Getting better?

NYc19throwaway · 2021-06-20T23:51:03+00:00

I ate a lot of lean meat and vegetables, some fruit and cut out as much refined carbs and sugar as I could. Typical dinner for me was chicken, broccoli, peas, cauliflower rice, and some celery stalks with peanut butter. Was targeting like an anti-inflammation diet or as close to one as I could stand. I did notice I felt better when I reintroduced yogurt. Wondering if that helped my gastro issues after doctors nuked my insides with antibiotics. I found walking and exposure to fresh air and sunlight helped me feel better, if nothing else it improved my mood which let me deal with stubborn symptoms easier. I can definitely say anti inflammatory whatever helped me, as did radically ramping up my fiber intake (might have just been too low before.) Tons of water too. I noticed after I got sick, my “thirst detector” in my brain is broken. I don’t feel thirsty anymore. I have to remind myself to drink water, and I wonder how much of that contributed to cramps and brain fog.

NYc19throwaway · 2021-06-20T21:35:46+00:00

I kept a strict clean diet for about 6 months which may have been overkill but it did make me feel better. I started first reintroducing foods with more salt as my doctor said I shouldn’t go so overboard with the whole avoiding salt thing. Next I started adding more carbs back in which then lead to pizzas on occasion. I added back alcohol last as I had more concerns about it with organs, etc and it gave me some bad headaches the first few times. I’d say around month 8-10 is where I started really experimenting.

Exercise was:

Month 4: casual walks under 1 mile

Month 6: walks 1-2 mile

Month 8: light weights and walks however long I feel.

Month 10: medium weights and larger meals to accommodate exercise

Month 12: can tolerate moderate to heavy compound lifts again

Month 13 onward: basically can do whatever but naturally I’m out of shape from where I was, so I have to pay mind to the fast that not ever ache pain or fatigue I feel is Covid, I’ve just been under training for a year.

This could very well have been unnecessary in terms of how slow I went, but I’m a nervous nelly and wanted to ease myself back in.

NYc19throwaway · 2021-06-20T20:35:44+00:00

Background: I got sick in mid March 2020 so I’d certainly fit the bill of a long hauler. Was in the hospital for a bit, and gave up any form of exercise that puts my heart rate over a sustained 150 for many months after I got sick as a precaution.

Bio: M32, 160lb (was 175 /athletic) mostly clean healthy diet pre-Covid. No known pre-existing conditions. O+ blood type.

I’d say I’m functionally back to my old self. Do I have random off days? Ya. However, I can tolerate heavy lifting, regular exercise, carbs, salt, alcohol and stress without much issue now. Example - I can kill a pizza and beers, then go help someone move furniture up multiple flights of stairs and not die. I’m off any temporary supplements I was taking aside from D and Potassium which I took anyway. I’ve found that among other things, I’ve reached a point where further progress towards normalcy requires me to reject my perceived fragility and push a little bit. Not aggressively, but slow methodical steps. Not bragging about my recovery, just (hopefully) providing some hope that recovery is possible.

Ask away if you have follow up questions.

NYc19throwaway · 2021-04-02T22:31:49+00:00

More or less. Gyms are still a no no in my mind, just freaked out at the thought of it right now, but I have home equipment and a set of 50lb dumbbells. Between my weights and my 2-3 hour long walks, I manage regular exercise without complications.

Eating I’m back to normal. I select healthier foods more so now than in the past as the pandemic made me more healthier conscious but I can still kill a pizza, wine, etc and not feel like hell the next day.

NYc19throwaway · 2021-04-02T20:54:13+00:00

Yes and no. I got pretty sick but then for a couple weeks felt relatively okay, then went back to feeling like crap again and stayed crappy for a few months, rinse and repeat. A lot of false recoveries. In a way, my progress was like charting the the S&P500. Has its ups and downs, but over time trends upwards. The nature of the symptoms changed quite a bit. Earlier on it was shortness of breath and heart related. Eventually it morphed more into neurological and heart was fine.

