Re oxymeters. You may know this already but perhaps worth mentioning that Samsung S series phones from at least S6 have sp02 readers on them. You need to sign into Sfit to use them. Not sure how accurate they are but probably just as good as a 30 quid argos one?
I found even low level exercise just knocked me over.
Yep
Things I have learned - I have a finite energy budget for the day and need to pick what I use that for. I am frustrated by this but on the upside I am relatively mobile. and things are going in the right direction. Got upto 90mins a day in the tanks at the moment depending on the exertion levels. A definite improvement because I can do something every day. It is only light work - well what I would call light. For example if I carry a garden tub for 40m (front to back of house) then I have to site down and catch my breath afterwards. Yesterday it was sitting down to sort the last couple of tubs out and then I conked out for the rest of the day.
I have been aiming for a couple of 10km Zwift trips a week for a few weeks. This just isn't happening - 30mins of light bike chews up too much energy. Haven't done any since the other Friday's effort (over a week ago). It's just been a case of needing to use energy on other things. Probably give it another go in a couple of days. Looking back getting off the trainer and thinking atleast it's fixed in an upright position otherwise I would have fallen off by now was probably a clue something was not right.
General breathing - cold air is still unpleasant; I have noticed I get short of breath walking up hill and my lungs get a bit of mild ache during exertion. I dont usually pay too much attention to breathing because the asthma can randomly make things difficult day to day anyway. Thighs still ache - this is the only thing that hasn't really gone away - they just feel event level achey. A bit like they did a couple of days after the Fred Whitton last year.
The other useful things I have learned - do not go for walks in steel toe capped wellies, doesn't matter how convenient they are they're also heavy and will tire your legs quickly. This might actually mean there is really a place in the world for Crocs - now that would be truly awful. Now got three weeks of Furlough which should be a good opportunity to recuperate and build fitness. Overall if I'm finding things inconvenient that's probably not too bad a place to be.
Not sure how accurate they are but probably just as good as a 30 quid argos one?
I'm guessing they use the phone camera? I suspect not as good as a dedicated unit, but who knows. There are apps for iphones that offer the same I think, and a couple that use a plug-in finger sensor. I'll maybe do a comparison if I ever get hold of one 🙂
Edit: the iPhone apps are paid for, so maybe not Anyway, they do exist.
No they have a dedicated red 2 wavelength led specifically for sp02.
They appear to be the only smartphone company that do it. It's now included in the S Health Stress measurement part of the app.
Some Garmin watches do O2 sats as well, but they're not exactly cheap!
No they have a dedicated red 2 wavelength led specifically for sp02.
Ah okay. That sounds quite cool.
Pretty sure my partner had it. Caught on around 8/9th April. Started with dry cough, high temp, bit tired but not too bad. Then got worse and she was barely out of bed for 2 days. Now 14th April she seems back to normal again, with an occasional cough.
Not really option to isolate in a room or anything in our household, so expecting we'll all get it (me and two toddlers), but despite the lack of isolation we've not displayed any obvious symptoms.
Well I have back ache and I'm knackered, but I'm pretty sure thats due to looking after two toddlers and not being able to leave the house.
Some Garmin watches do O2 sats as well, but they’re not exactly cheap!
And it's not very good according to DC Rainmaker.
OHi think has it, she gets reflux cough most of the time anyway but last 3 days that has turned into a constant cough especially worse after a walk or exercise. She's also had a "cold" last week but that seems to have gone. No fever or breathlessness just feeling tired. We decided to self isolate to protect the school she works at and the NHS lab I work in. Suspect she caught it at the school but without testing who knows if she does actually have it?
Last night listening to her cough from the other bedroom was properly scary but this morning she seems much better & is currently on a conference call to the local authority for work.
I on the other hand apart from seasonal tree/grass pollen allergy feel ok but must admit I feel like it's only a matter of time before I become I'll.
My advice it to back right off and listen to your body. I found even low level exercise just knocked me over.
