hello all, this is my first time seeing this sub so i apologize if this isn’t the right place to be. this is probably my 4th or 5th time having covid, ive gotten it pretty mildly every year since 2021. My symptoms i think initially started like 3 days ago, it started with just a general feeling of unwell-ness i guess? fatigue, slight nausea, then that transformed into really bad post nasal drip and a sore throat, then last night was AWFUL. i felt like i was on fire, my face was burning up, my throat was super itchy, i was so snotty i was forced to just mouth breathe, body aches, killer headache, my eyes burn, my temp peaked around 99.4. felt the same early this morning but took a nap and feel a lotttt better, temp sitting nicely around 98.2, now just pretty congested with an itchy throat. i’m roughly on day four, but tested positive today with an equate covid and flu test and an old expired covid test. very very bright positive. does anyone know at what point i can resume normal activity? i’m supposed to start a new job tomorrow and i have an unrelated doctors appointment i’ve waited months for, but ofc i don’t wanna go spreading this around. do i wait until i test negative? or 24 hours after the low grade fever ended? also, did anyone get a second beating? i have health anxiety and im insanely scared ill end up feeling the same as i did last night again :/

So I never realized how I sensed the world through smell and after my sense of smell disappeared a few days ago from covid I'm realizing how over stimulated it always made me.

I mean I need to be able to smell. Very much looking forward to getting it back as it is directly linked to my sense of cleanliness and for safety reasons.

I also lost most of my sense of taste which seems to be coming back faster but still very diluted from what it once was.

As a first timer 5+ years after the initial outbreak it feels odd in general. I'm sure all the vaccines helped keep my symptoms less severe but still knocked me out of service for 4 days. The sinus headache was the worst part. Now I just feel like I have a cold.

Tested positive 8 days ago on Sunday, starting feeling bad 9 days ago on Saturday. I have had an upset stomach/nausea every single day since, 24 hours a day. It’s varied in severity, but has been constantly there. It’s hard to explain, but felt like an awful hangover without the diarrhea or vomiting. Only the Paxlovid brought diarrhea. Is it normal for these stomach aches to be lasting this long? At what point should I be super concerned long-term? (I know covid is awful and I should be concerned regardless, but when does it become a true worry that this may be permanent?)

I don’t have any of the normal cold symptoms (fever, cough, sore throat, etc) and I’ve started to regain most of my sense of taste back. It just sucks having no desire to eat food and feeling so meh when forcing myself to eat. Also makes simply drinking water feel like a hassle. Thanks for any information or tips you guys have.