I had COVID-19 — here’s what it felt like.
On Saturday morning (October 10, 2020) I found out I tested positive for Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). How did I get it? There’s no way to be sure, but the most likely cause is from participating in an out-of-state memorial service for a beloved family member.
Honestly, I was embarrassed to have become a statistic during this global pandemic…the surrounding social stigmas have been stressful and it’s agonizing to feel like I’m “unclean” or that I’ve been reckless or irresponsible. This is not a hoax, social distancing matters. Please take this pandemic seriously, wash your hands and steer clear of large crowds if possible.
I want to share as much information as possible about what it feels like, from start to finish, to battle COVID-19 in an effort to demystify the unknown and hopefully imbue hope that this is a beatable sickness, instead of a death sentence, for most.
TL;DR
Here is a quick snapshot of each day’s symptoms and their relative intensity.
Below are detailed updates as the days progressed:
Day 1 — Tuesday Oct 6, 2020
I thought it was just a sore throat from all of the talking with family at the memorial service. No joint aches, no headache, but a little fatigue…nothing more than usual so I didn’t raise any flags. I tried to gargle warm salt water and drink tea to help my throat and went about my day. By night time, my throat was feeling a bit more sore so I called it an early night and went to bed.
Day 2 — Wednesday Oct 7, 2020
Woke up in the middle of the night to take care of our 4-month old (damn the sleep regression!) and felt a bit worse than the night before. I slept in more than usual because the sore throat had become slightly more pronounced and I had started noticing a slight headache behind my eyes.
It was tough to focus on work and later in the day I was feeling more tired than usual, but not enough to suspect infection. That night, I told my wife Rachel I wasn’t feeling well and went to bed early again.
Day 3 — Thursday Oct 8, 2020
Woke up in the middle of the night to take care of our daughter and felt like I had a cold — scratchy sore throat, headache behind the eyes, thirsty, no appetite. I thought I’d wait until morning to decide if I should call in sick to work.
Early Thursday morning was the turning point — I felt awful. Terrible sore throat, hard to swallow, achy joints, pounding headache, still no appetite, and much more fatigue than usual. I called in sick to work, scheduled a Covid-19 test at the local drive-in testing center, came home and slept all day long. At night, the congestion set in and I took Ibuprofen to weaken the pounding headache.
Day 4 — Friday Oct 9, 2020
Woke up in the middle of the night due to sore throat pain, could still swallow but with difficulty. It was tough to fall back to sleep because my joints (mainly knees and ankles) were throbbing. I took another dose of Ibuprofen and finally fell asleep after laying awake for nearly two hours.
Missed work again, clocked a 99.7 fever. Slept for several hours amidst a pounding headache, continued joint aches, sore eyes and congestion. A new cough started around mid-day but thankfully no difficulty breathing.
Went to bed feeling slightly “better”. Less of a headache (99.2 fever) but still achy and sore all over.
Day 5 — Saturday Oct 10, 2020
Around midnight, I woke up sweaty and was optimistic that I’d broken the fever. However, woke up several more times throughout the night with the worst joint aches so far — I felt like I’d been hit by a truck.
At 6:45am Rachel said she had gotten her test results (negative for Covid) so I opened mine and my stomach dropped when I saw I had tested positive.
I’ve spent most of the morning reaching out to anyone I’ve been in contact with since 14 days prior. Breathing is still normal, still have sense of taste and smell, but all the flu-like symptoms prevail. I am so tired.
[5:05pm] Just woke up from a long nap and got some food. An unfortunate symptom of Covid-19 is diarrhea — that has now become real (sorry if that’s TMI…this is for science). The runny nose and congestion also seem to have taken things up a notch, which makes side sleeping more annoying. The joints in my knees and ankles are vibrating with every heart beat, kind of like this scene in Jurassic Park. It’s a novel sensation, but gets old pretty quickly.
A lot of friends and family have asked if our 4-month old is okay. She’s been slightly fussy but we can’t tell if that’s from the expected sleep regression or illness-related. She’s getting tested tomorrow so I’ll update when we know more.
This fatigue is staggering. Another nap, more updates later.
Day 6 — Sunday October 11, 2020
[3:08am] Welp, sense of taste is pretty much gone. Woke up due to one of the worst sore throats I’ve ever experienced. Feels like swallowing razor blades. Went to gargle salt water and had to double check that I put salt in…I eventually put some directly on my tongue to make sure I had the right stuff — still couldn’t taste any saltiness. It’s confusing to know what something should taste like but for it to be non-existent. Kind of like when the dentist numbs your cheek and you can feel when you bite it, but you can’t feel the pain.
