At the end of April I got sick with symptoms I had never experienced before. At the time I was busy being sick and didn't think much about it, but afterwards I started to wonder whether I had had the corona virus. So in mid-June when they made testing available for free for everyone in the Stockholm region I decided to reserve a time to get my test done.
From someone who doesn't get sick this was the worst I can remember ever being. I usually only get one or two three-day colds a year and nothing else. I don't get any of the seasonal flus. So with that in mind...
Even before I got proper symptoms something was strange, and I can't help but think that it's connected. For four or five days before I developed a fever I was so charged up with static that anything made from metal or had metal in it would give me shocks. Door handles, my phone, my laptop, keyboards, cutlery, keys... All the shocks I got on a daily basis ended up giving me a pretty permanent headache for several days. Then I got a stuffed nose which didn't help the headache.
Then came the fever and completely knocked me out. Even when I have my annual three-day cold I usually get a very low fever, enough to make me feel like something is wrong and making me feel tired, but it doesn't knock me right out. This fever made me feel like my head was wrapped in cotton and my brain was swimming. I couldn't focus on anything. The fever lasted for five days with the same level of intensity throughout.
The day after the fever set in came the pain. Every muscle in my body was screaming in agony. Every day I woke up to my legs feeling like they were burning. It hurt to lie down, it hurt to sit, it hurt to stand. It hurt to move my frickin eyeballs. But more importantly; it hurt to breathe. With every breath I could feel the contour of my lungs inside my chest. Deep breaths were out of the question.
Back in April the medical advice was to seek help at the hospital if you experienced any covid-like symptoms, but knowing at least two people who had both had symptoms had been turned away at the door for "not being sick enough", I decided I'd rather avoid going outside all-together. Back then you didn't get to come into the hospital unless you were literally dying.
I didn't get the cough or the sore throat (except the muscle pain) so a part of me wondered whether that was covid or if it was something else. I had my antibody test on June 30th. A simple blood test. They told me I'd get the result in 2-7 days. Today I got the result: positive. I have the antibodies, which means what I had in April was covid.
I'm not in any risk group, but I work in a hotel in the Stockholm area, so I low-key expected to get it at some point. Getting it didn't make me worried about myself so much because I'm not at risk. What worried me was potentially, accidentally, giving it to somebody who is. So I always followed the rules and recommendations, and still I got it. Even now I make sure to follow the rules even though people with antibodies have been deemed safe to interact with people at risk.
It never got bad enough that I ended up in hospital or ICU, like so many others that you read about. But this was the worst I can remember ever feeling. It came from seemingly out of nowhere, knocked me out for several days, and then vanished as quickly as it had come.
They told us from the beginning that everybody reacts differently to it. Some don't even notice that they have it. I thought I would be one of those people that get to have it without noticing it. But here we go. This is a story from a completely and somewhat audaciously healthy person experiencing covid.
I still say that I've been lucky. It went easy on me. Considering.
