#COVIDSurvivor

I Survived COVID and This Is What I Learned

COVID is not like the flu virus or any other illness I experienced in the past. Watching others recover from COVID was completely different than going through it. Day by day, I managed and dealt with the weird symptoms. 4 weeks after being infected with COVID and I am still experiencing some long-term effects. Why is this? Why did I start to feel better and backslide within 24 hours of stopping my Pepcid? Literally, my body did a full 180 and I felt like I was at the peak of my symptoms again. Once I restarted my Pepcid, my symptoms improved.

Why are there so many weird COVID symptoms? Why are some people asymptomatic (the lucky ones who do not have any symptoms) while someone else ends up in the ICU on a ventilator? Age is not the answer. Older adults who are 80, 90 years old are becoming a #COVIDsurvivor, while young healthy adults and teens are losing their lives to the virus. This is all related to your immune system response. A hyper-immune response creates the symptoms and creates the long-term effects in COVID long haulers.

Why Does COVID Cause Weird Symptoms?

Before having COVID I wondered, why are people having a COVID rash? It seems so weird for a virus to cause a rash, COVID toes, facial swelling, etc. The rash may be the very first symptom someone experiences while others are experiencing it late into the disease process, or even long after they are fully recovered. I know healthcare workers who are still dealing with a COVID rash 2-3 months after recovery.

Now, after going through the strange symptoms myself it makes sense. This virus triggers our immune system to go into overdrive, creating a hyper-immune response. We want our immune system to kick in when we get sick, but not like this.

COVID activates our complement system, which is usually a good thing. Our body activates the complement system to protect itself from viruses (flu, RSV, etc.), but when it is too active, it releases toxins that cause inflammation. Now, this explains why my face swoll up like a balloon. These toxins (C3a, C4a, and C5a) can cause swelling in your heart vessels, lungs, kidneys, and cause blood clots. The virus is not attacking your organs, it triggers your own body to attack itself.

How Can You Treat COVID at Home

To treat my COVID symptoms, I had to treat it as if I was experiencing an allergic reaction. The medications you would take for an allergic reaction (Benadryl, Pepcid, Claritin, and steroids) were the most effective. Benadryl, Pepcid, and Claritin are histamine blockers, helping to calm your hyperimmune response. This virus is different than anything I experienced before. Usually, when you start feeling better you can stop taking the medications. When I did this with COVID, I relapsed and experienced a huge setback.

During my third week with COVID, I developed a COVID rash within 24 hours of discontinuing Pepcid. My energy level dropped, I felt short of breath, my chest burning felt worse, and a rash appeared on my stomach. It took me another week to recover, but the rash is still there.

The risk for clots and problems from inflammation does not go away immediately after your symptoms go away. Blood clots are a major problem with COVID. Why are most 18-20 something people dying? Pulmonary embolus, which is a blood clot that moves into your lungs. To prevent clots, I took 325mg Aspirin daily and I will continue taking it for 30 days (for a total of 2 months). MDs are prescribing blood thinners for 30 days after a patient leaves the hospital. Even when you start to feel better, continue taking aspirin. I am continuing Pepcid and Claritin for another month as well.

Of course, my treatment was much more extensive than this. If you want to learn more about how I treated COVID at home, you can follow my daily journey on my blog posts or see the full list of medications and why I took them in the post, “My COVID Home Treatment Plan”.