Ask Lemmy

I got the extreme end of the stick. It fucked up my heart AND lungs.

I got it towards the end of 2020 and was hospitalized for a week with pneumonia and a collapsed lung. The acute infection had me sick for a month. My last day with a fever was exactly 4 weeks after the first day I felt symptoms. I had lingering symptoms for about 6 months after.

As far as taste, I got that back quickly. I lost my taste within the first 2-3 days. I heard from someone that spicy food helps so I ate the spiciest food I could find. My lips were burning, my hair was tingling and I was sweating so I knew it was hot. I could almost feel like I was tasting spice, but the sensation would quickly go away. The next day I was able to taste a little bit and within 24-48 it was mostly back. By the time I was hospitalized, I had fully regained taste. I didn’t get my sense of smell back for probably another 3 weeks after that.

I lost what little faith I had left in our current arrangement of society and our capacity to cooperate within this context. My worst fears were realised as it became apparent just how many people, entire governments even, are more than willing to abandon the vulnerable to the capitalist machine. The fact that at one point people were trying to argue that death is actually not that bad and not being able to go to bars and cafes was actually the real injustice. I'd say that's a pretty long term consequence for me personally.

Smell and taste took maybe 3 weeks to come back fully, as far as I can tell.

I found that making myself smell strong things seemed helpful, whether placebo or not. Like whiffs of essential oils and stuff.

The fatigue was the worst part. That took at least a month to get over the hump.

I lost my job, does that count?

Yep, brainfog and I partially lost taste, only to spicy food!

So I spiced stuff up anormally for like 6-9 months then less and like at 1.5 years it just came back just like before and spicy things are super duper spicy again.

My only symptom during Covid was that I slept very poorly for 2 days. I only took a test because I'm an avid runner, and after a run on the second day, my watch dropped my VO2 max by 10%, which was highly unusual.

Since then, however, I noticed a certain aversion to alcohol. I can't get a buzz from drinking anymore, but I get a headache a few hours after even a single drink. I've been already down to a drink per week, thanks to no social life during Covid lockdowns, so this is not a big loss.

I never fully lost my taste (maybe 80% lost during active infection) but it only partially came back. It feels like there's a "section" or "zone" of flavor I can't taste anymore. Like a blind spot. I am extremely saddened by it and have an even more complicated relationship with food now.

It also rewired my taste and some smell so some things taste really different. For example, coffee tastes like stagnant mildewy mop water and smells like a recently used litterbox. Only minor variations for brand, at home drip vs. barista, etc.

Going into a coffee shop smells like venturing into a crazy cat lady's condemned home.

It was about 45 days for me before my taste and smell came back, I got it the first round in 2020 and I felt like death for about a week then I felt fine but couldn't taste or smell anything for 6 weeks.

I had things taste a little like chlorine, or something, for about 3 days. It sucked.

Got covid at least 3 times, maybe more. All 3 were pretty minor. Was pretty much couch ridden for 5 days during one of the illnesses, but could still talk and cook and clean and whatever. It was just hard. The other 2 could have been mistaken for minor colds.

Other than that, no long term effects. My girlfriend also had it and she states her eyesight has taken a nosedive since. Possibly related, possibly not.

I've got the first 2 mandatory (for work) vaccines in Canada, but nothing since.