I think I have it. I don’t get ill very often (a couple of days in bed every 5 years on average I’d say) and I don’t know what else it would be because it doesn’t feel like previous colds I’ve had.
Looking back now the first signs were a sort of tickle in the throat and dryness around the Adam’s apple that I developed last week. I wouldn’t say it qualified as a sore throat and didn’t think anything of it at the time. It was noticeable but not discomforting. It felt like that feeling you sometimes get when you arrive abroad or there’s a seasonal change in the air. Very mild hay fever type thing. I also remember looking in the rear view mirror of the car and noticing my eyelids were red. I haven’t driven for 9 days so that might be completely unrelated, or it might be the first sign, who knows.
Anyway, on Thursday I started to feel hot and cold and felt a bit weak and lacking in energy. Then the cough started. It wasn’t a proper cough, just an annoying tickle at the top of the chest that had to be cleared every hour or two. There was nothing to clear though, it was dry. By this time I started to think about C19 and spent the night isolated from the wife and kids who were feeling fine. The night wasn’t great. I slept for three hours at one point but kept waking up to cough or because I was too hot or too cold.
On Friday I took to bed and felt pretty rough. I slept a bit, but never for very long because of the cough and other symptoms, which now included a headache, fatigue and changes in temp. That afternoon the cough changed to productive; the frog that had been a source of almost constant irritation could finally be caught. There wasn’t much in the way of phlegm and it was (unpleasant detail) too low down to bring up so I just have been swallowing what little there has been. There was some though, at least, which felt like a breakthrough because it now at least felt like a normal cough. It also made me think maybe this wasn’t C19.
Friday night was shit. I had been reading up on symptoms and what happens to the body with C19, and it was the middle of the night so there was that added weirdness, but it literally felt like a war was going on in my lungs. It wasn’t particularly painful but every time I filled my lungs it felt like there was something stopping them from filling up, but it wasn’t like there was something sitting on my chest it was more something pulling them down from within, like a glue. Sometimes I’d have to cough at the top of an inhale but mostly it just felt like my lungs were in some sort of weird stupor, idling along in neutral. I wasn’t struggling to breathe at all and I didn’t feel like I was in any trouble; I just lay there observing what was going on but I do remember thinking how dangerous this could get if the body was overloaded.
Saturday morning eventually came around after maybe a fitful 4 hours of sleep. I ate some fruit and went back to bed. I’d been taking paracetamol and drinking lemsip since Thursday (always within the recommended doses as I’m not prone to illnesses so hardly ever take anything, plus I didn’t know how long I’d be taking them for so didn’t want to overdo it.) and that took the edge off. I felt a bit worse than Friday but there were again times when I felt almost normal. It does seem to come at you in waves. By now I had the dreaded aches, mainly I think from the coughing. The cough was more insistent but the constant tickle had gone so there were periods of respite, broken by sudden involuntary episodes of hacking at the fucking globule of elusive whatever at the bottom of my throat. I snacked on fruit and a couple of muesli bars and drank gallons of Robinson’s lemon barley to keep fluids up and help to keep the throat lubricated.
Saturday night was better than the previous despite a coughing fit that had me reaching for the Robinsons in the dark, and I sweated pints. Sleep was still fitful but this morning I woke up feeling like a corner has been turned. No paracetamol was needed until 11 and a decent appetite. The cough is less frequent and less severe although the headache hasn’t shifted. I am a little bit more bunged up than I have been so I wonder will I move onto a new stage of streaming and sneezing. I’d happily take that if it clears the lungs. It’s hard to describe the feeling in my lungs. They aren’t particularly wheezy or rattley but they feel smaller than they need to be for the job.
Having said that getting around has caused no issues since the start. I’m not out of breath after climbing two flights of stairs and I can take in a decent lungful. In fact, I should stress that throughout this period there have been times when I’ve felt ok. Almost normal, but then a wave arrives and it knocks you back down again. I’ve had that feeling with flu where everything aches and you can’t bear getting up to do anything but I haven’t felt bedbound by this in that way. It’s actually harder to talk than climb the stairs because of the wretched frog. I’m going to take it very easy until my 7 days are up then I’d really like to get myself on the list for any antibody test that might be coming along to find out whether I had it or not so will call 111 to notify them.
I still think I have 2-3 days of symptoms ahead and I expect to feel a bit debilitated for a week or so after that but overall I feel on the mend and that I’ve gotten lucky with a very mild dose. I don’t know how typical this experience is because there is no testing for those who aren’t hospitalised and I never felt the need for that so I don’t know if this is Covid19. If I knew I had immunity I would happily help out in whatever capacity I could so it seems absurd that the Govt are not actively trying to ascertain the status of those showing minor symptoms. It could really backfire horribly down the line I fear because who are no longer at risk can play a huge part, medically and economically, in dragging us out of this.
