Covid 19 for 8 weeks? Gastric issues ? High heart rate? Short of breath ?

Hi

I've been having covid symptoms for 7 weeks now. Sounds the same as you. I started with feeling like I was coming down with flu, weak, tired, headaches and sore throat. Then a few days after my chest got really bad. No cough but Terrible night sweats where I was changing my t shirt 3 times sometimes a night. I get mild asthma so rang my doctor. I'm in the UK so this was early in around end of march. In my area hardly anyone had it, I'd just returned from holiday a week before so probably caught it travelling. The doctor was great but hardly knew anything about it. Over the past 7 weeks my chest haz not really improved. We've tried antiniotics, steroids extra puffs on inhalers, nothing helps. I get good days for maybe 3 days then bam, it hits me again. If I walk my heart rate goes crazy. My doctor has physically checked me over and says my chest is clear and that I'm doing well but just going to take time. I've also had bad stomach issues a couple of weeks ago. Terrible indigestion where I could hardly move. I've also had chest pains one side at a time and a tickle that runs down from one ear all the way to my chest. That was weird! At one point my breathing was so bad I thought I was going to pass out. Lying on my front helps when it's bad. For the last couple of weeks now the symptoms I'm getting are shortness of breath, headaches sore throat and fatigue. These are daily but some days worse than others. If this isn't covid I'll eat my hat! I'm very healthy, I work as a post lady so walk 10 miles a day as well as running after work. I have been sick off work for almost 2 months now and can't see my chest ever being right. It's very frustrating, I feel like I'm going mad and can't remember how it feels to be normal. I have never been this ill for this long a period it's getting beyond a joke now! Hang in in there hopefully they'll gain more information on this virus to reassure us! Oh and also last 2 weeks I've developed a cough with slight phlegm which I never had before.

Interesting you mention tickle from ear to chest, sounds like nerve damage of some kind. I have had a number of strange nerve damage symptoms too. I mentioned in my previous message about numbness and tingling in both hands and feet, I have also had continual twitching in middle toes on both feet. Although not painful it is disconcerting and irritating especially when trying to sleep. I have checked all the acupressure charts to see if there is some link, to no avail. When my symptoms were at their worst, it felt as though I was breathing in hot smoke and my lungs felt scorched. Since then when it is quiet, I can hear a crackling sound in my lungs when breathing. At one point it my chest felt really tight as though someone was stood on my chest. One of the most unusual symptoms I noticed was that somehow my body had forgotten the rhythm of breathing. I would become aware of times when I would just stop breathing for a period, a bit like sleep apnoea but whilst awake. I would then have to deliberate my breathing, as though my body had forgotten how to do it. Some time later I read an article on line that said a certain hospital was using machines designed to help patients with sleep apnoea to regulate breathing on covid-19 patients, and the machines were working much better than ventilators. I think the virus isn't just attacking multiple organs but also the endocrine and nervous systems too resulting in all sorts of strange symptoms.

Hi Stef8,

Hope you are feeling better.

I have read your post today and was really surprised as the symptoms you described were similar to mine .On 27th of Feb my temperature reached 41.5 at some point and did hovered ~ 39 for 1week and the GP prescribed me altogether 4 weeks of antibiotics (1 week of Clarithromycin/2 weeks of Doxycycline and 1 wk of Co-amoxiclav) but in the end could not see that much of an improvement to my condition.

I was not coughing much but had greenish phlegms and they found some haemophilus influenzae bacteria in my sputum sample.

I started to have stabbing sharp pain on my chest around end of March (they suspected Pleurisy) and really bad gastric pain and did x-ray at the A&E but my lungs appeared clear and gave me omeprazole to take. At that point they did not suspect any covid and was told to go home and rest. The burning feeling was intense and moving around in my chest, stomach, upper back area around the shoulder for 2-3 weeks but I'm still having this burning raw feeling even now around the oesophagus and the upper back but less intense. It feels like the burning is moving more around the upper back and toward the back of my neck/ head. On 15th April, I also experienced a " panic attack" (although never had any heart issues and was not even anxious) and my body was paralysed for couple of hours on the floor ( due to over ventilated myself with my breathing )but was conscious and could hear what people were saying but could not talk.  Eventually my body came back and was able to move but not walk for couple of hrs. I was taken to A&E but they said I must have been overly anxious but I was not and asked if I could be tested for covid but was told only hospitalised patient can be tested. I contacted a Gastroenterologist and did a CT scan but found nothing abnormal. he told me to stop taking omeprazole as after two weeks it was not doing much for me...these burning pain on my stomach was not attributed to acid reflux but most likely due to the virus or perhaps bacteria infection (but could not do an endoscopy at that time of lockdown).  Ever since this "panick attack" my heart rate have been very irregular but I was able to walk a little and ride a bike on a flat surface but could see on my Fitbit watch that my heart was unusually moving fast around 130bpm. On 25th May I was about to go to bed and experienced some tachycardia around 150bpm and went again to A&E. After 3 months of being infected, I'm still not able to walk much only in the house and cannot ride a bike and feel short of breath although at A&E they claim my oxygen was good. I can say that my symptoms have been improving slightly as some symptoms like lack of saliva and difficulty to swallow water and no tears have disappeared and the sharp stabbing chest pain is no longer there but feels that other symptoms have appeared over the last three weeks like palpitations, tingling on my hands fingers and feet and at some point they went extremely cold ( purple when I took a blood test) and other time extremely hot. I still get some burning pain around the oesophagus/chest and shortness of breath, I am currently checking with a cardiologist but feel I may need other specialists' help ( like pneumologist, autoimmune specialist or neurologist). I'm not a doctor but feel there may be something wrong with my vagus nerve perhaps as all the symptoms I'm having feels like my vital organs have been disturbed and not functioning like they should be. The specialist don't seem to know much from this covid and they are learning as they get data from patients.

It is definitely frustrating for everyone experiencing such symptoms ( incl myself) but we have to keep positive and share our experiences and findings so we can help each other.

I came across some interesting article on covid-19:

Hope this helps to understand a little about this covid.

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/04/how-does-coronavirus-kill-clinicians-trace-ferocious-rampage-through-body-brain-toes

If anyone have similar symptoms and have been diagnosed and being treated and can recommend any doctors would be very much appreciated.

Thanks,