The last time I got sick, I had a stuffy nose for a few days.
One night I had chills.
Within a week, I was completely back to normal.
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Like many young, healthy people, viruses were at most an annoying and irregular occurrence before the pandemic.
But that does not appear to be the case for many people who test positive forCOVID-19.
Even people with mild cases can have ongoing symptoms or symptoms that appear later.
Ninety-five of them35%still had lingering symptoms of COVID two to three weeks later.
So what does it feel like in the months after being diagnosed with coronavirus?
Im young, but Im still facing lingering symptoms.
I got it early in March.
I told doctors I couldnt taste and smell, but they said that those werent symptoms.
Now we know those are huge COVID-19 symptoms.
COVID was literally one of the scariest experiences.
I still can’t breathe with ease.
I still feel exhausted even after sleeping 8 to 12 hours daily.
I still struggle to catch my breath after walking up a short flight of stairs.
I still have acough.
My whole body aches every day.
My chest feels tight constantly.
My brain feels foggy, and I’m struggling to remember things.
I doyogaand walk my dogs with my husband.
I’ve never been a runner, but I’m trying to get into it.
But I’m doing my best and trying to do what I can.
The lingering effects are unlike anything I ever imagined.
hey remember that if you think it’s not a big deal.
Anastasia J., 26
2.
Ive had ongoing fear that makes it hard to leave the house.
I got COVID from my husband, who works outside the house.
He’s sure he got it at work because many people were diagnosed there in the same time frame.
I had symptoms, along with my husband, the weekend of June 12.
He was diagnosed on June 18, and I was diagnosed a week later.
I lost my sense of taste and smell within the first week.
I lost my sense of taste completely for two months.
I’ve learned to accept that this may be my life from here on out.
Both my husband and I have congestion we didn’t have before.
And I have chest pain.
I take a daily baby aspirin.
That lasted three or four months.
The stress, I will tell you, is something that people shouldn’t take lightly.
My first post-COVID trips outside the house to run errands made me so nervous.
Just thinking about it gave me stress headaches.
I didn’t want to risk possibly being exposed to COVID again.
So it’s taken around three months for me to relax about that.
Jackie D., 56
3.
Mostly Im OK, but Im not back to 100%.
My partner went to the gym on a Monday, and by Friday morning I was experiencing symptoms.
I got tested on July 2 and didn’t get my results until July 14.
The only persistent COVID-19 symptoms I deal with are chronic back andjoint painand exhaustion.
They said I could feel symptoms for months after.
I recently tested negative, but the pain comes and goes.
I’ve seen my primary care physician once a month since July and have been tested multiple times.
Overall I feel fine, but the continued back pain, joint pain, and exhaustion aren’t great.
I just find myself having less energy to do things like I used to, even around the house.
I never suffered shortness of breath or coughs, but my body just gets…tired.
Im anxious about possibly getting it again.
I definitely suffer from COVID fog where mundane things I’ve done a thousand times will sometimes become difficult.
I’m healthy, but have persistent pain.
Brittani M., 31
4.
I got COVID at work, and it took a couple of months for my symptoms to go away.
I contracted COVID-19 at adaycareI was working at in late spring.
I was interacting with children who were participating in a summer daycare program.
I had a low-grade fever and a dry cough.
I could not taste anything, and I had congestion and a headache.
I had body chills and aches.
I was also extremely fatiguedI slept pretty much the whole day for several days.
I also had some chest pain.
Most of my symptoms went away after about two weeks.
However, I had some lingering chest pain for about a month.
Im not dealing with lingering symptoms of COVID anymore.
Im more so feelingfatigued with the quarantineand restrictions.
Autumn C., 27
5.
Getting sick with COVID was hard; losing my mom to COVID was harder.
I decided to stay home.
My entire family contracted COVID-19 that night at the restaurant.
They all used masks, as mandated in our state, but they took them off at the table.
I began to feel minor symptoms such as body aches the last week of October.
I am still experiencing extreme fatigue, brain fog, difficulty breathing, and diarrhea.
There are days I can hike,clean the house, and work.
There are other days I’m lucky if I have the energy to shower.
I am still testing positive eight weeks after my initial diagnosis.
I am unable to continue my fertility treatments until I am able to produce a negative COVID-19 test.
My mom had the most severe case out of all of us.
She was rushed to the hospital and placed in the ICU.
We chose not to let her leave this world alone.
It was the hardest choice I’ve ever had to make and one that still haunts me.
It’s been hard.
I feel there is a certain stigma if you get COVID-19.
I feeldepressedat times and also angry.
You’re really left alone to fight this virus.
Thegriefand physical aftereffects of COVID are too much some days.
Im just taking it one day at a time.
Milka D., 40
6.
I have preexisting conditions.
I thought I was going to die.
I have lupus andasthma, so Ive been staying at home.
My partner works, but he wore his mask and did all of the no-touch protocols.
We dont know how I got the coronavirus.
July 4, I thought I had theflu.
I had vomiting and a stomach ache.
I lost my sense of taste.
I went to bed and was super dizzy and confused.
I was in one of those weird isolation rooms.
My brain is all jacked now.
I was a writer and copy editor for years.
Im a word nerd.
I kept a Latin dictionary by my desk.
But I cant spell well anymore.
Every day I struggle to remember the wordtablet.
Things still taste different.
Lisa N., 55
7.
I was an athlete.
Now I black out walking around my home.
I received my positive test on June 30.
I never had a fever.
I was really tired.
I had a little cough.
I had some pretty searing headaches, especially at night.
But it really wasnt that bad.
By the end of my quarantine, which was two weeks, I felt really good.
A couple of days after my quarantine I thought, Well, I better start getting into shape.
I headed off to do ahikeright outside the neighborhood.
I wasnt out of breathI was looking for a place to lie down.
I was a firefighter.
I had a 30-year career, and Ive been really tired before.
My heart is good.
My lungs are good.
It can be pretty devastating to be one of those unlucky people who doesnt get better.
Ive been an athlete my entire life.
Being a female firefighter, I was really proud of the fact that I retired without breaking physically.
And now I cant walk any significant distance.
I started out bywalkingone lap around the outside of the house.
I got up to about five laps, and then I started blacking out.
Now Im kind of afraid.
People have suggested I venture to work out lying down, so Ive done some of that.
If I black out, at least I dont fall over.
Its a huge loss.
The last time I grieved this much was when my husband died 13 years ago.
I lived through it and remarried.
Its kind of akin to hoping someone whos dead is going to come back.
Ive just got to get used to this new life.
Margy M., 63
Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
