Read on Twitter
Now that I’m (hopefully) over the worst of my coronavirus symptoms I thought I’d share my experiences in case it’s helpful to others.
Long story short: it’s been really bloody brutal and scary in places and I’m really aware I had it far easier than so many others. 1/
Long story short: it’s been really bloody brutal and scary in places and I’m really aware I had it far easier than so many others. 1/
The day I came down with symptoms I’d got up and ridden 60 miles on my bike. Felt totally fine that morning but got soaked on the ride. Later that day had a bit of a cough, sneeze and sore throat and assumed it was a cold due to getting wet. 2/
Luckily I thought I’d better self isolate just to be on the safe side and cancelled my bike ride and a planned outdoor lunch the next day (ah - those tier 2 days!) . I thought I was being a bit too cautious but so glad I did. 3/
I was still convinced it was just a cold but by day 3 I had the worst headache I’d ever had in my life. I lay in bed with lights off wondering if it was possible for your head to actually explode. I get a lot of headaches but this was like nothing else. I got a test on day 3. 4/
Day 4/5 - diarrhoea,sore throat, cough & sneezing but it all felt fairly manageable. Day 5 my positive test result came back in (it was still a shock as I’d convinced myself it was a cold - partly ‘cos I’d been so careful about sticking to the rules). I lost my sense of smell 5/
On day 6 my breathing got pretty bad. I’ve got asthma and used to get a lot of chest infections before my diagnosis. It means I know how to manage it when I’m struggling to breathe and this didn’t feel out of the ordinary. 6/
On day 6 I also had the most horrendous shooting pain sensation from my groin to my knee and from my knee to my ankle. It was so painful I couldn’t sleep at all. At that stage it felt worse than anything else. It felt like some sort to trapped nerve. 7/
Day 7 I felt much better and did loads of jobs around the house (big mistake) and was getting really stressed about how I’d cope without being able to cycle or leave the house for so many more days. 8/
Day 8 my breathing got REALLY bad. Just standing up and walking to the loo would leave me struggling for breath. I also felt really faint and dizzy every time I stood up/attempted to walk. Not being able to catch your breath feels really scary.. 9/
Day 9 and the breathing was worse than I’ve ever experienced. Walking to the toilet took ages to recover from. The more I panicked about my breathing the worst it got. Deep, long, calm breathing really helped. As did lying really still. And not talking. 10/
Day 10 and I was feeling faint all the time and eventually fainted getting out of the bath which was horrible. I would have to stand up really slowly and stand still for a minute before walking to allow my body to adjust. Breathing was still awful. Day 11 much the same. 11/
The awful headaches also came back on day 10 as did a strange facial tic which seemed to be connected to light sensitivity. 12/
For some reason (my own incompetence) the thread doesn’t join up so here’s the rest of it. https://twitter.com/louisa_compton/status/1341709690451980294
