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I probably made my Covid MUCH worse
Hello,
I currently have Covid for the first time. A friend who doesn't mask at all came to visit; I hadn't realized before she arrived that she takes no precautions at all (despite being 82). I should have been more careful. What a massive error on my part. Anyway...
She arrived on a Saturday. She started showing mild cold-like symptoms on Monday. Tuesday she said "I have a cold". Wednesday I began having similar symptoms - mild, cold-like (a bit of sneezing and sniffling). I didn't feel tired. We continued visiting and taking short, slow walks, etc. I did two RAT Covid tests, one on Wed, and one on Fri, to make sure, and both were negative.
She left on the following Saturday and while I still had some symptoms, on the whole I was feeling fine. So I went for a long, vigorous 6 mile walk after she left (a very typical type of daily exercise for me) and the next day, Sunday, I still felt okay in the morning, so I did some weightlifting. Well Sunday afternoon I crashed. Hard. I was shaking, felt nauseous, headache, etc. Went to bed, woke up with a horrific sore throat, chills, body aches, etc. I called the clinic and got signed up to do a PCR test that day at noon. Felt terrible all day.
Next day, I got the PCR results - Covid positive. I did a RAT test and that too, finally, was positive.
I have been horribly sick ever since. As of yesterday I can get out of bed for a couple of hours but then have to go back to bed for a long stretch. My appetite came back a little bit Th and Fri but I seem to have lost it again today although I've eaten a little. I've lost about 10 pounds this week.
So my question is, three parts:
1) Did I make my Covid much worse by exercising on those two days?
2) Have I made it much more likely that I may never recover by compounding the damage to my body goodness knows how much?
3) Other than total rest, does anyone have any recommendations? My nurse here has been useless and my clinic is currently without a doctor.
Thank you so much
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I'm so sorry you have Long Covid. What a nightmare this disease is. I will put you in my thoughts to heal.
No Exercising TODAY.... lifting lil weights and walking around your Air Conditioned place - perfect Read/Watch Funny or Uplifting Movie day- orders for the day :))
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3 ReactionsBlueislandgirl. Yes. It just seems like rest minus stress is the only plan to have now. I got over it twice only to see it come back with exertion from pickleball and now ongoing stress in my life. Requires so much work. Good luck to all. Keep fighting.
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6 ReactionsI caught Covid 19 in August 2022 and developed Long Covid in November 2022. Between August 2022 and November 2022, I continued my exercise program, even running a 5K race in September between those two dates. I believe the exercise made the Long Covid worse than it would have been. Since I was continuously advised that exercise was the answer, I tried various exercise programs until the continual relapses convinced me that I had Long Covid and that I needed to adapt another approach. I did try pacing, and it helped me preserve the lower energy reserves that I still had, and I was able to continue working for another year. I retired to concentrate on my recovery, and I am now recovering. I was unable to go out at all, but I can go out once a week. I am now riding twenty-three minutes on a stationary bicycle. Since you only exercised those two days, I think that you have a chance to avoid a severe or prolonged case of Long Covid. I think resting is important. I am so sorry that your doctor is useless. The Bateman Horne Center has some very useful recommendations. Here is a link to the website: https://batemanhornecenter.org/ I hope it has useful for other people as it has been to me.
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5 ReactionsSo glad, @blueislandgirl, that you feel better. Did you ask your friend to test too? Did she or would she refuse?
My hope, and that is my guess for all of us with Long COVID, is that you don't have it. There is no rhyme or reason, it seems, for who gets it and who doesn't. I suggest that for a bit anyway, continue to mask when you are around others in crowded places and ask anyone who plans to visit who you know doesn't take precautions to test before they come and, if they have sniffles, to mask. Better safe than sick again.
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5 ReactionsMichael239, thank you for this. It is awful that the original advise was to keep exercising rather than rest! Those of us who keep up know better now. I'm glad to hear you are recovering now. I plan to go very very slowly in returning to pre-Covid exercise precisely because of your type of experience.
I hope you continue to heal!
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4 ReactionsThank you Jeindc, my friend tested after she got home, after I had the PCR test. She says she tested negative, but I know I got Covid from her so she missed the window or the RAT test didn't catch it and she didn't do a PCR. Her symptoms were never more than "cold-like". But she'd had Covid before, and presumably her immune system, damaged from prior infections, didn't have as much left to throw at it as mine did, this being my first time.
I plan on never breaking my rules again, and indeed, making stricter rules. No being inside with anyone else, unless I'm masked and it's for very short periods of time (like in the grocery store). No more visitors! Especially now that I've had it, and we know our immune systems are completely trashed once we've had Covid, it's more important than ever to be more vigilant.
Thank you!!
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2 ReactionsI am so glad to hear this as I think going slow will help you recover more quickly.
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1 ReactionMichael239, I apologize as I was one of the ones that noted my experience and information about COVID....I notice that when I initially tried to encourage her that I didn't think walking had worsened her COVID. I didn't notice in her initial post until I re-read it just now that she had walked 6 miles. Yes, we need to save our energy and rest with COVID.
My utmost apologies to you & blueislandgirl. Prayers & Blessings....
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4 ReactionsNo apologies needed!! Who knows whether my walk worsened me or not - there's no way to know. And I can take it easy NOW and go very slowly.
Thank you.
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