Personal covid experiences

[Bootsie]

My university had its second employee die from COVID; there have been over 1800 COVID cases reported with more than 250 of those being employees (out of a university community of approximately 12,500).  

I know the first employee who died and that he was not infected on campus (he became ill during the summer and had not been on campus in months).  This second employee worked in grounds/landscaping management; I did not know him or what the source of his infection was. 

[mommyoffive]

11 hours ago, TCB said:

Our friend in Manaus, Brazil did not make it. He died this morning. I am confident he is in a place of no more suffering and death, but am so sad for his precious family. He leaves behind 12 children, 6 of whom have already lost one set of parents. So very sad.

I am so sorry for your loss.  I am sending prayers to his family.

[TCB]

18 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

I am so sorry for your loss.  I am sending prayers to his family.

Thank you for praying for them! I can’t imagine how hard it must be for his wife, trying to provide comfort to the kids. She has been sick too, and is not fully recovered yet.

[Ausmumof3]

On 1/30/2021 at 4:16 AM, TCB said:

Our friend in Manaus, Brazil did not make it. He died this morning. I am confident he is in a place of no more suffering and death, but am so sad for his precious family. He leaves behind 12 children, 6 of whom have already lost one set of parents. So very sad.

I’m so sorry 😢 

[SanDiegoMom]

I haven't known anyone personally to get sick so I haven't added any to this thread, but just a few days ago a fb friend  (we were stationed with her family a few years back) posted that her whole family had come down with Covid.  They had seemed to recover and then she had a Covid stroke.  She is in her 40's, extremely fit (runner, pilates instructor, super healthy eating). She is in the hospital now but awake and talking. 

[Happy2BaMom]

On 1/29/2021 at 3:14 PM, Ali in OR said:

I'm so sorry to hear this. I was just reading an article about Manaus in The Economist. They were hit hard in spring and someone published a pre-print hypothesizing that they had herd immunity there (based on testing from people giving blood, but The Economist points out that's not a random sample). They wrote that 76% of people had antibodies, and it's possible that article changed people's behavior as they thought they were safe. And then the second wave hit (and I think later in the article it said that the % of people who've had it is only about 15%.) 

They’ve also just identified that a new strain has emerged in Manaus (different than the UK or SA strains). It’s also suspected to be much more contagious than the original and more deadly. 
 

TCB, my heart breaks for that family. That is a huge loss that impacts many children. 

Edited January 31, 2021 by Happy2BaMom

[popmom]

2 hours ago, SanDiegoMom said:

I haven't known anyone personally to get sick so I haven't added any to this thread, but just a few days ago a fb friend  (we were stationed with her family a few years back) posted that her whole family had come down with Covid.  They had seemed to recover and then she had a Covid stroke.  She is in her 40's, extremely fit (runner, pilates instructor, super healthy eating). She is in the hospital now but awake and talking. 

Is this person in Houston? I have a friend whose sister, early 40’s, had the same thing happen. She had recovered from COVID—weeks ago— and her children found her unconscious on the bathroom floor several days ago. She had surgery to remove the clot. I’m not sure what the prognosis is. She’s on a vent but is able to communicate “positively”. I’ve been praying for her.

Edited January 31, 2021 by popmom

[Not_a_Number]

3 hours ago, SanDiegoMom said:

I haven't known anyone personally to get sick so I haven't added any to this thread, but just a few days ago a fb friend  (we were stationed with her family a few years back) posted that her whole family had come down with Covid.  They had seemed to recover and then she had a Covid stroke.  She is in her 40's, extremely fit (runner, pilates instructor, super healthy eating). She is in the hospital now but awake and talking. 

That’s the kind of outcome I’m honestly most scared of with COVID. I’d guess there’s a pretty large number of strokes and heart attack deaths that aren’t being counted as COVID because someone just had mild symptoms and didn’t get tested...

And of course, a stroke is a problem if you don’t die, too 😕. I hope your friend recovers quickly.

