A day by day diary account of my Coronavirus symptoms
2020 has been quite a year. I don't think anyone in the world could have imagined or predicted how our lives would literally be turned upside in just a few short months. The consequences have been catastrophic and the effects felt worldwide. Many lives have been lost, jobs have disappeared and the economy taken a battering.
At the time of writing this (December 2020) we are currently experiencing another wave of the CoronaVirus and this time they are saying there is a new strain that's sweeping through the UK and indeed has been detected around the world.
We've already experienced lockdowns and despite a slight loosening of the reins for a few months, it's time to batten down the hatches and lockdown once again. The advice is always the same STAY HOME, SAVE LIVES. One of the slogans has been Hands. Face. Space - Wash hands, cover your face with a mask, leave space.
I did all of these things that were asked of me. I followed the rules, I followed the law and yet in mid November I caught Coronavirus.
What follows below is my experience of Coronavirus - please keep in mind your experience may very well be different.
I believe the source was my 12 year old son who was going to school. He literally only went outside to catch the bus to school and went to school and back.
My son takes a Covid Test on Monday evening. On the Tuesday we get confirmation he's tested positive.
Government literature states
If you have any coronavirus symptoms:
- a high temperature
- a new, continuous cough
- a loss of, or change to, your sense of smell or taste
Get a test and stay at home
Monday 16th November 2020
Through the night I keep swallowing with the feeling that there is a lump in my throat.
Tuesday 17th November 2020
I wake up with the feeling I have a head cold. I have a headache and sore throat. I have pain in my eyes. I also suffer with aches and pains in my body. I have hot and cold spells. I check my temperature. It is slightly raised but not to the 38 degrees that was mentioned at various points. I don't sleep. I have an anxious stomach and experience night sweats.
Wednesday 18th November 2020
I'm tired today. I keep falling asleep. I feel hot and cold all day. I have a headache. As we have someone in the house that's tested positive I am able to book a Covid 19 test. I go at lunchtime. I feel quite unwell. Late in the evening I become aware I've lost my sense of smell. I have night sweats.
Thursday 19th November 2020
I have all the same symptoms as yesterday but in addition I have a slightly blocked nose. I have absolutely no sense of smell. My taste buds have gone funny - sweet things taste bitter. Things I like do not taste how I remember them. I have night sweats.
Friday 20th November 2020
I wake up to an email telling me that I've tested positive for Covid. I have all the same symptoms still but today I have a very slight cough. I take in the news I have the virus that has been taking people's lives and strangely I don't feel too worried. I share my news with twitter and am slightly alarmed when people reply with 'I hope you recover.' I am 43 years old. I exercise daily. I eat reasonably well and I've been taking a Vitamin D supplement which some studies have said could be beneficial in the fight against Coronavirus. I sweat overnight.
Saturday 21st November 2020
On waking I feel brighter. I feel like I am on the road to recovery. I still feel tired and need to sleep on and off throughout the day. It's very obvious that I am not better as I feel exhausted if I exert myself. I have absolutely no smell - I spray a very strong perfume as a test. Nothing. I have a headache still and the eye pain is still there but not as severe. My cough has gone. I am still having night sweats.
Sunday 22nd November 2020
I feel even stronger today, I almost bound down the stairs first thing and manage to sit through a lovely Christmas film by Dolly Parton - Christmas on the Square. I'm still feeling tired however I manage not to succumb to a nap. No headache. No aches and pains. No eye pain. Hurrah! But still no sense of smell and taste.
Monday 23rd November 2020
No night sweats. One afternoon nap. Still no sense of smell and food just tastes bland or really salty!
Tuesday 24th November 2020
I think the night sweats have finally departed. I feel a little tired in the morning but that's probably because my sleep was disturbed by my husband having a night sweat! Good news... About 5% of my smell has returned. I seem to also be able to taste a bit of my food and the normal flavour of it.
Wednesday 25th November 2020
Same as Tuesday...
Thursday 26th November 2020
Very slight cough. Slightly more taste returning and I can smell the perfume when I first spray it but it's very feint and disappears quickly.
Friday 27th November 2020
My sense of smell is stronger than yesterday. I can officially and legally leave the house! And I do. A leisurely walk to the shop to pick up some supplies.
Saturday 28th November 2020
My taste buds have almost completely recovered. Smell is not quite there yet.
Sunday 29th November 2020
My taste is back! Smell is not fully returned but I can smell some things :) My energy levels are good but I'm not sure I can walk 10,000 steps like I did pre getting Coronavirus. I go to the shops and back for some fresh air and exercise, on the way back my breathing becomes laboured.
Also ... today I achieve my goal - I finish writing 50,000 words of a new novel in November for NanoWrimo. I'd pledged to take part not knowing what the month was going to bring me. I don't know how I did it with Covid, but I did. Go me!
Monday 30th November 2020
A rest day. It's been exhausting getting to this point. I've had Covid. My son's had Covid. My 4 year old has been isolating with us. My H has been working througout.
Tuesday 1st December 2020
Back to school for the littlest. I manage 9,000 steps.
Wednesday 2nd December 2020
I walk 10,000 steps
Thursday 3rd December 2020
Although my sense of smell hasn't fully returned, i'm guessing I've got about 70% back... I am feeling fine otherwise.
I stop keeping a diary of how I am feeling.
Final thoughts
I'm one of the lucky ones, I've had it relatively mild. I never really got the classic symptoms of Covid and if it hadn't had been for my son and his positive test I might very well have thought it something else. I do lose my sense of smell when I have sinus problems ...
At the time of writing we've just been told by scientists and Boris Johnson that there is a new strain. I wonder if this is what I have had? Apparently It's been sweeping through Kent, Essex and London. Before we got ill we could count on our fingers how many people we actually knew who had had it. A couple of weeks after we had our bout of Covid I'm hearing of so many people who are testing positive. It's taking hold in schools, with whole classes and year groups having to isolate.
I don't know what 2021 holds but with vaccines emerging and indeed already beginning to be administered, we as a world are hopeful we can put this nightmare behind us and go back to our old normal way of life.