COVID Lungs 8wks plus

[baroqueandblue]

Saw the previous thread is almost full. Hope I've not duplicated a new thread! And I might not be the best person to be custodian of this one, so feel free someone else to start a replacement and I'll get this deleted. Otherwise -

Here we all are, at least 56 days plus 😕

@alittleprivacy, 😆 - I'm sure it was worth it just for that crazy window of being normal for a bit!

@alittleprivacy oh the joys of crazy dancing! Hope you don't relapse. Good to hear from you @Moodgie and glad you're managing a daily walk at least. Small steps.

alittleprivacy Do 5 mins dancing tomorrow, then increase it daily. Thats if you can move tomorrow! I do love a dance, when able.

Does anyone have the burning/uncomfortable feeling in the legs? Really starting to worry me now, has been almost a month and was the main reason for me going to the doctor. I’m waiting to hear about the results, but doesn’t sound like anything major, they’re just waiting on my urine sample as she said there was a small infection showing in the blood tests.
She didn’t ultrasound my legs or anything though, so I’m becoming a little paranoid about blood clots 🙈I know I probably sound crazy..it’s both legs but mainly the right leg, lots in the calf, but no swelling or change in colour etc that I can see.
Would a blood clot have been picked up on tests?

@Whatnext2018 , ask if the blood test included a d-dimer - this is a test for clots.

@alittleprivacy I am glad you enjoyed the dancing. I hope you are OK tomorrow. Take it easy.

@Lightsabre I have the list of blood tests which I tired to translate (currently live in Portugal) D-dimer wasn’t on there, but there was another one that when I translated and looked up the details seemed to say it was a test to see the timing of ability to clot the blood -that doesn’t make sense, but I know what I mean 😬would this be similar? There’s lots for diabetes, liver and heart bits by the look of it..so I’m hoping anything serious such as a clot would’ve been highlighted to the doc in some way 🤷‍♀️

Nice to hear from you @Moodgie and I’m glad you are managing a daily walk.

@Lightsabre Looking it up I think it’s a ‘Partial thromboplastin time’ test..concerns blood clotting, but I wonder what the difference is between that and a D-dimer

I've come on here out of interest because I've not been very well for some time and I've put it down to various things such as a tooth that needed to come out or me being neurotic.
Mine started very early at the end of January. I am asthmatic and was going through a blue reliever inhaler every week. My steroid inhaler wasn't doing anything. After around a month of this I went to the drs who put me on a stronger inhaler and I noticed a drastic change in my asthma symptoms.
However if I don't take my steroid inhaler twice a day every day I know about it because my breathing becomes shit again. I'm going to list my symptoms and it would be interesting to know if anyone has had them, please feel free to tell me it's not covid because I honestly have no idea. I just know that whatever is wrong with me is making me extremely unhappy:

Swollen lymph nodes in armpits
Aching chest (a lot like someone's sat on it)
Back ache
Insomnia- so I'll try and go to sleep and I can't, my body will be jerking all over the place and I'm scared of going to sleep now.
Loss of sensation in the tip of my nose (a weird one)
Severe leg and foot cramps- omfg they hurt so much!
Laryngitis
Dizzy spells
Nausea
Feeling like I'm not "really here"
Vertigo
Shooting pains in ears
Eyes occasionally out of focus
IBS symptoms

I can't give a time span on when these have happened, I know they've not all been there at once and I remember the lymph nodes where near the beginning.

I'm not on anti depressants however I'm starting a strict vitamin regime from tomorrow which includes high levels of the following: magnesium, iron, zinc, vitamin D, Vitamin B12 and Vitamin C.
I need to shake this off whatever it is because I've had enough and I've got enough going on in my life with 2 kids, a death in the family plus trying to run a business and work for another to be dealing with this shite.

I'd also like to add:

Almost passing out because I felt like I was drowning when taking a shower.

I can remember 3 times when I almost called an ambulance because my asthma was horrendous when taking a shower. That's never happened before and I've had asthma since being 3 years old.

@BellatrixLeStrangest it sounds like Covid but equally it could be a mix of things. The only way to know might be when antibody tests become available. And Covid or not you should be getting your GP to run tests such as blood tests.

Day 67/68

There must have been something in the air last night as I did a bit of dancing/jiggling too. I stopped after around 20 seconds as my chest was hurting. This morning it’s still hurting and I have a sore throat.

I’m going to take some paracetamol and hope this doesn’t evolve into a relapse. I’d been doing so well recently.

Hope everyone has an OK day.