Looking back now the first signs were a sort of tickle in the throat and dryness around the Adam’s apple that I developed last week. I wouldn’t say it qualified as a sore throat and didn’t think anything of it at the time. It was noticeable but not discomforting. It felt like that feeling you sometimes get when you arrive abroad or there’s a seasonal change in the air. Very mild hay fever type thing. I also remember looking in the rear view mirror of the car and noticing my eyelids were red. I haven’t driven for 9 days so that might be completely unrelated, or it might be the first sign, who knows.
Anyway, on Thursday I started to feel hot and cold and felt a bit weak and lacking in energy. Then the cough started. It wasn’t a proper cough, just an annoying tickle at the top of the chest that had to be cleared every hour or two. There was nothing to clear though, it was dry. By this time I started to think about C19 and spent the night isolated from the wife and kids who were feeling fine. The night wasn’t great. I slept for three hours at one point but kept waking up to cough or because I was too hot or too cold.
On Friday I took to bed and felt pretty rough. I slept a bit, but never for very long because of the cough and other symptoms, which now included a headache, fatigue and changes in temp. That afternoon the cough changed to productive; the frog that had been a source of almost constant irritation could finally be caught. There wasn’t much in the way of phlegm and it was (unpleasant detail) too low down to bring up so I just have been swallowing what little there has been. There was some though, at least, which felt like a breakthrough because it now at least felt like a normal cough. It also made me think maybe this wasn’t C19.
Friday night was shit. I had been reading up on symptoms and what happens to the body with C19, and it was the middle of the night so there was that added weirdness, but it literally felt like a war was going on in my lungs. It wasn’t particularly painful but every time I filled my lungs it felt like there was something stopping them from filling up, but it wasn’t like there was something sitting on my chest it was more something pulling them down from within, like a glue. Sometimes I’d have to cough at the top of an inhale but mostly it just felt like my lungs were in some sort of weird stupor, idling along in neutral. I wasn’t struggling to breathe at all and I didn’t feel like I was in any trouble; I just lay there observing what was going on but I do remember thinking how dangerous this could get if the body was overloaded.
Saturday morning eventually came around after maybe a fitful 4 hours of sleep. I ate some fruit and went back to bed. I’d been taking paracetamol and drinking lemsip since Thursday (always within the recommended doses as I’m not prone to illnesses so hardly ever take anything, plus I didn’t know how long I’d be taking them for so didn’t want to overdo it.) and that took the edge off. I felt a bit worse than Friday but there were again times when I felt almost normal. It does seem to come at you in waves. By now I had the dreaded aches, mainly I think from the coughing. The cough was more insistent but the constant tickle had gone so there were periods of respite, broken by sudden involuntary episodes of hacking at the fucking globule of elusive whatever at the bottom of my throat. I snacked on fruit and a couple of muesli bars and drank gallons of Robinson’s lemon barley to keep fluids up and help to keep the throat lubricated.
Saturday night was better than the previous despite a coughing fit that had me reaching for the Robinsons in the dark, and I sweated pints. Sleep was still fitful but this morning I woke up feeling like a corner has been turned. No paracetamol was needed until 11 and a decent appetite. The cough is less frequent and less severe although the headache hasn’t shifted. I am a little bit more bunged up than I have been so I wonder will I move onto a new stage of streaming and sneezing. I’d happily take that if it clears the lungs. It’s hard to describe the feeling in my lungs. They aren’t particularly wheezy or rattley but they feel smaller than they need to be for the job.
Having said that getting around has caused no issues since the start. I’m not out of breath after climbing two flights of stairs and I can take in a decent lungful. In fact, I should stress that throughout this period there have been times when I’ve felt ok. Almost normal, but then a wave arrives and it knocks you back down again. I’ve had that feeling with flu where everything aches and you can’t bear getting up to do anything but I haven’t felt bedbound by this in that way. It’s actually harder to talk than climb the stairs because of the wretched frog. I’m going to take it very easy until my 7 days are up then I’d really like to get myself on the list for any antibody test that might be coming along to find out whether I had it or not so will call 111 to notify them.
I still think I have 2-3 days of symptoms ahead and I expect to feel a bit debilitated for a week or so after that but overall I feel on the mend and that I’ve gotten lucky with a very mild dose. I don’t know how typical this experience is because there is no testing for those who aren’t hospitalised and I never felt the need for that so I don’t know if this is Covid19. If I knew I had immunity I would happily help out in whatever capacity I could so it seems absurd that the Govt are not actively trying to ascertain the status of those showing minor symptoms. It could really backfire horribly down the line I fear because who are no longer at risk can play a huge part, medically and economically, in dragging us out of this.
it's just weird. Work called me back, they've said that I should not go back until 48hrs have passed since I last had a raised temp. They have also said I can go in to be tested but that really that should have been done earlier into the illness and as I feel I am improving and the test result will take around 48hours there may not be much point which I would agree with.
