For record-keeping purposes in the highly unlikely it proves informative someday. Typing this one week after initial onset of symptoms, so caveats re: accuracy abound.
Background medical information:
Susceptible to strep (potentially relevant to initial response). It's just something I come down with occasionally, typically exacerbated by lack of rest and accompanying impact on body's immune system.
Chronic sinusitis - For about six years have followed a medicinal regimen of morning sinus irrigation of salt and 0.5 mg liquid Budesonide, evening dose of Flonase. Admittedly only conduct irrigation approximately five times/week, but consistent with daily Flonase usage. Have been declared a candidate for surgery to address this, but have not pursued as am largely asymptomatic (albeit I've lacked sense of smell for years with diminished sense of taste; experience onset of sinus headaches approximately once/year, particularly exacerbated when flying - presumably caused by cabin pressure changes. In extreme cases, cocktail of antibiotics and Prednisone are very effective at combating headaches).
Allergies - I experience mild seasonal allergy symptoms, and would rank my symptoms around the bottom 25 percentile. Last fall we moved to a new house 2.5 miles from our prior house, potentially introducing a new allergen environment. I went through the allergy test battery about six years ago and no plant exposures reacted more than mild. While the onset of spring is causing plants to bloom, I assume the impact on my body is marginal at most.
Context:
Fitness: while not in amazing shape, have been following a running regimen the past three months. Four days before any symptoms, ran 12 miles at between 7:00 and 7:30/mile. Two days before symptoms, ran easy four miles at around 7:30/mile. Both runs came easy, no indication of irregular stress.
Physical stressers: in conducting budget work for the NY Senate, awoke at 4 am Monday morning for work and did not leave office until Wednesday evening, achieving only sporadic sleep and leaving self susceptible to experiencing sickness not uncommon when body is stressed from tiredness.
Leading Indicators never experienced a cough. I don't own a thermometer, but at no point did I feel as though I was running a temperature or experience chills
Day 1 of potential symptoms (Wednesday, April 1): Onset of sore throat in the afternoon, progressing throughout the day. Leave work around 7 pm and immediately sleep for three hours at home. No other symptoms.
Day 2 (Thursday, April 2): Sore throat worsens, unable to communicate. Moderate congestion. No other symptoms. Only six hours of sleep overnight, as additional budget work coming in.
Day 3 (Friday, April 3): Sore throat present but waning, suggesting I just needed a good night's rest. Moderate congestion. No other symptoms.
Day 4 (Saturday, April 4): Sore throat almost entirely gone. Experiencing fatigue for first time. Slept approximately 11 hours. Took dog to golf course, ate lunch, and walked approximately one mile. Slight tightness* in chest develops towards end of walk. Went back home and slept another three hours. Entirely possible the past week's lack of sleep finally caught up with me. However, chest was still tight upon awaking from nap. Went into self-quarantine at this point in unfinished bedroom at other side of house, out of abundance of caution. Pursuing isolation felt very precautionary, as breathing issues only mild. Congestion now only mild.
Day 5 (Sunday, April 5): Chest slightly tighter. Similar feeling to broken ribs. Activity such as climbing stairs or doing 10 push ups difficult to recovery from. Congestion back to moderate.
Day 6 (Monday, April 6): Chest tighter. Worst when waking in the morning. Can go an hour without noticing, but other times it's constant. When irrigating nose, the most productive expulsion of mucus I have ever experienced. High in quantity and viscosity. Despite only mild to moderate congestion (I probably blow my nose 10-15 times/day), the shit that's not draining is incredible. My body is ineffective in discharging mucus (see above: chronic sinusitis), so weighing the lack of congestion versus what's actually being produced. Was unable to fall asleep until around two, though not sure if it was connected to anything.
Day 7 (Tuesday, April 7): More intense chest pain in the morning. Feels like entire rib caged is bruised. Particularly the sternum. Previously used the word 'tightness' to describe sensation, but graduating to 'pain.' Breathing ability is akin to having a cinch around my chest and tightened.
