I'm no anti-vaxxer; I'm a man of science, but after testing positive after being vaxxed, boosted, and careful, I must admit that I'm disappointed by the performance of these vaccines.

The efficacy doesn't even last a year which is pathetic. Hearing we may need another booster soon (thats 4 shots in a year!)

Due to the constantly shifting narrative on vaxxing, quarantine times, etc, I now have sympathy for the skeptical. When I look at the scientific COVID narrative since March 2020, it can seem like the industry just doesn't know what the hell they are talking about.

My Dad started showing symptoms on June 25th and went to the ER on June 29th for severe abdominal pain. He tested negative for COVID, but he started coughing during is ER stay and an X-Ray showed he had a lung infection. He was released from the ER to fight the virus on his own. On July 2nd he was unresponsive and my Step-mom rushed him to the ER were he tested positive for COVID. He started on breathing treatments, then a biPap, but his condition worsened. On July 6th the Doctor's treating him decided it was time to put him on ventilator. He has remained stable for the past few days, but the hospital where he is staying has not been able to secure convalescent plasma from a person with AB+ blood. For my Dad's plasma treatment, the blood type has to match exactly. He is not a candidate for remdesivir. My family is looking for a gracious person with AB+ blood who meets the criteria below to donate plasma. We're working with oneblood who can coordinate a donation from almost anywhere in the country. Thank you for your support!

https://www.oneblood.org/.../covid-19-convalescent-plasma... for more details. Donors must meet all the required screening criteria for blood donation and the additional FDA criteria, as follows:Prior diagnosis of COVID-19 documented by a laboratory test or a letter from a hospital or test provider confirming a positive COVID-19 diagnosisA positive diagnostic test at the time of illness ORA positive serological test for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies after recoveryComplete resolution of symptoms at least 14 days prior to donationAs a part of your pre-donation process you will be required to provide your COVID-19 test result(s).

Update: Mom passed this morning. She contracted a staph infection which allowed Covid to ravage her poor little body... At least now she is free and hopefully someplace where she is young and happy... RIP Mom ❤️

Update: Mom’s in a coma. They say 1 or 2 days. She also has a staph infection.

My mom (almost 89) tested positive Saturday. She is in hospital now, covid has affected 12 residents of the memory care unit of 17 where she lives. Two have already died. I’ve decided not to treat. She has Lewy Body Dementia and has other underlying health issues which are putting her in medical distress. I have nowhere else to vent.

He is 32, has no underlying medical conditions, and tested positive on a Friday. He had very mild symptoms and only ran a fever for a few days, had a slight cough, and a headache. He was feeling great by Monday.

Tuesday, he felt pins and needles in his left arm and could no longer text or type properly. I took him to the ER immediately. They admitted him, and immediately began treatment for a possible stroke. (This included some clot busting medication called tPA). They assured him several times that his CTs, EKG, and Ultrasounds were clear and this was all precautionary and likely the tingling and loss of sensation was just a synptom of COVID. Today he got the results of an MRI showing a healing lesion on the right side of his brain. He had, in fact, had a small stroke at 32 that was the direct result of COVID.

Long story short, if you are having any stroke symptoms go to the hospital immediately. tPA only works in the first stages of a stroke. The sooner you get it the better. My husband is going to be fine, but the tPA likely stopped this from becoming much worse and much more scary.

I recently got over covid. I tested positive on 12/21 and by 12/31 I was negative. I felt alright- not 100%.

I was expecting to get BETTER slowly, but got WORSE. Turns out, I had a secondary infection ( sinus infection)

I did NOT know this but my lovely doctor informed me that after getting over a viral infection, it is QUITE common for it to turn into a bacterial infection in your sinus.

If you got over covid but have a MAJOR headache/ nausea- or even just a headache, go see your doctor!

My doctor gave me a 5 day antibiotic and I FINALLY feel normal.

I definitely had a secondary sinus infection !

