Maggie AstorCompte certifié

My illness was milder than his. This is an extremely low bar. It did START mild. I got a cough and a low-grade fever on Tuesday, March 24. My fever only lasted three days. On Friday, March 27, I felt fine and thought I was over it. I wasn’t. 9/x

That Saturday, March 28, I started coughing so violently I almost threw up several times. I couldn’t stop. I coughed so much my ribs and abs and head hurt. I googled whether it was possible to break a rib from coughing. I cried and that made me cough more. 10/x

After a coughing fit, my whole body would be shaking and I’d have to lie down. I kept getting chills and cold sweats despite not having a fever anymore. My chest felt tight and I didn’t know if it was from the virus or from anxiety. 11/x

Sunday night, I had an awful headache and nausea and lay awake for hours, willing myself not to throw up because my ribs and abs already hurt so much from coughing. I also lost my sense of smell on Sunday, six days into my symptoms. 12/x

The cough, headache, and nausea improved slooowly over the next few days. I’ve been basically okay since this Saturday, April 4, just still really tired and can’t smell. Food tastes like nothing. I avoid scales, but I can tell I’ve lost weight. 13/x

I also want to talk about the mental side of this. Frankly, much of the past two weeks is a blur of anxiety. Fun fact: Panic attacks make you feel like you can’t breathe. This is bad when you’ve been told to stay home “unless you have trouble breathing.” 14/x

Compared to many other people, we were so lucky. We had the “mild” version, paid sick time, supportive friends and family and colleagues. Yet it was still one of the most profoundly isolating experiences of my life. 15/x

At one point, I told my therapist I’d gotten many check-in emails prefaced with some form of “sorry to bother you.” I said, “But they’re not bothering me — they’re reminding me that things still exist outside this apartment,” and started crying so hard I couldn’t speak. 16/x

I am really grateful to people like @elizashapiro who went through this earlier, shared advice, and promised me the illness wouldn’t last forever when it truly felt like it would. I’m sharing my experience now to try to pay it forward. 17/x

This community, sadly, is only going to get larger. So I’m happy to answer any questions anybody has, and to talk to anyone who’s going through similar. Please don’t hesitate. 18/end

To answer the most common question so far, I don't know how we got it. My husband's symptoms started (barely) <14 days into WFH, so it's possible we were exposed before that. But even then, we were really careful, washing hands, showering as soon as we got home.

Once we started social distancing, we did get food deliveries, but we always wiped them down thoroughly — every single container. I'm a huge germaphobe. Anyone who knows me can attest to the obsessive precautions I take. We still got it.

I'm trying to answer as many other questions as I can, but there are a lot and I am still really tired. I'll get back to as many people as I can over the course of the day, but taking a break for now.

Another frequent question: what meds we took. - FEVER: Tylenol - COUGH: benzonatate (Rx) and anything with dextromethorphan (Robitussin, Mucinex DM, Delsym, whatever was in stock at the bodega that delivered to us, and yes, we tipped a ton) - NAUSEA: promethazine (Rx)

Hi everyone. I'm really glad so many people are finding this thread helpful. I'm also still recovering and didn't expect so huge a response. I'm logging off for the evening to rest, but will try to answer more questions tomorrow. Please take this thing seriously and stay inside.

Third common question: our age and underlying physical conditions. Early 30s and none. No, young/healthy people aren't "safe." But I also don't like this question because even if we were, our actions would still affect more vulnerable people, who are worth just as much.