Covid Lungs week 8 plus plus

[AndsLee]

Hope this has worked... Welcome all.

Regarding the mental fog, have you had blood tests to rule out anaemia? That is one thing my tests last week picked up. I am not saying this is the only cause - I still have the post-viral fatigue which is like a wall of fatigue in a way that anaemia has not previously caused for me (I was anaemic last year as well). When the wall of fatigue comes down, I cannot think at all - I have to stop what I am doing and completely rest. I have had this for a few weeks; it is nothing like I have experienced before. I think it is fatigue related as I can think quite clearly at other times.

@KatySun
I haven’t been tested for low iron as far as I know. That’s definitely something to ask my GP about I think... worth a try! Thanks

Ending week 12 by totally overdoing it. But I had such a nice time!
Finally going to get my blood drawn tomorrow! Although no idea if I will behaving the antibody test until I get there. The new GP didn’t know if it was available here yet.
I’ve been having brain fog but I’ve had it before and it had always passed at some point. I just tell people I’m still a bit vague from the virus and they seem to accept it.

@KatySun I don’t know if they tested specifically for low iron with my tests, I’ve had around 20 things tested so far 🙈
Might be worth a try but I have heard lots of people saying about the fogginess, mine’s been on and off for around 5 weeks now and is one of the things I hate as I don’t feel ‘Myself’

whatnext I am not saying it is anaemia, just that it is worth ruling out, as that would make it worse. My GP tested for everything which could be contributing - if you have had lots of blood tests, it is likely that your GP did similar.

@katysun Yes worth ruling out for sure, thank you 🙏

Just looking over my blood test results, did anyone else have C reactive protein checked? Mine says 8.7 when the cut off is 5...two separate doctors saw the tests and made no comment. Looking it up, it’s to do with inflammation possibly? Plus something to do with the heart?
Do any of you have regular blood tests just for your own piece of mind? My last bloods were 5 weeks ago now, would you repeat or test certain things or is that being completely paranoid?! I feel like we have to keep on top of our own health with this one in a way, which is scary.

@Whatnext2018 can you ask a gp to talk through the results?

@Whatnext2018 c reactive protein is a marker of inflammation I believe. I should think they are not surprised it is a bit high in someone with covid (disclaimer - no medical knowledge, just have to have regular blood tests).

labtestsonline.org.uk/tests/c-reactive-protein

@Whatnext2018 as I wasn't showing significant progress I asked for more bloods after about 5 weeks too. I feel strongly we should be monitored regularly. It's a tricky line - whilst I respect the experience and knowledge of my GPs what this has shown me is we have to be architects of our own health. My one test that showed up a bit out was one they wouldn't even have run if I hadn't asked them to.

Day 89/90. Sore boobs, chest pain, cattarh, resting heart rate 85. Confession - I did my first proper exercise class last night (just stepping through all the cardio bits). So far no relapse. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Hope everyone has an OK day.

Week 14. Had been doing ok but had some stressful news yesterday and a poor nights sleep last night. Noted the return of the headache and chest pain at the front (breastbone).
Stress really isn't good for my recovery. Unfortunately I can't take time away from the stress without quite significant medium-term implications.
Feel like I'm constantly fighting for my right to recover and to be ill - I have never had to defend this so much in the face of so much dismissiveness from others.
I can't be bothered to fight any more and am going to have to stop trying to convince them I suppose! It's absolutely exhausting.

Morning all!

I have been awake for some of the night with a new symptom- rib pain! All the way round my rib cage! Just awful! I know many of you have reported this symptom, anyone know what causes it? Seems so odd to get new symptoms when I'm supposed to be in the post viral stage!

@TiddleTaddleTat sorry you've had stressful news. You do sound down. It's hard I know, having to constantly justify your symptoms etc. Sending you lots of 💐☕️

@Norugratsatall costochondritis?

Although that’s more in the middle of your chest.

Thanks @Egghead68. I will google! God it was unpleasant though. Luckily it responded to paracetamol- the relief! Definitely feel like I'm in the grip of yet another relapse! Joy! 😞 I open you're doing ok this morning...