[Paige]

My cousin has it. She's about 48 and high risk with some medical issues, but so far she's at home and doing well. She said that her worst symptom is shingles or something that looks just like shingles! I'm not sure if it's the covid rash or if it suppresses the immune system so that shingles can emerge. 

[cjzimmer1]

My niece just tested positive.  She had no idea she was sick and was doing the test because it was a requirement to move back into her college dorm.  The only people she has had close contact with in the last month are her boyfriend, the elderly lady she provides day care and her parents.  They've all tested negative.  Which means either one of them is asymptomatic and has a false negative or she picked up at a gas station as that's the only store she's been in.

[Lady Florida.]

I mentioned somewhere back in this thread that my niece and her family had it - her, her dh, and their 3 kids. They had fairly mild cases back in November and are all fine now. However, my niece said she still doesn't feel like her sense of taste has fully returned. The rest of the family doesn't have that issue, just her.

[SanDiegoMom]

5 hours ago, popmom said:

Is this person in Houston? I have a friend whose sister, early 40’s, had the same thing happen. She had recovered from COVID—weeks ago— and her children found her unconscious on the bathroom floor several days ago. She had surgery to remove the clot. I’m not sure what the prognosis is. She’s on a vent but is able to communicate “positively”. I’ve been praying for her.

My friend is in NC.   She is not on a vent fortunately, but I guess there is a long recovery due to whatever damage the stroke caused. 😞

[kbutton]

5 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:

That’s the kind of outcome I’m honestly most scared of with COVID. I’d guess there’s a pretty large number of strokes and heart attack deaths that aren’t being counted as COVID because someone just had mild symptoms and didn’t get tested...

And of course, a stroke is a problem if you don’t die, too 😕. I hope your friend recovers quickly.

Most of the people I know that died rallied before dying suddenly, but they were more severe cases, so it was less of a surprise. But at least two of the people were on vents and really bad but had recovered enough to start eating and need far less intensive care. Then, they took a sharp downturn and were gone quickly.

[fairfarmhand]

My dh's uncle with Covid has pneumonia. They feel they caught it early and he's in the hospital getting IV antibiotics. Still... he is 79 with diabetes, overweight with high blood pressure.

[Ali in OR]

11 hours ago, fairfarmhand said:

My dh's uncle with Covid has pneumonia. They feel they caught it early and he's in the hospital getting IV antibiotics. Still... he is 79 with diabetes, overweight with high blood pressure.

Wow, you have really had it run through your family. That's a lot to go through. I hope your uncle responds well to treatment.

[kbutton]

A local to me FB page for COVID-19 information has someone asking about eye troubles in children following COVID. The answers aren't encouraging:

One adult whose glaucoma (which they'd had a long time) became emergent, and he had to have surgery (other symptoms included looking like eyes that pink eye)

Double vision and/or loss of sight in an eye--one firsthand report and several secondhand reports; one suggestion that it's long-term.

6th nerve palsy

Itchy eyes (I think also an adult)

[ScoutTN]

My dh is almost completely back to normal, just a tiny bit of congestion.

Dd is out of quarantine, has no symptoms anymore, and retested negative.

Ds has one more day of quarantine, but has never had symptoms. 

I still have no symptoms, despite being diabetic and living in a small house with 3 positive people.

[Bambam]

3 hours ago, kbutton said:

A local to me FB page for COVID-19 information has someone asking about eye troubles in children following COVID. The answers aren't encouraging:

One adult whose glaucoma (which they'd had a long time) became emergent, and he had to have surgery (other symptoms included looking like eyes that pink eye)

Double vision and/or loss of sight in an eye--one firsthand report and several secondhand reports; one suggestion that it's long-term.

6th nerve palsy

Itchy eyes (I think also an adult)

One of our local friends (adult, mid 50s) recovered from COVID. He has lost most of the sight in one eye which the doctors are saying is due to COVID and lack of O2 for some time. He spent several nights (2?) in the standalone non-hospital associated ER (there were/are keeping COVID sufferers for several nights as needed, they aren't a hospital though). 

