01:02
Waking up feeling like you’ve been sleeping in a sauna, aching all over, completely dehydrated and upon trying to get up, the entire room is spinning, not a good start.
If the chill from the fever causes your teeth to chatter and you feel like you’ve walked into a walk-in freezer… naked, this is pretty much what I’m going through right now. It’s safe to say this virus has giving me a good kicking tonight.
Heart rate currently at 112bpm, where’s that blasted thermometer:
01:07
This is not a temperature you want to hit!
01:10
Straight on the phone to 111 who already knew of my COVID-19 symptoms. First priority, diffuse that fever. One thing I’ve not done since the fever started was take any medication for it. Part of my stubbornness was that I thought my body would manage it all, surely my body needs no assistance? Oh how wrong could I be! The nurse on the other end of the line told me to take 2 500mg Paracetamol straight away and drink lots of water.
07:30
Within an hour of taking the Paracetamol, the fever and joint soreness have eased. For the first time, I’ve had a straight run of undisrupted sleep until the alarm clock went off. There are times you wish you could throw it across the room… I do miss the good old days of my old John Major alarm clock where you had to throw it at the wall to stop it (for younger readers, John Major was formerly prime minister of the UK back in the 90s).
However, the headache from yesterday has returned as an ultimate, killer headache. There are times where I believe smashing my head on a brick wall would feel more comfortable than the pain that tears the insides of my head, but I’m aware of the residual effects of an extreme fever so I’ll just have to endure, taking Paracetamol as required and within guidelines. In good news, the number 2 ability has finally returned!
07:51
A hint of sweetness only… has it gone off?
07:51
I don’t know about you, but I know the taste of my toothpaste as I’ve been pretty much using the same type for years, but this morning felt a little odd. There was no fresh, minty taste to mine, just a hint of sweetness. Does toothpaste go off?
08:05
A strong double espresso tasted fine along with my tuna and egg on toast (before anyone asks why I didn’t put in any avocado, stock appears to be an issue in the UK’s current state of panic buying so I’ve not had any since the start of March). The toothpaste incident has been written off as a one-off.
13:30
I could talk about that headache all day long on how much of a pain it is (pun intended), concentration levels are severely disrupted and I’ve resorted to writing a checklist that I run through as the day progresses to ensure I don’t forget anything. It gets more confusing when I had to remind myself to write a list of lists, one of which was a shopping list then remind myself to send that list to my uncle to pick up (as I’m not allowed to leave the house).
14:24
Looking much better, I did a double-take, took the temperature twice on both ears!
Heart rate: 77bpm
18:15
Another solid day with remote working, it’s great when there are no office distractions but that headache really does drive me up the wall (I did mention earlier I could talk about it all day). The joint discomforts have now become joint pains, all over.
18:45
Dinner is served, beef with polenta potatoes served with a red wine gravy, smelling great, time to taste, yum… wait, there’s no flavour. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, no flavour. Add more salt, still no flavour. Before dumping enough salt to raise the blood pressure to high heaven, I’ve heard from Germany some people have had a complete loss of smell and taste as a result of COVID-19. A flavoured greek yoghurt after dinner came back tasteless so I guess this is the next chapter of COVID-19? At least everything still smells fine.
20:38
The complete loss of smell has finally arrived, it’s obvious when the hand wash that you use with its rather floral smell… smells of nothing. Time to ride through this next journey.
20:45
The fever subsiding.
Heart rate: 72bpm
Good night!