Now that I’m getting a bit better, I thought it would be good to do a thread on what I presumed to be my own mild coronavirus symptoms. While I didn’t get tested, I’m 90% sure that’s what I had as this illness was unlike anything I’ve ever had before.

I was already self isolating (I live alone, too, so zero contact with other people) for about 10 days when I believe I caught it during my only trip to the grocery store. I think I made some critical errors at the store, from bringing reusable bags (a habit I didn’t consider)...

... to using a pen to sign for my card, taking chicken from a coughing worker, and standing too close to others who were also coughing. To be honest, all of this was unavoidable in a small city shop. But I could have been smarter.

After this trip I went back to self isolation, seeing nobody & not even going out for a walk, so I was really in the best case scenario and believe I didn’t give it to anyone else. This is why it’s so important to stay home. My symptoms appeared 4-5 days later (which is common).

I thought I’d write out my symptoms day-to-day as I found these super helpful, and they helped me understand that this really manifests SO differently in everyone, from no symptoms to coughing to not coughing at all and only vomiting. It’s all over the place for everybody.

Day 1: woke up with a headache and sore throat, had a 100 degree fever, uncontrollable chills and couldn’t regulate my body temperature at all. Really scary.
Day 2: chills were worse, extreme tiredness began (fell asleep in the bathtub ). Daydreamy. Fever continued.

Day 3: chest started to feel constricted. I was really confused all day, typing things double and not able to complete simple tasks. Fever around 99.7.
Day 4: headache continued but chills had passed. A better day. Still mildly confused.

Day 5 & 6: headache remained, tight coughing began but wasn’t constant, steady low-grade fever. Still struggling to regulate my body temperature. A tiny bit more energy.

Day 7: more energy. Cough was fine during the day but gets worse at night when I lie down. Appetite barely there; nausea and vomiting began (sorry tmi). Sleeping is back to normal.

Day 8: So. Tired. Nausea all day and appetite is absolutely gone. Can’t keep anything down. Cough is only persistent at night. Fever is low grade.

Day 9: Slept all day, but probably the worst for nausea as I couldn’t look at any food and couldn’t keep anything down so I was weak and dehyrdrated.
Day 10: same nausea. No appetite and constant tiredness persists. Low grade fever.

Day 11: The nausea has kind of passed — was able to eat one meal. Still dehydrated as overdrinking water is hard. Fever has passed. Tight coughing only at night.

Day 12 (today!!!!): Able to eat and have coffee and podcast! Coughing a bit and throat a bit sore from talking (oops). Working on getting hydrated. I feel a lot better. No fever. Hoping the cough doesn’t get worse. I never lost sense of taste or smell.

And that’s it! Again, I wasn’t tested so this is just one random twitter account of someone who thinks they had it. I feel really lucky that it was *just* this but damn that was an illness I’ll never forget. Stay home if you can. I am medicating with Tylenol & my inhaler.