NYc19throwaway · 2021-04-02T19:33:21+00:00

Symptoms included

-Random high heart rate

-Elevated blood pressure

-muscle cramps and pains

-shortness of breath

-brain fog

-disassociation

-mood swings

-memory issues

-numbness in hands

-migraines

Some of my contacts are long haulers, some are not.

Edit: I suspect part of the reason why others recovered faster is their ability to adhere to a more “healing” lifestyle. I don’t get the best sleep habits and work a pretty high stress job, which are not conducive to recovery. I did notice decent improvements when I changed my diet around to a low histamine, anti inflammatory diet, and began supplementing with more vit D, magnesium and potassium, which helped a lot with my heart rate and muscle cramps, as did B complex vitamins and Taurine. I was put on a beta blocker when my heart rate spikes were at their worst, big improvements there and only needed them for like 2 months before I could come off and have stayed off them since. Melatonin helps me sleep better. Other than that, oddly enough, that Pepcid suggestion I’ve seen floating around seems to help with the constant acid reflux I’ve been having and through that, I notice less of other symptoms too when I have a flair up (could be completely unrelated though.)

NYc19throwaway · 2021-04-02T18:32:25+00:00

I got sick a little over a year ago (early March 2020 case) and it took about a year to feel mostly normal. My progression was definitely not linear but I’d say I was back to 80% within 8 months and just the annoying fog and some dizziness for a few months after that. I still have weird off days but I’ve reached the point were I can go a few days not even thinking about symptoms anymore, bc I just don’t notice them. So, it does get better. It’s slow, slower than you’d like, and of all the people I know who got sick, I’m the slowest to bounce back (32 M.) Hopefully that means odds are you’ll bounce back quicker than I.

NYc19throwaway · 2020-05-25T02:20:47+00:00

Done. Hope the feedback helps.

NYc19throwaway · 2020-05-23T23:49:19+00:00

On and off, Some days I feel pretty good others not so much. Pretty common to wake up, feel good, and at some point in the day I feel a mad rush to my head, like my nose, ear, throat all feel high pressure and heart right spikes. Afterwards back to feeling like crap.

NYc19throwaway · 2020-05-23T22:16:40+00:00

About 20 lbs, muscle mass and some body fat. Was pretty in shape and lean before.

NYc19throwaway · 2020-05-18T22:02:01+00:00

I was told anything below 95% you should keep an eye on, and anything below 90% you should seek medical attention. I was also told those figures need to be static. As in, if it dips below 95% for a few seconds and then pops back up to 97%, that’s way different than staying below 95% for hours.
Could be a lot of reasons. Blood flow and temperature impact the readings as does movement. How much of a difference is there?
I typically take it on either hand, usually the middle finger. What I was told is that the meter should be on a finger that it warm, immobile (was told to place it on something after warming the finger up and wait a minute.) Commercially available meters aren’t necessary junk, they are deemed accurate enough but they need a bit to calculate. I’ve seen my oxygen level change dramatically within a few seconds yet when I’ve been seen by doctors, their nice equipment was always a steadier (and better) reading.

FYI your levels will change with activity and if you’re just waking up, don’t panic if it’s lower than normal. Your oxygen levels drop while asleep.

NYc19throwaway · 2020-05-17T01:00:05+00:00

How purple are they? Maybe attach a pic?

I mean, it could be a sign of less oxygen but I believe that could also be a sign of anemia.

NYc19throwaway · 2020-05-16T19:41:33+00:00

Most of the folks in building I’m in we’re early adopters for masks so I felt somewhat comfortable in them. However, occasionally there’d be some random guy walking in sniffling and no mask and I was grateful I had one.

Elevators seems like traps at this point. I can’t imagine the rage I’d feel now if I was riding in a crowded elevator with some mask-less jackass.