Sense of smell is barely still here, I’ve been testing it with the same unlit candle. Last night it was an overwhelming scent when smelled from a couple inches away. Now my nose is practically touching the wax and it smells like the candle is in the other room…I expect both senses will be completely gone by morning 😔 Hopefully they come back…
[2:33pm] The scariest of expected symptoms, shortness of breath, has arrived. It’s not panic-inducing but feels like my lungs are trying just a little harder to do their job. Kind of like trying to blink your eyes when you’re tired, minus the burning sensation…it takes just a little more effort. I can still get a full breath but have ordered a pulse oximeter to monitor oxygen levels. Fun biological fact I learned today — apparently “COVID-19 attacks the ‘epithelial cells’ lining the airways — that catch and clear out things like pollen and viruses — flooding our airways with debris and fluids.”
As more debris fills in the space, the barrier becomes thicker for oxygen to pass through in order to get to the bloodstream. Apparently only severe cases result in need for a ventilator but I’ll be watching this symptom closely to in hopes it doesn’t result in pneumonia.
On a lighter note, sense of taste comes back from time to time. Still can’t taste salty things but can get a faint sense of sweet things like fruit or these flavored electrolyte water tablets. So I’m not completely withering away just yet.
[9:15pm] Well the last few hours caught me by surprise. I woke up around 5pm and was incredibly winded just from laying down — couldn’t seem to catch my breath. I got up to use the restroom and had to kneel down halfway (after about 7 feet of walking) to try to get a full breath in. It felt like I had finished an multi-mile run and someone was simultaneously standing on my chest, and I started to get pretty worried.
After telling Rachel that I couldn’t catch my breath, she helped me get to the car and drove to the Emergency Room where they monitored blood oxygen levels, took samples and X-rays, and gave me IV fluids. Apparently my body had been in an anaerobic state for some time and had built up lots of lactic acid. Oxygen levels hovered in the low 90s for a bit but steadily increased as I got an inhaler and some fluids. After a couple hours of more regular oxygen levels, they’re sending me home but I’ll need to closely monitor oxygen for the next couple days with a pulse oximeter.
I going to get real for a moment — I wouldn’t wish this virus upon my worst enemies. It’s terrifying to feel my hands, feet and face start to tingle as I gasp for air while sitting still. This is the worst sickness I have ever experienced and I urge everyone to wash their hands and practice social distancing. You do not want this.
Back to some good news though — my joints aren’t aching as much as yesterday and the headache behind my eyes is only mild now. Still have a fever, but hopefully that will subside soon too. I’m really hoping that was the worst of it.
Day 7 — Monday October 12, 2020
[1:12pm] Got a lot of sleep after the ER visit and am feeling fairly better. The best news is that my fever has reduced significantly today (so far)! Right now it’s at 98.5 so I’m feeling very encouraged!
Breathing is fairly regular now, except for when I need to walk more than 20 steps to the bathroom — then it feels like I finished a brisk walk up some stairs. It’s frustrating to be out of breath and such low energy, but glorious to be able to return back to “normal” breathing after 10 seconds or so. Oxygen levels look good so far.
The intense sore throat persists and my joints still vibrate a bit with each heartbeat when I’m trying to fall asleep but the Tylenol helps. Sense of taste is putting up a feeble attempt to return, but I got a spicy zing earlier while eating Indian food so that’s encouraging. Sense of smell is still completely gone and congestion is still pretty thick.
My spirits, however, are high. I got to hear my sweet smiley daughter giggle and Rachel has been excellent at keeping things cheerful. The outpouring of love and concern has been truly magnificent.
Hoping today is a turning point…
[8:45pm] Whew the fatigue hit really hard tonight. Around 2pm I took an ambitious walk outside and sat on a patch of grass about 10 feet from Rachel and Emily (with a mask on, very far from other people or walkways)— it only took three breathing breaks to get about 100 feet, so that’s progress! It was beautifully sunny outside and it felt amazing to get some much needed sunlight and fresh air. After about 45 minutes I came back inside with only two breathing breaks, got some food, and took a nap for a couple hours.
Woke up around 6pm and my eyes are burning but otherwise am feeling less miserable than the day before. Sore throat persists but fever is down to 98.9, joint pain is now pretty dull, loss of taste/smell and shortness of breath persist but are manageable, oxygen is 98 percent and appetite is back to normal I think. It feels like my body is going into hyperdrive trying to fight this thing though, this is the most fatigued I’ve felt so far. It’s hard to keep my eyes open. Hopefully sleep will help.
Day 8 — Tuesday October 13, 2020
[8:45am] Slept for 10 hours straight and my eyes are still burning. This fatigue is crazy but I’m taking it to mean my body is fighting back with a vengeance. Congestion stepped it up a notch, resulting in some sinus pressure so I took a hot shower and did a sinus rinse. These saline rinses always make me kinda cough and sputter and during that rather pathetic display of manliness, I excitedly exclaimed (to myself) “I can taste that!”
Gross, I know…but very exciting that my sense of taste is returning! Sense of smell, however, is still like a fart in the wind — undetectable.
Fever is down to 98.5 (woohoo!) and the headache is still behind my eyes but less intense than yesterday. Cough has come back a little so I’ll monitor that but joint aches have stopped vibrating so that’s encouraging. Oxygen is now at 99 percent (score another win for today), breathing is still weird but manageable, and appetite feels good.
