I've had what I believe to be Covid-19 (spoken with my GP and a friend is a District Nursing Sister who heads my local coronavirus response team)
These are some of the posts I put on my FB in the past two weeks, hopefully they will be of use if you're looking for symptoms and unsure. Please bear in mind many people are asymptomatic carriers of this virus and also that without being serious enough to be admitted to hospital I cannot get tested etc...
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So, erm, didn't know whether to post something like this or not but maybe it will be of use;
Two weeks ago, we were all told to self isolate for 7days if we had a cough/fever, and quarantine our families for 14days if a member of the household had a cough/fever.
Last Friday - My son arrived for the weekend with a persistent dry cough. Am told by his mother he's been coughing all week. Decide to isolate us both for the weekend and stay indoors. I even cancelled a planned fishing trip on Tuesday just incase.
Saturday - My son wakes up during the night dripping in sweat.
Sunday - My son goes home, still with his persistent dry cough. I update his mother of illness and advise keeping him away from grandparents.
Monday - I start with a slight dry throat and cancel a meeting with Denbighshire Council just incase, based on my son's cough.
Tuesday - Still just a dry throat. Not sure if I was over reacting by cancelling fishing, but my mate is 68 with asthma. Ask how my son is and and told he's fine.
Wednesday - Noticeably high temperature. Slight occasional cough. Stop going to shops etc and only go outside for walks in open areas.
Thursday - Fever. Sudden bouts of real sweating, very high temperature. Breathless from doing simple tasks. Ask about son again and get told they've had no symptoms at their house (?!) but her partner living there has had "pneumonia" in the last month or so. Pneumonia is caused by Covid-19
Friday - Slight temperature. Persistent dry coughing, chest feels tight and breathing is shorter. Feels different today, can't put my finger on it but just groggy.
Today - Woken up much later than normal feeling exhausted. Feel like I've got someone sat on my chest and it's an effort to breathe. Genuinely begining to get concerned now.
I've followed the guidance as much as possible, but I admit I have been guilty of not taking this as seriously as the Government and the experts have been advising. Now I may just have a version of the flu or something minor, and I'm relatively healthy and not "at risk" but hindsight is a wonderful thing. People are spreading Covid-19 by not following what the experts are telling us. A District Nursing Sister told me yesterday that the NHS is already on it's knees and cannot cope, yet we are only at the start of this outbreak.
Please, help all your friends, relatives, loved ones and those putting their own lives on the line for us by taking precautions and isolating over the small things JUST INCASE. By the time you actually start to feel ill, you could have passed it on to dozens of people.
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Bit of an update:
So overnight Friday this went from being a light, persistent dry cough to an odd, heavy feeling in my chest with a deep chesty cough.
Saturday was the first day where I started to get a little concerned, as in the morning I woke up late and was absolutely shattered. As the day progressed, each breath was an effort and some were actually painful. The deep cough started bringing up dark, thick mucus and the coughing left me gasping for breath for minutes afterwards. Couldn't sleep at all.
Sunday - Chest really tight, gasping for breath whenever my heart rate rises. Decided it was now time to call NHS 111 for advice as it is over 5 days since exposure. On hold for 30mins, on hold for 45mins. Decided others will need the service more. Very grateful to friends dropping off supplies, took 2 bags of shopping upstairs (after disinfecting all door handles etc!) and the effort left me properly gasping for breath for about 20mins. Soooo tired! Nurse friend advises constantly having hot drinks, so did that all day and lay on the sofa with a hot water bottle on my chest which really seemed to ease things, plus doing breathing exercises to inflate my lungs. After dark, went for a small walk around the field and along the river just to get some fresh air which absolutely ruined me!
Today - Incredibly tired and chest really tight again. Lot more mucus this morning and maybe 1 in 10 breaths is sore. Can really see how this will effect older people! This is now 7 days since the start of my symptoms, and 10 days since I was first exposed to the virus.
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And then... it was gone!
Monday - Incredibly tired and chest really tight again. Lot more mucus coming up and maybe 1 in 10 breaths was sore. Kept taking hot drinks, doing breathing exercises and lying with a hot water bottle on my chest.
Tuesday - Breathing no longer sore, chest easing. Still occasional deep cough with mucus but no gasping afterwards. Tired and groggy but not totally exhausted like I was.
Today - No real cough at all this morning. Feeling much more alert and healthy, just a sore throat and quite hoarse. Will keep doing the breathing exercises, resting and staying warm for the remainder of the week but it very much looks as though this has passed now.