I have been feeling much better so went on a gentle 5km bike ride with my 10 year old son. At the end is a short steep climb. Nothing too exciting and I ride it regularly without really noticing it. Today my heart rate peaked at 158bpm. Looks like I still have recovering to do!
franksinatra - definitely watch the load bit and keep going steady. It is good to see you are able to get out on the bike.
Yes please do take it easy Frank!
For those at the milder end of this, how long have you been symptomatic?
I'm 3 weeks tomorrow. Each day seems to bring something new. I think it really nails the immune system and your body struggles to recover.
Quick update from the Jay Household.
FIL is still in Hospital with it, but they really can't tell if it's CV giving him problems or his reduced liver function causing fluid to collect in his chest. (this has been an ongoing issues for a year). Mrs is gettin frustrated they're so concerned about CV they're not treating his pre-existing issues. Frankly he's been, very, very, very lucky so far. He's a 67 smoker with Diabetes, heart failure and liver failure. He's been very close to death 3 times in 2 years and we've had 'the call' to come to Hospital urgently twice already (pre-CV of course). Somehow he's on course to be discharged from CV ward as soon as he's clear to be treated more closely for non-CV issues in about 10 days. Privately (from my Wife) I'm preparing myself for some bad news any day, I've read too many stories about sudden onset symptoms.
My Eldest is still recording temps in the mid-high 37c range, occasionally over 37.8c but otherwise fine.
Youngest is currently doing a combination of Parkor and Gymnastics in the back garden.
My cough has gone, I feel a bit tired, but mostly I've got a sore back from sitting at the dining room table for 8 hours a day. If I had it, it barely registered for 2 days, bit of a headache, bit tired but otherwise fine.
Mrs seems to be suffering a bit today, very tired, achy and had a bad headache. Feels a bit clammy bit still only 37.2c.
If it wasn't for my FILs diagnosis and of course the Pandemic we'd never consider ourselves 'ill'. We're still waiting to hear if we'd get a swab test and when, it is what it is, a few days ago we thought we probably didn't have it, but we self-isolated because FIL did. Wife is NHS Nurse so got signed off for 14 days, if she didn't get symptoms they'd just ask her to stay at home, if she doesn't they'll test her. I can only assume tests aren't accurate unless you have symptoms.
Day 13 for me and Missus.
She will be back to work tomorrow. Fever, headaches, cough, tingly skin all gone. Smell/taste has returned.
I still have a wee cough and stuffed sinus. Headache has gone. Won't know lung capacity until I try them out.
As above, nothing really major for either of us. No worse than a normal cold/flu.
I’m 3 weeks tomorrow. Each day seems to bring something new. I think it really nails the immune system and your body struggles to recover.
Me too and now busy fighting off a more traditional feeling chest infection. Had a night of higher temps, shivers, headache, etc. Classic immunological response. The lightness of head has gone, so at least I feel well-oxygenated, which is a much better place than I have been.
Not rushing back to a bike just yet.
Mrs RNP is at the three stage (IIRC) and is still suffering from chest pains and complete lack of energy. Spoke to Dr today who checked her xrays - apparently some definite damage/infection. Was told to carry resting and wait it out but it will take many weeks to fully recover.
Me too and now busy fighting off a more traditional feeling chest infection. Had a night of higher temps, shivers, headache, etc. Classic immunological response. The lightness of head has gone, so at least I feel well-oxygenated, which is a much better place than I have been.
That sounds familiar. Last Tuesday I woke up feeling conventionally awful - productive cough, head-ache, proper knackered - but without the 'haven't acclimatised properly at 4,500m shortness of breath. I took it as meaning my immune system was doing something useful and it felt oddly reassuringly familiar.
At the same time my HRV did a sort of massive fake leap, suggesting that I was really well recovered, which I clearly wasn't. Next day the same, then gradual improvement and a more realistic HRV.
Still very slightly breathless and have a bit of a residual cough, but otherwise okay. Did a very gentle recovery paced 40 minutes on Zwift yesterday and felt okay. Ditto today.
