It’s been a month and a day since I had my first symptom of Covid (http://livingwithfh.blogspot.com/2022/08/meeting-your-nemesis-having-heart.html). I tested negative for the virus on August 12, and today, over two weeks later since that negative test, I am still on what you can call “the mend”.
Everyone who has been around me (besides maybe my husband) will tell you that what I had was a “mild” case. Although I believe the severity can only be judged by the patient going through it, I am grateful for the amount of symptoms I got. But it was not easy when I was in the throes of it, and it’s not easy now, several days and, soon to be, weeks later.
My cough is still incredibly bad. Some cough spells are debilitating, even if for a few minutes. It seems to be worse when I speak for a long time. If I have 4-5 meetings at work where I am the main speaker, I lose my voice altogether at the end of the day. I cannot tell you where the cough is from. My sinus dripping is minimal at best, but this could be from my chest. I just don’t know. My oxygen continues to be good.
I have days where I am incredibly tired. There is no good way to describe this “tired” except that it’s different from “I have worked in the yard in 100 F degree weather”-tired, or cardiac-tired. My body does not hurt, but it drags ... The best I can describe is this: some days feel like I am neck-deep in water in a place with a muddy, soft bottom (like a river bench or lake shore) and someone is making me run for my life - I can hardly push myself to move a little. I don’t know what’s bringing the tired on and I don’t know what takes it away. No amount of rest, napping, “taking it easy” seems to fix it. Breathing seems to be a heavy chore when these days are happening. I have no energy and no drive to do anything at all. I have worked through this, but I can tell that I am not very efficient. The next day could be a little better or 100% better, but I cannot tell you why.
I can see how people get depressed about this or even ask for disability - because when this tiredness happens, I cannot even muster the strength to speak. All I want is just to lay somewhere till it passes. I know people who have this tiredness last for days or weeks. I am lucky because it usually lasts for about 24 hours and then it usually clears up for a few days. But it’s returned several times with different degrees of intensity.
The “tired” days are also those with the worst brain fog. The brain fog is frequent - I struggle to remember words and to be coherent in a conversation pretty much daily (again, some days are better than others), but when the tiredness hits, I speak so slow that you could wonder if I just had a stroke. My mouth gets very heavy and I have to really look for my thoughts and think hard to express them in coherent words. I am a technical writer by trade, so sometimes explaining hard software-related concepts in easy-to-understand sentences is a struggle on such days.
Some days are completely normal (except for the cough), and some are tired, foggy messes.
The cough is really my biggest complaint, although the rest of the symptoms bother me somewhat, too, because they are a disruption and an annoyance. Since I have a physical scheduled for 2 weeks from now, I figured I’d wait and talk to my doctor then.
One other thing that feels bizarre is my new relationship with foods. Nothing every sounds appetizing and I don't crave or want anything. I eat because I have to, and some of my all-time favorite foods (like shrimp and seafood in general) sometimes taste absolutely awful. Some days, shrimp tastes like nothing and some days it makes me gag. Cooking fish in a pan to ensure it's cooked through (and dry) is my favorite way to eat fish, and this sometimes tastes awful too. The lack of appetite is coupled with a feeling of being full although it's sometimes right after I wake up in the morning, after having not eaten for a good 12+ hours. It's very uncharacteristic of me.
The good news is that so far, I don’t feel like my heart (or my circulation in general) feels any better or worse than before Covid. The blood pressure and pulse are normal, and the breathlessness and heavy-chested-ness are still very much the same as before. I did notice that my INR (the coagulation number that shows how “thin” your blood is) seems to run higher than before (the blood is “thinner” so it clogs harder), even when I cannot explain why (meaning, I am not taking more Warfarin, not cutting down on my greens, etc). Not sure if this is a side effect from Covid or not - I could not find a clear explanation for it online. It’s probably not something “they’ve researched yet”.
Although I just got over this, I still am taking all the precautions I took before I got it: I mask indoors, only eat outdoors, and try to find activities outside, if possible. If not, I always wear a mask indoors. I have not been in an indoor restaurant yet and I might go in the future, but I will try to find places that have very good ventilation, high ceilings, good sanitation scores, and only go when they are not crowded. I still want to live my life, but I still want to try to never get it again, if it’s all in my control.
From what I can tell so far, at least for now, I think I can safely say I dodged the bullet or what you might call a "very severe case", with lots of complications. For now. I still feel like in addition to the existing FH and heart disease monkeys I had on my back, now I have a third one, of long-term side effects from this rotten disease that’s killing so many all over the world. A disease that we still know very little about. But time will tell, and what's more important: I am functioning: I work, and tend to my house chores, see my friends, and do most of everything I set out to do in the morning ... One day at a time till we can know more ...
Stay healthy out there!
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