I had my first symptoms mid-afternoon on 3/2 (Monday) - fatigue & a pretty bad headache. Chalked it up to work stress from my new project & didn’t think much of it. When i got a fever that night, i also didnt think much of it. When i woke the next day, i had no symptoms & thought i slept it off. But in mid-afternoon, i got a slight headache & light-headedness again. i thought it was work or coffee-induced. It wasn’t until that evening, when i got another fever, did i realize i was actually sick. The above pattern of symptoms repeated itself for 7 nights. Daytime - no symptoms except for slight headache and slight dizziness/light-headedness, then fever/chills/body-aches in the evening. My fevers were 101 to 103. And those cold sweats were no joke - i once woke up wondering if i showered & forgot to towel off since i was absolutely soaked from head to toe (yuck). Surprisingly, i had NO respiratory issues - no cough, sneeze, sore throat, shortness of breath, congestion, or runny nose. The only other symptom i had was a slightly-sweet taste in my mouth, starting in my 2nd week & lasting over a week. I didn’t mention that to doctors since i didnt think it was relevant. Throughout my illness, I lost about 10lbs (I usually weigh ~167lbs). I think this was because I had no appetite & wasn't eating with my family (isolating myself & focusing on my new project), I often forgot/didn't-think to eat. I think I actually ate ~3 meals during this time, and it was small portions. I did snack on sweets & fruit often, though - I still had an appetite for anything sweet. The worst daytime symptoms I had were on 3/6 (Friday). I woke up feeling like a truck hit me - my whole body was sore. That was weird since my body aches were usually only in the evenings. That was the only day I called in sick & didn't WFH. The body pain resolved by the time I woke up on 3/7 (Saturday). When i knew i was sick, and that coronavirus was just starting to be reported in the US, i went into full paranoia mode & isolated myself to protect my family. i didnt touch any of them for 2 weeks. i didn’t even have meals with then. i also got a separate blanket so my wife & i didn't have to share one when sleeping. i also wore a surgical mask whenever i left my quarantine area (our home office). But since i wasnt coughing, i’m not sure useful it was. This whole time, my daytime symptoms weren’t bad and i was able to WFH every day (except for that first Friday). On day 13 (or 14?), i finally convinced a doctor to let me get tested. it was my 4th attempt. First attempt, the Teladoc doctor told me i had “walking pneumonia due to complications from the flu” & gave me antibiotics. Second Teladoc doctor said i could go to an urgent care to get tested if i really felt high risk. The third time, i made an appointment at an urgent care to get tested. They called me confirm my symptoms, then they called again to tell me to come in through the side door, then 1hr before my appointment, they called to tell me they cancelled my appointment and that i should self-isolate & call the CDC. i was pretty pissed. i was finally able to succeed by showing up to the urgent care’s drive-up testing facility and saying (from my car) my telemedicine doctor insisted on me getting tested. They initially balked, but i was very insistent & called their office saying i was sitting in their parking lot. They finally agreed, since (i think) i was already there & getting irate at them. i think they also felt guilty that they strung me along & cancelled before. Testing wasn't uncomfortable - i got swabbed in both my nostrils, and 3 days later, they called and told me i tested positive, i should self-isolate, and a county nurse would contact me. The next day, a county nurse called me to ask questions about my symptoms. after her questions, she said i should stay isolated for 14 days after my first symptoms. After i told her i was already at day 18, she said nevermind - i’m recovered since it’s been 14 days, my body had antibodies to fight off the virus, and it's been several days since I had a fever or any other symptoms. i’m happy i turned out alright, and my family never exhibited any symptoms (so far). From this point on, i'm a bit at ease, since i know any future strains of coronavirus will likely be no worse than a bad flu (to me). However, i really feel for at-risk folks that haven't been exposed to this virus yet. i hope they are strong enough to power through this. This being said, I am still practicing safe measures whenever I go out. I'm not being reckless & shaking hands with people or getting within 6ft. I recommend all others that are recovered to do the same - we don't want