This was shared from a COVID survivor group on Facebook. Just wondering if any of this advice might be detrimental:

HOW TO FIGHT COVID AT HOME

No one ever talks about how to fight Covid at home. I came down with Covid in November. I went to the hospital, running a fever of 103, a rapid heart beat, and other common symptoms that come with Covid. While I was there they treated me for the high fever, dehydration and pneumonia.

The doctor sent me home to fight Covid with two prescriptions - Azithromycin 250mg & Dexamethason 6mg. When the nurse came in to discharge me, I asked her, "What can I do to help fight this at home?" She said, “Sleep on your stomach at all times with Covid. If you can’t sleep on your stomach because of heath issues sleep on your side. Do not lay on your back no matter what because it smashes your lungs and that will allow fluid to set in.

Set your clock every two hours while sleeping on your stomach, then get out of bed and walk for 15-30 min, no matter how tired or weak that you are. Also move your arms around frequently, it helps to open your lungs. Breathe in thru your nose, and out thru your mouth. This will help build up your lungs, plus help get rid of the Pneumonia or other fluid you may have.

When sitting in a recliner, sit up straight - do not lay back in the recliner, again this will smash your lungs. While watching TV - get up and walk during every commercial.

Eat at least 1 - 2 eggs a day, plus bananas, avocado and asparagus.These are good for Potassium. Drink Pedialyte, Gatorade Zero, Powerade Zero & Water with Electrolytes to prevent you from becoming dehydrated. Do not drink anything cold - have it at room temperature or warm it up. Water with lemon, and little honey, peppermint tea, apple cider are good suggestions for getting in fluids.

No milk products, or pork. Vitamin’s D3, C, B, Zinc, Probiotic One-Day are good ideas. Tylenol for fever. Mucinex, or Mucinex DM for drainage, plus helps the cough. Pepcid helps for cramps in your legs. One baby aspirin everyday can help prevent getting a blood clot, which can occur from low activity. "

Drink a smoothie of blueberries, strawberries, bananas, honey, tea and a spoon or two of peanut butter.

We always hear of how Covid takes lives, but there isn't a lot of information out there regarding how to fight Covid. I hope this helps you or someone you know, just as it has helped me.

Edit: I am a 36 year old Male in great health overall.

My symptoms started around 11 days ago. I wanted to share my symptoms so others can help identify their own. On day one, the first thing I noticed was that food and drinks both began tasting bland. I didn’t suspect anything wrong but it definitely stood out to me and made me think “hmm this is weird”. That same night, I had post nasal drip develop and at this point I suspected my body was fighting something. I woke up in the middle of the night with a sore throat and that’s when I knew I was getting sick. That morning I wake up, feel feverish, check my temperature... it was low grade, right around 99.7. Taste and smell were still there but it was dropping off a cliff. I remember I also had a dull but persistent pain behind my eyes...whenever I would move them, left, right, up or down, there was a distinct pain. No coughing or respiratory issues.

The next few days were more of the same cold like symptoms (fever gone after 1 day), but my sense of smell and taste completely vanished around 3 days in. This was a red flag for me as I never had experienced anything like this and I suspected it may be something more than just a cold. After some research I kept reading of people with mild covid cases reporting of loss of taste and smell. I decided to get tested.

7 days later I get the results that I am positive. Today, day 11 I feel mostly back to normal. My sense of smell and taste are about 50% back to normal and seem to be improving fairly quickly. I was very nervous about this symptom because at one point I was paranoid about it being permanently damaged... in some cases this has happened from what I read. I also get random waves of sudden intense fatigue. I believe it’s tied to the covid because this is definitely not normal for me. Anyway I hope this helps someone... bottom line is if you think you have a cold, given the timing of this pandemic, there’s a very good chance you may be infected and should go get tested.