Attempted light yoga prior to bed (my lower back sucks from just sitting in a beanbag chair or lying in bed all day, so I needed the stretching. Plus I'm antsy from this goddamn room while it's 65° outside.) Was able to complete 15 minutes, but it kind of sucked at the end due to chest tightness. Still feel better than when I woke up in the morning. Nose irrigation is again massively productive. Haven't experienced anything like this in my life before. Tiny bit of blood in stool - could be the result of emotional stress, as this has happened before.
Day 8 (Wednesday, April 8): Chest pain slightly less than prior day, closer to return to the sensation of tightness rather than pain. Hoping that I've plateaued/am over the hump and recovering.
Day 9 (Thursday, April 9): Continued improvement, chest tightness continues to alleviate. Nose irrigation results in "normal" production of mucus. Following an incident with the dog that involved him vomiting everywhere, ventured outside late in the evening to walk him two blocks and expunge the rest of the badness from his system. Fine the first half - some tightness in chest upon turning around to walk home. Previously neglected to mention dryness, but could be relevant. Cannot recall when (probably Monday, Day 6), began having very chapped lips. Bottom lip splitting open on Day 8. Also have extremely dry, itchy skin. This despite drinking copious amounts of fluids (≥ 32 oz of water daily, plus 1-2 mugs of tea). Have been taking longer than average hot showers which could contribute to skin dryness, but chapped lips are very out of character, not something I typically contend with in the winter.
Day 10 (Friday, April 10): No noticeable improvement from the prior day, chest tightness not improved. However, because symptoms are largely diminished, any improvements from here on out with likely be marginal. Two hurdles left to clear: 1. no chest tightness when not in motion (feels like I'm closing in on this goal); 2. no chest tightness after activity (absent dramatic improvement, I assume this doesn't come for another week). Had a conversation on the phone for about ten minutes and was out of breath by the end of it.
Day 11 (Saturday, April 11): Will likely be doing only sporadic updates, if any, this point forward. Improvement is marginal everyday, and I assume there'll just be a slight bit greater ease of breathing everyday until I'm good again. Have tickle with my heart (if that sounds ambiguous, exactly, because I can't really describe it).
Saturday, April 18: Went for a jog today. Just two slow, easy miles. Feels like I'm training at an altitude of 10,000 feet. My heart sucks.
Sunday, April 25: Jogging every other day. Got almost four miles. Assuming there's not a second round, I've fully kicked this thing and am just trying to recover back to the physical fitness level I was at a month ago.
*I differentiate b/t chest tightness versus shortness of breath, which I'd characterize as such: Shortness of breath is when you sprint up stairs or try to run a mile fast. There is no restriction to breathing, the lungs are just being forced to work harder to overcome oxygen depletion from exertion (as my limited grasp of physiology understands it). The chest tightness I have is more akin to lightly jogging a mile but the lungs being unable to increase oxygen intake. The nuance may seem peculiar, but it's markedly different. As opposed to forcing the lungs to work harder to perform their necessary function (shortness of breath), it's like there's a governor on them so that they can't perform the function to their maximum efficiency (tightness). Possibly like trying to breath in atmosphere with a low ratio of oxygen (frankly I'm not interested in locking myself in an airtight container and waiting until I deplete enough oxygen to do a compare/contrast).
The first week of sickness I assumed that the primary symptoms (sore throat and congestion) and lack of symptoms typically associated with COVID 19 (dry cough, fever) meant there was basically zero chance I was experiencing the coronavirus, particularly in light of the lack of sleep. I had probably just come down with some cold while my body's defenses were weakened, even though the job often requires greater sleep deprivation and I come out the other end just fine.
The breathing issues have caused me to turn a 180°. While it's entirely possible I've contracted some other lower respiratory infection, at this point I'm just assuming I'm a carrier. We'll see whenever they can get a test to market measuring immunity. I'm thankful my lungs are in decent shape though - otherwise this past week would've suuuucked.
June 16: ten mile run today. Absent sudden stroke, all signs indicate full recovery and lung function at same level as it was three months ago (I hope). I'm signed up to run a marathon in December. It's a good goal.
July 12: 15 mile run. Feel great. However, got the anti-body test last week and it came back negative. Three possibilities: test didn't work (testing accuracy still an issue in the US); have already lost immunity (increasing evidence that this is an issue); or I never had it and am just a big baby.
