It’s been several months since I last posted and thought it was time for a bit of an update. Particularly, as a person who was deadly scared of covid and ended up getting it!
My husband first and then me. We have no idea where it was picked up. We’ve been in lockdown in Panama for the last year and have been so careful! We see nobody! Wear masks when going out for groceries or medication and sanitize our hands constantly when we're out! We've given up trying to figure out where we picked it up and are just so very thankful we both had mild cases. We thought it would be a death sentence for either of us.
Hubby started with symptoms in early January. Slight fever, off and on headache, sore throat, minor cough, terrible sinus congestion, body aches, diarrhea and exhaustion. The latter kept him in bed the second week and we put it down to the flu. I mean how could we of all people have Covid? Then my symptoms started, which were much the same, except that I lost my sense of smell and taste on day 3. When I was about 10 days into the disease, we decided we should be tested. My results were positive and John's negative, likely because he had been symptom free for about three weeks at that point.
The majority of my symptoms lasted about two weeks, but the loss of taste and smell lasted about a month. However, I remained in a funk because the fatigue and muscle pain continued to be virtually debilitating. I've done a lot of reading and consulting privately on the forum and am pretty sure that's what's going on. Life just got even more of a challenge, managing three autoimmune conditions (PMR, Celiac, Long Covid) with fatigue and muscle pain as two of the main symptoms, along with other similar ones. Research on long covid is only beginning and it will be a tricky one since symptoms are so diverse in the population of those inflicted. I’m hoping I’m one of the lucky 80% that sees relief after three months. Particularly since we have plans to begin the journey back to Canada on April 30.
After only just creeping down and stabilizing at 14 mg on pred following a major flare a few months back I increased to 20 mg last week and dropped to 15 mg this week to see what effect it would have. So far so good with less fatigue and muscle pain, but it’s only day 4 at 15 mg.
So that’s where things stand with me. I’m not looking for any sympathy, I just wanted to let you know that I survived Covid! However, if anyone has found themselves in the same situation (I hope not) and has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.
We’re registered to receive a vaccine in Panama, but have to idea, if and when that might happen.
Onward and upward, until the next snake appears in the game of snakes and ladders we’re all playing.
Best to all of you.
Tapering Regime while on Kevzara (or other biologic)
Increasing exercise while on low dose prednisolone
Hello out there, I'm back!!
Acceptance has been the key.