the not-yet-sick to get a false sense of security when they see people reverting to pre-coronavirus norms. Elderly, at-risk, or people with pre-existing conditions will (essentially) have a death sentence if they get sick from Covid-19; you don't want that on our conscience. Update 4/10/20: If you're doubtful about gaining (temporary) immunity after being sick, read this: https://news.yahoo.com/fauci-coronavirus-antibody-tests-coming-immunity-certificates-being-discussed-172122667.html // // Answers to common questions being asked // below, since the # of replies is getting crazy // - I feel 100% normal now, as good as before I had any symptoms. My family is also doing great - no symptoms from any of them (so far). Kids are home from school & as active as ever. Wife doing well, but a bit tired having to wrangle the kids all day long (as well as handle housework). - 39yo, Bay Area, Male, Non-Indian Asian, great diet, *extremely* strong immune system prior to illness. I've only called in sick to work once in 15yrs from an actual illness. I can only remember 1 other time I was sick for longer than 1 day (aside from coronavirus), and that was back when I was elementary school (I think it was the flu). - I'm basing my assumptions on what Dr. Fauci said in online interviews. He is this country’s foremost expert on infectious disease & has advised several presidents. His most informative interview was done by Mark Zuckerburg: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnet.com/google-amp/news/facebooks-zuckerberg-interviews-dr-fauci-5-takeaways-from-the-coronavirus-chat/ - I only took Tylenol & Advil to treat my fever & body aches in the evenings. Did not take any other meds. - I feel like I still have 100% of my lung capacity. No issues running around chasing the kids in the backyard. But I haven't run a 5k to confirm. - The urgent care place charged me $225 for the visit & test. All of my other telemedicine doctor visits (via Teladoc) were free. - I would love to get re-tested (and test my family) if testing was more available & free. - I don't know how I got sick in the first place. I'm a manager so I shake hands *a lot* at work. But who's to say I didn't get sick from touching a gas pump, or credit card terminal, or handing my credit card to a cashier, or from pushing a shopping cart? - I would love to donate my blood for treatment/research, but it's only happening in NY right now. - I would love to help my community, but I have to work during the week, and I'm the only person I allow out of the house until after my family finishes their 14-day isolation. #covid19 #covid-19 #coronavirus
Good for you 😃😃. Now get back to your office.
So you can just drive to hospital and get tested without any appointment? Which hospital is it if you don't mind sharing ?
Someone else was telling that his insurance company arranged it for him
The Urgent Care place that tested me would only do so after I did a telemedicine visit with one of their doctors, and the doctor thought that my symptoms warranted me getting tested.
Be careful, those anti bodies disappear after some time
Beast
OP, how old are you?
Updated original post to include demographic details.
WTF, maybe all your initial symptoms were normal flu and you got corona just a couple of days ago? Don't want to scare you but you need to exhibit coughing I guess besides to fever to make sure it's because of corona.
That would be funny. But highly unlikely. I was WFH for the entire time I was sick, since all Tech Companies started WFH at beginning of March. Only infection vector would be my wife, who was the only person to leave the house. But she never got any sickness symptoms.
Oh, and I never developed a cough, sneeze, sore throat, congestion, or runny nose.
I’d say be careful. I’m from Asia and I know there were people who were positive with the virus for the 2nd time after being treated
Please donate your plasma https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/24/fda-now-allows-treatment-of-life-threatening-covid-19-cases-using-blood-from-patients-who-have-recovered/
So you were never hospitalized? How did they declare that you were cured? Did they test you again? I have seen some test kits giving false positives and false negatives too.
I was never hospitalized. The county nurse told me I was cured because I no longer exhibited any symptoms and was more than 14 days past my first symptoms, and was fever-free for several days (meaning my body was no longer fighting off any infection).
Are you saying the virus goes away after 14 days, or it just stays in your body but is benign after 14 days?
Kudos on your recovery and sharing your story! #staystrong