Covid-19: My unorthodox experience… this might help you too.
As for many, my experience with Covid-19 looked quite a bit different than what the news had told me it would be.
I did not have a fever, no cough, I could still taste and smell. However, on a Monday evening after Thanksgiving, I developed a terrible pain in the side of my abdomen. As someone who has battled a backup in the plumbing department, I thought perhaps this was related to the odd mixture of foods I had eaten over the holiday. The pain persisted and soon grew worse.
Since I did not have the telltale signs of Covid-19 (fever, loss of taste/smell, cold or flu-like symptoms, I decided I needed medical attention. Upon calling my primary care physician’s office, I was told I would need to wait at least a week to be seen… seemed like a bit too long to deal with this growing agonizing pain in my abdomen, now radiating around to my mid-back. I went to an urgent care facility near my house to try and find some answers.
The nurse practitioner performed the normal screenings.... And still, no fever, no flu or cold-like symptoms, no “apparent” Covid-19 symptoms. It was a bit difficult to diagnose me with the limited resources at the urgent care, so I was sent to my primary care office (who scheduled me right away due to the emergency nature of my situation).
A telehealth session with my nurse practitioner diagnosed me with a kidney stone. “A round of antibiotics and Flomax to help you pass the stone,” was the recommended treatment.
“Hold on a minute,” I suggested. I hate taking antibiotics and what they do to my gut health, and I had never taken Flomax before. Needless to say, I was hesitant to throw medication at an illness (kidney stone) that was diagnosed on a Zoom call. My NP was reluctant and slightly annoyed, but agreed to “see” me in the office to better diagnose my issue if I could pass a Covid-19 test.
30 minutes later, I was in the parking lot getting swabbed for a rapid test. “Positive?” What? Covid was the absolute last thing I thought I had. “I’ve been taking my temperature daily… I still have my taste and smell… I don’t have any cold or flu-like symptoms…” I repeated to the lab tech. I was sent home and told to stay there for the next 14 days. Still no answers and no treatment for the wrenching pain in my abdomen and back.
I remember driving home with a growing sense of anxiety boiling up in me. Read more about my depression and anxiety symptoms of Covid-19 in my blog “The Covid-19 symptoms I was not prepared for…”
Oddly, after another 36 grueling hours of extreme abdominal and back pain, those symptoms began to subside. I eventually did develop mild cold-like symptoms: a runny nose, sneezing and a slight cough. Read more about my “Home remedies I used to treat my Covid symptoms.”
I thought it just might help others to hear about the very different experience I had with Covid-19. Did I perhaps have a different strain? Was my immune system reacting to the virus differently than others? Was it attacking the weakest part of my body (digestive tract and kidneys)? These are questions I am uncertain will ever be answered. I am, however, very fortunate that although very distressing, my symptoms were in fact mild compared to many others’. My best advice from this learning experience: If you feel “off” in any way, even if you think Covid-19 is the very least likely thing you have… stay home. Call your doctor. Do what you can to rest and recover.