Maggie AstorCompte certifié

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