I Caught Covid and This Is What Happened

Covid is different for everyone.

Photo by Brittany Colette on Unsplash

On Monday afternoon, I developed a sore throat. Just a normal springtime cold I thought and took two Tylenol. That eased the discomfort but by the evening, I began feeling quite lethargic and decided to have an early night.

I woke around four in the morning with a series of aches that washed over my entire body and a throat that felt like I was trying to swallow a rock. It was then I thought I should try out one of the rapid test kits my wife had picked up at our local drugstore.

Photo by Medakit Ltd on Unsplash

I followed the instructions including inserting the swab up my nostrils and swirling around. This is a very unpleasant exercise to say the least, for those who have not used a rapid test kit.

Each kit come with the swab, a tiny little flask, a stopper, a holder for the flask and a test pad. The liquid is poured into the vial. After inserting the swab up both nostrils to a point you can feel it tickling your brain, you then insert it in the vial and swirl it around. You then have to squeeze the vial around the swab up to 15 times, remove and insert the stopper.

You then place 3 drops from the vial into the test pad and wait up to 15 minutes for results. For me, two red lines popped within 2 minutes meaning I was very positive.

By the end of the day, I was feeling as though a truck had run over me. I could barely swallow feeling like I had a boulder jammed in my throat. My temperature was up to 38 C, (normal is around 36) and I could barely put one leg in front of the other. My taste buds were in neutral and my appetite was almost nil.

That was 6 days ago. I carried out another test yesterday and am still positive. However, I can now almost swallow and my temperature is back to normal and I can almost begin thinking again.

I would hate to think what my condition would have been if I had not been vaccinated and boostered. I did not know what the meaning behind “brain fog” was but now I know. Covid really messes up the old brain cells and makes reading and writing almost impossible.