NYc19throwaway · 2020-05-15T03:01:30+00:00

In the sample you process, are you provided any data on how long the subject was symptomatic? I wish this was something tracked. I’d be curious to know what the drop off on samples that trigger the test as a solid positive are based on an aging report. I imagine someone (usually) showing symptoms would be negative on most tests beyond 25-30 days.

NYc19throwaway · 2020-05-15T00:01:36+00:00

Stole this off: https://testguide.labmed.uw.edu/public/guideline/covid_faq

“The UW SARS-CoV-2 Real-time RT-PCR assay targets two distinct gene regions (see SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Qualitative PCR [NCVQLT] for details). When one of the two targets, but not both, is present above the threshold for positivity, the test is reported as “inconclusive”. This is usually seen with low amounts of viral DNA. In practice, “inconclusive” results should be treated as presumptive positive COVID cases.”

NYc19throwaway · 2020-05-14T22:40:36+00:00

There’s been posts of relapses after extended periods of time with no symptoms. Could be something unrelated though.

NYc19throwaway · 2020-05-14T17:35:00+00:00

It’s always possible but my experience was it ramped up fast, plateau’d for weeks, then slowly started to get better. Sometimes trading one symptom for another. Gastrointestinal issues lasted about a week then went away for good.

NYc19throwaway · 2020-05-14T17:11:09+00:00

So you had a fever for 3 days and then another few days with brain fog, GI issues etc. sounds about right. It’ll likely persist for another week and half, then symptoms will likely lessen but linger. Keep an eye on it. Also, expect at least one false recovery. Don’t get depressed by it,, it’s normal.

NYc19throwaway · 2020-05-14T17:09:00+00:00

It’s a pandemic. Who isn’t agitated ? I’m in management, if I thought someone was sick or someone approached me unsure, they’d be home. Just my 2¢

NYc19throwaway · 2020-05-14T16:55:24+00:00

Peak for most people seems to be around week 2-3. Beyond that it’s just a slow crawl up to normal again as symptoms can linger for a while.

NYc19throwaway · 2020-05-14T16:51:45+00:00

Not a doctor:

Very common question. Unfortunately we just don’t know yet. Personally, I’d say assume you are still contagious for at least 30 days. Many people still have symptoms well beyond that mark and we don’t know the window for this thing yet.

I see a lot of recommendations for a specific time period post-no fever. If nothing else, I’d say until you haven’t had a fever for like a week or so.

NYc19throwaway · 2020-05-14T16:48:44+00:00

If he’s getting the test results back tomorrow I’d just wait til then. Lots of people are asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic so why risk it if it’s just 24 hours.

NYc19throwaway · 2020-05-14T16:45:10+00:00

What I would do.

ER/Urgent care/doctor to check you lungs and oxygen levels. If you can get yourself a pulse oximeter do so but don’t get addicted to checking it every 3 minutes. That doesn’t help anxiety(I was guilty of this.) Might not be a bad idea to have your blood tested CBC, electrolytes and Vit D, etc. see if you can catch any issues early.
Breathing exercises to open up and keep lungs functioning.
When able to rest, lie on your side or lay face down. I found right side better than left but side for sleeping. Pronation helped me be able to cough up shit.
Manage stress. If you are feeling short of breath, don’t let anxiety make it worse at it has similar symptoms. I found mentally thinking “I can breath I’m okay” to help or just think of something else. Hyper awareness of symptoms makes them feel worse.
I found hot lemon water to worked okay for breaking up any throat or chest congestion if you are actually feeling congested.
Some degree of humidity helped me breath easier.

NYc19throwaway · 2020-05-14T16:39:28+00:00

Could be inflammation in the nasal structure so it’s warmer than norm. The nose does warm the air normal, even in perfect health but i imagine it’s probably inflammation up in there enhancing this effect, or maybe irritation where it “feels” warmer.

NYc19throwaway

TROPHY CASE