration).
On the whole I don't feel as bad as the last couple of days.

I hope everyone else is doing okay.( I haven't read all the posts for the past 24 hrs.)

Will catch up over a cup of tea.
This thread has helped me a lot. I am enormously grateful for all my covie friends out there. So a big thank you.

Can I ask,is anyone else putting things in the wrong place or forgetting things.
(I feel that I've gone stupid. I tried to put the lettuce in the larder cupboard and keep forgetting to do things.) at myself.

@SimpleKindofLife
It's hemp oil, cannabis without the THC. It's supposedly and anti inflammatory but it also helps anxiety. That I can attest to.

Still SOB. I have to pace myself.

@Rosesofeyam I've had two periods while I've had this and they've both come really early. My periods are normally really heavy and really painful that these have been okay?! It must mess with the body somehow.

And I'm super clumsy!

@Crayfishforyou I might add that to my long list of alternative therapies!

@Rosesofeyam yes to the cognitive problems.

Debating whether to take some ibuprofen to help with the post-covid inflammation. I am asthmatic so probably shouldn’t but on the other hand I really want to get any heart inflammation down.

simplekindoflife yes, this is also my second period while being ill. The first was the right time but this one 9 days early.
I hope this is a one off,due to the virus and hormonal upset. I can't put up with it being every 19 days. weirdly I'm not getting the cramps. So that's something to be grateful for.

@SimpleKindofLife @rosesofyarn My last period also came several days early since having this! Am waiting to see how the next one behaves. Is there any system in our bodies that this virus doesn’t mess with?! Anyway, wishing everyone a good day today x

egghead yes, I think it's inflammation as well. My consultant last week said the same.
I can't take ibuprofen orally due to my severe asthma, but I get Voltarol on prescription, which I'm fine with.
I can see you've had a rough time the last few days. I hope you are feeling a little better.
It's so up and down with this virus and recovery.

silvergoldsilver I wish you well.
This virus just keeps on giving.

Does anyone with chest inflammation/shortness of breath find that their body position helps/worsens their breathing? I was lying on the bed on Saturday, with my legs off the edge and couldn't catch my breath. When I pulled my legs up on the bed breathing got easier. I've been paying a lot of attention to it ever since and find that my shoulder position plays a huge part in how well I can breath. Weirdly, rolling my right shoulder forward is the best, I can catch my breath with no/very little pain. If I roll my shoulder back I can breath ok but it hurts. If I'm just in a normal relaxed state, I either can't catch my breath or get stabbing pains when I do. It's weird.

@alittleprivacy My breathing/chest is better if I'm leant forward or on my front than my back or sitting back.