Fwiw, I think my symptoms began on Friday 13 March. Had a week of very low key stuff which I barely noticed, then did two hilly rides (oops) then two weeks of shortness of breath, tingling and bouts of non-productive coughing. I suspect if I'd just rested up I would have been over it in a week, but there you go and I'll never know.
Glad you seem to be heading in the right direction.
16 poor souls have gone from the care home 200 metres from here. 16. It's not even a big place. Not afraid to admit that made a grown man cry. Care homes have been left high and dry in this whole shitstorm, it's time we had a real hard look at how we treat our elderly, and the people who look after them. 💙
Found out today our accounts manager at work died from respiratory problems related to co-vid 19. He was only 48 or 49 I think.
I had a chat with a health worker today and they’ve recommended isolating from the rest of the family. Had aches and pains a fortnight ago, traditional cold symptoms last week (headache, sore throat, runny nose, cough) and now I’ve got a very dry cough, zero energy and feel like I have dusty rocks in my lungs. Breathing is odd, I’m just very aware of breathing if that makes sense. Usually don’t think about breathing at all. If I get up and do anything other than potter about I get breathless.
I still think it’s just a run of the mill chest infection. Ribs and chest very sore from coughing though and starting to get worried about my wife and kids.
Silly question but do any of you have a rough idea of where/how you picked it up? Work, public transport, supermarkets, kids bringing it home etc?
Not asking you to reveal specifics on the forum. Just curious to know if you think you know how you came into contact with it?
Silly question but do any of you have a rough idea of where/how you picked it up?
From my wife, via a girl at my wife’s work.
From interacting with another team at work, ironically during frenzied coronavirus planning. Several of them fell is about one week earlier. One of that team was inpatient on the same CV ward as me.
From my wife.
No idea quite where she caught it but two of her work colleagues had it the same time (1 day difference). So, most likely through her work but as she is in community health care and interacts with other agencies, other teams and a number of clients, that leaves a lot of scope and makes some of the "social distancing" in place seem somewhat redundant.
I got my positive test result this evening after going for a drive through test on Monday (as a cop I qualified as a key worker and I count myself lucky to have access to testing). I've been self isolating since Sunday after realising I'd lost my sense of smell and taste.
For me I started with neck and shoulder pain on Thursday or Friday last week and then a bit of a sneezing fit on friday night. I felt fine on Saturday but Sunday I woke with zero sense of smell or taste. The neck ache seemed to develop into the mother of all headaches which i haven't shaken off since. Over the past two days I've also noticed pain in my thighs and a slight shortness of breath which seems more pronounced in the evening.
I'm fairly certain I know precisely where I picked it up as four of my colleagues who were with me that day on a call (and who i don't work with on a day to day basis) have also now had positive tests.
Best of luck Bregante.
The headache - mate of mine who caught it from his wife, she ended up in hospital, he said he was shivery one night and had a horrendous headache, so bad he ended up going to hospital too.
Similar to t1red and bwd, I suddenly started feeling ill on Tuesday in the conventional sense, like a normal cold / chest thing but without the weird chest tightness and breathing difficulties of the last few weeks. Shivery, achy. Cleared up next day and feeling OK now. still the odd chest pain / ache but breathing remains clear and sats 99%. Can go for walks and climb the stairs OK. Don't feel up to bike rides yet, don't want to push it. Still get tired in the afternoons.
About a month in.
Reckon I caught it from my friend who had a confirmed case at work, and who has tracked my timeline for symptoms, albeit much more mildy.
Rest up guys. Fwiw, I probably copped whatever I've had from the missus - I work from home and have relatively little contact with humanity - she on the other hand, leaves the house regularly despite the hand-cuffs and me hiding her outdoors shoes. I suspect she picked it up at work where there were five connected confirmed positives over the last month or so.
It's also worth bearing in mind that the test for the thing is far from infallible, so even if people are tested and come back negative, it's not definitely the case that they are. That's particularly pertinent where people may be asymptomatic.
