Day 45 of lingering #covid19 symptoms - it's not been a great day, leaving me feeling worse 1/n

I woke up at 4am (my normal time pre illness), and felt great, went into garden before 5am and did a sunrise walk, and it was a wonderful walk, my personal best since I've been able to resume walking but... 2/n

I had to stop walking due to onset of cough and tightness of chest. Didn't want to take chances with messing around with my body, given everything still seems to be up in the air 3/n

Started to feel a wave of exhaustion fall upon me, so went back to bed, and ended up sleeping for 3 hours. Woke up around 8.30am and started coughing immediately. Coughing today is unpleasant because each cough makes my brain hurt 4/n

Never had the same level of energy that I did at 4-5am before I did my sunrise walk. Have felt like a zombie most of the day, a lot of the day spent in bed, asleep. It's taken until 9pm before I feel "less unwell enough" to write this thread 5/n

Whilst I am able to walk up stairs and lift myself off a chair with my legs alone, doing those things is very painful, my legs still hurt bigtime when doing those things. My arms ache, I have general aches and pains all over, all the time 6/n

I have to experiment with "pacing" and find what works for me, but I just feel so frustrated that walking just 0.5 mile this morning in the garden has sent my body into a tailspin and triggered some sort of "relapse" 7/n

23 days ago when I was earlier into my covid-19 journey, I was able to "concentrate" and binge watch a tv show on amazon prime. I can't do that this week, my brain hurts to when watching more than 10 minutes of a tv show https://twitter.com/ManeeshJuneja/status/1256344006713315338?s=20 8/n

At times my head hurts today, not brain fog or headaches like other day, but feel like brain zaps. I've also noticed that moving my head suddenly is deeply uncomfortable for a few seconds 9/n

I was doing daily video calls with friends before I got sick, since the early days of lockdown. I have avoided that during my illness as talking triggers coughing and shortness of breath, after just a few sentences, but I miss seeing friends on video 10/n

So I tried something different last night. Had a video call with my friend, but stayed silent, and used a combination of hand gestures, facial expressions and writing Q&A on a piece of paper and holding it up to the webcam. It was fun! 11/n

Remember, yesterday, I sent my blood sample back to the lab for the Superdrug #antibodytest? I got an email from them this afternoon. Wow, I didn't expect results to come that fast 12/n

False alarm. Upon logging in, I discovered it was a response to a question I had sent them yesterday asking if their labs are processing blood samples on the weekend or not? Why can't they just make that clear on their website? 13/n

In fact, I was wondering, why can't Superdrug send me a text/email when;
a) Blood sample arrives at lab
b) Blood sample is being processed
c) Blood sample has been analysed
d) Waiting for doctor to review the results

14/n

Anyway since we are on the topic of #immunity to #covid19, check out this preprint that suggests that immunity may be shorter than hoped. More research required, but a scary prospect as we try to plan for the future https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.11.20086439v1 15/n

A lot of people don't understand how challenging it is for decision makers across society to define policies when so much about this virus and what it does to our bodies is still unknown. Many (but not all) leaders are trying their best in such challenging times 16/n

On a lighter note, my CleanseBot arrived. That's right, the world's first bacteria killing robot (I ordered it given I used to travel a lot, before the pandemic)

I have no idea if it actually works, but the concept sounded good 17/n
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/cleansebot-world-s-first-bacteria-killing-robot/x/2017467#/

Early reports from some people who already received their CleanseBot suggest dark bed sheets confuse the sensors and the robot falls off the edge of the bed, or that it leaves marks on bed sheets https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cleansebot/worlds-first-bacteria-killing-robot/comments 18/n

Whilst CleanseBot probably sounded like an unnecessary travel product before #covid19 began, I wonder if there will be demand for all sorts of new products that can sanitize the places we visit in our lives, over and above what exists in the market today? 19/n

Thank You for listening and for being part of my #covid19 journey. Getting advice, tips and moral support from you makes this crazy experience easier to deal with. I'm determined to stay positive, regardless of how long it takes for my body to beat this sneaky virus /end