 

[melmichigan]

My BIL received his infusion without any problems, he is doing well.  My sister is still ill but her oxygen saturation is holding steady.  She doesn't have a sense of smell, and everything tastes off.  Her worse symptoms are GI.  My DD is being tested tomorrow.  She has sinus symptoms and she lost her senses of smell and taste this afternoon.

Edited February 4, 2021 by melmichigan

[73349]

I'm better! That is, if I take my medicine, I'm back to a normal activity level.

It took 10 months to get to this point.

I know people's effects vary widely. For me, it turns out it triggered severe environmental allergies, which is why the cough never went away even once the other lingering symptoms did (starting to improve after 3 months and pretty much gone after 6 months).

If anybody else has the same issue, what's working for me is levocetirizine + azelastine. I'm pretty sure the latter is doing the heavy lifting. Much credit to the ENT, because the allergist had me on something that didn't provide the same level of relief and the pulmonologist had had me try things that actually made it worse.

In the past few weeks, I've cleaned out the dining room, coat closet, pantry, emergency supplies, my child's wardrobe, some books and magazines, my clothes and shoes; improved some of our masks by adding nose wires and improving elastic; and relieved my husband of dishwasher and kitty litter duty... Last March through December I got nothing done except school and, with great effort, my own laundry. The difference is amazing.

[Carrie12345]

My sister has it now, but I’m not sure how much detail I’ll get. Right now, I know she’s symptomatic and my 12yo niece is not.

Dh still can’t smell after his early December case.

[melmichigan]

My DD tested positive last night, as expected with the loss of taste and smell.  So far she has mild symptoms, but that's also how my sister's case started.  My sister is still struggling, she has a good day and then a bad day.  My BIL is feeling much better since the infusion, just tired.

[Carrie12345]

My sister is on her way to the hospital at her dr’s request. I completely forgot she’s severely asthmatic!

[Starr]

5 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

My sister is on her way to the hospital at her dr’s request. I completely forgot she’s severely asthmatic!

How's she doing?

[Carrie12345]

6 hours ago, Starr said:

How's she doing?

The last update I received was a normal EKG and she was heading to a chest x-ray. Waiting for a morning update. 

[Kassia]

50 minutes ago, Carrie12345 said:

The last update I received was a normal EKG and she was heading to a chest x-ray. Waiting for a morning update. 

Hope you get some good news soon.  

[Carrie12345]

1 hour ago, Kassia said:

Hope you get some good news soon.  

Well, chest X-ray was apparently “not awful”. They’re supposedly trying to see if she qualifies for “the Covid treatment” and might need to “relieve pressure”.  On 3 different breathing treatments and blood thinners. Expected to stay admitted for “another day or two”.

Details are hard to decipher as there are mental health issues involved and everything is relayed through 1-2 other family members. 
 

I did not know, or at least didn’t remember, that copd is also involved.

[Wheres Toto]

My 26 year old daughter and her boyfriend both have it.   He lost his sense of smell and taste.  She's mainly had nasty cold symptoms - very congested, slight sore throat, tired.   She's been quarantining for about a week already but just got her positive test results a couple days ago.  She started quarantining when she started showing symptoms. 

[Not_a_Number]

1 minute ago, Wheres Toto said:

My 26 year old daughter and her boyfriend both have it.   He lost his sense of smell and taste.  She's mainly had nasty cold symptoms - very congested, slight sore throat, tired.   She's been quarantining for about a week already but just got her positive test results a couple days ago.  She started quarantining when she started showing symptoms. 

Oh no 😞 . I hope she has a mild case. Most people her age do. 

[chiguirre]

Dh's 90 yo aunt died after being hospitalized for 3 weeks. She travelled by air to visit her dd for Christmas and the whole family came down with Covid in early January. 

[Not_a_Number]

Just now, chiguirre said:

Dh's 90 yo aunt died after being hospitalized for 3 weeks. She travelled by air to visit her dd for Christmas and the whole family came down with Covid in early January. 

Oh no 😞 . I'm so sorry. 

