Covid with Claire

 I finally had my first run in with covid in January 2024. 

I had a weird sore throat for a few days that Jeremy and Elizabeth also both had. It started January 2nd. We assumed it was a cold as nothing really came of it. Then, at work on Thursday, I started to feel really badly. My head started hurting like crazy and I was freezing and just wanted to lay down. I got home from work and collapsed into bed. I had a fever of 102. A few hours later, I took a covid test and it popped positive very quickly. I knew I wasn't going to work Friday!  We then assumed that Jeremy had it too as he had passed it to me. However, his symptom was literally just a sore throat and it never went past that. 

We think it's because he had covid one time January of 2022 and I never got it then so he had some immunity. Elizabeth had had covid twice so hers never progressed beyond a sore throat this time either. 

I felt just horrible. Fever and cold and then super hot. My head was pounding. Then, it started to go into my chest and I was having a really bad pressure there and a deep cough started. It was a bit scary. Luckily, my doctor was able to see me quickly on a zoom call and I asked if he could prescribe  paxvolid and he said sure. 

Jeremy went to to the drive through pharmacy to pick it up. I took my first dose and hoped things would get somewhat better. Within 3 hours, all traces of the cough and junk in my lungs was gone. It was absolutely incredible. I was able to sit up and make some grocery lists and play around on the computer a bit.  That was absolutely a miracle drug. From then on, it felt like I just had a bad headcold. My nose started running like crazy for a little while but my lungs were fine and my fever went away. 

Now, it tasted AWFUL but by day 3, I think I got used to the taste and finished out the 5 days of taking it. 

I was very weak for a few days. I tested negative on Sunday night. I didn't go to work Monday either as I still felt so weak. I still tested negative Monday night.  I went back to work Tuesday with a mask, but I was very tired.  I made jokes for a while that I'd been sick all year. It was more or less true since my first symptom was January 2! 

I assume I had the JN.1 strain that was circulating like crazy at the time that people didn't have a lot of immunity too because it was very different then the previous version. 

For the next month, my chest did hurt a lot. I think it was costochondritis from the coughing I did (that was only a day though)  or from general inflammation from the virus.  The doctor wants me to do a stress test just to make sure it's nothing serious. 

I also have fluid build up in my ears. As I type this nearly 3 months later, I am still having issues with my ears. The doctor said the inflammation from the virus caused irritation in my ear tubes and they just don't want to settle down. He keeps checking and there is just fluid in there, but he never seems to see infection. I take zyrtec and flonase to try to make it better. I'm having issues with a "whoosh whoosh" sound in my ears that is especially problematic at night time and is making me have problems sleeping because it will either keep me up or wake me up when it's really loud. I'm hoping this eventually goes away. I wonder if they can put tubes in an adult ear. It's not infected though, so that's what's confusing.