COVID Recovery Includes a Feeling of Impending Doom and Uneasiness in Tri-Cities

I contracted COVID (Omicron) on January 4^th and in the beginning, my symptoms were very mild - body aches, chills, and a fever for the first two days. This was a pleasant surprise for me…at first. Like I had read and heard about, sometimes the symptoms seem to be lessoning only to come back much stronger after a few days, which was the case for me.

On day four I started experiencing shortness of breath (especially at night) and a persistent heaviness in my chest – almost like I had to burp but couldn’t. The weird part was, I wasn’t congested at all – no runny nose, congestion in my chest, or sore throat.

After three days with shortness of breath (almost like a constant asthma attack), I took myself to urgent care and I was given a steroid and inhaler to help ease the symptoms – which worked. Then a new symptom appeared.

A Feeling of Malaise Began to Settle In

One of the symptoms that are commonly overlooked or not talked about is the overall feeling of malaise and uneasiness during recovery. At around day 10 of my recovery, an intense feeling of impending doom took over my life.  January weather is not fun – cold, dark, and foggy – usually gets me a little down, but this feeling was like nothing I’ve ever experienced. Maybe it was because I wasn’t recovering as fast as I thought I should?  I mean, I had an expectation that I would conquer this thing and move on within a week. Not so.

The Emotional Impact of COVID is a Real Thing

Recently a good friend of mine came down with the virus and he also reported a feeling of malaise after 5 days – very similar in intensity to my experience.  So, I decided to do some research on the emotional impact COVID has during and after recovery.  Here’s what I discovered; according to WebMD.com over half of the people who have had COVID suffered depression or some form of malaise. Psychological stress, isolation, and the effects on immune systems are the main causes. It’s a real thing.

Here’s How I Addressed the Feeling of Malaise

Once I was able to walk without having to catch my breath, I began walking every day. I discovered the more I got outside and tried to be a part of the living, the better I felt.  I made a point to turn off the news and focused on watching content that was fun and entertaining on Netflix, Hulu, and Prime. I also tried to stay in close contact (electronically) with family and friends.  All of this combined helped me to slowly feel better and come back to life emotionally. I typically feel pretty good between my ears, but the effects of COVID messed me up for a bit.  If you’re in the middle of this crap, hang in there it will pass.