2+-months with C19-like symptoms & recent relapse
Hi - I’m joining and sharing to learn from this forum & share my story.
I experienced mild cold symptoms the last week of Feb after international travel on the last day Australia accepted flights from China. On Mar 1 I grew quite ill from c-19-like symptoms: fever, cough, extreme fatigue & shortness of breath. My doctor refused to accept it could be Covid. BC government guidelines made me ineligible for testing. In spite of persistent & worsening symptoms (& weekly dr visits) I was only tested 1 Month after first symptoms. Not surprisingly, it was negative (false negatives after 21 days are over 70% according to one study I read). I never fully lost my sense of taste / smell but experienced 2 weeks where food was bland & I didn’t want to eat. My blood work & X-rays have been clear except for initial high D-dimer. They won’t give me a CT scan.
I started to develop heart issues Week 3 and have since been diagnosed with Pericarditis (via ECG & Echo Doppler). Symptoms of fatigue, Chest pain, lung burn and erratic HR with mild exercise continued every day ... but slowly improved until week 8. It remains painful to lie flat & I continue to need to sleep on pillows.
Last week I experienced a significant relapse. Fatigue became crushing. The tightness in my chest & lung burn grew worse than ever. My Heart hurts with any minor walking. My cough has returned and I get a fever if I am up doing light house chores for a half hour (up to 100.5 but frequently only 99.3-99.5). It quickly drops with rest. I’m finding it very difficult to sit up (much less stand) for any period of time & am at more peace when semi-reclined.
I feel like I am actively fighting something! My doctors leading theory is that I em experiencing post viral fatigue and pericarditis second to EBV (similar time mono). They refuse to believe this could have been Covid, much less that I could still be fighting it.
I am scared and demoralized, in spite of actively cultivating all my calming, meditative and healing abilities. I should not that I used to climb mountains and be an athlete (44 years old) but can now scarcely climb a flight of stairs & must rest 3 times midway.
Has anybody experienced similar timescales? Any advice on what to ask my Dr? I’m supposed to see a specialist via tele-health this week.
Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Post-COVID Recovery & COVID-19 Support Group.
I am sorry to hear that so many are experiencing prolonged symptoms and/or apparent relapses. This is just one more thing scientists are learning about the Covid-19 virus. As for negative virus tests, it seems to they are also learning there is a "sweet spot" for the virus showing up in nasal and/or throat swabs - somewhere soon after symptoms appear, but disappearing after a week to 10 days of illness. Both of these may be related to another thing being learned - this virus seems capable of attacking many different organs, not just the respiratory system like influenza. Probably in the future we will see additional diagnostic tests developed after the virus is better understood.
We are seeing a lot of publicity about Covid-19 testing here and in the media. Dr Poland did a great Podcast about it back in April, you can see it here: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/page/podcasts/newsfeed-post/mayo-clinic-laboratories-launches-serology-testing/
In addition, there is much information about how the 100+ antibody tests have been brought to market without any of the typical validation testing, and it is becoming apparent that many are not accurate. Do not let the words "FDA Approved" sway you - the FDA granted emergency rapid approval without independent validation of tests to many applicants. As of yesterday, companies are now being asked to submit data within 10 days showing how their tests were validated, but it still does not look like the FDA will be doing the actual validation work. Here is information about how the emergency authorization works: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/lab/serology-testing.html
If you want to be tested for Covid-19 antibodies at this point, it would be best to contact your physician or clinic for referral to a facility using one of the (few) independently validated tests.
Sue
Wow it sounds like some people really got hit hard. I am somewhat depressed about my current situation but I also have to remember that many others are much worse off.
How is your fatigue now? Also are you having any trouble sleeping? This is one of my biggest issues now into the 9th week.
I’m able to shuffle around the house and yard very slowly. Springtime is a huge plus. Watching the daily changes in the garden/yard keep my mental state in check. I can wipe down surfaces and do light cleaning, but i am nowhere near being able to use a vacuum or liftIng anything heavy. The fatigue and malaise continue. I don’t have any problems with sleeping, unless i wake up in the wee hours. I have a hard time falling back asleep because my brain engages, and the subject is usually the mechanics of breathing. Do you have problems falling asleep or staying asleep?
These days probably more staying asleep. After I fall asleep I almost always wake up after 1-2 hours and sometimes struggle to fall asleep again. Yesterday I was really stressed out at the prospect of long recovery and only managed around 3 hrs of sleep. I actually feel worse this week compared to past week.
Last week I did a bit too much I think. Had a 4 day weekend and I did a 3km jog twice, a long 25km bike ride (relaxed pace), and some other stuff. Now I have to pace myself, i.e. don't use all the energy I feel I have.
Using aromatherapy to fall back asleep has helped me a lot . Maybe you could try an essential oil , such as lavender. I also concentrate on my breathing. When I am anxious I pray. I have started to include all peoples of the globe in my prayers. I hope one of these suggestions might help you.
Update...
So I did a blood test this week and found that I was extremely low in Vitamin D. I used to live in Australia (Perth) for several years before moving to Netherlands 1.5 years ago. I guess my body got accustomed to the abundant sunlight and my Vitamin D levels has been slowly depleting since moving to Europe.
The initial fever may have been a trigger that really exposed the symptoms of the Vitamin D deficiency. That's perhaps why I haven't recovered fully in over 2 months?
I see Vitamin D deficiency can lead to many things include fatigue, weak immune system, depression, and trouble sleeping (also could be effect of depression).
Could this explain the whole situation? If this is indeed the answer than it is a lot better than post having viral fatigue.
An Indian girl at work had the same problem. After 1.5 years in the Netherlands she started getting a lot of fatigue, depression, hair falling out etc... Turns out she also had Vitamin D deficiency.
Would be wonderful if your health could be recovered with vitamin D. I sure hope so.