Was it COVID? Or withdrawal??

[[Re...]]

So in early February I flew cross-country for a work meeting. A colleague was there who showed up feeling very ill -- he was coughing and I later learned he had a temperature of 104 degrees!

 

Two days later, I started to come down with something that I thought was the flu. I had a low grade fever, headache and a cough. I also had EXTREME exhaustion and slept insane amount of hours. I was asleep more hours than I was awake. This exhaustion and crappy feeling lasted for about a month. Then I experienced a tightness in my chest and air hunger for 2 weeks. Other symptoms included heart palpitations and brain shivers.

 

I felt seriously crappy!!! I assumed that I was experiencing the flu in addition to a bad wave due to my SSRI taper, but this baffled me a bit because I had been tapering only a teeny tiny amount (symptoms were to be expected but this seemed especially bad!).

 

In retrospect, I'm really wondering if I actually had COVID??! Thoughts???  I was sick during the month of February and early March (before the # of confirmed cases really exploded) but I heard that the virus has been present in our country for a while and we just didn't know it until later.

 

Earlier this week, I unfortunately had to fly cross-country for an urgent surgery. I think I was more scared of the air travel and COVID than I was of being cut open! I'm recovering now, but have to figure out how to get home next week …. I debating whether I should rent a car and drive home (which would take me several days) or take the risk and fly (5 hour flight). If I already had COVID, maybe it's safe to fly??? Unfortunately I cannot know for sure whether or not I had it. Maybe driving home would be safer?

 

[[Ac...]]

I hope your surgery recovery goes well. Besides surgery, in a similar boat. While I didn’t travel, I had business meetings with people stepping directly off planes twice in a week. Those people were from all across the US. 3 days after the first meeting, my legs started to flu ache, my throat was scratchy, I felt sick, alternated hot and cold, etc. The cough took about 2 weeks to clear up and my legs were achy on and off until last week.

 

I wasn’t sure if a mild sickness gave me the benzo flu or new symptoms or if I was just sick for that long - which besides mono, has never happened. After hearing how drastically different COVID-19 symptoms are, I do wonder if I had it.

 

If it’s going to take you multiple days to drive, you’re going to be in a hotel or somewhere anyway. Best to take the flight than be exposed multiple times to hotels, etc.

[[Aj...]]

Obviously the only way to know is an antibody test.

[[Hy...]]

Yes, antibody test is the only way to know if you had it.

 

At this point, having already flown cross-country one way, and having had surgery in a hospital somewhere, I think you might as well fly home. My 2 cents.