MARCH 2020
I first took notice of the coronavirus back in March when we (along with a majority of the United States and the world) were forced to quarantine. However, it was still simply an abstract idea of something that was happening to other people…in other places. We did not have a single case yet anywhere near my area, so I figured they were just precautions. I still did everything I was supposed to. I wore my mask everywhere I went (even though at the time, there were still many people who felt they were too good to wear masks). I would frequently wash my hands…sanitize…the works. But I. Still. Got. It.
JUNE 2020
It was the day before my dad’s birthday and a few days before Father’s Day, and my husband and I were sitting in front of our living room TV. My husband and I were planning on stopping by to see my dad for his birthday the next day.
I remember we ordered pizza and wings from Pizza Hut that night. I was on my first slice of pizza when all of a sudden I lost my appetite. I felt a wave of nausea sweep over me in an instant. Then, I felt as if from one moment to the next, my temperature rose. I remember stopping after one bite from the pizza and telling my husband that I didn’t feel very well. My husband didn’t believe me at the time because we had this thing going where we would pretend to feel sick just to freak each other out about COVID. Yeah, I know that’s a horrible thing to do. So he thought I was trying to trick him again. I stood up and walked to the restroom, took out the thermometer and took my temperature. 100.1. My eyes widened. Heart sank. But I told myself not to panic. After all, COVID is not the only sickness out there, right? My husband freaked out when I showed him the thermometer reading. We decided to call my dad and tell him and my mom what was going on and how we would not be going over to see them as a precaution. Instead of going over to see my dad for his birthday, I had to see a doctor and get tested.
I received my results two days later by phone. POSITIVE.
I’m not going to go into much detail about my quarantined days because I wanted to focus this post mostly on the Post-Covid experience. To put it short, I was quarantined at home for 45 days. It was the worst.
JULY 2020
I finally tested NEGATIVE. I was finally COVID free. Or so I thought. My body went through so much stress throughout those 45 days that I think it just went into shock. I began to experience some neurological complications from the virus. My muscles and nerves were out of wack going crazy. I developed a twitch or spasm on one of my fingers. It caused my whole arm to ache sometimes. I could not relax because my finger would not stop spasming. Even in my sleep. It was driving me nuts. It would be different if it didn’t cause me pain, but it did. My doctor told me that when our bodies fight off strong viruses, we can develop some neurological complications, but he assured me that it should go away with time. So there I was…with a twitching finger.
NOVEMBER 2020
By this time, the issue with my finger did not seem like it was going to go away. I mean, I had already been dealing with it on a daily basis 24/7 since July. I felt like I should just accept my new way of life. It was a part of me now. BUT (there’s always a ‘but’, right?) just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, I started getting muscle spasms all over my body! Constantly. So at this point, I’m totally freaked out. Like what the the heck is going on with my body?! And I did the number one thing you’re not supposed to do…I Googled my symptoms. And of course that threw me into an even bigger panic. Like OMG…Google shows you the worst things. I went to see 3 different neurologists and all the neurologists said that I had nothing to be concerned about and I should just listen to my doctor’s instructions. That didn’t stop me from freaking out because I knew there was something weird going on with my body. I just didn’t know what was wrong.
Toward the end of November, I went for a follow up with my doctor and he told me that my body seemed recovered enough to begin a treatment to help me gain control over my body again. It was going to be a month long treatment with some pretty strong nerve medication that I was to begin the first week of December.
DECEMBER 2020
I began the treatment. After 3 days being on the treatment, my finger miraculously completely stopped spasming. I almost couldn’t believe it. I felt…relief. It has caused me so much anxiety and pain that I felt hopeless. 3 weeks into the treatment, almost all the muscle spasms disappeared as well. I could say that I had some days where I almost felt normal.
JANUARY 2021
So…here I am on Janurary 2, 2021. I’m writing because this is the first day where my body feels 100% normal. I have 1 week left of treatment to go. I have high hopes for going back to my normal life. Fingers crossed.
Anyone else experience some type of neurological complications after COVID?
Quite Simply Jo 