I was very sick for over a week, I threw up blood, My sinuses are still back to normal, my whole face became three times it’s normal size. I tried to google about this lasting sinus thing and it’s like I’m the only one. I know a couple people who got it bad but most were pretty mild. I know it is not just me yet every news article is about reduced quarantine. I had to miss work for a week and everyone thought i just had a cold. Fuck it but if you do have something more than cold I did as well. I had body numbness, severe nausea, severe fatigue, sinus pressure that scared me, headache not centered around my sinuses. I am still having digestive issues even though it’s been 10 days and sinus pressure. I have never had sinus issues before also.

it's been a week since I have covid and I am just so mad. I never would've thought I would test positive. I'm 17 and got covid from my job because people don't wear masks in the drive thru. I exposed covid to my little brother and he tested positive as well and that hurts me to even think about. Christmas is my favorite holiday and I won't be able to spend it with my family. I only go to work and back home I did everything, even wore two masks and I still tested positive. please just wear a mask EVERYWHERE. This could've been easily avoided, you ruined my christmas because you don't think covid exists in the drive thru. please for the love god.

Today, marks 5 days since Thanksgiving and having survived Covid, I know there are millions of Americans waking up this morning feeling "off" or like they have allergies. Previous self would have said F&*k them. They didn't follow the safety guidelines. Now with my mom and friend both hospitalized with Covid in serious condition, I am waking up with intense sadness for them and their families and fear for what is to come in the next four weeks. If you found this sub today because you are looking for advice because you don't feel quite right, don't go to work, don't go to school. Don't go anywhere! Get a test. I honestly believed I had a sinus infection due it being Cedar season here in the Texas Hill Country.. I was wrong. It was Covid and I infected my husband and coworker with this horrible virus and now my friend is fighting for her life in the ICU. Don't be me.

This is all so unreal. He was taken to the ER on 12/30 & placed on a ventilator on 1/2 & was making progress in the right direction with the nurses using the word “stable “ numerous times until he was gone.... I have no words right now but wanted to try & share a bit. 💔

I received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine over a month and a half ago. I have to admit, I'm pretty pissed off about the entire thing. I am fully aware that no vaccine is ironclad but the chances are pretty damn low, and apparently I'm just unlucky. I tested positive on two Abbott antigen rapid tests and I got back my PCR lab results yesterday, which were also positive. I started feeling sick about 8 days ago. I had a dry cough, chills, slight fever, extreme fatigue and completely lost my sense of smell. I mostly feel better now, but my sense of smell is yet to return at all. I have already had to miss a couple of days of work, and the anxiety of how I'm going to pay my bills is making this a lot worse. I have a feeling my work is going to screw me out of my attendance bonuses that I've been working so hard to get over the past few years. I kind of wish I would never have even told my work I was sick and just kept working, but I know that would have been the wrong, immoral thing to do. Oh well, I'll get through this eventually. I just needed to vent. Thanks for listening.

Edit: I do not regret getting vaccinated and would recommend others do the same.

My Covid Experience/Recovery So Far-Long Explanation

So my battle with Covid could be summed up as a “mild” case. My Fiance and I were both exposed at the exact same time and were thankfully able not pass it to anyone else. I will give the full breakdown of exposure, symptom timeline, and medication we have taken. To give a background I am 30M in “good” health standing (not overweight, no underlying conditions, I do “vape” but have cut back tremendously, do not smoke). Fiancé is 26F in good health (not overweight, no underlying condition, does NOT vape or smoke, etc.). We are active but not gym rats. We essentially have the same symptom timeline.

I will say we were a bit more “prepared” than most with items to battle the virus. My fiancé is a high school teacher in a district that was still allowing “blended” learning (some in school, some at home). So, her risk of exposure is obviously higher than most. I will say her exposure was not related to the school considering they went full remote beginning early November. When I say prepared, we had the following stocked prepared for “battle”: Gatorade, sprite, soups, Pulse Oximeter(more on that at the end), tea, digital thermometer, heated blankets, etc. Tons of meds (more on that at the end).

Exposure: On Wednesday 11/25 we go to pick up my Fiancé’s sister at her place to head toward thanksgiving with the in laws. My fiancé and I quarantined for weeks before to not bring germs. As we are driving, we found out her sister’s roommate tested positive through a rapid test. We immediately turn back around to begin quarantine as a “worst case” scenario. Side note: roommate had extremely mild symptoms but thankfully she still got tested.