Still feel miserable and energy level is incredibly low, but I’m remaining optimistic. So yay for feeling only regularly miserable! 😉
[7:05pm] Today has been a day of improvement. Fever has lowered to 98.8 without Tylenol (yay) and the joint aches has subsided a bit more. Sore throat is still the strongest of symptoms but I expect that to hang around for a bit.
Energy level is low but seems to be better than this morning. Appetite is back in full and taste is coming back but still pretty distant. Sense of smell is still entirely gone but the congestion might be contributing to that…I’m excited to be able to smell that candle again. Breathing feels almost completely back to normal and oxygen levels are good.
Going to try to get another large chunk of rest and am hopeful tomorrow will bring another reduction in symptoms. Fingers crossed!
Day 9 — Wednesday October 14, 2020
[8:09am] Sore throat has finally subsided! Oh, I’m so excited about this development! Feel like I’d been mashing my teeth together from all the painful swallowing, but now it just feels like a regular scratchy sore throat from a stupid little cold. Woohoo!
Energy level still feels somewhat low but it’s higher than yesterday so I’ll take the win. Still have a headache behind the eyes but fever is down to 98.5 without Tylenol (woot!). Joint soreness is still present but subdued and I’m now actually wondering if it’s from all the time laying down — there’s probably been some muscular dystrophy from lack of exercise for over a week.
Breathing feels normal this morning and I am so grateful for that! Oxygen is good and sense of taste is still about the same as yesterday — very distant but putting up a fight to return. Congestion is strong, lots of blowing my nose and some new sneezing but hopefully that means my body is trying to get rid of this garbage. Sense of smell is still truant but I’ll do my best to be patient. Hey, maybe it’ll even last until I’m not contagious anymore and I’ll be able to use that superpower to change Emily’s smelly diapers ;)
At this pace, I’m feeling more confident about being non-symptomatic by early next week. Stay tuned for more good news!
Day 10 — Thursday October 15, 2020
[10:10am] Slept for another long stretch overnight and woke up with burning eyes yet again. This fatigue is tenacious! But, more good news, the sore throat continues to decline! A slight cough has returned and still a few sneezes but I’m guessing it’s probably still my body trying to get all the junk out.
Breathing finally feels completely normal again, except for when I walk around too much…then I need to sit down and take some deep ones for a second. Sense of taste is about the same as yesterday (distant and dull) and sense of smell is still completely absent.
I did a little more digging about why Covid-19 causes such a drastic loss of smell and stumbled on some pretty cool preliminary findings, summarized by Scientific American:
High up in the nasal cavity is the “olfactory epithelium” which contains smell receptor cells. These cells have specialized cilia extensions that trap odor molecules as we breathe in air, which is then sent to your brain via sensory neurons. When the Covid-19 virus gets in there, it damages the olfactory epithelium and causes inflammation and sometimes even kills the cells entirely. Preliminary findings suggest that “inflammation in the sensory epithelium could restrict airflow to the relatively small olfactory cleft, high up in the nose, without causing the feeling of a stuffy nose or interruption of breathing…Damage to the sustentacular cells…could also affect functioning of the sensory neurons…so that even if odors can get to the neurons, they may not be able to transmit signals.” (emphasis added)
So, how long it will take for full recovery of my smelling cells? Initial research suggests that “although these neurons do regenerate throughout life, they do not do so suddenly but rather in a process that takes 30 days or more in which sensation would gradually improve.”
So I guess I’ll need to practice an entire month’s worth of patience before expecting smell (and probably taste since they’re related) to return in full…[heavy sigh].
Otherwise, symptoms are starting to die down so I’m feeling very enthusiastic about this recovery phase! More rest and more recovery coming soon!
Day 11 — Friday, October 16, 2020
[3:57pm] Woke up around 5am with a slight sore throat again and was worried there might have been a regression. However, after sleeping a few more hours, it had gone away almost entirely. Maybe I was just sleeping like Darth Vader or something.
When I laid down at the end of yesterday, my joints were pulsing just a little but they’re feeling good today. Still a slight headache behind the eyes but I’m feeling confident that symptoms will continue fading and completely disappear over the weekend.
Sense of taste is barely stronger than yesterday and sense of smell has barely started returning! Woohoo! So nice to finally smell that candle again, even if just slightly.
Day 12 — Saturday, October 17, 2020
Finally feeling back to normal today! Aside from a little lingering fatigue and some distant taste and smell, the rest of the symptoms are gone. According to current CDC guidelines, I’m no longer contagious after:
- 10 days since symptoms first appeared
- 24 hours with no fever without the use of fever-reducing medications
- Other symptoms of COVID-19 are improving*
*Loss of taste and smell may persist for weeks or months after recovery and need not delay the end of isolation
So today I deep cleaned both of our bathrooms and changed the sheets to our bed. It’s been so nice to be able to hug Rachel and hold my sweet baby girl again 🥰
Thank you to those who offered love, support, and even sent care packages. I will not forget your kindness.
