How to recover from Covid-19?

I came down with a high fever on Thursday and did a test on Friday. Saturday, it came back positive for Covid-19. 

Anyone have any tips for recovery? 

I've been in bed since Wednesday (when I first started feeling sick). I'm hoping the worst of it is over. The fever hasn't returned today and my lungs hurt less today. The doctor said the pain was from inflammation in my lungs. 

Oh, that’s tough! My mother and her husband also recently had Covid. He didn’t notice any symptoms at all but she had to go to the hospital for a little over a week. Now she’s at home recovering. She still is very tired and she sees double.

If you haven’t been able to eat enough you might benefit from nutrition drinks that they sell in pharmacies. They contain everything you need.

Have you had other symptoms than fever and aching lungs? Cough, runny nose, aching muscles? Are you able to sleep?

I’m sorry to hear about your Mom! I’m glad she is on her way to recovery. 🙂  

The Thursday before I got the fever, I started with a tickle in my throat. 

The following Tuesday through Thursday day, I was fatigued. Thursday evening I had a fever of 40 degrees Celsius. Painful body aches and chills for two days. My nose burned on Thursday. Then the fever would go away during the day and return every evening.

For a couple of days I was sweating terribly, but this also meant that my fever was getting better. Once the sweating stopped my fever broke for good on Sunday. Sunday I felt pretty good, but my lungs started to feel like an electric blanket. They hurt and they were ice cold but also burning. The doctor said it was lung inflammation in the little things in my lungs (idk the name). 

Monday they felt a bit better but the extreme exhaustion set in. I think because the fever and adrenaline wore off (in the middle of the nights my adrenaline would kick in and I was unable to sleep well because my heart was racing). Those evenings were the worst, I felt seriously unwell and delirious. 

Monday and Tuesday, I slept about 14 hours each day. Monday, I also got severe pain in my neck lymph nodes. They were swollen and ached a lot. It felt like I had mono again (but worse). Tuesday, I had extreme exhaustion. I couldn’t stand long to help make food. I would stand for a minute and go sit down again because my chest felt tight and I was so tired. I can’t explain the level of exhaustion I felt, it was unreal. 

By Wednesday my lymph nodes got mostly better. Wednesday morning I started coughing quite a lot. It was “productive” once or twice in the morning then it was dry coughing due to a tickle in my lungs. I still feel really exhausted but I was able to do more around the house. 

Today, Thursday, I still feel fatigued, coughing less, but I think I have an ear infection. I’m going to try to begin work on my thesis again. I’ve done some chores and I get really winded and my heart begins to race so I’m trying to take it easy and sit down a lot.

They say days 7-10 are the most critical to watch out for. If things don’t get worse, I should be in the clear after Sunday. I’m cautious because I’m obviously doing worse than my boyfriend who hasn’t (thankfully) developed any respiratory issues. Other symptoms have been congestion, runny stuffy nose, and sneezing, but I didn’t have this until after the fever broke for good. Also. I lost my taste then too. I’ve lost at least a kilo even though I feel that I have been eating. 

My boyfriend’s family had some care packages sent to us with lots of goodies. We have an oximeter to measure our oxygen levels which is good to have for peace of mind. On Tuesday. I was really freaked out because I didn’t feel I was getting enough air but my levels were fine. 

I also had a sore throat that came and went, but it was mild. 

It sounds like you're as bad as my mother was. Losing almost all taste and bathing in sweat during the nights is something she complained about too.

Couldn't the fatigue in part be because of pneumonia? That you don't get as much oxygen as you are used to? Or maybe the whole ordeal is enough to make you tired. That's probably it.

A kilo of lost weight could be water, due to the sweating, if you think you have eaten enough.

Not getting enough air must be horrible. I think it would make me panic. I wonder how that works as you say the oxygen levels were okay.

Do you have to work on your thesis now? Or does it feel better to do it instead of nothing? If you have to do it, perhaps you can dictate instead of type. That way you might not have to sit straight, or even sit at all. Getting the words down is fast when you dictate. You can proofread it later.

If you need anything delivered, let me know. I can easily pick things up and drop them by your door.

I talked to the doctor yesterday to ask about pneumonia because I felt the vibrating my lungs when I would breathe while leaning against the pillows and he said that it’s probably not pneumonia. It just sounds like typical COVID-19 symptoms since I had a dry cough. Also my fever never came back so he wasn’t worried about it. But now the cough already went away.

I think I’m just exhausted because my body has been working really hard to fight off the virus. I feel much much better today. All I have left is the exhaustion and a hoarse voice.

I don’t know if I have to work on my thesis but I watched everything on Netflix and it’s probably better to at least work on it for an hour or two so I feel a little productive. I probably won’t make the deadline to graduate on time but they must have something in place for this sort of thing.

Thank you! My boyfriend’s mom has been dropping stuff off for us and we have been ordering food online. 😄

I'm glad you’re feeling better. You probably aren’t the only student crippled by Covid this fall so I would guess there's are plans for dealing with the delays it causes. Good that you didn't have pneumonia on top of Covid. I'm pretty sure it's enough of a challenge without it.

I heard someone say a few months ago that many doctors and nurses can identify Covid by the sound of the coughs. They supposedly are unique. That's probably why scientists are training neural networks to diagnose Covid by recorded coughs. I think it would be revolutionary if we were able to test ourselves every day by coughing in a smartphone app. 🙂

You’re right, I’m sure I am not the only one at my department who has gotten it.

Oh that’s interesting! I wonder if it might be more accurate than the tests. Doing the self test, I could understand why they can be hit or miss. If you don’t really do it properly (for me, it was scratching the back of my throat with a q-tip like thing, which is really uncomfortable), then the test might come back negative even when you could be positive for the virus.

Have you recovered fully from Covid now? For my mom, the feeling of exhaustion was the symptom that lasted the longest when the illness was gone. Now she is fine.

I feel mostly fine. I still feel a bit like I have a cold every time I go on a long walk in the cold. My energy levels have mostly returned to normal.

Glad to hear that your mom is doing better!