Hi all. I took a whirlwind trip to England for a friend’s book event and returned, despite masking, with my first case of COVID. Brain fog is real. Respiratory stuff is fine so far. And I’m on Paxlovid.
So I hope to see you here next week. Any tips for healing welcome.
Have a good weekend.
17 Responses
Welcome to the Covid Club! I think everyone experiences it differently. I had a headache the first day and gastrointestinal upset the next. No Paxlovid as we were in Portugal and apparently they didn’t have it then (a year ago). Also, no masking or quarantine requirements there, although we were wearing our masks. On top of that, on the plane ride home, I sat next to a woman going through the worst throes of Covid: uncontrollable shaking, sweating and chills! For a seven hour flight! Other than that, I can’t complain as my symptoms were only for two days. Hope you feel back to normal soon.
I came back from a long-planned two weeks in England last month with a strange cold (but not Covid!) that seemed to last forever – two friends made on the same trip came home with Covid, however, so I got off easy. My “healing advice” is: stay home, take it easy, don’t push yourself, drink plenty of liquids, catch up on your reading if you can, and generally just wait it out. And when you re-emerge you may just find yourself a few pounds lighter – for good or ill. In my case, all to the good!
Ohhh, so sorry to hear that! I got it for the first time this year, and the first 10 days I was more debilitated that I can ever remember being. I ended up watching stuff on Netflix I’d never been interested in before, like The Big Flower Fight and Glow Up, because I didn’t have the attention span for anything narrative. All this to say, my best advice is to give yourself lots of time and space and be very gentle with yourself… Best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery!
Everyone is so different. I had covid once, and was not feeling well for a day. My son has had it several times and it only makes him feel groggy. My husband had it with the fever, chills and too sleepy to function. ( I got my covid from him)
Even if you don’t feel bad, don’t push yourself. I too had it after returning from a trip and since I didn’t feel awful, I pushed myself to do the laundry and all of the things that need to be done in the house after a trip. Consequently, I think I rebounded. Or maybe I would have anyway. I started feeling normal around day 5 but then the symptoms returned the next day.
Hello Lisa, I am so sorry that you came down with covid. Please take it easy, take care of yourself, and get well soon.
–Jim
Oh no! So sorry to read this. My list of Covid experts, mostly at UCSF, keep warning that the pandemic is not over, or rather than it has become endemic, and is still out there. I’m getting whatever boosters are offered in the fall for Covid, flu, and RSV. I flew to Portland in January 2022 and got Omicron from my baby nephew. The irony is if I’d stayed in a hotel I’d have been fine. At the time I was still masking, keeping my distance from others, and the Portland Ace took Covid seriously. My case was mild, but with a bad cough that hung on. I didn’t get Paxlovid because I hadn’t heard of it, and it wasn’t widely available nor routinely offered as it is now. I developed severe long Covid that was at first shockingly debilitating. I had frightening symptoms—chest pains, gasping for breath, heart palpitations, an inability to remember words or think without getting a headache—that I didn’t understand until suddenly all these long Covid articles started appearing around me. It was comforting to know I wasn’t alone, and it was comforting to know it was not age-related. The Atlantic had a lot of articles I found helpful, and the focus was on 30- to 40-year-old people with long Covid who were suffering and on disability. Initially my long Covid post-exertional-malaise made it impossible to do more than lie down. Every time I’d try to go back to even mild exercise I’d just be flattened with exhaustion. I spent so much time lying down, it was dangerous for mood regulation, and took away the work I’d done to be in great physical shape. Anxiety and depression are included in the long Covid symptoms, and I certainly found that to be true, but I think being too tired to move is depressing and anxiety producing. My best advice is take the illness very seriously no matter how mild it may seem, get a lot of rest, and try to return to normal activities slowly, always listening to your body. Your experience may be very different from mine because of the Paxlovid, but I’m now, 20 months after I got Omicron, much better, but I still have to watch my activity levels or I get post-exertional-malaise that can actually seem like both exhaustion and a sudden bad cold with cough and body aches and the added drama of chest pain and heart palpitations and a desire to weep. I had a full physical a year after I got Covid. All of my blood work was fine, as it has always been, with the exception that I, half Indigenous, was close to the line for being pre-diabetic, which was not previously the case. I’m presently trying to get 30 minutes of walking exercise 5 days a week and eat well. In my experience, and I don’t know how Paxlovid alters this, the Covid virus inflammation should be taken seriously, but one should also believe that a return to full good health is possible. My least favorite part of this experience has been knowing that long Covid exists, but there is no known treatment. I’m using the Andrew Weill approach with food as medicine, eating a Mediterranean diet, and getting exercise. I’m using more stretches and yoga moves as well as cardio. I’m still affected by exhaustion and an altered brain, but I’m getting better and better. My basic exercise technique tends toward overdoing it, so I have to accept that for now I’m out of shape, with lost muscle, and added weight because of my long sedentary phase. I do believe I’ll get past that. I’m already much more active, and urban life encourages walking. The Mayo clinic list of long Covid symptoms is a good one. I had things like the weird pins and needles sensation in my body. I’m grateful I felt the symptoms and then saw the list, because then I knew the symptoms were real, and experienced by others. I hope you heal without any adverse effects, but my bottom line is respect Covid, take it seriously, and care for yourself in response to it. Take good care. I hope you heal without incident. xoxoxo.
Feel better Lisa ! Glad you ventured across The Pond. Now, I will be take a break for a bit so don’t worry if you don’t hear from me. Bye Bye for now, Luci
i hope you feel better soon. hope you caught it on the flight home so that you were able to enjoy your time in england.
Within 2 months, you are the 3rd person to speak of getting Covid after being on a plane. Closed spaces with lots of people seem to be harboring Covid. I hope you experience a mild case with no long term symptoms.
My neighbor took Paxlovid for a week and he felt it helped him recover well. Take care Lisa.
Despite being fully vaccinated, I caught COVID from my fully vaccinated husband, who had attended a meeting and let his guard down, not wearing a mask.
Fortunately, we both got light cases, just a runny nose and possibly mild fatigue ?? for a few days, and then after 7 or so days, our tests reverted back to normal.
Thank our lucky stars we both had 4 shots (Canada), and despite being both in our 70s, we had v mild symptoms with no sequelae.
Hope that you have similar good luck! Take it easy, a good protein diet (nothing faddish) will help your body make all the antibodies you need (they are just protein molecules themselves, but you need to make a lot of them to combat all the replicating virus). Zinc may be helpful also.
Here’s hoping that you recover quickly and completely. Best wishes
I hope you recover easily, and that your husband doesn’t get it. xo
Hope you feel better soon…you are the second person whose mentioned Paxlovid. Authorities here are warning us that with flu season on the way there will be more Covid.
Tell us more about your friends book launch when you get a chance! I am curious.
Hope your recovery will be swift.
Leslie
Hostess of the Humble Bungalow
Wonderful that you could take that trip — I’ve pre-ordered a copy of the book (I’m assuming I know which one it is) for whenever it arrives here! And I’m sorry you had to pay the Covid price for the travel — hope you’re back to full strength before too long — I know you know enough to take the time that needs, though, right? xo
Thank god for Paxlovid!
My advice: nap, nap, nap, and mindless television. (I discovered Grey’s Anatomy and watched way too many seasons).
Sending best wishes for your good health.
So sorry to hear! Hope you recover quickly and fully.
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