Covid Lungs Week 7/Day 49 and onwards

[Dandyish]

Support thread for those who've had Covid symptoms or post-viral fatigue for at least 7 weeks/49 days or longer.

If your symptoms haven't lasted that long, check out the Lung 7 thread (or later).It'll be more helpful as people there will be in a more similar position.

Thanks @Meercatmama - it's hard to keep the spirits up but we can't do anything else. I think the VE Day reminiscences have given me hope that dark times pass or change and we just have to roll with it.

@Meercatmama that is everything I needed to hear tonight thankyou x

Thank you @Meercatmama

I've had the numb extremities once or twice.

Woke up this morning with chest like concrete. Spent the morning in bed but did housework this afternoon. Impossible to keep my heart rate under 100 doing rhe vacuuming

Positives...I sat in the garden after I'd done housework and read - I've got through loads of books since being ill and I hardly ever have time to read usually.

Thanks for the welcome to the thread. Positives: well, this thread makes me feel slightly less like I must be going crazy as I see others with similar experiences. So thank you all for that. Further positive, i had fo get out of bed and cook for the DC when I felt absolutely rubbish headachy and exhausted and I managed it, and I had to walk maybe a mile round trip to get some essential stuff and I did that too so that is positive. Rest of of today has been spent on sofa and feeling a bit shaky but, Tomorrow is another day!

After almost 10 weeks of this illness I had a good run Sunday, Monday and some of Tuesday, then a setback Tuesday evening. Wednesday and Thursday were tough again, with various stuff going on - pain in my spine and diaphragm, fatigue, breathing not great. My tree pollen allergy has been particularly grim this year, I've heard a lot of people are experiencing very heavy symptoms with that and the pollen count is extremely high at times. But today was a really good day until this evening - horrible breathing pattern that made me anxious at times, since for every few natural unconscious breaths I've been having to take a deep, conscious one. Took antihistamine early evening because I was sneezing and blowing my nose non-stop. And then in the last half an hour I've had a persistent dry cough

@Meercatmama good to hear you are feeling it’s on it’s way - it seems an age since those first threads!

Thank you to those posting about heart rate, it’s not something I even thought about before and I was worried yesterday as I felt so bad after planting a few pots, I took my BP and it had dropped quite low (I always have high BP even with medication) and my HR was 110. I then took my BP several time’s during the day, it stayed low - first time in years the screen hasn’t flashed at me - but my HR fluctuated between. 110 - 115 even at rest. My normal is 75. Because you had mentioned it in here, I didn’t panic too much.

I felt quite teary today, first time really, I suppose it was seeing the VE stuff - my Dad loved all that and was in the army - he just got the tail end of the war, but also saw active duty in Cyprus - I also felt sorry for myself, as I usually plant all my pots in one day, but because of feeling so exhausted, it’s been three days so far and it brought it home to me, as I am always such a strong just getting on and do it’ person and now I can’t.

Thanks for the links. The BMJ article about the guy’s recurring symptoms - I wanted to shout ‘yes’!

Morning. Day 49/50 and my positive thing for the day is that so far today I have felt completely well! I know it won’t last but I am going to savour it for now.

I was advised to start slow on the exercise. I rushed it at first with long walks. That's not a good idea as I relapsed and got a temperature and chills again. Although now I can walk an hours active minutes, im careful to limit it to 3 -4 times a week.

And frankly I don't have the energy for more than that.

I think you have to nurture the good health once it begins to return, and build up gradually.

@Meercatmama well said and keep going. Hope you all had a good night sleep. I've now had 2 reasonable nights in a row now after having a week of horrendous insomnia building up to my period which arrived at day 20 and has been worse than usual. (still feel like I've been run over by a truck in the morning) but hoping to build on these sleeps.Still tired at times during day and sob occasionally but I am now eating meals and building up. Day 50 here. I'm telling myself at at the moment to rest repair recover. Best wishes to all.

I should add I still dip each day around 5pm when burning sensations etc come back at me and I feel crap but try and keep calm and do breathing exercises and calm app during that time.