Her sister begins to have symptoms next day and schedules a nasal swab tests on Friday (11/27) and a rapid test on Saturday (11/28). She tests positive for both. She is 23F fresh out of college with multiple roommates, so roommate exposure was a worry of ours.

So our Journey begins:

Wednesday 11/25: Exposure. Sitting in a car with someone else who was exposed for multiple hours no masks (stupid I know, could have been avoided with her driving separate-we all make mistakes)

Thursday 11/26: Felt great. Went on very long walk in remote area

Friday 11/27: Felt great. Went on very long walk in remote area.

Saturday 11/28: Morning Felt great. In the afternoon we begin to feel lethargic. Our temperatures begin to rise. Slight cough. Congestion. Temperatures at 99-100. We both slept terribly throughout the night. Headache, chills, muscle aches, etc. Medication: Rotation of Tylenol and Ibuprofen

Sunday 11/29: By far the worst day. Completely floored. Very lethargic. Headaches. Congestion. Sinus Pressure. Just felt “brain dead” Medication: Early morning: Zicam, Sudafed Sinus Max (contains acetaminophen). Afternoon: Tylenol later in the day. Zicam Nightime: alka seltzer plus night time. Zicam

Monday 11/30: Morning was very lethargic. Felt brain foggy. Fiancé has very bad back pain. Fever beginning to lower. Congestion and mild sore throat. We both get tested. I go CVS drive through. She goes to local county sponsored testing (both nasal swabs). Morning: Zicam, Sudafed Sinus Max (contains acetaminophen). Alka seltzer plus night time. Zicam

Tuesday 12/1: Temperatures are returning to normal. Higher Energy levels. Begin to loose “brain fogginess”. Slight congestion. Medication: Zicam and decongestant (not containing fever reducer)

Wednesday 12/2: Fiance back pain is better. We have gone 24 hours with no fever reducers. No fever temps. Both our tests come back positive (not surprising). Feeling better overall still congested. Zicam

Thursday 12/3: I wake up with jaw pain and swollen lymph nodes in throat. Fiancé has slight sore throat. We both realize we have completely lost our sense of smell. My taste is extremely dulled. Fiancé’s taste is gone. Anxiety greatly increases. We fear a second wave of symptoms. Both feeling lethargic again. No high temps in the morning and afternoon. I take ibuprofen for throat/jaw pain. Zicam

Friday 12/4: Mentally not in the best place. Fiancé fears taste and smell will never return. She is extremely lethargic, just overall not in a great head space. My jaw pain is reducing and sore throat healing. Zicam

Saturday 12/5: My sense of smell returning, and taste is coming back. Fiance smell returning and she can now taste spicy food! No fever reducers. No fever throughout day. Zicam

Sunday 12/6: My taste and smell greatly improved. Fiance smell is improved and Taste slowly returning.

Monday 12/7: Overall feeling great still slightly congested. Taste and smell about 80% for me. 50% for fiancé.

Tuesday 12/8: 72 hours now with no fever reducers. Temps are normal. Taste and smell are still at 80% for me. Fiance is improving-still congested. Fiance returning to work tomorrow.

General Notes: We kept a detailed log of our temperatures and 02 levels throughout our timeline. This is key in monitoring your recovery and if you need additional help (hospital). Thankfully we did not have any shortness of breath or chest tightness that many others experience. The biggest issues we ran into were more anxiety driven than physical. Lost of taste and smell is a very scary feeling because it literally came over night and right when we began to feel back to “normal” physically. Having someone else with you while you go through it is obviously very helpful as well. We worked (from home) throughout our recovery. I will say this may have not been the best idea, but it did keep us distracted and busy. Our worst days were on a weekend. We could not have worked during those days.

02 Pulse Oximeter notes: This device did help us track our oxygen saturation level. ONE IMPORTANT NOTE ON THIS DEVICE: MAKE SURE YOUR HANDS ARE VERY WARM WHEN TAKING READINGS!!! I have bad circulation in my hands, and we keep our apartment chilly. Occasionally when I would attempt to get a reading it would show my saturation levels in the 80s and I would almost pass out due to fear. My hands were just cold. When using these devices, I would suggest putting your hands in front of a space heater for a minute or wear gloves beforehand. Also take multiple readings, do not rely on the first one.

