I had it from March 6 to April 11 was when I said “you know what I think I’m just about back to normal.” It was very difficult because I live on a farm and I am basically the one running the show on the ground. Somebody else handles the business end of things.
My first symptom was a scratchy, watery and deep cough. Nothing really came up. It kind of hurt a little. I brushed it off as allergies and I must have accidentally put a little bit of water down the wrong tube.
A couple of hours later, I felt some congestion come on and the latest cought had a feeling of spreading warmth throughout my chest. I immediately knew I had caught some thing and was sick.
I quickly left the house and isolated from that day on. We have enough motorhomes on the property I just commandeered one of them and lived in it for about six weeks plus some extra time that they wanted me to take to ensure quarantine. I had been in contact with health authorities at that point who were very helpful and reassuring. I thankfully did not spread it to the loved ones who could have easily caught it just in the few earlier hours I was symptomatic.
for the most part, it seem to resemble a chest cold although, I was shivering uncontrollably under my nice warm blankets. That went on for two more nights. My appetite from then on was not obliterated but I felt little need to eat. I did not lose my scent or taste but it was compromised. Rightly so, the congestion got so bad by the end of the week, I ended up going to an urgent care. I had intense pain throughout my sinuses and ears. Moderate pain, muscle and joint everywhere else. I had a fever but it was nothing to write home about.
I ended up on Levaquin and Ciprodex. I was apprehensive but gave in and was grateful. Those are not anabiotic’s you want to be on. I am pretty sure I ended up with transient pain for months after taking them and also I had to be very careful because my tendons on my shoulder and ankles felt very loose and I was worried they would tear or cramp then tear. My ankles rolled effortlessly a few times which really kind of scared me. I took the regimen and got it over with.
meanwhile, I would love to believe so, but horses chickens and dogs really don’t give a crap whether you’re sick or not and they are hungry. So I did what I had to do. I fed and I cleaned up after them regularly.
I slept most of the day waking up in a sweat all the time but strangely did not really perceive my own feverish self. People from a distance would point out to me that I was pale and sweating like a pig. I limited my work time to about an hour or two per go and would need to do that to ensure basic chores were completed.
I feel this actually benefited me because it prevented me from just laying in bed all day. After the first few days however, my cough definitely changed. It went from a slightly hurtful dry but watery feeling cough that produced nothing, to a very very productive cough that did not hurt but was uncomfortable all the time as I felt inundated with fluid. I frequently used breathing exercises meant for people with COPD in the lIke to force it out of my lower lungs so I could cough it out. I try to be as gentle with myself as I could but I ended up giving myself laryngitis anyway. Unbeknownst to me my stomach was filled with acid and it scalded my larynx pretty good.
I put myself on formatadine and Prevacid to quell the acid.
working was hard and I felt like I kept seeing things out of the corner of my eye and occasionally heard something off in the distance that probably wasn’t real. I worked until I could tell my body was telling me stop and lay down and rest. I was only good for up to a couple hours at a time and in the beginning barely an hour. But this did something for me in the way that I felt it was easier to do the breathing exercises and get the stuff out.
I would feel worse in that way just laying in bed too much but what choice do you have when you are exhausted? Overall, it was probably a huge amount of fluid, clearish but sticky I had to deal with regularly. My breathing was compromised but not so much I felt the need to go to the hospital, considering.
fever and sweating hit me in waves throughout each day. I was so out of it I honestly did not recognize the fever and didn’t realize I had one until health authorities wanted me to check my temperature with a thermometer regularly. Chills with sometimes hit me out of nowhere and I remember it well because I’ve had chills before but these ones had me shaking a lot. It would pass though. Even though persistent low grade fevers would endure the duration, spiking at least twice a day during specific times.
The ear infections went away and sinuses slowly got better. The cough and the breathing really didn’t and I didn’t feel I had really turned a corner until about April 2 or so. Five weeks or something later. Many of the symptoms seemed to wax and wane.
The whole experience seriously disrupted my energy levels. I think for the most part by now, it’s like it never happened. But it has taken me that long to regain my energy.
