Knowing of the Unknown:

Today is March 28th. It has been four days since I was diagnosed with Covid. In part 1 of my story "Knowing of the Unknown: A Covid-19 Story," I originally talked about use of a oximeter to track blood oxygen levels as scientists have come to discover that you can have a drop in your blood oxygen levels before even experiencing respiratory issues. I explained what was ideal for blood oxygen levels as well as what some of my symptoms looked like. Today I want to touch base on how my symptoms changed since my last post.

During these last two days, I have noticed that when I am at my resting point, I find that my oxygen levels tended to fluctuate between 96-98%. This is good, however my lungs feel heavy and feel as if there is fire in my lungs. I have had moments where breathing was hard to manage. Wearing a mask even for a minute would send my heart rate spiking and trick my body into going into the fight or flight response and would cause me to start to hyperventilate. It is worth pointing out that I have asthma as well as kidney issues, so my experience may differ to other people's experiences. I want to be as transparent as possible in hopes of helping others know what to expect in this virus. There are still so many variables that we don't know about. When dealing with a virus that is unpredictable, it has a affect on ones anxiety. If you happen to deal with anxiety, I recommend practicing slow steady breathes as well as what is called grounding. It has helped me when wearing a mask when I feel like I'm in a claustrophobic panic.

When I was facing moments where I had to wear a mask, I was having a hard time because not only was I dealing with my body panicking on me, but at this point my lungs and throat were feeling like they were on fire. My O2 levels were bouncing between 94-95% when moving around and I felt as though I couldn't hydrate fast enough. I first lost my sense of taste and then my sense of smell. The loss of taste only lasted a couple days and came back but I still don't have my sense of smell. I hope it comes back soon. Another symptom that has been making a appearance is what is called Paresthesia. I have experienced odd numbness in my fingers, toes and in my face where my sinuses are located. I have been cleared for stroke so I'm not entirely sure of the cause of this odd symptom. Finally, I have noticed that my skin has become increasingly itchy and no matter what I do, antihistamines and anti-itch anything won't work.

Overall, this virus hasn't gotten too much worse as I have found that taking a probiotic everyday may be helping to stave off part of the symptoms. I highly recommend it as it helps your immune system have some back up. If you happen to be a smoker, I implore you to not smoke while infected. I have heard that smoking makes things so much worse and can also lead to serious complications with the lungs as one of my friends has been finding out. I will update in a couple days what has been happening but I want to leave you with a very important fact. You can go without symptoms for a day or two and wake up in breathing hell. One of my friends was experiencing no symptoms and woke up the next day having such a hard time breathing that she has been put on oxygen treatments every four hours since and can barely talk to the point of barely making any noise at all. It affects everyone different so please stay on top of your symptoms and stay aware of changes. Get that oximeter and keep track of your oxygen levels as it could literally save your life.