My Experience Having Covid-19

It was the day I knew would come eventually, and I dreaded it. My lateral flow test showed a very bright red positive line! I had COVID-19!

I live in England, and most of our social distancing restrictions have now been lifted. This means that people are mixing again, and life has a sense of being relatively back to normal, but as a consequence, I think we all knew that the virus would spread very quickly amongst the population.

My medical team and I agreed that the COVID vaccination could be potentially very risky for me due to the heart issues I've been having with my lupus. Therefore I was quite anxious about how my body would react if I became infected with COVID.

I woke up that morning with a general feeling as though I was "coming down with something," I felt dizzy as soon as I got out of bed.

Testing positive for COVID with lupus

I dropped my daughter off at pre-school, and I took the test as soon as I got home. I felt anxious when I saw it was positive. I kept telling myself I would be fine.

I called my doctor, and they provided me with an oximeter. This device measures your oxygen saturation levels in the blood and your pulse. As I'm sure many of you are aware, it's vital to keep a close eye on these levels if you have the virus, as in severe cases, your oxygen levels can drop to a dangerous level, and you'll need to go to the hospital.

I also have asthma which is another concern I had. I didn't know how the virus would affect my chest and breathing. Luckily I'd been taking my asthma medication religiously every day, which I think was a huge help.

My COVID symptoms

I started to feel incredibly achy, and for the first 24 hours, I felt shivery, hot, and cold. Interestingly, my temperature increased slightly, but I didn't have a fever.

I developed a slight tickly cough for a few days and lost my appetite. My stomach was affected, and I suffered from cramps and diarrhea. I felt like I had mild flu, which didn't render me bedbound, although I had to keep going to look after my daughter, which I found incredibly hard.

After day 5, I started to have a strange symptom: a slight taste of ammonia at the back of my nose and throat, and I was feeling very fatigued.

On day 9, I tested negative, which was a huge relief, although it's taken a few weeks to feel somewhat normal. I feel like the virus has made my lupus symptoms flare up, which is a pain, but I've just got to try and take it easy.

I feel grateful that I didn't have any serious complications and that what I experienced was manageable.

I should add that I had been taken off my steroid medication so my immune system wouldn't have been as compromised.

What I did to help myself

As I knew I couldn't have the vaccine, I had to up my game and research the best supplements to take that would help to support my body in the event I caught the virus, and these were:

• Vitamin D
• Vitamin C
• Zinc
• Mullein tea

As always, checking with your doctor before taking supplements is important, as some are not always good for lupus patients.

We are all so different, and how this virus affects one person may be other for another. Still, I hope that sharing my experience may help people concerned about getting it to realize that it can be managed and treatable from home, even when you have underlying health conditions.