Does anyone get a feeling like there is a build up of lactic scud in the muscles? And the need to massage or squeeze the muscles to get it out? Again not sure if it's related to being anxious and excessive cortisol or adrenaline? Or needs investigation

Morning all. Hope you’re doing well.

Day 60 today and almost a week since I last checked in with symptoms. Thought others might find it useful.

SOB and pounding heart seem to be improving albeit very slowly. It’s difficult to know how much because following a relapse 7-10 days ago I haven’t done much other than rest — this seems to be the best advice.

My chronic fatigue is still awful. I thought it was lifting a couple of weeks ago when I was going for 2 short walks a day and doing a spot of work, but following my relapse it came back with vengeance. It has been improving since but it is a worry none the less. I’m not sure whether to rest up for weeks... or try gentle walking again.

There’s such a blurry line between stress, anxiety and post viral symptoms that make it difficult to know where symptom 1 starts and the other ends. I sometimes feel like this virus is slowly locking me inside my own body and my own stress and anxiety is partly responsible.

Even though my pounding heart is slowly returning to normality, I have recently been experiencing internal tremors instead. It’s a very odd sensation which feels like a cold shiver after every heart beat. I expect a Dr would blame stress or anxiety.

My back is still painful and my chest is sore. I am getting the common acid reflux with it’s lump, sore throat and cough. I read it can cause SOB too which is interesting.

I’m not sure if my calfs still ache because I haven’t walked much. I think they’re improving.

Other than that.. occasional head rear dull ache, swollen neck glands and ear ache.

I have an appointment with an infectious diseases specialist on Tuesday. I don’t know if it will be in person or remotely.

Thanks

Glad you are improving I’m some respects @Millstone but sorry you are worse in others.

My heart rate is back up again after having been more normal for several days. I feel like I irritated my heart by doing some brief dancing/jiggling last night.

I have been almost back to normal for 3 weeks now. No chest pain, sob much much better. This week started with slight chest burning but only mild so I thought OK. Today Sob back with avengence. So so gutted (and now a little scared).

Thanks @Egghead68 sorry to hear yours is still up and down. Did you get any further with your hospital appointment?

The only way I seem to be able to keep my heart settled is through inactivity (I know that sounds daft). It’s oddly fast in the morning, peaks in terms of pounding and BPM at mid day and calms down throughout the afternoon.

I’m fact with most of my symptoms, I start of with all of them but by bedtime I feel reasonably better. Then I wake up and start over — It’s as if my nervous system and body wake up with amnesia.

As I can’t get an 24hr ECG, prior to my appointment I’ve bought a Fitbit to at least keep track of my BPM.

Sorry sorry @Kitcat122 do you think there was a trigger?

I have been absent for the last few threads, but still not back to normal. It has been over 11 weeks now for me. I was properly ill for around 8 weeks and then got mostly better, but still have a few significant symptoms.

The worst is that I just absolutely can’t stay awake all day and no matter how hard I try I need an afternoon nap of several hours. I think I may have some kind of post viral syndrome

Sorry to hear that so many others are still struggling too.

I have been walking my morning run route which has quite steep hills. Maybe I have over done it. Thought I was really improving as have been powering along even up hill my speed has improved with no bad feeling in my lungs. Will take it easy for a few days and see how it goes.

@Whatnext2018, unfortunately I'm not a medical person so wouldn't know what that test is - can you call your Doctor and ask? I would have thought that with leg pain and shortness of breath, they would investigate for clots.

@BellatrixLeStrangest, it's difficult for anyone to say if you've had Covid or not. Most of us won't know for sure. With aching armpits etc it does sound as if you've had a virus of some sort. Can you ask your GP for blood tests? Have you taken a CV swab?

@Kitcat122, I fear you may have overdone it. On the Slack group, many people are relapsing after exercise. I think the advice is to do the bare minimum or build up very gradually over six months.

@kitkat122 - forgive me for the personal question. Are you expecting a monthly visitor? I didn't notice a difference in symptoms last month although the visitor didn't arrive really. This month...was brutal.

@MillStone, sorry to hear you have tremors developing. Hopefully the specialist will be able to give you some answers. I think a lot of people are starting to develop anxiety because of their symptoms and the lack of support.

I am at the same stage as you. Searing upper back pain, shortness of breath (this is starting to lift a little), high heart rate most of the time (this came down to 65 for the first time a couple of days ago and I felt a lot better for a few hours but it went back up again to the usual 85+ on resting) and a raw throat/windpipe which is very uncomfortable. Using paracetamol and ibuprofen gel daily. I'm also very fatigued but slightly more energetic after lunch now so try to do a very short walk or drive to a local beauty spot and look at the view. I've resigned myself to this taking six months at least - I can't even begin to think about going back to work.