Can go for walks and climb the stairs OK. Don’t feel up to bike rides yet, don’t want to push it. Still get tired in the afternoons.
I gave myself a week before I went near the bike and even then stuck to what would be below my normal power / HR on a recovery spin. I still feel generally fatigued, though I went for a walk around town yesterday for the first time since lockdown started. It was quite odd, very zombie apocalypse. I have ordered razor wire from Amazon and 16 kilos of flour.
16 poor souls have gone from the care home 200 metres from here. 16. It’s not even a big place. Not afraid to admit that made a grown man cry.
The care home situation is heart breaking. The most recent BBC Coronavirus Podcast (used to be Brexitcast) has an interview with a care home insider covering, among other things, the actual testing situation rather than the fantasy inside Matt Hancock's head. They were rationed to five tests in total and currently cannot access any more and don't even know how they'd go about doing it if they could. Horrible.
Anyone else get the metallic taste intermittently? As in days on/off? Trying to nail down whether I really have had/have it or not
Time for a little update. My positive test was just over a week ago (my result only came back Wednesday evening). Thursday and Friday were awful and I spent most of the day sleeping but in the evenings my breathing became really shallow and any exertion whatsoever (e.g. Putting the bins out) left me gulping for air. Saturday I felt okay and spent the day snoozing in the garden. Sunday evening my breathing was all over the place and my wife was wanting to call an ambulance but I just needed to sleep. For the past 48 hrs the breathing seems back to normal but I've just been totally listless and have barely moved off the sofa.
My sense of taste is starting to come back too but I still can't smell a thing.
Miraculously my kids seem to have escaped any effects and while my Mrs did show some symptoms last week she seems to have shook it off.
So.. on the metallic taste front, yes, I got that, but only for a couple of days. I never lost my sense of smell or taste, but the metallic thing was weird. It reminded me of Diamonx, which is a drug sometimes used aid acclimatisation at high altitude and does a similar thing to taste as a side effect.
So how are people who may have had it doing for recovery? Like OAP I'm finding it irksomely hard to get over. I read a doctor somewhere saying that it has 'a long tail' and that tallies with my experience.
I'm mostly okay bar a poxy legacy cough, but still very tired generally. I've not really ventured near the bike bar a couple of very gentle spins on th turbo, but have foubd resistance stuff surprisingly okay - weoghts, TRX. I just made the mistake of going for a nocturnal stroll around town. Temperature was about 5˚C and while I didn't suffer any major breathlessness, my throat got pretty sore and when I got home I spent the next 45 minutes coughing up phlegm, which was nice. I won't be doing that again. So yes OAP, I too have found cold air bothersome. I won't be doing that again for a while. Shame as zombie-free streets were quite atmospheric.
Moslty though I'm fine, but with pretty low energy levels. Starting to get frustrated by not being able to ride my bike and I've barely been outside for more than three weeks, but there you go.
Glad to hear you're on the mend Bregante. Hope everyone else is doing well 🙂
I had a metallic taste for a couple of days, along with other symptoms (not all at the same time), although I’ve no idea if it was CV19 or some other chest infection. I went vegan fairly recently too so wouldn’t notice the loss of taste. I do distinctly remember a phase of food being notably bland.
One thing I did notice, is that during exercise (turbo trainer) I still had a tightness of chest after the metallic taste. I’d also put my total range of symptoms from an initial wet, but not really runny nose, chesty cough, to the longest lasting which has proven to be some sort of throat inflammation, as around 6 weeks. It actually seemed to go away completely at one point before starting up again. Could quite easily be two different infections.
Playing symptom bingo I can score a few things off, including the most worrying at the time which was a bout of confusion. Which was quite strange looking back on it.
But, if I was forced to place a bet I’d still bet against CV19. Although if a reliable Anti Body test was available from Boots, I’d take a punt.
One thing I do know, is that it’s ****** off (well, currently)and I’m glad. If it wasn’t CV19 I didn’t want to get CV19 at the same time. Don’t really want it at all, but two things at the same time is a particularly bad recipe.
