In today’s post I want to share my own experience of having Covid over Christmas, my symptoms, the medicines and remedies I’ve tried, and more.
I tested positive for Coronavirus over the Christmas period and here are some things I did to help my body heal…
Having Covid Over Christmas – Leading Up to Testing Positive
I had been working long hours and only getting 4-5 hours sleep each night because after work I would carry on doing my personal work. My body was exhausted and my immune system had become weakened.
On the Friday I was supporting someone at work who had started sneezing and coughing. On the Saturday I went to visit friends and on the Sunday one of my friends said he wasn’t feeling well. The following Wednesday I could feel I was coming down with something and on the Thursday I tested positive for Covid-19.
The First Few Days
The next few days were a complete blur. It started out feeling like a really bad flu. I couldn’t lift my head off the pillow and it took all my strength to turn my body over in the bed. No matter what I tried I couldn’t get comfortable. I had an aversion to light so it hurt to have the light on or to open my eyes during the day.
By the next morning I had lost my appetite. The mere thought of eating made me feel physically ill. All I could do was sip on water and then rest again. My body was trying to sweat out the virus so I was losing electrolytes and was gradually becoming weaker and weaker.
The insomnia I had meant I was drifting in and out of consciousness every few hours but not getting the proper REM sleep that my body so desperately needed to recuperate properly.
On the third day I went downstairs to make something to eat and half way through I had to rest at the kitchen table, I was so out of breath. I was not in a good way.
Symptoms
These were some of the symptoms I had in those first few days:
- Light sensitivity
- Body aches and pains
- Chesty cough
- Breathlessness
- Migraine
- Lack of energy
- Body felt like lead to move
- Loss of appetite
- Insomnia
- Temperature
- Sweats and chills
- Dizziness
- Nausea
Things I Did to Help My Body Heal and To Keep Others Safe
1. Rest
The main thing I did was listening to my body and rest as much as I could. When I felt tired, I would go and rest. During the first few days my eyes were closed more than they were open. My back muscles were aching from all the coughing so I breathed with my stomach and did belly breathing instead of chest breathing.
2. Paracetamol and Some TLC
As recommended, I took paracetamol at regular intervals to help with the migraine and the body aches and pains. When I started feeling a little better I took hot baths to relax my muscles and just to relax in general. I added bubbles on a few occasions to enjoy the bath that little bit more!
3. Getting Enough Fluids
The one thing I did that was constant was drinking lots of fluids (water; Lucozade; bone broth; home made tea with lemongrass, lemon and ginger). This helped to keep my body hydrated. I also took Vitamin D (Colecalciferol Hux D3) everyday as well as Vitamin C (Camu Camu Powder mixed to a 50 / 50
ratio with MSM Powder).
4. Safety Precautions at Home
I live with housemates so I texted in the group chat to let them know I had tested positive and then we worked out a schedule where I could use the kitchen or other communal areas when everyone was out or in their bedrooms. I wore gloves and a mask when using any of the communal areas to protect them and then afterwards disinfected anything I had touched.
We agreed to open windows and doors periodically to keep everything well ventilated. These might seem like extreme measures but I have heard the Omicron variant is currently spreading like wildfire so if these small measures made a difference then I chose to do them.
5. Having a Positive Mental Attitude is Key
Lets be honest: Covid is Covid. Thousands of people have sadly passed on either directly or indirectly from this virus so there is that underlying fear of ‘what if…?’ hanging in the air.
A few family and friends were really fearful and worried and kept saying things like I hope you don’t get really sick and don’t land up in hospital.
One of life’s biggest secrets is that the universe does not hear negatives. So in those sentences, even though my friends’ intentions were of genuine concern for my safety and wellbeing; what the universe heard was: I hope you get really sick and land up in hospital. I had to tell them I’m okay and there’s a 99% chance of surviving once contracting the virus.
6. Be Mindful of The Words You Choose
I am learning to be very careful with the words I use nowadays. So, during this time of feeling ill, when someone asked me how I was; my answer would be: I’m feeling better than yesterday thanks. To myself I would say: the body is healing and the symptoms are lessening with each day that passes. I would say: I am listening to my body and doing everything I can to help it recover to its full potential and I am getting stronger all the time. I also did a lot of praying during this time.
7. Stay Positive
I forced myself to focus on the positives: I was told to self isolate for ten days so I used the time that I had wisely to help my body heal as much as it could. I told myself all the time: the body is healing and I feel better with each passing day.
The housemates and I shared a few light jokes to keep things light hearted and to just have a few laughs and not be too serious. Laughter and being happy is so powerful and important in the healing process, this applies to most ailments, not just Covid.
Turning a Corner
One of my housemates was going shopping and he offered to pick up some groceries for me. I was so grateful for this kind offer and it helped so much in my recovery. Getting the lucozade in my body meant I could replace those electrolytes I had lost and regain some energy.
This gave me enough strength to make home made bone broth which has amazing healing properties. I also boiled water and made a large batch of lemon, ginger and lemongrass tea that I left to cool and transferred to a water bottle that I could sip throughout the day.
Gradually over the next few days I started regaining my strength again and started feeling more like myself. On the 9th day of isolation I started feeling worse again for some reason and some of those earlier symptoms came back. I followed all the above steps again and within a few days I started getting back on track.
An Act of Kindness
Day 9 was also Christmas Day which meant I couldn’t celebrate Christmas with friends and had to stay at home. One of my housemates had a made a roast dinner and he dished up a plate for me. This act of kindness really touched my heart, it was a simple gesture on his part but made such a big difference to my physical body and emotional state of mind at the time. I am so grateful to live with such lovely humans.
Conclusion
This was my experience of having Covid over Christmas. What has been your experience? I’d love to hear from you, please leave your comments below. Have you had Covid? Did you have any symptoms? Or have you somehow managed to stay Covid-free? If this is the case, may you remain covid-free for a long time to come.
Much love, health and happiness to you,
Anthea
Anthea