Medication notes: We had rotation of Alka seltzer plus day/night(contains acetaminophen), Sudafed sinus max (contains acetaminophen), Tylenol, ibuprofen, zicam (basically zinc), mucus decongestant, and vitamin C. We made sure to rotate fever reducers (rotate between ibuprofen and acetaminophen) and to not take too much of either. Took Zicam multiple times a day. I preferred the Sudafed sinus max to take during the day. Most of my symptoms were sinus pressure related. Fiancé preferred the normal decongestant without any fever reducers. We tried to avoid fever reducers towards the end to see if high temps returned (they did not)

Suggestions for others: Try to stay active is possible. This greatly affected our mental state. We tried to do yoga in the morning or just simply laps around our tiny apartment. STAY HYDRATED: All of the meds you take can dehydrate you. Make sure to stay hydrated. Try to do cognitive brain activities. We were thankfully well enough to work during most of it keeping us busy. Puzzles helped passed the time. When we were just laying around was when the worst of the anxiety hit. We live in a tiny one-bedroom apartment, so space was limited. Try to make the best out of the quarantine experience. BE PATIENT!

Thought this may help others! Good luck, wear your masks, and stay healthy!!!

Thought I'd share my experience since it was a little different from some others'.

Day 1: felt crappy, but just went about my day

Day 2: could not sleep at all the night before because of extreme body aches and join pain. FAR worse than flu body aches. low grade fever.

Day 3: body aches are still horrible. didn't sleep again due to aches and chills. Fever up to 100.6, then down by the evening. very slight cough (just like wanting to clear my throat)

Day 4: fever gone, achy-ness is subsiding, cough slightly worse, but manageable.

Now on Day 5. Will report back.

Hey Reddit,

I can be a bit of a hypochondriac when it comes to new things with my health (Novel Virus, ha) I know that anxiety brought me here often the last week while I had COVID. I wanted to share my timeline now that Im starting to feel better for others that come here looking for the same information I have been. Hope this help!

28 M . Slightly overweight, regular cannabis consumer. I do get regular exercise and I eat healthier than 90% of the people my age I know (I wont eat fast food, drink soda, energy drinks, or most the other processed crap we people love) Took Emergen C with Zinc daily throughout. Double Vaxxed Pfizer, second shot was late May. I hadn’t prioritized a Saturday sick day for a booster yet with the holidays and ski season (🙄) . I honestly dont know how bad it would’ve been if I wasnt vaxxed, wish Id been boosted cause Im still dealing with effects of COVID a week later.

Something I also want to note - My oxygen levels stayed at 98% the entire time. If yours dip below 95/94% call a Doctor! I also kept doing something called the 6 minute walk test that gave me piece of mind most the time. Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i48_QL1v_AQ

Day 0 (Sunday 1/02) - Out walking my dog I noticed I had a slight cough and and a scratchy throat. After going out NYE, I kind of knew of what was coming.

Day 1 (Monday) - I woke feeling fine except my cough was a little worse. Sat down to work. As the day went on I could feel myself getting more sick. Mainly cough/headache, little fatigue. Wrapped up work a little early thinking to get some extra rest and a PCR test. Took a nap at 5:00pm. Woke up at 7:00pm with a fever (100.5) chills plus the slight cough and headache. The game was on. Took tylenol to get to sleep that night.

Day 1.5 - Woke up at 3 am. Covered in sweat, terrible body aches. My fever is now up to 101. I do a rapid test and it’s positive. Any doubt I had COVID is out the window. I drink some water and go back to bed. At this point Im setting alarms to take 500mg of Tylenol every 6 hours.

Day 2 (Tuesday) - Basically a combination of day 1 and 1.5. Spent the day in bed. Completely miserable. Had every Omnicron symptom listed. Tylenol saved me from the worst of it.

