How long until you felt fully better?

[CorsicaDreaming]

Just that really - how long until you felt fully better and what symptoms lasted the longest for you?

I tested positive four weeks ago this coming Tuesday and still have insomnia (although to be fair I had that before, it's just worse now).

Really bad physical fatigue (I prefer to sit all the time, I used to want to stand and walk for preference, and would only sit to work at the computer/ in the evenings).

And mental exhaustion doing anything that takes more concentration than reading MN posts!

Also bad chesty cough and sense I can't get a full lung full of air (had an X-Ray last week to rule anything else out) and a tickly throat / cough that comes and goes.

Sorry this happened to you OP.

I was in hospital for a month and it took a lot longer to recover. I'm now 2 years on and still mentally struggle at times often with word finding. Fatigue is still real and the not getting a real breath.

Have taken up running this week (slowly) to try and re-build my former self but the lung thing is really holding true.

DH had it milder and was unwell for 1 week with symptoms lingering about another 3.

Thank you NHS 👏🤨

Sorry you are still feeling unwell. I was ill for about 1 week with insomnia, fatigue and shortness of breath. That lasted about 3 weeks, I feel almost back to normal except I have lost alot of my fitness.

About six weeks on I am feeling more normal except for a lingering post viral inner ear infection. Fatigue lasted about a month and could not concentrate when the ear infection caused dizziness and nausea. It's a very nasty virus, this one! Hope you feel better soon, OP 🌈

I'm finally starting to feel better after 8 weeks apart from getting slightly breathless walking uphill.

I tested positive 10th April but had been poorly for a good 2 weeks before then. Things ramped up to full on flu-like symptoms, which is why I tested on the 10th. Prior to that no positive test, but still very poorly.

I seemed to get over it briefly but for the last week my breathing has worsened, chest feels tight (we used to call it a "bad chest" growing up) and various aches and pains. My cough, which took ages to shake off, has come back in the last couple of days, and today my right lung feels sore and a bit heavy so I'm about to make a GP appointment. Feel a bit worried if I'm honest, I just cannot get better.

Sorry you're still struggling OP and I hope things improve a lot for you very soon 🙏

Thank you all for your posts. It is good to know I'm not alone, but equally there is hopefully light at the end of the tunnel. It can be a right uphill struggle. I think I've just got to the point of being utterly fed up with it.

And yes my underlying fitness is really worrying me too - I'm not a hugely fit person, but previously have been, and do usually walk quite a bit and swim at least once a week still - but not for the last month, and then that has knock on effects - just this morning I've got an old very specific back pain back flaring which is connected to serious inflamed discs I had nearly ten years ago, but will flare up if I don't swim/walk/do Pilates enough... so I'm now feeling a bit omg not this too as I can't really go on the hour long walk it needs to help it currently. But if it gets much worse, I then won't be able to walk with it all. Aargh. It's so frustrating.

I agree the word finding @medicmummm - I always did that a bit but now it's crazy. Could t even remember the word for cucumber the other day. Random...

I tested positive on 13th April, so nearly a month ago now.

I've been negative for almost two weeks, but it has left me with an infection in the base of my right lung for which I am currently taking antibiotics. I still have a hoarse voice which comes and goes too.

Hugely irritating and frustrating. It just won't finally lift and disappear for good.

I sympathise OP. Tested positive 3 April. Thought was doing a lot better re: fatigue now, about 60 per cent of normal - as low as 30 on the odd day, but up to 75 on others, so hoping trend going right way.

Yesterday came over with a sudden chest pain and tummy pains, walking between changing trains. Got to platform and got on tube. Pain was harsh but just focussed on counting stops til could get off. Got off and went to walk to next station for last train change and had to keep stopping until the pangs passed. It's a five minute walk on street normally. Made it to railway bridge and could no longer breathe properly. Legs went to jelly and I couldn't stop shaking. Called partner but could barely get words out through breathlessness. Felt I was going to collapse. He got kids out of bed to come and get me. Slumped down on platform bridge. Ten minutes later I was almost ok again. V scary and grateful to kind passer by.