Have you found the recovery comes in waves, improvement followed by regression, then improvement?
^ Mrs RNP is on week 4 or 5 of recovery (its a blur) definite peaks and troughs of recovery ranging from
“im fine - back to work/daily cores”
to
“OMG im knackered/my chest is hurting again/im struggling to breathe a bit” back to square one sorta thing.
She is slowly recovering though but its taking its time
Yes just got my results this morning. we get tested at work with symptoms I've got it that's 3 on my watch alone with it the station is going to be cut to bits I bet, we cant social distance on a fire engine and we are breaking to to houses of people not seen for days and helping the ambulance crews. The strange thing about this is I was off a few months back just as this was all coming out in China but not a thing over here with a strange laryngitis and flu like thing that was really undiagnosed and I was wrecked for about 12 days and have had a bit of a cough ever since, and it feels exactly the same as this, I tried to not bother with a test as I said it was just same again , makes me wonder now can it be caught twice or how long it hangs around for as apart from the niggly cough I've felt fine between then and now
I'm 2 1/2 weeks post hospital discharge now. I went back to work (WFH) last week but it was too soon. Talking all day on the phone messed with my breathing. Scaled back this week and just working 9-3 and that seems to help. I am done in by the evening though. I guess raised breathing rate and HR all day will do that though, it is like low level exercise all day. HR still about 20% over norm. O2 levels seem to have settled around 97%. Able to comfortably walk dog and zip around 5km ride. Things are improving but it does seem (from my experience and others) that full recovery is measured in months, not weeks.
One legacy though is waking up every night with the same dream, I'm in a hospital bed and can't breath. It pisses me off as I could really do with a proper sleep.
Morning folks - I'm wary of posting and being too optimistic but had a solid improvement over the last seven days. I'm not fit but I am if that make sense! There has been a major bounce back in fitness / endurance in the last seven to ten days.
Did 10km round the lanes on the mtb last Wednesday - complete with micro no gnar - didn't get more than 2km from the house. Was slightly nervous doing the 600m gentle off lane section. Thought I might not be able to hold on! Having successfully lost numerous battles with the whirly gig over the previous weeks. Main reason for doing the ride was the cycle club was doing an isolationists club ride to raise money for a local food bank. Sunday did a 20km road loop - slow and plenty of stops. Yesterday was the main achievement - 50km loop with about 500m of climbing. Carefully selected for tail winds and flat sections. Was meant to be 30km but felt good and went long.
Still have up and down days but these are relative - Monday was a down day. Saturday was another down day - did longer walk (8km) and felt wiped for the rest of the day. Middle of last week was when my legs finally stopped aching. Apart from today but I have a good reason. The plan now is to take it easy - strangely enough the up swing started on my first week in Furlough. I've got very good at sitting about.
I still get a bit nervous when my breathing goes but I tend to pick a bit of hay fever up around now.
Have you found the recovery comes in waves, improvement followed by regression, then improvement?
Yep. It's properly frustrating. I normally ride or run six days a week, but right now gentle walks and some resistance work is all I can manage. Like you I don't know for sure if it was Covid-19, but it ticked a lot of boxes, particularly on the breathing front.
I didn't get a productive cough until I started to recover. But yes, whatever I've had, it's very up and down and you have to be careful not to overdo things.
Edit: and I have mildly achey legs too. Oh well, back to the sofa with occasional forays to the coffee machine.
Oh, Mrs BWD had a low key bunch of stuff for four or five days scratchy throat, head-ache - which she never gets - but also super sensitive skin, which has been flagged as another of the less common symptoms. The spread's so annoyingly wide that all sorts of stuff features.
My wife had the sensitive skin thing too.
5 days ago felt really tired at work then woke up that night with a temp , my wife said I was burning , felt achey sore throat but no cough . Slept for 2 days then started to feel a bit better each day , just a bit tired now and have a weird sensitivity on the top of my head .
