Covid strikes!

Last post in the Covid saga I hope.  It’s been about 6 weeks since I contracted Covid 19.  I dont know what variant but perhaps that doesn’t matter.  I started this thread in hopes of it helping someone else know the lay of the land as it were but found it helpful for me to keep track of gains and losses.  I was fully vaccinated a few weeks before I contracted Covid and during the illness until now I believe the vaccine kept my symptoms mild.  Am I sure of that?  Nope.  But as I read a d study I’ve concluded that if I had it to do over, given my circumstances, I would receive the vaccine.  The symptoms I experienced were really only violent for one day.  Other lingering issues were more problematic and disconcerting were intense and lingering headache, debilitating fatigue, and disrupted sleep cycles.  Less serious, but perhaps more missed was the loss of smell and taste.  The headaches have resolved.  The sleep has returned to normal. Fatigue is much improved and is getting better but it’s going to be awhile I suppose before normalcy returns.  I have confidence it will and I am back to an exercise routine which doesn’t seem to help the short-windedness but it helps with overall mindset.  Sense of smell and taste have mostly returned and I’m gaining by increments daily.  All in all I’m glad to have had Covid and hope that means I have a natural immunity of sorts that can help me protect those around me.  I still quarantine on business trips and do what I can to prevent others from contracting the illness but perhaps the biggest thing I learned was the loneliness and isolation Covid brings.  I pray that the powers that be will not be so concerned about transmission that they once again turn off all the social interaction.  It seems obvious from my studies that we aren’t going to eradicate Covid, that it will be a constant mutating virus that will be with humans from here going forth.  Seems it’s best to learn to live with it rather than not living while trying to hide from it.  So gents, let’s keep our vulnerable safe, ourselves healthy and happy, and allow room for others to have opinions that may not be our own.

I hope you return to your previous health base measures, but my blood O2 is still a few % below before covid measures. That doesn't mean you won't go back to pre-covid standards for your body. It's been 1.5+ years for me (Feb 2020) so I think I just lost 2% of my O2 saturation, never to be regained.

The rona finally got me and then subsequently my wife a day or 2 ago. When we had our young daughter tested on Wednesday, she was negative. We'll likely get her tested again during the middle of the week.

So far, my symptoms have been mild. Last Friday night after going to dinner with my wife, I started having a pretty sore throat. When I woke up on Saturday I didn't feel too bad, but as the day went on, I started feeling a ton of symptoms: post nasal drip, stuffy nose, headache, body aches, chills, fever with the sweats and the like.

Saturday night I took 2 covid tests, the 1st test had the faintest line, even lighter than the examples of "faint positives" on the testing instructions. Not being sure, I took a 2nd one from a different brand. This one had an even lighter line than the previous one. I had someone cover my work shift on Sunday morning and went to bed..

When I woke up on Sunday morning, my wife let me know she set up a pcr test at a local drug store. I went and took care of that and then waited 2 days before the results came in. Positive...

Up until about Wednesday morning, early afternoon, I had my sense of smell and taste. As lunch time rolled around, those were both gone and my appetite had diminished a bit.

As Wednesday evening was closing in, my covid experience had been pretty mild. Aside from fatigue and some minor nasal congestion, all things weren't too bad....then I started having the worst and most intense headaches I've ever had in my entire life....

I'm not someone that has a lot of headaches or migraines but these headaches (or maybe migraines?!) were INTENSE. They felt like pulsating headaches where they'd be real short bursts that'd start at a level 1 and then reach a level 100 in 2-4 seconds and then go away. This was happening frequently throughout the evening and into when I went to bed. They were so intense when I got into bed, I seriously contemplated going to the hospital to try to get some relief. Before doing that, I took 2 500mg Tylenols and eventually crashed for a few hours...

On Friday the headaches were just as intense. They got so intense at one point, my whole body started to sweat.

I'm still trying to determine if advil, Tylenol or extra strength excedrin works best to help tame them but something else I've been trying is to sit on the couch with an ice pack on the top of my head. Surprisingly, that has been working out pretty decently...

Here's to hoping these awful headaches leave soon! Oh, and covid appears to of given me a small patch of hives on the top of my head, my forehead and on my right freaking eyelid!