[J-rap]

I posted here awhile back when my dd got Covid...  She had the typical symptoms (chills, fever) for a week or so, and then lost her sense of taste and smell.  Her taste and smell did return slowly over time (maybe 4 weeks?) but it took a few more weeks for the sting in her nostrils to go away.  Now it's been several months since she had it (6 or so?), but about a month ago, she began experiencing "Parosmia"  -- really strange.  Smells she normally liked before, now taste foul, like old, really bad perfume.  It starts out as a smell but then enters into her tastes too.  It's so strange, since she did go a few months after she was finally done with Covid symptoms (or so she thought) until this started up!  (She's in her 20's.)  

[Ausmumof3]

1 hour ago, J-rap said:

I posted here awhile back when my dd got Covid...  She had the typical symptoms (chills, fever) for a week or so, and then lost her sense of taste and smell.  Her taste and smell did return slowly over time (maybe 4 weeks?) but it took a few more weeks for the sting in her nostrils to go away.  Now it's been several months since she had it (6 or so?), but about a month ago, she began experiencing "Parosmia"  -- really strange.  Smells she normally liked before, now taste foul, like old, really bad perfume.  It starts out as a smell but then enters into her tastes too.  It's so strange, since she did go a few months after she was finally done with Covid symptoms (or so she thought) until this started up!  (She's in her 20's.)  

You probably already know this but zinc imbalances can cause issues with taste and smell, so it may be worth checking her levels, if you haven’t already.

[Laura Corin]

1 hour ago, J-rap said:

I posted here awhile back when my dd got Covid...  She had the typical symptoms (chills, fever) for a week or so, and then lost her sense of taste and smell.  Her taste and smell did return slowly over time (maybe 4 weeks?) but it took a few more weeks for the sting in her nostrils to go away.  Now it's been several months since she had it (6 or so?), but about a month ago, she began experiencing "Parosmia"  -- really strange.  Smells she normally liked before, now taste foul, like old, really bad perfume.  It starts out as a smell but then enters into her tastes too.  It's so strange, since she did go a few months after she was finally done with Covid symptoms (or so she thought) until this started up!  (She's in her 20's.)  

I heard an explanation of this. Most smells are made up of many elements that on their own don't necessarily smell good. When you lose the ability to smell some of the elements, the residue may be unpleasant. 

[mommyoffive]

On 2/9/2021 at 7:49 PM, chiguirre said:

Dh's 90 yo aunt died after being hospitalized for 3 weeks. She travelled by air to visit her dd for Christmas and the whole family came down with Covid in early January. 

I am so sorry for your loss. 

[Not_a_Number]

2 hours ago, J-rap said:

I posted here awhile back when my dd got Covid...  She had the typical symptoms (chills, fever) for a week or so, and then lost her sense of taste and smell.  Her taste and smell did return slowly over time (maybe 4 weeks?) but it took a few more weeks for the sting in her nostrils to go away.  Now it's been several months since she had it (6 or so?), but about a month ago, she began experiencing "Parosmia"  -- really strange.  Smells she normally liked before, now taste foul, like old, really bad perfume.  It starts out as a smell but then enters into her tastes too.  It's so strange, since she did go a few months after she was finally done with Covid symptoms (or so she thought) until this started up!  (She's in her 20's.)  

I hate this stupid disease. I hope this goes away for her soon. 

[J-rap]

3 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

You probably already know this but zinc imbalances can cause issues with taste and smell, so it may be worth checking her levels, if you haven’t already.

I didn't know that...  I'll pass that on to her!

[J-rap]

3 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

I heard an explanation of this. Most smells are made up of many elements that on their own don't necessarily smell good. When you lose the ability to smell some of the elements, the residue may be unpleasant. 

I've been reading explanations on it, but this one is the clearest one yet.  Thanks.  That makes sense.  

[J-rap]

2 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:

I hate this stupid disease. I hope this goes away for her soon. 

Yeah, it's a minor symptom compared to others, but still not pleasant.