Its frustrating not knowing if that was it , I’m a key worker who’s not really a key worker and I work right across the road from the testing centre at glasgow airport. There are people way ahead of me in the queue for a test but it just seems to me until testing is widely available this thing could just drag on for months .
FIL has been in Hospital for 12 days now, things were going so well, or at least we thought they were, he’s been shielding us a bit. He was due to be transferred to a non-Covid ward tomorrow morning.
He wasn’t really being treated for Covid, his heart and lung issues were already bad and it seemed an absolute miracle that the virus was giving a pass but it didn’t last.
He’s taken a dive in “Phase 2” SATS are 80% and they’ve put his oxygen up to 4ltrs. He won’t get CPAP because he’s not reacting to Nebulisers well. We’ve been warned he’s already discussed and agreed to a DNR and he won’t get a ventilator, I’m not sure if that’s a medical decision or a logistical one.
We’re not quite at the ‘making him comfortable’ point yet, but I think it’s probably inevitable now, but you never know, he’s come back from the brink so many times.
Yes also finding it a very long tail. Massively better than I was but yesterday I overdid it I think with work, then walk round park and shopping for parents. Got back and had some chest pain again and chest a bit tight this morning.
Week 5 I think. Good O2, always 98-99 and heart rate is coming down in general. Seen it back in the 50s at times although still a bit elevated overall. Rolled round on the bike the other day which felt great.
I'm able to do things and walk, sleep, enjoy stuff and can even walk up the 3 flights of stairs to my flat but pretty frustrated like everyone to not be able to ride properly in this weather but just having to take it easy and guessing this will many more weeks. Will start some stretching / resistance from today.
Just hope it's not permanent
Sorry to hear p-jay
Healing vibes to all
All the best P-Jay for you and your family.
I’ve joined the COVID club today; tested yesterday, rung by HR and given the news today. Started with feeling a little ‘off’ on Sunday, popped a temp of 38.5 that evening. Shocking nights sleep, cough started on Monday. I’ve had no fevers in the day time, but have copped one each evening, of slightly lessening severity each time. I’ve had enough energy to do some gentle garden chores today, but now I’m wiped out on the sofa with a temp again. No shortness of breath as such, just greatly reduced exercise tolerance. No feels like a grotty head cold, and the cough is not persistent, but it is slightly productive. So all in all not a completely textbook experience so far. It’s not a lot of fun, but I’ve had worse illnesses so far. Hopefully I continue on this improving trajectory. 🤞🏼
Undoubtedly caught it at work, over half of our staff going off sick now are testing positive which makes our premises a Petri dish I’m sure.
No shortness of breath as such, just greatly reduced exercise tolerance. No feels like a grotty head cold, and the cough is not persistent, but it is slightly productive.
Basically the same as me. Blocked up sinus seemed to be leading to headaches. Almost three weeks on and I still have the cough but the head is clear.
I'm at the BWD and VP phase (about 4 weeks post initial infection), a walk in the park has brought on the slight chest pain - feels a lot like low level irritation in the bottom of my lungs. I've been resting most afternoons for an hr or two. Work is fine, but I do find meetings tiring. Coding just feels like playing though 😉 Itching to get on a bike.
Interesting interview on Radio 4 PM at about 5:50PM today about the progression of disease and use of oximeter in the same way we use thermometers. We now have one and my SATs are fine, but they definitely did not feel fine for over a week when I didn't have the oximeter. I don't want it again to test that though!
The comment was basically it's a disease of surfactant gas exchange. You can exchange CO2 so you don't see the classic pneumonia shortness of breath, but may see very low O2 (<80%), yet still can "feel fine". The doctor stated that this was the time for hospital and supplemental O2, and may patients came in later when hit by inflammation and pneumonia.
but may see very low O2 (<80%), yet still can “feel fine”.
Did you get any light-headedness that might be associated with low oxygen levels?
I had light-headedness for almost two weeks, weakness in both arms and impressive (for me) resting and moving heart rates. Also bilateral muscle pain at the tops of both calfs.
