Covid

[Tray5]

Has anyone with RA had Covid if so what was your experience like?

[Deborah22]

I caught it the beginning of November, despite being very careful just going to work ,in full PPE ,then home only. Started with sudden high fever, husband tested positive, my test negative but he had slight cough only, not ill at all. I had flu type symptoms until day 3 when I started with pleuritic chest pain , which became very severe to the point I struggled breathing it was so painful, the GP rang 999 after speaking to me on the telephone. Blood tests and CT confirmed Covid induced Pneumonia with pleural effusions. I was discharged after a week on IV antibiotics, but was re admitted a few days later due to increased pain and difficulty breathing and blood test showed signs of sepsis.I have a history of multiple major surgery, cancer treatments and Rheumatoid but can honestly say I have never had pain like this, I am still struggling just to move 7 weeks later. I worked over 40 hour weeks , constantly on the go before this, I’m now wiped out having a shower. It is so frustrating seeing idiots not taking precautions and acting irresponsibly, they should spend a day listening to a whole COVID ward of patients trying to breathe, I’m sure they would be horrified and see the constant pressure the staff are under. Stay safe.

[Peejay64]

Hi! Yes had it in March ... but really didn’t know it was Covid at the time ... symptoms mild .. generally under the weather - cough that disrupted my asthma - bad headache - swinging temperature but not as high as 38C. Lasted about a week. Husband unwell at time too - similar symptoms but he list his taste ... at the time this wasn’t broadcasted as diagnostic of Covid. Only knew it was Covid as antibody tests in September were positive! I have RA on MTX 20mgs injection, HCQ 400mgs at the time and Humira .. so stay positive ... I wish I had known during the extreme isolation of the shielding months - I probably wouldn’t have been so acutely scared of getting it!! Many many people do have it mildly - including many of us with naff immune systems ... keep safe .... xx

[Ali_H]

Yes.... started with headache and sore throat. No temperature to speak of... loss of smell only became obvious several days after positive results.Lingering chesty cough, fatigue, some muscle and joint aches.... or was that RA due to going cold turkey re MTX for several weeks? who knows!!

It’s triggered my depression which has been well, non-med, maintained for years so am getting support re kicking that one back into its kennel!

A part from that all is good!

Ali

[Climber1961]

I had it in March. It affected my breathing (tight chest, burning windpipe, crackling lungs), I lost my sense of smell and I had random rapid heart beats. Since then I’ve had fatigue, difficulty breathing and brain fog. It is getting better, but is a long slow process. I stopped taking my RA meds for about 5 months as I felt so unwell. Fortunately I didn’t have any RA flare ups! The strange thing about the post Covid symptoms is that they don’t register as being of medical concern (ECG, blood tests, oxygen readings etc all come back normal)

[anneileen]

Yes I recently had covid. I also have a rare leukaemia as well so that may be why I became so ill. I was hospitalised and spent 8 days in critical care. I started with a slight cough and temperature. I get sepsis often because of the leukaemia so I thought it was that. I was taken to hospital and told I had covid pneumonia in both lungs. After a few days I was discharged but after a couple of days I became much worse and was taken back to hospital and put in Intensive Care for 8 days. It was the most terrifying ordeal of my life. I really thought I was going to die, some around me did and that was awful too. I then spent another week on a ward and was told I had extensive lung damage due to the covid. I am slowly recovering now but I get breathless very easily and I can feel that my lungs are bad. Im waiting for a further xray to see how my lungs are. I used to be able to swim for an hour without being out of breath, I now cant get up the stairs without stopping. Don't think I will ever swim again. I think it was going swimming at my local leisure centre where I may have picked up the Virus in the first place. I cant wait to get the vaccine, I will be frightened to go out anywhere when I am well enough. This was a truly awful experience for me, thankfully most people do not get it this bad.

[nanapat61 in reply to anneileen]

Sorry to hear you've been so ill - all best wishes for your continued recovery.

[anneileen in reply to nanapat61]

Thank you so much 🥰

[nanapat61]

Hi Tray5! I caught Covid in early November though didn't have any 'classic' symptoms to start with. I just felt really nauseous and dizzy but no cough or temperature and I wasn't aware of any loss of taste or smell but I'm not 100% sure because I wasn't eating anything and drinking only water due to the nausea. On the third day of those symptoms, I rang the GP to enquire whether he thought I might have Covid (which he didn't) but he did prescribe something for the nausea, which really helped. I couldn't book a test because I couldn't answer "yes" to any of the questions on the website re. presence of symptoms! On the evening of the 4th day I started coughing so I was able to book a test the next day. The result was 'inconclusive' so I had another test the day after but that also came back as 'inconclusive'. Convinced that I was not doing the self-test correctly, I booked a third test at a centre miles away where a medic does the test for you and that one came back positive. Hubby had a test at the same time, which was negative. By that time, it was 7 days since the start of the nausea but I felt much better apart from a very occasional cough. Once I knew I had Covid, I skipped my Methotrexate and Benepali jabs for the following two weeks. Unfortunately, that appears to have thrown me into a flare of my RA which is currently getting worse. I had a long-standing face-to-face appointment booked with my consultant for tomorrow, but it was not only cancelled last week but converted to a telephone appointment in mid-January 2021. I'm hoping that the RA meds will kick in again very soon. I do feel extremely grateful that I got through Covid relatively well, considering how very ill (or worse) many people have been, but I didn't really anticipate that missing just two doses of each of my RA meds would result in a flare. It's frustrating not knowing how or where I caught Covid, as I've rarely been further afield than the garden since March. However, I did re-start my usual regular childcare of my youngest grandchild for three hours after school once a week when schools re-opened in September so my best guess is that he was/is an asymptomatic spreader and maybe I caught it from him? Obviously, I've not looked after him again since testing positive. Neither he, nor any members of my daughter's household, nor my hubby have had any symptoms whatsoever, thank goodness. Roll on the vaccine!

[anneileen]

Thank you so much for your kind words 🥰