It's been a month, and I'm still dealing with:
- post-nasal drip/stuffy head feeling
- occasional chest tightness
- feelings of elevated heart rate
- fatigue, but also insomnia
- worse fatigue that seems to hit about a day after exertion
What I've done:
- yoga-- a 30s plank had my muscles shaking, and my HR was up in the 100s doing static yoga (not flow)
- walks- while I've been able to do a couple walks over 30min without any issues during activity, both of them have left me with heavy fatigue afterwards
While it's not completely accurate, it's been interesting to see my GPS watch's assessment of my fitness deterioration:
Red vertical lines are effort for individual activities/workouts
Blue is my stamina level
Purple is my effort level
COVID hit me mid-April, and it's depressing to see how much I've lost, to the point where those last few red blips are WALKS and were so much in excess of where my stamina level is.
A COVID Timeline
Day -3
After a rough night with a sick kiddo (not COVID, though), I had a super strong 10KTusesday workout-- first time averaging a sub-9 in awhile, and I felt great doing it. This was my first workout in awhile where I finally felt like I might be back on track fitness-wise.
...then I went to show chorus that night, unmasked because essentially everyone in the chorus is vaccinated, and since no one else was masked, it seemed "okay".
Day -2
Started my new job, and did a bit of light running after work before the kids' race. Running felt a little harder than usual, but I figured it was because it was afternoon, hilly, and I was stressing about getting to my kids race on time and still having my wrist in a brace from the sprain last wee
Day -1
Opted out of running this morning because we'd gotten home late last night, but did a HIIT workout instead. Lunges and squat jumps felt harder than usual, but I figured it was carryover from being tired and the speedwork on Thursday.
Started getting a bit of a dry throat later this evening, but figured it was whatever my kiddo had been home sick with on Tuesday.
Day 0
Felt fine, if a bit tired, in the morning and had a pretty great 2x2mi tempo workout, for a total of 7.6mi before work. My throat was dry after the workout, and I opted for honey tea as a morning beverage. Mid-morning, I had a bit of a headache/backache, and figured it was due to sitting in a chair for 8 hours multiple days in a row after being off work for a month (typical for me upon returning to an office setting after a break).
This feeling, however, got worse by afternoon. I found out from our chorus FB group that someone I'd been near had tested positive, and then had a flurry of messages with others who were symptomatic and testing... so I left work and headed straight for a PCR center.
By the time I got home, I was feverish, headache-y, and had such terrible body pains that walking normally was difficult. I locked myself in the basement bedroom with some rapid tests, ibuprofen, and Nyquil. I tested positive and clocked a 104 fever.
Day 1
Fever broke at some point in the morning, and I woke up drenched. My fever was only ~101 for the day, with intense head/body aches. I did feel well enough to change my sheets later in the afternoon, though, but spent the day sleeping.
Day 2
Fever down to 99/100, intense headache and body aches. Another day of sleep.
Day 3
No fever, but crippling headache and lingering body aches. Finally felt well enough for some Netflix, with napping. Still sleeping ~12 hours overnight.
Day 4
Terrible stuffy nose and headache. Netflix and napping.
Day 5
Congestion and headache. Netflix and napping. Thought I might be able to work a few hours from home tomorrow.
Day 6
Congestion. Lingering fatigue. Was only awake about 6 hours today.
Day 7
Still testing positive. Walked ~mile throughout the day. Napped a lot.
Day 8
Finally tested negative. Walked a few miles with the stroller, slowly. Napped. Still feeling fatigued and post-nasal drip in throat.
Day 9
Walked a few miles with stroller. Napped. Still feeling fatigued and post-nasal drip in throat.
Day 10
Went to work. Still feeling fatigued and post-nasal drip in throat.
Day 11
Considered getting up to walk a bit on 10KTuesday... but just couldn't muster the energy. Went to work. Still feeling fatigued and post-nasal drip in throat.
Day 12
No work today (I'm off). Did a couple mile walk, and felt tired during and after. Opted to bike alongside kid for ~30min at a slowwww pace during our afternoon outing. Still feeling fatigued and post-nasal drip in throat.
Day 13
Went to work. Still feeling fatigued and post-nasal drip in throat. Walked 1/2mi with stroller after work, watched kid at playground for 20min, walked 1/2mi home... cried because I was so exhausted by a 21min mile and then fell asleep on couch. This is the first day I really felt depression setting in.
Day 14
Only got ~8 hours of sleep and felt really fatigued upon awaking. If I didn't have work, I definitely would have just stayed in bed. Left work around 3:30, picked up kids, and then came home, cried, and just crashed in bed... for fourteen hours.
Day 15
Woke up with some chest tightness, headache, more fatigue, and feelings of depression. Got myself out of bed, put on a pretty dress and tried to "fake it 'til you make it" with a trip to the farmers' market and then cheering for kiddo at soccer. Cried more on the way home from all that, and spent several hours just staring off into space feeling depressed.
Felt mentally a bit better at an afternoon family excursion, and even stayed awake with husband to watch part of a Netflix show after kids' bedtime.
Day 16
Woke up on my own around 6am, laid in bed for another hour with light headache and some chest tightness. No nap today, and felt mentally better thanks to a visit from a friend's family.
Day 17
Another week of work. Felt tired on the way into the office and wanted to close my eyes while driving. No problems during the day, though. Did a short, slowwwww walk with the littlest (0.25mi @ 48min/mi) and definitely felt a bit of chest tightness but nothing major.
Day 18
Good night of sleep IN MY OWN BED for the first time in forever. Slight headache and stuffy nose upon waking. Did a short stroller walk (.75mi @ 19:15/mi avg) and definitely felt like I'd done an easy 5K based on effort exerted. Also did 10min of relaxation bedtime yoga with a focus on breathing.
Day 19
Terrible night of sleep due to t-storms and thinking about ALL THE THINGS. Went to bed at 9pm, was up to pee at 1am, up again with storms at 3am, and then didn't really get back to sleep until 4:30ish... and up at 6:30am. Good news is that I was still functional in the morning for some home work. I'm finally starting to see some progress on the fatigue side, and am grateful. Slight stuffy nose/headache/chest tightness upon waking, but only a bit of tightness during the day.
Did a lunch walk with my husband and felt, again, like I was running easy instead of walking, but so so grateful to be out there able to do SOMETHING.
Days 20-27
Lots of post-nasal drip-ish dry throat that seemed to subside most days, but return for nights/mornings. Had terrible neck/upper back pain beginning on Day 22, despite no changes in bed/pillow. Did 3 and 4mi walks with the stroller on the weekend days, and had to take 1-1.5 hour naps each day. Had some watery eyes and congestion, chest tightness, and generally felt heavy. Lots of problems staying asleep.
What's Next
I've read ALL the medical journal articles over the past month, consulted various medical professionals, athletes and coaches, and advice is really a mixed bag. I think I'm going to try to do regular, easy 10-15min walks each day and mix in a few longer ones, as I can with the fatigue. Still trying to find something that works for me to get and stay asleep, but that's going to be a challenge since our little one just caught RSV from school... Sigh.
