Thread by @Narrowthefield

I've hardly seen any reports on what happens to people when they contract Coronovirus... unfortunately I have first hand experience of it as my wife is currently hit hard by it and I mean absolutely floored by it...

...she is mid 30's, fit and healthy and has no underlying health conditions...but for the past two days has barely been able to string a sentence together without gasping for breath...

...to add to that she has been suffering bouts of fatigue that has led me to have lift her up off the floor and carry her to bed...after which I then have to somehow disinfect myself to try and nullify the chance of me getting it...

...the facts are that this shit is fucking real. If an elderly or sick person were to get it to the level she has it there is a high chance they would die, I have no doubt about that in the slightest...

...I must also point out that she works in health care and has immaculate self hygiene standards...and STILL managed to contract the disease. We are both now on 14 days lockdown. An ambulance has been to the house but the decision was made for her to stay here...

...which we both agreed with. When she is resting she is OK...when she tries to do ANYTHING she is floored and gasping for breath in seconds. Whatever is happening is real, very fucking real. Stay safe and stay smart...

Must also add that there have been periods during the past 48hours where it's seemed like she fine and even potentially recovered...then bang! Another wave hits her, back to square 1 or worse. It is a very nasty virus and clearly extremely dangerous to some.

Probably should have spelt Coronavirus properly in my first tweet...but ah well, got a few things on my mind at the minute...🤨

Many thanks for all your kind words/thoughts, you're a great bunch. A few of you have been asking questions but there's too much to pick through to answer individually so I'll sum up the main points if I can in the next few tweets...

...to which I'll also add that this is only our experience, I'm not an expert by any stretch on anything medical and I'd like to think most of you (fingers crossed) wouldn't get it as severe as my wife has it, I assume she has a nasty strain of it...although who actually knows!

Symptoms...
Very mild cough and sneezing for a couple of days (nothing you would worry about normally)
Then calmed down for a couple of days
Then a very rapid onset of shortness of breath and fatigue
Fever/temperature spikes are not too bad but are there...

Shortness of breath/wheezing/tight chest are the worst symptoms closely followed by the severe fatigue
Temperature/fever is manageable and least severe symptom but it is a factor
Like most illnesses I'd assume everyone's symptoms would vary slightly...

Also important to add that the paramedics DID NOT test her for Coronovirus as they said it was so rife they had stopped doing it that morning...however, paramedic agreed she had all the symptoms and it was almost certain she had it and we had to go into lockdown...

Facts are that if she somehow doesn't have it the country is even more screwed than we thought as she'll then have a virus that has the exact same symptoms and we'll then be dealing with TWO debilitating virus's running rife...

Every avenue we went down pointed towards her having Coronavirus and the quickness with which 111 sent an ambulance and then the paramedic confirmed and put us on immediate lockdown told us the seriousness of the matter...

...from which one can only assume the true numbers of the spread are not being recorded and as such told to us. Since starting this tweet thread people have been in contact from other countries saying my wife's symptoms sound exactly like what they had/witnessed...

Long and short of it is I shared all this because I was surprised at the lack of other 'real life' stories being shared. Not interested in scaring people, don't condone panic, just wanted people to hear what to possibly expect if you or a loved one are hit by it. Stay safe.

One thing I forgot to add was that we've had no need for extra toilet roll so, you know, maybe calm down on that score people...😐

Evening all. Quick update on my wife's condition as many of you had asked to be kept updated (because 99.9% of you are decent human beings 😊) and I think it's important to see this thread through to the end...

This is day 4 of the virus really taking hold and she is roughly the same as the previous couple of days. She is still short on breath when trying to do anything, even talking, and she is uncomfortable with regards to tightness in her chest...

...when at rest she is fine and from our perspective (but again, may not be the same for everyone) rest is by far the best respite for her. After a period of rest (she slept for 12 hours last night!) she feels better but quickly goes downhill after even mild exertion...

...temperature is OK but it does flare up every now and again but is easily kept under control by paracetamol. She's certainly got temperature swings at the minute but it's not uncontrollable. Fatigue is still there but we've learned from the past couple days...

...that she just needs to stay immobile as much as is possible. There are still periods where she feels almost normal but they don't last long. Essentially it's rest and fluids and occasional paracetamol that are the biggest help.

As for myself...can't deny that my chest is feeling tight (although manageable, not stopping me from normal day to day activity but climbing stairs is 'harder' than it should be) and I have had a bit of a dry cough (only mild) and very occasional sneezing.

Could be the start period like my wife had or I could be in the midst of the day 4 'nasty period' (I read numerous reports that talk about 4 bad days) and my body/immune system is just reactivating differently to her. Hard to say but compared to her I'm pretty good.

All in all she's roughly the same (which isn't great but we can manage providing we make sure she rests) and I'm possibly/probably displaying symptoms. I'll keep updating until an end is in sight. Stay safe everyone.

Today's update...my wife is on the mend! This would b day 5 (and a half) and although she was still a bit ropey this morning there has been significant improvement since this afternoon and her breathing is now definitely on the improve and fatigue is subsiding 😊

The main change is she can string a sentence together without struggling for breath and she can do basic day to day activities without suffering bouts of fatigue afterwards.

She gave a good description of the breathing difficulties, she said for the past couple of days it was like a belt tied tight around her chest but today it felt like the belt had been loosened (this was after the second night of around 10-12 hours complete rest).

From our perspective the biggest help has been rest, complete rest. That was by far and away the best thing to help her feel comfortable. When she wasnt fatigued she tried to eat something easily digestible (soup, porridge, bananas, etc) and took on fluids.

I have to say the improvement has been almost (not quite but almost) as rapid as the onset of the worst symptoms. She's still unwell and suffering from the symptoms but at a much much lower level.

As for myself...still feel I've got a very low level of it ticking away at me, but not anywhere near as severe as my wife had. May still hit me of course but it could hit two people in the same household very differently, that is our current experience anyway, that may change.

I appreciate all the kind words, thoughts, prayers etc from you all, all very kind and I only hope it has in someway prepared or given an insight into what could potentially happen if your or someone you know contracts the virus.