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.

Realise now that my first post didn’t sound all that ‘positive’, but it is. It understated my level of activity earlier in the week - for a couple of days, I’d been going (quite speedily) up and down stairs quite a bit, on my feet quite a lot, fetching and carrying things, not just washing up and laundry etc. Plus normal things I’ve been able to do every day during this illness, like shower and get food/drink from kitchen. So to do all that and only have a short episode of mild breathlessness (on doing the washing up) towards the end of the two days was, for me, a big sign of progress. I also have no symptoms when resting now, whereas for the past few weeks I’ve constantly had lung pains, plus episodes of throat constriction (not had these for a couple of weeks now) and constant methol/acid sensation in chest and throat. So I know that all of this is progress.

So glad many are feeling better.
I still have morning tummy issues. Bouts of fatigue. Yesterday when making dinner felt breathing constriction which then continued till bedtime and really scared me. It made me worried whether these breathing issues are now heart related rather than lung related. I am into my 10th week now.

@ChippedPotatoesLloyd that is so wonderful to hear!!

Week 6 or 8 for me. 8 weeks since cold with heartburn symptoms.
I am still in bed. I have slept quite well. I've still got a slight buzzing in my ears, they have been blocked or gooey this whole time. I guess I will just have to put up with it.
Cheeks are a bit burnt feeling which has resurfaced after a few days, but its definitely better than it was.
I think the rib swelling is going down. I can lift my arms above my head, although it weirds me out, and find positions to sleep in now.

Hi Moodgie, I have similar concerns about whether my breathlessness might be heart-related. But (and I am not a doctor), I suspect not, as my breathing was not affected after I suffered what felt like inflammation around my heart after the intense palpitation episode in March. The (mild) breathlessness during normal household activities, appeared for me around the same time (mid April) as the feeling of recurrent inflammation in my lungs. When I get the breathlessness now during a period of activity, it feels like my lungs are becoming inflamed at the same time. This makes me hopeful that the breathlessness than I and others are experiencing will be a temporary and subside as hopefully the levels of inflammation in our bodies continue to go down. I understand that it can take months to recover from inflammation caused by a nasty virus.

As my DH knows, I am very sensitive to changes going on in my body. This can be both a curse and a blessing. I suspect that even if others are not experiencing lung pains or discomfort on exertion like I am, there is likely to still be inflammation there. But again, I am not a doctor.

@Valsemove @IamEarthymama @ChippedPotatoesLloyd thank you for sharing your stories... glad to hear you're improving albeit tentatively and slowly. I'm shocked that your antigen test was neg @Valsemove ! Does that mean you have t had it or haven't produced strong enough antibodies (I did hear something about this on the news). It's quite depressing to think that
a) it may not be C 19 and we could still get it
b) had it but not enough antibodies produced therefore not immune!

Mummypig2020 Sorry to hear the ABs and inhaler don’t seem to be helping much. I know it can take a few days for ABs to really kick in though. At least they might help your doctor with ruling certain things out. I don’t have much, or any, experience wiyth longrunning viral-related symptoms, though others here do. And I understand it can take months for inflammation to subside. This is what I’m holding onto right now. I hope you feel lots better soon and that your GP has been sympathetic.

I’m wondering too whether eating a low inflammatory diet could be helpful to those of us who are still experiencing symptoms weeks or months on.

I know that my body is already sensitive to caffeine and soya, and the only two episodes of breathlessness that I’ve had during periods of rest over the past few weeks have been in the evening after (stupidly) eating a whole bar of dark chocolate and a bowl of soya yogurt.

Norugratsatall We had the antigen not antibody tests. Technically you are only supposed to have it in the first 5 days of infection but as I had been symptomatic for so long we really were beginning to wonder.

DH and I have not yet taken an antibody test. I am wary as to the accuracy of many of the privately available ones right ones.

Morning all, glad you found my post helpful and wish everyone the best in terms of recovery. My GP said that many cases are appearing with various symptoms like ours, but all in his experience they get better with time, but he knew of other cases that were 8 weeks plus.

@Moodgie and @valsermive had around 3 weeks of heart palpitations and chest issues, where I seriously thought it was a heart attack as the pain was really bad at times. I found cutting out caffeine and too much sugar seemed to help and I still think it was linked to the lymphatic system that is trying to clear out any remnants of the virus and costocondritis, which is common from lung inflammation apparently.

Hope everyone has a good day and you get to enjoy the sunshine.

Good morning all. I'm on Day 50 (I remember Day 14 thinking, I'm going to start getting better now ). Yesterday started out really well - hardly any pain, and I felt normal until around 8pm. Then DH and me took the car to get petrol and a wash. I was starting to feel hot and a breathless in the car and when we went into the carwash I had what I think was a panic attack, made worse by the noise. I instantly got a tight painful upper chest which stayed on all night and I woke up with it at 5am. On top of that I've had gas and bloating for the past few evenings. I'm not sure what's going on with me. I've been taking esomeprazol for heartburn for 5 weeks and I started ibuprofen a few days ago for the inflammation around my ribs. But I'm wondering if my medication is making me worse. Maybe I'm not producing enough stomach acid so that's the cause of the gas. Maybe the ibuprofen is hurting my stomach. This morning when I cough/clear my throat it hurts my thorax. I don't know what to do for the best. It's weird I feel like I have more energy and go for longer spells feeling normal but then when the symptoms come, they are worse than ever. Is it possible to be both in recovering and deteriorating at the same time?

Valsemove Ah ok, thanks for that - I thought they were the same thing!

Lovely to hear these positive recovery stories and good luck to everyone still in the middle of fighting this. Have many recovered people gone back to work yet?