@Egghead68 & @godhelpusall They both just said the test results were fine so I’m assuming it wasn’t cause for concern 😬

@fedupofbed I agree, we should all have regular monitoring until this thing goes. I went to a test clinic off my own back to get the D-dimer test as I’m pretty paranoid about clots. What would you regularly check for and does anyone have their heart and chest checked?

@Egghead68 That sounds like a good resting heart rate and well done on the exercise class 👏

@Norugratsatall Yes I had the rib pain a few times, it’s abother of the random things that just turn up for me, had stabbing in the neck yesterday but only for a couple of minutes 🤷‍♀️

How do you all feel in the mornings? I still kind of shaky inside and not really with it. I long for the day when I wake feeling back to normal and just jump out of bed (well not jump as haven’t done that since I had a child! But at least feel more energetic and with it)

@TiddleTaddleTat Sorry about the stressful news, stress does seem to exacerbate symptoms I find.

@Whatnext2018 Yes I agree we need to be monitored regularly. This ongoing awful chest pain is scaring me! When you google pleurisy , it says it resolves within 2 days to 2 weeks. I e had it for months now! And it's getting worse.... I googled costochondritis- pretty sure it's not that as symptoms don't fit.

There was a petition doing the rounds asking for clinics to be set up for 'long tailers'. I'm sure you've seen it and signed it. Not hopeful that anything will come of it.

Sorry to hear your news @TiddleTaddleTat. Don't worry about justifying it to anyone else - just look out for yourself as much as you can.

@Norugratsatall, could be costochondritis. I'm now wondering whether my back pains are nerve rather than lung related as it eases for a couple of hours after using ibuprofen gel.

Day 79 here - Week 11. My breathing has eased slightly again although I'm still breathless when walking and this causes an overwhelming fatigue. I feel I can do a bit more and I'm consistently out of bed now and pottering about but resting lots still too. I have been able to do a task every day - so yesterday I had to go to a big store with ds to buy something. There was a short queue which I was able to tolerate and we were out for about an hour and a half. I would say I'm able to do about 40% of my normal activities now.

My raw windpipe below my breasts has eased but I'm still getting odd throat and swollen gland pains and it still hurts to laugh. I still can't walk and talk at the same time easily. I've noticed the underarm lymph nodes are not as active this week. The back/rib pain is still vicious and makes me feel grumpy. I'm trying to cut down on the paracetamol and gel but am still using it fairly frequently.

It seems like time is going to be the healer here.

@Egghead68 great again that you're still making progress. Do you find your heart rate stayed at manageable levels?

I've now started to try really hard to do more even if it's just pacing, pottering, small tasks, etc. I've started monitoring my heart again and was trying to keep a heart rate threshold of 100 but this is really difficult!

@Whatnext2018 re blood tests I asked for thyroid, kidney and liver function, vit B, iron, ESR and ANA. I also asked for mineral tests and adrenal function but not sure if they did those - bit too out there!

@TiddleTaddleTat I'm sorry you have to fight just to be believed - so hard on top of coping with the actual illness.

@Lightsabre thank you for the update. Small steps, we will get there 👊🏻

Sorry @Egghead68 I'm not sure if my last post made sense... I meant was your heart rate okay during your exercise class?

@fedupofbed my heart rate is still high. My resting heart rate is usually over 90 in the mornings although 85 today. It now drops to around 70 in the evenings which is more normal for me. I try to keep it under 110( (I agree 100 is impossible). It went up to 129 briefly during my exercise class but I immediately rested until it came down. Overall it is definitely much better than a few weeks ago (there was a time when it was always over 100). I hope you are doing OK. I am feeling optimistic at the moment but do not want to jinx things.

Thanks @Egghead68 I know it's difficult balancing the optimism as the relapses can be so cruel.

My resting heart rate is mostly okay now (high 70s today) but it jumps right up when I stand up. It then stabilises a bit if I stand still and deep breathe but goes up again with any movement. I'm just so conflicted as to how far to push it.