Not sure if covid-related or not, but I've found the randomness of symptoms coming and going suddenly since testing positive hard to take. Heart rate and oxygen levels were ok when got home. Waiting for callback from doctor now.

Seeing as I never knew I even had it until I got a pcr result telling me it was positive (I was doing an online weights class when I got the message!) no time at all thankfully

Do you all manage to work during this prolonged recovery period?

Partly. Self employed so take a financial hit, turn down work etc. Reputational risk of not delivering otherwise. Financial hit exacerbated by obviously only charging for time it should normally take me, rather than time it does. Some are making a loss doing this - costs of childcare etc, whilst working a lot less for half the rate and building in contingency time. Can't say 'I'll feel fine on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays' as don't know what days will feel ok and what days/part days will hit a wall. No freelancer I know wants to let clients know how ongoing post covid symptoms are in case they don't get work. When they go back to work, they say to clients they can only commit to x hours a week due to other work, not due to feeling fatigued for example. Might be different for those in the middle of a long full time project.

I'm still going 2 months in. Can't stand it.

I tested positive yesterday (9th May).
Have managed to dodge it so far, which is odd because I'm an A+E Nurse so dealt with my fair share of poorly patients over the last couple of years.

I feel dreadful. Haven't moved from bed since yesterday morning.
The SOB is horrendous and my head feels as though it's gonna fall off 😢

I have been but doing more wfh than normal. I have a desk job and my symptoms were more pain than fatigue and usually while being active so work is actually one of the easier things to cope with. Pretty sure I'd've had more than a week off with a more physical job.

4 weeks since testing positive . Fatigue and dizziness. Find conversation difficult for any length of time. Am able to read books now, first 2 weeks could not concentrate at all. I have the opposite of insomnia! Sleeping 8+ hours a night and taking 1.5 -2 hour naps maybe 4 or 5 days a week!
Work - well I can't really. I can check emails but can't keep up. I tried but am now on sick leave.

I have been working but feel so ill and had to go home slightly earlier. My head is so bunged up

Week 1 tested positive was poorly
Week 2 went on holiday was weak but ok
Week 3 really really tired but ok
Week 4 came down with temperature lasting best part all week
Week 5 very tired napping most days
Week 6 back to work but shattered

What has been odd for me is the first week after I tested positive, I had cold-type symptoms, but I have had far worse symptoms from flu / pneumonia/ glandular fever in the past. And yet the aftermath of a really bad cough and exhaustion have just gone on for so long, and yet kicked in after the first week of mild-ish symptoms.

I have never had an illness that felt for me fairly mild to start with but then led to such exhaustion and ongoing bad cough over longer time.

With full on flu, etc I've been literally bed bound for two weeks and felt beyond horrendous- and then it took a further two-three weeks to get back to feeling normal. It just seems so weird omicron has such a long sting in the tail after for me lesser symptoms than anything else that's then gone on so long.

3 weeks for me
1 week for DD
3 days for DS
DH didn't have any symptoms or feel unwell in the slightest despite testing positive for a week.

We all had Delta in September.

5 months now. Really bad all Dec and Jan. Now just chest pain, vertigo, fatigue, brain fog. Just started jogging and swimming again. It's Bern horrendous. 6 weeks off work. The nhs were amazing.

Yes it's not dissimilar for me. I feel absolutely exhausted and my throat is sore, before I tested positive my throat was sore

I want to be back to normal

I afraid I had really bad fatigue and brain fog for more than 3 months. Breathing was fine till about 6 weeks weirdly. I've had mild "air hunger" on an off since but it does feel like it's improving now (I think it's 4 months.)

I'm also very much in peri menopause and it seemed to mess with the hrt.

Did people who still feel have the vaccine??

Im not asking to make a point about should have had it etc! Just curious to know how far the vaccine protection goes. It’s clear it helps massively stop death etc but I’ve found it hard to get info on impact on extent of symptoms

im triple vaxed abs getting back to normal life but finding it so hard to make risk assessments!