This replaces my previous post of 24 Sept, "One Week," to consolidate an accounting of my entire experience between testing positive and testing negative.
I wanted to document the timeline of my symptoms throughout my COVID infection...
Day 0: had an itchy throat all day that felt like allergies or the beginning of a cold
Day 1: tested positive, had minor cough and congestion I treated with cold medicine; this was the one day I felt slightly drained and mostly spent the day on the couch
Day 2: same symptoms, treated with cold medicine; otherwise had regular energy levels, etc.
Day 3: same symptoms, didn't take any medicine until bedtime; senses of taste and smell felt blunted
Day 4: same symptoms but completely lost sense of smell and taste; took Benadryl in the afternoon for congestion and ended up taking a hard nap for a couple hours
Day 5: less congested feeling and voice felt less hoarse/froggy but still a bit nasal; still had no smell or taste, which was a really upsetting feeling
Day 6: same symptoms, treated with cold medicine; smell and taste slightly improved, able to catch a whiff of heavily scented items; headache started in the evening. This was the first day I could start re-testing for negativity, but my test came up positive and looked the same as my first positive test
Day 7: laid up with a headache most of the day, otherwise same symptoms, treated with cold medicine
Day 8: same symptoms, treated with cold medicine; took another home test that looked just as positive as the first two
For comparison, my husband was 2 days ahead of me, tested strongly positive right away, had more severe symptoms, took an antiviral regimen and was basically back to normal at this point except for an occasional cough. He got a faint positive test on his day 8. On his day 10 he got his first fully clear test.
At this point I felt like I wasn't making any progress. Everyone was asking how I felt, and I basically felt the same as I'd been the whole time - I had an annoying drip starting from my nose that caused me to cough and clear my throat frequently. I never got a fever. My tests were equally positive looking this whole time. I just tried to be patient, take it easy, and hoped for better results by day 10...
Day 9: felt a little more achy throughout the day, kept myself medicated with Dayquil and NyQuil
Day 10: slept well, woke up feeling good, took an afternoon rest/nap, was happy to be able to smell more things! Finally got a negative home test this evening, along with my husband!
Day 11: felt fine all day except an occasional throat clear; took an afternoon rest/nap
Day 12: felt fine all day except an occasional throat clear or cough; did an afternoon errand, took an afternoon rest/nap; got a second negative home test 48 hours after the first, confirming lack of contagiousness
Day 13: cleared throat throughout the day, went to a morning appointment, took an afternoon rest/nap
Day 14: cleared throat throughout the day, had a busy day with lots of talking, slightly hoarse by end of day
Now that I have a full 2 weeks down, and 2 negative tests under my belt, I think I'm going to stop recording my symptoms daily unless something dramatically changes or gets worse. I'm not sure if it was COVID related or a regular migraine that I get frequently, but I feel like the headache I got on Day 7 really set back my progress by a couple days.
I've also heard a theory that people develop "long COVID" when they try to do too much too soon, and that you should really rest and just be a couch potato for 6-8 weeks to help avoid this. I've definitely been doing more this week, but not anything crazy or strenuous. I'm definitely not just intentionally exercising or even going for walks like I usually try to do a few days per week. I've been trying to schedule an afternoon nap instead of an afternoon walk, actually. Some days while working from home I would just take a rest in the afternoons, but I am actually falling asleep and having a little power nap now during this time, so I think my body really needs it.
Fingers crossed that I stay on this trajectory and continue improving 🤞 We can't get the new booster vaccine for 3 months, and many people are getting reinfected with the Omicron variant in a matter of weeks, so our goal is just to stay healthy until we're able to get boosted.
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