I Have Covid-19 for a Second Time. This is How I Feel

Just when I thought Covid was over, it's back. I have Covid again, my second time. Like a Mark Wahlberg movie, it's no better the second time around.

I had my first taste of Covid back in June of 2022. The past year and a half, with nothing more than a few random non-Covid colds here and there, I figured I was immortal. Natural immunity! I'll never get Covid again! Yeah right! (fn: Dr. Fauci, call me back!!) But now look at me. I literally have no taste.

First Covid and Second Covid have some differences. With First, I never had a sore throat, despite my family around me with Covid at the same time all having sore throats. This time, a sore throat was my first symptom. Originally, I had a very bad headache and a decent fever over 101 degrees for three days. Now, I don't have a headache and I only had a brief fever of 99.5 for only one night. My first time with Covid I was basically bedridden for three straight days while I fended off the lingering symptoms for several days thereafter. With this second time, although I'm tired and have taken a couple naps, I am not confinded to my bed 24 hours a day. And most annoyingly, my latest Covid brings me the uneviable loss of smell and taste. Despite these differences, Second Covid packs the same themes like any sequel should.

My nose is running, stuffy, and congested. I aced my tryout for Sneezy in the Seven Dwarfs. Tissues are everywhere, yet not always reachable in time before a sonic boom overtakes me. When I sneeze, I need a good clearing of my honker. I have lots to blow out. It's usually clear and yellow. There was a little bloody snots this morning, but generally less bloody than when I have a sinus infection. I do lots of sniffing all the time. As other symptoms wax and wane, my nose sneeziness remains constant. It's probably the number one symptom I have. My nose is like a car that never runs out of gas. There's always more in the tank.

I started out with a sore throat, but this has gotten better. It wasn't the worst sore throat I've ever had. I had strep throat a lot as a kid. It was the first symptom I noticed, which I chalked up to being out in the cold (30 degrees) attending a night soccer game. That, being exposed to second-hand smoke at a nearby pub, plus my jetlag with overseas travel I figured were the most likely causes of small sore throat. I had no thoughts that being sardined on a 6 hour flight next to a coughing maskless woman, shuffling past jam-packed among crowds and on public transportation in an overpopoulated major international city, or standing shoulder-to-shoulder (and airspace to airspace) among highly vocal and excited soccer fans might actually provide a recipie for contracting Covid again. These thoughts didn't cross my mind though. I didn't think I would catch Covid again. The Covid hysteria era and mask-wearing precautions, after getting through it, faded with each month for me. Back to normal. Until it's not.

The mucus is bad. When I get a chest cold, a sinus infection, or an I-want-antibiotics-even-if-it's-a viral infection, my mucus gets dark and ugly. It will start as yellow and then progress to dark gray and brown quickly. Once it hits those darker shades, I know I am in for a battle. I have a lot of mucus with this Covid. On one day, during my morning ritual of ridding the latent mucus deposited at night in the depths of my lungs, I coughed up a a nice dark brown chunk of mucus tinged with some red blood streaks. How lovely, I thought. A Covid life-threatening blood clot? Or, more likely, the result of a coughing fit the day before causing me to dry heave? The next morning, another bloody mucus gray/brown/red ball emerged, but this time not from my chest, but from the back of my throat. This one was more sticky. Gross, I know, but true!

I have had a cough, but the cough is not persistent nor is it keeping me up at night. It's usually a quick couple of huffs to clear some mucus percolating and resisting the Mucinex I am taking to pull it all ashore.

For about 3 nights, when I slept, I got really bad night sweats. Full body sweats, probably from battling a fever. So sweaty I could continually wipe my lower back and soak my hand. Under my knees. In my armpits. On my chest. Under my thighs. Everywhere. My bed became a virtual Slip-and-Slide. Not the best way to wake up. But yet, it is somehow refereshing to know that my body is at work fighting this infection. The night sweats finally stopped, and I hope that is the beginning of the end.

I've had some minor earaches. Not ear-infection-level, but enough to notice. Off and on. Nothing prolonged.

I've had general body aches. Again, I wouldn't say I was sparring with Mike Tyson, but they are noticeable. And, when I sneeze or cough, my entire chest feels like it was hit like the thrasshing of a giant concert gong. It doesn't last long, but it rings in pain for a few seconds and resonates outward over my body. It's what makes the sneezing worse. Sneezing plus Gong pain. That's what Covid feels like.

With Covid comes fatigue. Whenever I get sick, I usually get fatigued. But common cold fatigue is not as bad as Covid fatigue. The fatigue can last for days. The first time with Covid my fatigue was more pronounced. I was a bedridden Zombie. This time I defintiely had episodes of fatigue, but I was still moving about, walking over 10,000 steps per day sightseeing in the city. In hindsight, and not knowing at the time that I probably was showing Covid symptoms, my Covid fatigue hit me hard on my last day of my trip as I trudged through the airport and slept completely through takeoff and for other portions of the flight.

I lost my sense of taste and my sense of smell. This is happening later in the course of my symptoms. It makes eating boring. Drinking coffee in the morning is nothing more than sipping on hot plain water. Gone are the aromas, the flavors, the ritual. I could eat anything for dinner - a bucket of broccoli or a triple cheese pizza - and it would all be the same. Oh, how I miss life!

I hope I am getting better. I think I am. I went for a walk today for 2 miles and ran a quarter mile just to let my body know that I will be continuing to return to my daily cardio very soon. I am taking it slowly and not straining myself. The walk felt good. My body needed it and I didn't push myself. It made me feel better afterward tonight.

The number one over the counter medication I swear by is Zicam (zinc). I tried Zicam toward the end of first time with Covid and wish I had tried it earlier. There, it had really helped stop the proliferation of my mucus. Here, it is doing the same thing. Of all the meds to take, I highly recommend taking zinc if you can (and safe to do so per your doctor).

So yes, Covid, welcome back. But don't get comfortable. I am flushing you out and hope to keep you away for a long time. Overall, second time around is not as bad as the first, but it's no walk in the park either.

Stay safe and healthy everyone.