Ok, here's a thread of my (presumed coronavirus) symptoms. I was looking obsessively for more detailed accounts of this and am hoping the info helps someone out. I was unable to get a covid test but did test negative for flu.
I had a friend visit from out of town and went to a couple touristy spots (notably Disneyland) which is when I assume exposure happened. Symptoms started in earnest about 5 days later.
Day 1: sore throat, headache. Thought I was just tired and losing my voice
Day 2: sore throat, diarrhea & vomiting (tmi lol) which I wrote off as food poisoning
Day 3: sore throat, intense all-day exhaustion. Only low grade fever (99.4-99.8). Chest pain, very congested nose
Day 2: sore throat, diarrhea & vomiting (tmi lol) which I wrote off as food poisoning
Day 3: sore throat, intense all-day exhaustion. Only low grade fever (99.4-99.8). Chest pain, very congested nose
Day 4: sore throat gone, coughing began. No appetite from this point forward. Muscle twitches and pain
Day 5: woke up feeling alright, walked upstairs and then couldn't catch my breath and felt about to faint. Shaking hands and loss of color. Went to ER, got breathing treatment
Day 5: woke up feeling alright, walked upstairs and then couldn't catch my breath and felt about to faint. Shaking hands and loss of color. Went to ER, got breathing treatment
Tested negative for flu but no coronavirus tests available. Prescribed steroids which helped with breathing difficulty
There was coughing but the main sensation was pressure when trying to take a full breath, and the feeling of your airways wheezing and not fully opening
There was coughing but the main sensation was pressure when trying to take a full breath, and the feeling of your airways wheezing and not fully opening
Day 6: congestion cleared up. Wet cough. Not much feeling of hot/cold but would alternatively shiver as though cold or sweat as though too hot. Of note that for the whole time of being sick, my fever would fluctuate from hour to hour, at times back to normal, and never passed 101
Day 7: felt almost normal but only as long as I used an inhaler religiously every 4 hours (and still on prescribed steroids). Exhaustion, tremors. Appetite started to come back in the evening. Still muscle aches
Day 8: phlegmy cough. Tried to go off inhaler to help with the tremors. Vomiting all day, no appetite
Day 9: coughing and shortness of breath but felt better. Couldn't sleep more than 2-hour stretches at night because of coughing
Day 10: shortness of breath worse again, extreme exhaustion, could barely walk around, very worried
Day 10: shortness of breath worse again, extreme exhaustion, could barely walk around, very worried
Day 11: ugly-sounding cough but airways feel clear when breathing in, energy back, appetite back
Day 12: (today 🙂) slept a lot and still ugly wet-sounding cough but energy & airways still feeling good, just feels like a normal cold now
Day 12: (today 🙂) slept a lot and still ugly wet-sounding cough but energy & airways still feeling good, just feels like a normal cold now
Anyway tl;dr if you develop a sore throat assume you have it, anecdotally everyone seems to say it's starting with a sore throat and I feel really guilty in hindsight that I was grocery shopping on day 2 probably infecting loads of people because I didn't have a cough/high fever
@ people asking if I lost sense of taste/smell, yes around day 4. We have plug-in air fresheners in like every room so usually when you walk from one to another you get hit with pine/ocean scent, and it really stood out to me a couple days ago when I started smelling them again
Also everyone should be isolated anyway but by "assume you have it" I meant if you develop a sore throat, consider making an appt with your doctor and possibly getting an inhaler prescribed before your breathing worsens, since it might take days and you don't want to go to the ER