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So,sorry.  Those,headaches sound aweful.  Keep us posted.

Sorry to hear about this, andrewjs18. Like your baseline says, "ne cede malis" and get feeling better soon. We need you around here!

Audentior ito!

Andrew, here's hoping the headaches, and misery in general, end soon. How is your wife doing? My thoughts are with your family and you.

I'm sorry you and your wife are suffering with this. It sounds pretty terrible. I hope you start feeling better soon.

lucky me!

not only do I have covid, but the covid infection caused shingles to flare up on my head, forehead, above right my right eye brow and a small spot on my right eye lid. I've never had shingles before so didn't know the symptoms for it - probably impossible to nail down initially since I had covid too, nor did I have much experience with the rashes they produce.

my primary doctor started me on an anti-viral oral pill today and prescribed gabapentin to try to help with the severe headaches I've been getting off and on.. I saw an ophthalmologist today too since the the rash was near my eye - she saw no infection inside the eye ball, on the outer surface of it or on the inside of the eye lids. she gave me an eye drop to help keep my eye lubricated as it was feeling dry and some ointment to rub on the rash on my eye lid to help cut down on the itch some. she'll recheck me again in 3 weeks just to confirm no infection has set it from shingles.

usually most doctors get concerned about shingles when you're 50 and older (I'm 35!) but it's starting to be seen more and more frequently in people my age. my younger sister had a shingles flare up on her ribs 3-4 years ago that was so painful she went to the hospital.

lucky me!

not only do I have covid, but the covid infection caused shingles to flare up on my head, forehead, above right my right eye brow and a small spot on my right eye lid.  I've never had shingles before so didn't know the symptoms for it - probably impossible to nail down initially since I had covid too, nor did I have much experience with the rashes they produce.

my primary doctor started me on an anti-viral oral pill today and prescribed gabapentin to try to help with the severe headaches I've been getting off and on..  I saw an ophthalmologist today too since the the rash was near my eye - she saw no infection inside the eye ball, on the outer surface of it or on the inside of the eye lids.  she gave me an eye drop to help keep my eye lubricated as it was feeling dry and some ointment to rub on the rash on my eye lid to help cut down on the itch some.  she'll recheck me again in 3 weeks just to confirm no infection has set it from shingles.

usually most doctors get concerned about shingles when you're 50 and older (I'm 35!) but it's starting to be seen more and more frequently in people my age.  my younger sister had a shingles flare up on her ribs 3-4 years ago that was so painful she went to the hospital.

This sounds horrible! I'm so sorry you're getting a double whammy. But I'll say this much: you've probably scared me into getting my shingles shots. It's common in my family, and I've seen how painful it can be. I hope for your quickest recovery, Andrew. You have all my sympathy.

lucky me!

not only do I have covid, but the covid infection caused shingles to flare up on my head, forehead, above right my right eye brow and a small spot on my right eye lid.  I've never had shingles before so didn't know the symptoms for it - probably impossible to nail down initially since I had covid too, nor did I have much experience with the rashes they produce.

my primary doctor started me on an anti-viral oral pill today and prescribed gabapentin to try to help with the severe headaches I've been getting off and on..  I saw an ophthalmologist today too since the the rash was near my eye - she saw no infection inside the eye ball, on the outer surface of it or on the inside of the eye lids.  she gave me an eye drop to help keep my eye lubricated as it was feeling dry and some ointment to rub on the rash on my eye lid to help cut down on the itch some.  she'll recheck me again in 3 weeks just to confirm no infection has set it from shingles.

usually most doctors get concerned about shingles when you're 50 and older (I'm 35!) but it's starting to be seen more and more frequently in people my age.  my younger sister had a shingles flare up on her ribs 3-4 years ago that was so painful she went to the hospital.

This sounds horrible! I'm so sorry you're getting a double whammy. But I'll say this much: you've probably scared me into getting my shingles shots. It's common in my family, and I've seen how painful it can be. I hope for your quickest recovery, Andrew. You have all my sympathy.

if it wasn't for the intense headaches, it'd be manageable, I think. hopefully this gabapentin helps tame them so I can function at work!

I'm going to talk to my primary doctor in a few weeks about possibly getting the shingles vaccine sometime in 2022 as well.