Back in October 2019, I got really sick. I mean REALLY sick. It started a few hours before bed. My wife and I were relaxing and I just started feeling off. It came on pretty suddenly, but I didn’t think much of it. A few hours later, I woke up in a puddle of my own sweat and felt so freezing cold that it was near impossible to fall back asleep. I was up every hour on the hour with freezing cold sweats, severe nausea, and completely miserable.
I called into work that day for the first time in over six years. And then I was sick for the next 9 days.
Luckily, the symptoms got much better in days 2-9, but it was easily one of the worst illnesses I’ve ever been through in my life.
Fast forward to today, 6 months later. COVID-19 has exploded. People are sick, people are dying, and millions are out of work. It was deemed a pandemic on March 11, but rumors are flying that this virus was around long before officials would have us believe.
So, it makes me wonder, what exactly did I have back in October?
As much as I would love to know, I probably never will. But guess what? In March of this year, I got sick AGAIN.
Was it Coronavirus? I think it may have been, but can’t say for sure. So, why don’t you be the judge? Here is the breakdown of my symptoms:
Day 1 – Wednesday, March 18th: Woke up with an elevated pulse, nausea, fever of 101, cough, headache, and generally sore and achy everywhere. It got progressively worse throughout the day. By nighttime, I was fully drained and in pretty rough shape.
Day 2 – Thursday, March 19th: Symptoms were much better, but I still had a fever. At that point I called my doctor to be safe. He advised that they were not testing in mild cases (I’m 36 years old and healthy) and told me to stay on 14-day isolation. He said as long as my symptoms did not get worse, the virus would pass. He said to take Tylenol, if needed, and watch out for any increase in symptoms, including shortness of breath.
Day 3 – Friday, March 20th: Felt really good and no more fever. Stayed physically active with walking, foam rolling.
Day 4 – Saturday, March 21th: Still feeling good, about 85%.Felt so good, in fact, that I got back to weight lifting after taking a few days off. Big mistake.
Day 5 – Sunday, March 22nd: Still feeling good, but I could tell that my body was just off. I was feeling better but by no means 100%. Weight lifted again today too because I just couldn’t help myself.
Day 6 – Monday, March 23rd: Suffered a major regression. Back to being fully sick. Had fever chills but no fever, but had a brand-new symptom: no sense of smell or taste. And that lasted for about 4 days, which was a total bummer. Intense headache also.
Day 7 – Tuesday, March 24th: Feeling better but still headache, body aching, sense of smell/taste still gone.
Day 8 – Wednesday, March 25th: Symptoms at this point were very mild, but after a full week of being sick, I wasn’t taking any chances. Resting my body fully, not lifting weights, but staying active with walking, stretching, etc.
Day 9-12 – March 26th-29th: From Day 9 on, symptoms were extremely mild, aside from the lost sense of taste, which FINALLY came back on Day 11, March 28th. At that point, I ate pretty much EVERYTHING in the house (see my EPIC diet journal entry below).
Day 13 – Monday, March 30th: Finally feeling 100%! And been perfectly fine ever since.
Overall, the sickness was pretty rough, but nothing worse than a bad cold or mild flu. I only had a fever for the first two days. I was never out of it to the point where I couldn’t live my normal life or work from home. The full body aching, headaches and lost sense of taste were the worst symptoms. If what I had was COVID-19, I can say anecdotally that it sucks, but it’s really nothing to worry about.
That said, my heart goes out to all of the people who are suffering more severely from this crisis. I hope that sharing my experience can in some way benefit anyone out there who is nervous that they may get sick or have some idea of what to expect if they do. Regardless if we are sick or not, we should ALL do our part to stop the spread of this virus and hopefully this will all be over very soon.
COVID-19 has affected us all – whether it’s our health, jobs, businesses, or personal relationships, but I know 100% that WE WILL GET THROUGH THIS. So, hang in there everybody, this storm will pass. HOPE can spread faster than FEAR as long as we all keep supporting one another. So, be good to yourself and be good to others. Thanks for reading and make wise choices!!
To listen to the podcast I recorded regarding this article, check out Wise-Eats.com/Episode21
Wes
I really enjoy your reads…need to tell you more often!
Love you 😘
Thanks! Appreciate the comment 🙂 Love you too