FIL died this morning, it was sudden enough that we didn’t get a chance to see him. I guess he’ll form part of the numbers in a few days.
Wife is devastated.
I wouldn’t want to cause anyone who has a loved one in hospital at the moment any more worry, he was really very ill before he got Covid and had had multiple heart attacks, stokes and TIAs over the last few years.
P-Jay sorry to hear that , condolences to all. Awful.
Condolences @P-Jay and it's just awful that patients are left on their own, not just for the patient but importantly for their family.
There seems to be a fair number on this thread that have had the virus, guessing that these numbers aren't counted. Do hope that everyone makes a sufficient recovery in order to enjoy the sunshine and dry trails.
My ex has tested positive, he's in a nursing home with a limit-limiting condition. Really concerned about his carer who's 5 months pregnant and obviously she's been moved, such a worry for her. Adult kids are realistically fearing the worst and am giving them plenty of support.
Condolences P-Jay. Sorry to hear about your ex CG.
Condolences to you and yours P Jay
Sorry for your loss P-Jay.
I'm getting there thanks CG. Up and down but definite upward trend. Might even try the bike at the weekend!
For those who've had this thing and are experiencing slow recovery, it does seem to be quite a common thing. I was pointed at this twitter thread. Lots of people experiencing ongoing coughing, tight chest and tiredness. Take it easy guys,
https://twitter.com/summerbrennan/status/1252577519515185153
My experience so far
4 weeks ago - Went for a run and experienced shortness of breath for a couple days after which was unusual but improved quickly.
3 weeks ago - Another run which I bailed on due to breathing issues but no other symptoms.
2 weeks ago - Left work with a temperature and headache which lasted a few days. Shortness of breath continued. Isolated for 10 days, during which I experienced pins and needles and muscle aches.
This week - Back to work feeling a lot better and unsure if Covid etc.
Yesterday - 40 minute hilly walk and shortly after the breathing issues start.
Today - Breathing is now getting a lot worse with a very dry throat and slight cough starting. Otherwise no fever or anything else
Thought I was through it but it's suddenly kicked in with a vengeance. Seems to echo those who are trying to exercise too soon.
My advise would be to rest up and take it seriously!
I don’t know anyone directly who has had Covid-19, but the singer in my band lost his younger brother to it a couple of days ago 🙁
I am 99% certain we have had it about 4 weeks ago, it took about 16 days to feel normal & healthy.
We both had the cough, I had a temperature for 5 days, generally feeling very unwell. The worst symptom for me was the shortness of breath and the fatigue. I was out of breath just walking to the bathroom. I was told I had been asleep for nearly 3 days, I was just wiped out!
Its probably the worst I have felt for a very long time and if I am honest I was a little scared with the whole breathing thing.
I just wish we could have a test to confirm it. We have recently found out that 2 people from my partners work had tested positive after returning from an Italian hotspot.
Corona or not, it was nasty!
My Dad likely has it, he's a bus mechanic so both classed as an essential worker an in an environment where exposure to it is fairly likely.
63ish but pretty healthy from his work, according to my mum he's been wiped out sleeping for the last couple of days, hopefully he'll be ok.
may see very low O2 (<80%), yet still can “feel fine”. The doctor stated that this was the time for hospital and supplemental O2, and may patients came in later when hit by inflammation and pneumonia.
I felt okay but was put in an ambulance because my wife has access to oximeter and could measure how ill I was. Without that I would have stayed at home for longer with dangerously low o2 levels and become far more ill.
Been feeling a bit ropey for the last week, and a bit hot and feverish from last night, with very fluid guts and a headache. HR has been pretty high for the last week, esp on some gentle gravel rides. Am in Scotland and my wife is a key worker so have been referred for testing. So far quite bearable. Just feeling a bit shite really.
