Covid symptoms?

[krillemy]

I wonder how everyone has experienced serious symptoms during a COVID infection?

I feel that due to prednisone and MTX, most of my symptoms when I have a cold or another respiratory tract infection are very subtle. Mostly, I only feel a cough and a congested nose in the morning. The rest of the day, I wonder if I’m really feeling unwell or if I have a flair comming ans hence tired and heavy arms and legs, which makes me feel like I need to lie down.

So, I keep taking all these COVID tests – but honestly, wouldn't I feel it if I had a COVID infection?

I was in the hospital in 2020 with COVID, have had two jabs, the last one in 2022, and have never had a positive test since.

[Bcol]

Not sure how much my comments as I have only had Covid since having had all the innoculations, mine wasn't too bad, the one in June this year was more grumpy than the previous one but still only like a really bad cold. OH had a dose of Covid last year and it knocked her out for a week. What we would each have gone through without the jabs I can't honestly say but my thoughts are that it would, very likely, have been an awful lot worse.

[krillemy in reply to Bcol]

Thanks. So maybe you had milder symptoms because you are on prednisone?

[Bcol in reply to krillemy]

I think I had milder symptoms because I'd had the jabs. Being on Pred would have made me more vulnerable.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Not necessarily at all - even in the early days, before anyone had been vaccinated at all, it was known or estimated that between 50 and 75% of cases had no symptoms. The pandemic was compounded in some countries by the crackers decision to only test people with symptoms - so many cases were missed and wandering around spreading the virus . The situation was helped where consequent wearing of masks and other hygiene measures were imposed. Now it is assumed that it is mild and a banal infection because of the vaccines - which of course isn't necessarily the case at all, especially for people like us - and in the UK they just don't test. What you don't know about ...

But even a very mild case can have long lasting and potentially devastating effects. I have a friend in the north of England who had a relatively mild case of Covid a couple of years ago but has developed cerebellar ataxia as a result - she can no longer walk normally, she can only shuffle and her speech is also affected, as if she has had a stroke. In the summer she stumbled at the top of the stairs and fell the full length. She fractured a vertebra in her neck - not badly but had to wear a collar for months and lie flat for several weeks. She was lucky not to break her neck. It is said that these sort of Long Covid effects are less after vaccines but they still happen.

[krillemy in reply to PMRpro]

OMG. I am so sorry. However I meant now. If we with PMR get Covid today being on immune suppressives? How bad is it ?

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to krillemy]

There is no answer to that - some people might be worse than others, Most people who have had it after vaccinations seem to be not too bad but there is no hard and fast rule.

[krillemy in reply to PMRpro]

And there you have it. So I went ahead and had both flu and Covid jabs this evening. It’s done. I hope I don’t flair ☺️🥳

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to krillemy]

I had my flu jab yesterday - saving Covid for a couple of weeks as the GP doesn't do them, have to go to the hospital clinic for that.

[AtopicGuy]

The human immune system evolves all the time. I say "The", but in truth, every person's immune system differs slightly from everyone else's. That ensures no single disease is likely to kill everyone and drive our species to extinction.

When we catch a bug, the symptoms we experience are a mixture of those caused by the microbes, and those caused by our immune response. For example: fever is our body's attempt to slow down the multiplication of bacteria that lack the sophisticated temperature-control of our cells; inflammation makes our tissues leaky so that immune cells can get at the invading microbes; and feeling unwell is our brain's way of telling us to lie down and rest, so all our energy can be devoted to the battle.

During the recent pandemic, the internet was awash with people who thought they were somehow superior because their body shrugged off covid with ease. The truth is, it was pure luck. An immune system that is ideal for this-season's challenge might be useless for the next. In 1919, the 'Spanish flu' mostly killed young, healthy people. In 2019, covid mostly killed the old and vulnerable. In both cases, a tendency for the immune system to overreact (in a 'cytokine storm') proved just as deadly as one that was too weak.