[Bootsie]

DD just flew back to Austria (from Texas) where she is in grad school.  She had to have a negative test (not a rapid test) with the sample collected no more than 72 hours before boarding her flight.  She was concerned about turn-around times in testing so she had two tests at two different locations, hoping that she would get the results back in time--she did and both came back negative.  Then, she also had to have a negative rapid test when boarding the flight.

She arrived in Austria on Sunday.  She has to quarantine at her apartment.  She said that the police showed up at her apartment today to see if she was there.  

[Mrs Tiggywinkle]

On 2/16/2021 at 8:47 PM, J-rap said:

I've been reading explanations on it, but this one is the clearest one yet.  Thanks.  That makes sense.  

I’ve been dealing with this. It makes sense.

It is annoying but really difficult. Both eating and smelling, because everything tastes bad as well.

[Not_a_Number]

30 minutes ago, Plum said:

Not a member of the lucky 1/3. 

Daniel Griffin wasn’t sure what to expect when his patients with chronic COVID-19 symptoms started getting vaccinated. There was some concern that the shots might make things worse by triggering the immune system. Luckily, the opposite seemed to be true. 

“I started getting texts and calls from some of my colleagues saying hey, are your patients with long COVID reporting that they’re feeling better after the vaccine?” says Griffin, an infectious diseases clinician and researcher at Columbia University. When he started talking with patients, he saw that they were. “It’s not 100 percent, but it does seem like to be around a third,” he says. 

https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/2/22308965/covid-vaccine-shots-symptoms-improve-chronic-long-haulers

I'd be curious if they are tracking this. It seems like some people feel better and some feel worse, and it's not clear why or who is going to be who. 

[ktgrok]

And my neighbor now has Covid. Well, she moved out of into an apartment with kids, but is back and forth to do laundry and such, so sort of still my neighbor? She posted yesterday morning about being annoyed because on monday the school sent her daughter home for a fever, and she says that the daughter is just sunburned, hence the higher skin temp. And on Tuesday they wouldn't let her back without a negative covid test, so she had to take her to get a rapid test (negative) and how this is all crazy. Then, later yesterday, a few hours after complaining about how screening is too rigorous, my neighbor, not the daughter, tested positive for Covid. AFTER getting the school to take the kid back because kicked up a fuss. After attending a big concert at a mega church a few days before. Etc etc.

[popmom]

I’m sick. 

Dh and I went on our first official outing since the pandemic started. I have been so, so careful. The outing was my idea. We went to an RV show. It was in a huge convention center so huge open space, they took temps before admission, everyone was masked. We socially distanced. It wasn’t crowded. We didn’t spend more than 4 or 5 minutes at the most in any one motorhome. Probably not that long. We were there about 2 hours. We also went to a restaurant afterwards and ate indoors which is also a first since this started. We were the only people there until about the time we were leaving. A couple of people were in and out for take out. This was Saturday. Monday evening I didn’t feel great— tired, muscles aches—so went to bed early. Similar last night. I have CFS/ME, so this isn’t unheard of for me. Again today I was fine until about 4 pm. Started getting the same fatigue and muscles aches. I went to bed about 6. Then GI symptoms started. First D, then nausea, and I was violently ill once )praying that’s it. I took a Zofran afterwards). I have no respiratory symptoms, but norovirus isn’t a thing this year, is it??? My temp is 99-99.3. 

Im scared tbh. I have no idea what to expect. GI symptoms are associated with severe illness apparently. 

It felt so good to get out. 😢 Don’t do it. I let the February cabin fever get the best of me. 

[mommyoffive]

46 minutes ago, popmom said:

I’m sick. 

Dh and I went on our first official outing since the pandemic started. I have been so, so careful. The outing was my idea. We went to an RV show. It was in a huge convention center so huge open space, they took temps before admission, everyone was masked. We socially distanced. It wasn’t crowded. We didn’t spend more than 4 or 5 minutes at the most in any one motorhome. Probably not that long. We were there about 2 hours. We also went to a restaurant afterwards and ate indoors which is also a first since this started. We were the only people there until about the time we were leaving. A couple of people were in and out for take out. This was Saturday. Monday evening I didn’t feel great— tired, muscles aches—so went to bed early. Similar last night. I have CFS/ME, so this isn’t unheard of for me. Again today I was fine until about 4 pm. Started getting the same fatigue and muscles aches. I went to bed about 6. Then GI symptoms started. First D, then nausea, and I was violently ill once )praying that’s it. I took a Zofran afterwards). I have no respiratory symptoms, but norovirus isn’t a thing this year, is it??? My temp is 99-99.3. 

