Fully vaccinated in March, in a county whose residents are 99% vaccinated, and I still got Covid in August. Probably from the hospital phlebotomist with "allergies" during a routing blood draw 5 days prior, but could have been from anyone. My area teems with out of town/state tourists during the summer, so it's the luck of the draw who you come in contact with. Somewhere, someone who was unvaccinated started the chain that led to me. Lucky me.
My case was mild thanks to the vaccine; no fever, just sinus infection like symptoms.
Last week I scheduled an appointment with my doc to talk about symptoms I was having with joint and muscle pain, sleep issues, and constant bone weary exhaustion. I had read up on the symptoms, and asked her if I could have Fibromyalgia (now known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, or ME/CFS).
"It's a diagnosis of exclusion and so we need to test you for other diseases to rule them out first. But if those are ruled out, then yes, I think you have it based on your symptoms."
,Before I left that day, my doctor told me that providers in the area were seeing a large number of cases like mine after Covid, and there was even a group in Fargo working on support for those of us with Long Covid. She frankly said, "we don't know how long this will last, or if it will ever go away".
Two days later, the other potential reasons for my symptoms were ruled out through blood tests and an x-ray. My knee? Osteoarthritis in all 3 compartments, which could be explained by my age I guess.
So let's talk about the pain first. ME is characterized by pain on both sides of the body, both upper and lower torso. I have join pain in my jaw, neck, hips, hands, feet, and of course my left knee. Muscle pain in my shoulders, sometimes my forearm, my calves, and sometimes in places I'd swear there's no muscle at all (especially at night). ME is neurological, and my brain feels pain ordinary people don't. Last week I had permanent dental crowns placed, and the dentist had to repeat the Novocain shots 4 times to get me numb enough to get the temporary crowns off.
Less talked about is the gastro-intestinal issues that often accompany ME. Painful gassiness, diarrhea, bloating, and nausea out of the blue. Low grade fever is another lovely companion to the illness. Sunday I awoke from a nap shivering, and my temp was close to 101. Tylenol took care of it, and no fever the next day.
I learned that 5-HTP has helped others, so I started taking it, and with the blessing of my doctor, discontinued taking the statin another provider had prescribed. My doctor offered standard treatment drugs like gabapentin, Cymbalta, or Lyrica, but I knew that I didn't want to depend on meds if I could help it, so 5-HTP, Tylenol, and Naproxen are my companions for now. And my pain is better - not gone, but better. My visits to physical therapy over the past couple of years must have flagged something, because I was invited to join a "pain study", where I'm learning techniques to partially close the pain gateway to my brain. Progressive relaxation, pleasant imagery, scheduling activity to avoid pain, that sort of thing. I'll have my first Myofascial Release treatment next week, which is like a probing massage where the therapist finds the tight muscles and works to "release them".
The other side of the coin is CFS, or Chronic Fatigue. That one has been harder for me. I can sleep 12 or 13 hours, get out of bed, have coffee, and crawl right back in for another 2 hours. No matter how much sleep I get I feel like I've been awake for 24 hours straight. Alternate nights I can't seem to sleep at all, tossing and turning and feeling slightly anxious for no reason. And brain fog makes me feel like I'm only half there.
I suspect that I've had ME/CFS for years. I've had periods of my life with similar symptoms, which I'd deal with just by toughing it out, and eventually my symptoms would ease for awhile. But I never had them to the degree I do since Covid. It's suspected that viruses activate the disorder, and can cause flares. So I'm not done with Covid yet apparently - it's a gift that keeps on giving.