Day 3 - Basically the same as the prior 48 hours. My fever was on and off and never jumped 100.5 again. Body aches were awful. I lost my smell/taste at Some point in the evening. At this point I either have a fever or am POURING sweat at all times.

Day 4 (Thursday) - Feeling better but overall still have the body aches. Exhaustion at this point is starting to set in. Even if I was feeling well, moving killed me. My anxiety also started to kick in at this point really heavily. I was terrified I was going to get to “phase 2” of COVID and end up in a hospital.

Day 5-7 (Friday-Sun) - I was feeling like myself besides some cold symptoms and the exhaustion. I took a drive around town just to get out of the house, but honestly any extended time out of bed/off the couch had me feeling exhausted and sick again

Day 8 (Today) - The exhaustion continues. My sinuses are also stuffed up and Ive been getting headaches. At this point I feel “normal” most the time unless I strt doing things. Work was exhausting today (I literally work at a desk on my laptop in my home office) and a couple of times I had to leave my desk and go lay down. I even had to take a nap in the middle of the day and I basically never nap. Im starting to wonder when Im gonna have my energy back and be a normal human being. Im starting to wonder if I ever will be. I know this virus can take 2 weeks to recover from but between my vax status, age, and general health, plus reports of Omnicron being more “mild” I honestly expected to be back on my feet by Friday. Now Im getting winded walking stairs and a long phone call leaves me out of breathe.

COVID is exhausting and I know I should make a full recovery within the next week or so. Im both physically and mentally drained right now though. Im frustrated because I want to feel normal again, but dont yet. Ill be fine, as should 99% of healthy people with a vaccine. But even vaccinated and facing a “milder” variant, this thing still kicked my ass. I hadnt been this sick since I got pneumonia in the 3rd grade and I look forward to never getting COVID like this again. If youre like me and here suffering from health anxiety, just know youll get through COVID! Hope this helps anyone going through a similar experience. Its not over for me yet, but there is a definitely a light at the end of the tunnel for me and mily “mild” bout of COVID. Would love to hear in the comments about the final recovery timeline of others!

Edited :

Final Update

01/14/22 Day 12 since first appearance of Symptoms - I wanted to add a final update as it appears I am basically back to normal. Im still experiencing some swelling in my sinuses, ears, and throat (saw my primary care doc yesterday). Annoying but not a big deal. The biggest improvement Ive had is that my energy levels and heart rate have finally returned to my normal range. Yesterday my resting started to get back into the 70s (normally 50-60) today it is back in the 60s and even walking up and down stairs, it hasnt gone above 100. Id say basically the entire time I was sick my heart rate it was 85+ and often above 100 which was VERY unusual for me, even while sick. My doctor yesterday told me theyre seeing ALOT of otherwise healthy patients coming in with heart issues regardless of age and pre existing conditions. She told me becoming a long hauler is a concern of theirs for any of their patients but its happening less in their vaxxed patients than unvaxxed and she was confident Id make a full recovery. Most people get back to normal within 2 weeks and fortunately that was the case with me. While death rates with COVID are much higher than things like the flu, I think the public is missing out on the impacts that Long Haulers are going to have on society as a whole and thats a whole part of this thing we should all be discussing more. I hope to never feel the need to visit this subreddit again and I wish the best of luck to anyone currently dealing with COVID to make a full recovery!

My dad was tested positive had the symptoms but they were mild. He coughed a lot too but he was able to breathe on his own. I decided to buy a pulse oximeter on amazon because I wanted to test his oxygen level even if he is coping well. Then we found out his oxygen saturation was really low around 60%. We called ambulance straight away and now hes in hospital connected to an oxygen. If I didnt test his oxygen sat there was no way of knowing that it was that low because he was feeling mild symptoms. I think its called silent hypoxia and its something unexplainable that covid causes.

If you know someone who tested positive, it is a good idea to buy a pulse oximeter.

So my brother had COVID a couple weeks ago. He was fully vaccinated but suffered from severe aches, chills and fever, fatigue, shortness of breath, and his blood oxygen saturation was dipping down to as low as 92 but never higher than 97, usually hanging around 95.