I am lucky to have a computer-based job at the moment, but have been forced to take time off on and off over these weeks, each time genuinely feeling better when I came back. But then getting sick again. Feeling better often meant finishing the working day at home and then lying down unable to move for the rest of the day with all the aches and exhaustion back. I took time off again on the days I woke up feeling like that in the morning.

The standard description of COVID is that it is not a long term illness, especially if you haven’t been hospitalised. So each time I have been confident that it had gone. Just have to roll with it obviously but it’s what I am worrying about now, how long will I feel this weak and how long will it keep getting better and worse for. I also really wish antibody tests were available as that would probably help with work.

@valsemove @Gunner30 Thank you for sharing your experience. Hopefully it is not the heart. I haven’t really got any pain, apart from back pain at times and a tight chest. @Linus1972 I can relate to the feeling of panic attack - my breathing thing came on quite suddenly and although eased off later I’m pretty sure it’s still here to an extent.

@Valsemove thanks so much for sharing your story, just wanted to say I am also BF (my LO is over 1 now) and also sleep deprived! Otherwise I am very healthy! I wonder if that's played a part in the continuation of symptoms for us. When BF my older child I became run down and kept picking up bad colds and tummy bugs, so this may be the same. Pregnancy, birth and BF plus lack of sleep must put strain on the system I suppose. Are you taking any vitamins now? I have found soluble multivitamins useful, plus Spatone iron and extra vit D and zinc.

@Gunner30 I can't quite bring myself to give up coffee..! But suppose I should give it a try! @Moodgie, I'm with you with still having some shortness of breath, I hope everyday it's gone and it's certainly less frequent but like you say, it's always there in the background.

Has anyone had a result from an antibody test yet?

@alittleprivacy how much ibuprofen were you taking? I've been taking it a few days (twice a day), with the gel twice a day too, but am also worried about heartburn or stomach ulcers. I've had acid-reflux since Day 4 so everything is upset down there already.

I haven’t had any tea or coffee for weeks. A little bit of chocolate when I really craved it but not much. Trying to stick to anti-inflammatory food. Taking vit. C, D, zinc, turmeric. Biokult for gut bacteria. Lots of lemon and ginger. Matcha tea. Smoothies. Any other suggestions?

Moodgie what do you like? I drink kefir and eat sauerkraut (not in the same sitting, mind) to promote good gut flora.

@Porcupineinwaiting Yes, I do have both in the fridge. Thank you.
I’ll eat anything that would be beneficial for my immune system to beat this!

I'm also avoiding sugar, it really has made a difference. I'm also avoiding caffeine.
I'm on zinc, vit b, vit c, spirulina, CBD, quercetin, vit d, NAC.
I'm eating anti inflammatory foods and foods rich in non haem iron and potassium. On the slack group so many US sufferers who have had full bloods done say they are potassium deprived.
I'm also doing things to help my vagus nerve. Vagus nerve regulates heart rates, can cause shortness of breath, it reacts to panic and anxiety attacks, blood pressure, gut regulations, skin sensations. In short, quite a lot of my post viral symptoms.
Deep slow breaths help stressed vagus nerves, cold water can help reduce bpm spikes. This actually worked for me.

Morning all. 9 weeks and still in bed, gah. What's keeping me there is the chronic fatigue and escalating heart rate when I move.

I'm sure the fatigue has something to do with my sleep, which is still really odd. I can only lie on my right side or tummy. My body just feels too heavy any other way. I'm often jolted awake with palpitations/ panic feeling when I'm about to drift off . I sleep in 1-4 hour cycles and wake up feeling like a zombie, almost like I'm unable to move and very agitated.

I thought I'd try coming off the omeprazole for a couple of days (have started having a bit of CBD oil and didn't want to mix the two). Very interesting results... all the gurgling is back, my chest is burning, and more breathless again - which goes to show all those symptoms for me are acid -reflux related. A comfort I guess, especially the breathlessness?

So I guess I'll return to the omeprazole and ditch the CBD oil, which is a shame as that was definitely having a calming, sedative effect in the night.

Like others I'm taking vit D, vit C, zinc and turmeric. Thinking of magnesium or glycine- anyone else tried those? I've also just forked out on some really expensive probiotics, waiting to arrive. This illness is costing me a fortune! I've stopped caffeine but refuse to sacrifice chocolate, I need some things to cheer me up!

Start of week 9 here as well, also still in bed. Heart palpitations, chest pain, episodes of SOB, muscle twinges/aches/pins and needles and a total exhaustion/horrible poisoned feeling. Had a horrible relapse starting 14 days ago and not really seeing any improvement. I look dreadful! Here's hoping I'm just lagging a few weeks behind those who seemed to start improving in weeks seven and eight.

@fedupofbed your sleep patterns resemble mine. I can only lie on my back though (due to rib swelling). I always fall asleep around 12.30am exhausted, then wake up around 3-5am. If I'm lucky I can get back to sleep and manage another 2 hours. I'm usually awake by 6-7am, feeling awful. I'm so envious of people who say this virus has floored them and they're sleeping 10-12 hours a day. Sometimes the pain wakes me up or is incorporated into a dream and it's really unpleasant.

I'm ditching my esomeprazol today (I suspect it's responsible for gas/bloating) - although might cut it out gradually and just take 1 rather than 2 for a bit. I've read that cutting it out completely can bring on bad stomach acid at first. I've taken it a few times before in the past and never had any trouble coming off it all at once. Although I didn't have this virus to contend with before. I'll keep you posted.

I'm sorry @mumlurker it's rotten isn't it? I totally identify with the horrible poisoned feeling.

@fedupofbed

I had it in the early weeks and it seems to have come back! Different from fatigue/nausea I think.

Sorry feel like I'm always posting negative things but I'm living alone at the moment so need to vent somewhere without making family/partner worried!