Jason Steed Certified Primal Health Coach
How I Caught It, and Why I Tested
A week ago I received a positive test result for COVID-19. A couple of days later I received the positive result from my original test. That puts me at 9 days since my original positive test, and 11 days since the onset of symptoms. I'll recount those symptoms for you here, and I'll report on how I might've caught COVID-19, and who I may have passed it on to.
How do you know whether to test for COVID-19? On a video Call last Wednesday with my doctor he gave me a location and phone number for COVID testing. I was prompted to call him when a friend of mine reported a positive test result. I had spent several hours with him the week before last. Read on.
How would you treat a regular flu differently than you would treat COVID-19?
July 9, 2020
COVID, Day 7: Symptoms Recap (4:26)
How did I catch it? Who have I given it to?
Recap since my earliest symptoms:
| Days since start of symptoms | My Symptoms |
|---|---|
| Day 0 | Felt all morning like I couldn't warm up. Slightly scratchy throat |
| Day 1 | Some slight mid-day fatigue and mildly achy joints. Needed to sit down at stand-up desk by mid-afternoon. |
| Night 1 | Some overnight fever chills and head pressure (jaws, nasal cavity, temples) |
| Day 2 | Head pressure got milder throughout the day. Received my first COVID-19 test. |
| Nights 2 thru 8 | Slightly eleveted body temp. (0.5°–1.0°) |
| Day 3 | Start of mild sinus pressure |
| Day 4 | Mild sinus pressure. Slight tension in chest. Received my 2nd COVID-19 test. One-hour results confirmed positive. |
| Day 5 | Continued mild sinus pressure and slight tension in chest. |
| Day 6 | Total loss of taste and smell. Continued slight tension in chest. Sinus pressure gone. |
| Day 7 | Same as day 6. Arm rashes appeared |
| Day 8 | Slight chest tension gone. Arm rashes continue. Full-day energy |
| Day 9 | Same as Day 8 |
| Day 10 | Same as Day 8. Arm rashes started to show blistering, very mild. |
| Today | Still full-day energy. Still missing my senses of smell and taste. Arm rashes subsiding. |
How Would You Treat Yourself for COVID-19?
I'll talk more about this in a future post, but I think it's good to consider how you would treat yourself differently if you knew you had COVID-19. Let me put it this way: Let's say you were battling a fever for 2 days, you felt weak and lethargic, and you had a headache. You then got tested for COVID-19. If the test result were negative, how would you treat yourself? If the test result were positive, how would you treat yourself? Both scenarios are eerily similar, aren't they? There's certainly a psychological difference in knowing you did or didn't have the dreaded "plague of 2020." But I bet you would likely apply the same daily regimen in either scenario: Good rest, hydration, non-sugary electrolytes, whole foods, Vitamins B, C, and D, Zinc, etc. Just an interesting perspective to consider.
How Did I Catch It?
Looking back at the past 2 weeks, it's likely that I picked this virus up from a fellow staff member as we have met most evenings in our community service activities. He tested positive last week, which alerted several others of us to get tested. The group of us was always very cautious, but there must be something to say about spending time in the presence of each other's "speaking droplets." It's, of course, possible that I picked it up from a random door knob or desk surface or drive-thru bank canister, then brought it into my own daily circles. As the group of us was quite pre-symptomatic, it's all just speculation.
After testing positive, I reached out to anybody I came in contact with to ask them to be extra vigilant, describing to them my symptoms. As of today, other than those who tested positive ahead of me, I've not heard of any positive cases from those I came in contact with. Though I'm far from perfect, when out and about I had tried very hard to apply my beltloop hand sanitizer, to wear a mask, and to avoid touching my face. My car handle, keys, wallet and credit cards received a good treatment of antibacterial gel during each outing. This is indeed a pervasive bug, and worth taking seriously.
Today's Immune Boosters
I think I brought up the importance of a diverse microbiome in an earlier post. I hope I'm offsetting a lot of damage that my antibiotic has done to my microbiome. I continue to augment with probiotics—sauerkraut, kombucha, apple cider vinegar, and supplements such as Garden of Life probiotic sticks and HLC by PharMax.
I also got another dose of natural Vitamin D under noonday sun. Zinc and elderberry extract continue to play a role in my immune boosting. And I'm trying not to stress about reducing stress ;-]
Today's Symptoms
Nothing new to report today. These last 48 hours have given me my best energy all week. I hope I can continue to be symptom-free as I await the day that I can smell and taste again. I've heard from others that it could take several weeks for those 2 senses to return.
What does Oura think?
I tend not to put too much weight on data from wearables. Nonetheless I do find some of my bio-trends interesting. My Oura Ring shows for the first time a "normal" overnight body temperature. I believe all other data looks to be trending normally.