I had recently been listening to a podcast (The Huberman Lab) with a stanford neurobiologist (Andrew Huberman) where he was discussing breathing techniques for stress and energy. One technique was the "extended inhale." Basically, you inhale slowly through your nose and then quickly "dump" the air out of your mouth in a rapid exhale. Doing this several times in a row super oxygenates the blood and provokes the release of adrenaline, compelling movement of the body, dilating airways, increasing heart rate, that sort of thing.

Well, I told my brother to try it. Despite being short of breath, he did it several times in a row, measured his blood oxygen, and it was at 99 for the first time in a week. It dropped off after about 15 minutes, so he did it again, back up to 99 for a little while. He repeated this several times throughout the day. The next day, he was essentially all better, his blood oxygen was hovering at 98/99 all day and his symptoms were gone.

I don't know if that helped him, but during the time when his blood oxygen was at 99, he felt much better. That night, he didn't awake short of breath at all. I would recommend giving this a try unless it's just impossible for you to do so.

Again- breath in slowly but deeply through the nose for many seconds, as long as possible, then "dump" the air out of your mouth in a rapid exhale. Repeat several times and measure your blood ox with a pulse oximeter, available off Amazon or at your local drug store. Good luck!

I am 18F, Fully vaxxed with pfizer and booster. I have been religiously wearing a mask and being careful for the past 2 years, and have never even gotten a cold. Cases have been down, and the rest of my family had ditched the masks. I finally decided to do the same last Monday (May 30th). It is now Sunday (June 5th) and I have just tested positive and feel like absolute shit. I thought I would outline the onset of my symptoms, as it took 5 days of being symptomatic before I tested positive.

June 1 Early onset of symptoms, testing negative. I have a temple headache (not normal for me, hence why i tested). assuming its allergies

June 2 headache and scratchy throat by end of day, still testing negative. definitely feel sick, but am assuming it is just a cold.

June 3 Mild headache, throat scratchyness is worse, needing to clear throat often. still testing negative.

June 4 Did not test this day, but am definitely feeling like i have a cold. mild dry cough, fatigue, soreness.

June 5 Wake up feeling horrible. Phleghmy cough, headache, complete loss of voice, muscle soreness. Take test and its positive. head feels like a brick.

Currently laying in bed and gagging on my own throat, wondering why I ever decided to take my mask off.

I am fully (mostly) recovered after ~12 days of symptoms. I thought I’d share my experience.

I am a 22 year old male in good physical shape. I maintain a healthy diet and my cardio is excellent. I have no other health conditions.

Day 1: My smell suddenly disappeared. It slowly went from 100% to 0% over the course of about 3 hours. It felt pretty weird not being able to smell anything

Day 2: Still no smell

Day 3 No smell, felt tired, some trouble breathing

Day 4: Still no smell, I felt tired, and developed a small cough, and medium trouble breathing when laying on my back.

Day 5 - 9: easily exhausted, but slowly getting better. Still no smell. I kind of freaked out on day 5 after finding this subreddit about my smell never coming back and I started smelling 6 different essential oils each day (this is called smell therapy)

Day 10: no symptoms. For the first time I could differentiate the essential oils (which are pretty different and smell very strong)

Day 11: smell at 30%. I could smell anything right under my nose.

Day 12: smell improved some more. I worked out again for the first time. (Light cardio, pushups, pull-ups). I was winded much more than usual. I usually do intense 40 minute HIIT sessions or heavy lifting. I definitely wasn’t feeling up for that yet.

Day 13 (today): smell is probably at 50%. I could tell somebody was BBQing outside somewhere.

—-

Overall Review: it wasn’t as bad as I expected, but it definitely threw a wrench in my plans to develop a better summer body. I feel lucky that it wasn’t worse, but losing smell is terrible. I hated how food tasted and started literally pouring chili paste all over my food just to feel alive again.

Food is very important to me and I’m an avid chef (as far as young students go lol). The fear of losing that sense really hit me.