How long did COVID symptoms last for you- I’m at 3 weeks and counting

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I got Covid at the end of March. I’ve felt rough since. Symptoms have been phlegm, cough, tiredness, skin rash, cold sores on face. I didn’t end up in hospital though. I have had 2 vaccines and 2 boosters and also got antiviral medicine as they wanted me to take it as a precaution for an underlying health condition.
I’ve also felt pretty down and defeated through it. Woken up again this morning bunged up and tired after a full sleep.
Went to GP and she said that getting over it in a week or so is a fabricated myth to try and reduce social anxiety. She said it’s more like 4-6 weeks. Got more antivirals for the cold sores this week.
Has anyone had lingering symptoms that improved and if so how long did it take? I felt like I was getting over my previous condition and it the treatments and now this has made me feel so low.

Sorry to hear this :(

The truth is that everybody is so different that asking on a forum like this is probably not going to be very helpful in terms of YOU finding out how long YOUR symptom are going to last.

I know people who had mild symptoms for 2 days, and I know people who still have long covid effects after 2 years.

Really you just have to ride it out and see what happens, but your vaccinations should stand you in good stead with it. Rest and let your body do what it needs to do.

I wish you a quick recovery!

Thank you cookiemonster ♥️

2 years and counting for me but that's really unusual. 4-8 weeks is far, far more typical if you are unlucky enough to get lingering symptoms.

Sorry to hear about your experience Porcupine, I hope you are doing okay and things are gradually improving 💕

I would say DH and I are almost over it now and we’re 4 weeks in. Still got residual cough and we’re having early nights as we’re pretty tired still. I’d say in our case 4-6 weeks will be about right.

Thanks for sharing your experience Josephine, good to hear that things do and are improving.

I'm on week 4 and the nausea/vomiting isn't going anywhere and neither is the fatigue. I'm on anti sickness tablets and medication for reflux. Can't leave the house as the nausea is so bad that I worry that I may throw up in a shop.
I've had hyperemesis before and you'd think I would be used to it but this is just awful, It's there all the time. I feel as if I'm stuck on rough seas constantly.
I too have several underlying conditions and even though I've had both vaccinations and both boosters it absolutely floored me.
GP has signed me off as having long covid , given my medical history and how my body takes forever to recover from any sort of infection it doesn't surprise me but mentally it's draining.

Oh Begonias, it sounds like you are going through a dreadful time. I totally get what you mean about having an underlying condition and feeling like you should be ‘used to it’, but it’s more complex than that isn’t it? When we get something like this, it’s a reminder of how vulnerable we are and how we can’t take life in the same stride as others. Be kind to yourself and I hope things improve over the next few weeks xx

I've still got some lingering symptoms 5 weeks in but I am a lot better than I was 2-3 weeks ago.

I had a positive LFT two weeks ago today but had been feeling ill for 4-5 days prior with negative tests.
I tested negative last Sunday but I’m still coughing a lot and get easily tired out. I frequently feel sick and giddy.

DH has been positive for 8 days but absolutely no symptoms whatsoever.
It seems very random to me!

I'm about a month in and although the symptoms have subsided for the most part I'm still waking up with sinus induced migraine and the fatigue is awful. My chest was quite bad around a week ago (when I was testing negative) but that has improved now.

I'm fed up of being this run down, yesterday I had a migraine and forced myself to go on a walk, I have spent today trying to do things but having to sit down and rest because of the nausea caused by being so tired. It's so draining, my patience is wearing very thin.

I'm on Easter holidays at the moment (teacher) and I'm dreading all of the things I've planned for this week, I just can't face it all. My DH has a long term illness which causes fatigue and even he is managing more than me (thankfully, we have 2 kids to entertain). I feel quite low, I wasn't expecting to be this poorly really considering I've had the vaccine, I'm scared to think about how ill I'd have been without it.

Oh, I know what you mean. I’ve been really low too. My DH has also been really resentful and is kind of blaming me for the symptoms going on for so long. He seems to suddenly have developed zero empathy and have no patience or caring left. He was only one in household who didn’t get it and I feel so angry at how harsh and indifferent he is being.

