Covid-19 - my experience

Although this is usually a blog about flexible work-related things, I thought that people might find it interesting to read about my experience of Covid-19. I am one of the lucky ones - although the symptoms were pretty grim, I am recovering well.

I was exceptionally careful in the week before I contracted it, and it has highlighted to me the crucial importance of social distancing - there's only so far that covering yourself in hand sanitiser and washing your hands more frequently can get you.

Here's how it went down:

Monday:

I felt normal all day, and was thinking about maybe going to the gym in the evening, but noticed that when I went for a walk with the dog that afternoon my breathing was slightly more laboured than normal, so I decided to stay at home and call off the gym. That evening, I developed a dry cough but went to sleep trying not to worry (I'm mildly asthmatic and my autoimmune disease had the potential to complicate things... So I had to try and keep that out of my mind and focus on what was actually happening, not talking myself into symptoms!)

Tuesday:

I woke up feeling atrocious - sweating, coughing, and with the worst headache of my life. The headache was actually the worst bit, as I couldn't look at anything and light hurt my eyes. I slept for most of the day and I don't really remember a huge amount apart from having a load of really whacky dreams caused by my fever  (I dreamt I had to draft a contract to keep the football on the TV when I don't even like football or have any idea about contracts...)

Poor Maurice was like a sitting duck at this point... just waiting to accept his fate. Thankfully he only got it very mildly, with a sore throat, a slight cough, and that was about it.

Wednesday:

I woke up really hoping that the headache was gone, and it wasn't, instead I was drenched in sweat, coughing, and still had a headache. I ended up taking co-codamol as I couldn't cope with the pain anymore, and, THANKFULLY, was able to look at a screen to watch Netflix, like any good sick person should be able to do. I managed to eat some Weetabix and walk around the house a bit, then had to go back to sleep for a while. I had bought a thermometer on Amazon the day before and found out that I definitely did have a fever (38 degrees) so continued to feel sorry for myself with an ice pack on my head until I went back to sleep for the night.

Thursday:

Fever was still there, the cough was getting worse, my sense of taste and smell had disappeared, my whole body ached, but the HEADACHE WAS GONE! A day of Netflix true crime, watching Skins re-runs, and more Weetabix ensued (why not eat mush when everything tastes like mush). The dog was both excited and very concerned that I wasn't leaving the house.

Friday:

I woke up at a the relatively normal hour of 10am, and managed to potter about a bit. It was now starting to feel more like a bad cold and a cough but the lack of smell and taste was weirding me out. When I read into it, it seems that 2/3 of Covid-19 sufferers experience a lack of smell and taste, and that they're asking everyone with just that symptom to self-isolate too. This is why when I rang the doctor's surgery downstairs they were pretty certain I had Covid-19 as the only other thing (apart from a blocked nose) that makes you totally lose your sense of taste and smell is herpes, and I definitely don't have that (or I bloody hope I don't!)

I managed to get out for a quiet walk (I didn't go anywhere busy and didn't touch anything, don't worry!), but getting back up the stairs took me a long time - it's quite scary how much it affects your breathing, even when you have a mild case.

Saturday & Sunday:

Pretty similar to Friday, really. I can manage a walk and don't need naps during the day now, so I'm pretty sure I'm almost recovered. I still can't smell or taste anything, although we found out that you don't need that for things to still be spicy. Eating half a teaspoon of super hot chilli sauce for an experiment isn't recommended.

A lot of the accounts I was reading were very un-relatable, as they were from the people who unfortunately experienced much worse symptoms than me, so I thought that this might be interesting for people to read in case you're feeling any of the above.