@baroqueandblue I've been doing the YouTube lung exercises someone posted earlier m.youtube.com/user/lungexercise/videos - these seem to help when breathing pattern is making me anxious

@Egghead68 that is great!

@Porcupineinwaiting yes I'm getting stiffness in my fingers, sometimes at night and sometimes in day

Day 52

After the fiasco with the recycling, I managed 2 hours in the garden watching DS mow the lawns.
There was a little robin coming and going. It seemed so tame.
I put out a few mealworms and it was coming closer to pick them up. It really made my day. I felt better getting some sun. The heat was lovely on my upper back.

So last night I used my heat pad on my back,chest area,wow, what a difference it made.

Symptoms still:- Tiredness,slightly foggy,headache low level,aches and pains, chest pain,rib pain,lungs feel tight,SOB,GERD more at night and wheezy. I am severe asthmatic with OA/arthritis.

Thinking of everyone else in this merry go round of covid bingo.

I forgot the palpitations.
I think it's my brain deliberately trying to forget. Horrible things that they are.

@Meercatmama thank you for that lovely uplifting post!

Day 49??? I think.....

I keep thinking I'm turning a corner but then realising that I'm not or am I?? I think if I were to plot the ebb and flow of my symptoms on a graph over the past 7 weeks, I would hope to see a gradual trend of a recovery.

I am completely exhausted! Never felt like this before. So little energy, with accompanying dizziness. Last night I had shooting pains in my calves..... anyone else?? Chest pain is a little easier so I guess that's something.

Wishing you all a better day today - last day of sunshine (for a while st least). 💐

Day 65ish..my positive is that this morning I've made a cake 2 weeks ago I tried to make some scones but ended up having to sit on the kitchen floor to finish them as was so weak and breathless. So that's definitely progress.

@Tangledyarn that definitely is progress! Hope you enjoyed the cake! 🍰

Thanks for the reminder @emoojoo, will watch that again later and bear it in mind when the breathing gets crappy. This morning breathing not so bad but have definitely developed a cough. Feeling v sorry for self! Makes me angry to realise the isolating advice is so irresponsibly general - how many times can we be expected to self isolate just for having a cough in the last 2.5 months? When, largely speaking, they're not running a proper health service or a proper testing programme? Am pretty fed up with the whole botch job this gov have done. Why can't we have K-GOV?!

Think I may have used misleading vocab in my last post - when I said I had a good run I meant as in 'days in a row'. Not the literal physical activity! I don't even do that when I'm well 😁

Positive thing so far this morning: woke up feeling quite low and as I made my bed and thought about breakfast I lamented that music in the kitchen wouldn't cheer me up. But I put my 80s rock/pop/soul playlist on and it's slowly working its magic!

I can't not go out today, I just can't. Am I evil?

Morning all. @norugratsatall I'm a couple of days ahead of you, and had calf pains about 2 days ago, first in the night and then the next day. Was worrying about blood clots but no swelling etc so maybe just muscle inflammation.

I weighed myself and have lost 1.5kg in a few days, despite less exercise and loads of chocolate..maybe muscle loss, or just the extra calories being used by the immune system to fight the good fight!

@Norugratsatall Thanks it's in the oven! I think for anyone recovering learning about pacing is a really good idea. After years of chronic illness I'm very good now at breaking activities down into chunks broken up with periods of rest (although still frustrated I have to do it) but i think its serving me well in this stupid recovery too.

I am very tired and chest is hurting again today, and I thought things were improving the last couple of days too so frustrating. Honestly I could just go back to sleep.

Day 50... possibly day 53 or more depending what I count from.

moominmamma my DD lost a couple of inches around her waist through this illness, even though it seemed to me she was eating fine. I seem to have gone the opposite way though.

@Tangledyarn Ah ok! Thought you were super organised and had baked a 🍰 super early! I was in awe! I'm sure it'll be delicious- DD2 has been doing lots of baking in lockdown which is not good for my waistline.
We currently have s Tim full of gooey flap jack.

@Moominmamma33 argh I hadn't thought of a blood clot! But that's reassuring, thank you.