4 months in now. Long covid. I'm 50.and fairly fit. On steroid inhaler and vertigo medication. It takes a long time! Just rest when you can..

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Oh, I know what you mean. I’ve been really low too. My DH has also been really resentful and is kind of blaming me for the symptoms going on for so long. He seems to suddenly have developed zero empathy and have no patience or caring left. He was only one in household who didn’t get it and I feel so angry at how harsh and indifferent he is being.

It's such a hard illness to understand I think and the whole 'we have to live with it' line doesn't help as it suggests it's just like a bad cold. My DH had it really mildly despite being CEV and I know it's a matter of time before his patience wears thin (it was starting to today). I think we just need to take the time to recover and not expect too much from ourselves. I hope you're feeling better soon, people can be so uncaring. I went to the GP for some symptoms which didn't seem to be going away and he was so dismissive, at least he wasn't worried but being treated like I was overreacting wasn't nice.

I’m going into week five and still have a cough and no taste/smell. My symptoms were all over the place - fever, vomiting, sinus, cough, headaches, the whole works.

I think the fact it impacts everyone so differently makes it really hard. I had a week off work and then a week of WFH, and have been on holiday for the last fortnight. My manager had a couple of days of feeling rough, and while she was supportive I could tell she was a bit surprised how much time I needed.

Oh I am triple vaxxed, 40s, generally healthy.

I am 17 post positive LFT and feel so tired and drained. Every morning I have a headache, I still have a lingering cough and dry throat. I also get short of breath if I try to talk whilst walking.

I am lucky as I am on annual leave for another week but, dreading feeling like this at work, I am a nurse so 13 hour days in a mask is not appealing.
It's tough because it is talked about as if it is just 'a cold' so I feel a bit of a wimp but I genuinely still feel unwell. I thought I was relatively fit and healthy, had all vaccines so thought it would be minimal symptoms.
Just trying to do what I can to loom after myself.

6 months here - no smell, taste, ability to swallow, choke often, headaches, sinus pain, jaw ache, fatigue and intermittent breathlessness which I never had when I had covid itself.

Hi all. I was unfortunate to get covid and shingles at the same time. Covid symptoms were fairly mild. Mainly a terrible sore throat and fatigue but the shingles !! Week 3 and still very painful even though the rash is slowly improving. I do have an autoimmune condition (coeliac) which probably had some bearing on low immunity
I just hope I don’t get any long term nerve tenderness. Flippin horrible.

It's crap isn't it! I've managed to avoid it for 2 years and was bloody furious to test positive last weekend!. I've tested negative today thankfully. It's the overwhelming tiredness that is getting to me now. I can sleep 16-17 hours a day (not in one go!) but still feel wretched. These last few days I've have been off work but sleeping 11 pm- 8 am then 9am to 12 or 1 pm so 13/14 hrs- Christ knows how I'll manage back at work Tuesday. I have a lovely boss and flexible working thankfully!

Following with interest... Seeing as it's just past 12 am, I'm now on day 13. Only just got rid of the sore throat. Still coughing, breathless, fatigued, have bunged up sinuses and dampened sense of taste/smell. Did a LFT earlier out of curiosity and expecting it to be negative due to finally losing the sore throat, but it was a pretty instant positive! My elderly parents are on the same timeline and it's safe to say they're struggling more than I am. DH is pretty much the same as me. My 7 month old and 3 year old aren't back to normal yet either, despite children supposedly recovering faster (they both have an awful cough)!

Reading this thread it looks as though we'll all have to sit tight and expect recovery to take at least a few weeks longer... (sigh).

6 weeks +

6 weeks + but i had my 4th jab , 3 weeks before i caught it

I was very lucky
Im CEV and a cold has put me in hospital a couple of times

19 days, still coughing and sleeping a lot

It’s been six weeks and I feel like I’ve turned a corner in the last week. I think the only reason I’m feeling so much better is because I’ve been off for two weeks for the Easter break. I felt bloody awful at the start of the holidays (4 weeks since catching it) and suspect if I’d had to keep working I would still be struggling.