Wife has now been sent for a test after my positive, sure she has it but checking anyway
Stay safe everyone
I felt okay but was put in an ambulance because my wife has access to oximeter and could measure how ill I was. Without that I would have stayed at home for longer with dangerously low o2 levels and become far more ill.
How low are we talking, out of curiosity? I bought a cheap oximeter from eBay and have been using it from time to time to get an idea of what it reads when I'm totally fine (normally 98 or 99, occasionally 97). Any idea how low is "OK you really need to call 111 / 999 now"?
Normal readings are around 96-100, 94 for some people. Anything lower than this is definitely very low as long as you are a healthy individual at baseline. I know some people who did experience a significant drop in sats (Oxygen levels) and were fine in the end so it's not an absolute harbringer of doom but definitely get checked out by a doctor if it's in the low 90's or below.
NICE suggests 92% to diagnose Covid-19 but says that may underestimate how severely ill you are.
Cool, thanks guys.
Oximeters will be the new thermometers. I wish I'd had one 4 weeks ago. I didn't have a temperature. I have one now and am registering a fine 97-99%. When the COVID team arrived, I was 94 until I started breathing hard. I'm sure in the past few weeks we've learned a lot about this virus. Despite a sense of light-headedness and tingling arms, I never really felt out of it. Just a slight lung ache now. Might get on a bike this weekend 🙂
My wife thinks I'm a bit mad for having bought one. Better to have and not need... I reckon, especially when it was only £25.
I've also been training myself to sleep on my front, just in case that proves useful!
Glad you're continuing to recover TiRed. Please play it cool for a while yet!
Mrs F is front line NHS, tested positive over Easter and I've had same symptoms so assuming I've had it as well.
She came home from work on the Thursday before Easter with a fever and sore throat. Got progressively worse over the following days: high temp, sore chest and throat, aches and fever. I started getting the same symptoms on the Saturday. Her work rang to see how she was on the Monday after and as she described the symptoms they said she needed to be tested.
Drive through test on the Tuesday, results back on the Thursday.
Mrs F was still having symptoms beginning of this week after having a good weekend, there was a definite relapse which I've experienced as well.
I don't remember ever feeling as ill for as long a period of time as this. To then have a flare up of symptoms after I had started to feel better as well was very worrying.
I didn't have much of a bad chest though, not much coughing.
We're both feeling much better now, but I'm definitely not back up to full speed. Having an hour out in the garden today has worn me out!
Can I ask, is everyone on here who has had CV, were/are they still in work ? Everyone I know who has had it were working at the time, and my fear is when lock down ends the second wave will be massive. I could be wrong ( and hope so too), a great many of us could have have CV with no noticeable symptoms at all, but I just don't believe that to be the case.
I wasn't working, but my wife was (NHS). She was showing symptoms a couple of days before me.
Ongoing symptoms question: I have a pain round about my lower rib cage, most noticeable when breathing heavily. Almost feels like I've bashed it, but I know I haven't. Possibly through repeated coughing? Working my diaphragm harder?
I was working and so was the wife, ironically we thought she would bring it back from one of the wards or care homes but it's me that's brought it back from the fire station by the looks of it as there are now about 25 percent of the station with it
@scotroutes I've had an on/off ache that moves around different parts of my chest for weeks, today it feels under the floating ribs, but the previous two days it felt more in between the central ribs. At other times it feels more above my sternum.
Almost like a semi-permanent light stitch.
Couldn't say for definite if it's COVID-19 or something else such as hayfever, although I suspect it's a "mild" C19 form, as my better half has had two periods of worse symptoms and absense from work (major breathlessness, 17th-31st March and then off again since 8th April).
Whatever the cause, it's a horrid nagging sensation in the background and it's making me wary of doing sustained z4+ efforts of more than a few minutes at a time, albeit I perhaps stupidly threw caution to the wind at the end of my ride yesterday and surprisingly did a new best ~1min power effort up one of the local ramps.
Colin,
I had that, a bit like I’d been elbowed in the just below ribs the day before.
Just one side if I remember.
But you know what I’m like, I was probably imagining it 😆