Im scared tbh. I have no idea what to expect. GI symptoms are associated with severe illness apparently. 

It felt so good to get out. 😢 Don’t do it. I let the February cabin fever get the best of me. 

Sending lots of good thoughts your way.  I hope you feel better soon and that it isn't Covid.

[Ausmumof3]

2 hours ago, popmom said:

I’m sick. 

Dh and I went on our first official outing since the pandemic started. I have been so, so careful. The outing was my idea. We went to an RV show. It was in a huge convention center so huge open space, they took temps before admission, everyone was masked. We socially distanced. It wasn’t crowded. We didn’t spend more than 4 or 5 minutes at the most in any one motorhome. Probably not that long. We were there about 2 hours. We also went to a restaurant afterwards and ate indoors which is also a first since this started. We were the only people there until about the time we were leaving. A couple of people were in and out for take out. This was Saturday. Monday evening I didn’t feel great— tired, muscles aches—so went to bed early. Similar last night. I have CFS/ME, so this isn’t unheard of for me. Again today I was fine until about 4 pm. Started getting the same fatigue and muscles aches. I went to bed about 6. Then GI symptoms started. First D, then nausea, and I was violently ill once )praying that’s it. I took a Zofran afterwards). I have no respiratory symptoms, but norovirus isn’t a thing this year, is it??? My temp is 99-99.3. 

Im scared tbh. I have no idea what to expect. GI symptoms are associated with severe illness apparently. 

It felt so good to get out. 😢 Don’t do it. I let the February cabin fever get the best of me. 

Hoping for the best for you.  We have relaxed a lot because Covid quarantine seems to be working here but I’ve noticed we keep getting sick with average colds etc.  hopefully maybe that’s all it is for you 😞 

[popmom]

Right now I’m hoping for a UTI. The past couple of hours my fever is up to 100.2, I’m weirdly aware of my bladder, a little achey in the area, and I feel like I need to go but my bladder is nowhere close to full. 

I broke down and took Tylenol cause I cannot sleep. UTI is probably wishful thinking. Kinda doubt UTI causes all these muscle aches. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

15 minutes ago, popmom said:

Right now I’m hoping for a UTI. The past couple of hours my fever is up to 100.2, I’m weirdly aware of my bladder, a little achey in the area, and I feel like I need to go but my bladder is nowhere close to full. 

I broke down and took Tylenol cause I cannot sleep. UTI is probably wishful thinking. Kinda doubt UTI causes all these muscle aches. 

You need to be checked out. For a UTI as well as Covid. A UTI can progress to a kidney infection if untreated. 

[popmom]

6 hours ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

You need to be checked out. For a UTI as well as Covid. A UTI can progress to a kidney infection if untreated. 

I’m definitely getting it checked out. My sister texted me this morning and said her son has a stomach virus. She said she’s heard it’s going around. I’m still getting tested for COVID because I still have fever of 100.8 this morning. 

We’ve all been relying a lot on alcohol sanitizer. My understanding is that alcohol doesn’t kill norovirus. Just no substitute for hand washing really. 

Edited March 4, 2021 by popmom

[Not_a_Number]

6 minutes ago, popmom said:

I’m definitely getting it checked out. My sister texted me this morning and said her son has a stomach virus. She said she’s heard it’s going around. I’m still getting tested for COVID because I still have fever of 100.8 this morning. 

We’ve all been relying a lot on alcohol sanitizer. My understanding is that alcohol doesn’t kill norovirus. Just no substitute for hand washing really. 

Hopefully it's just a stomach bug. Which would suck, but at least better than COVID.