Overwhelming Fatigue
Just about all of my "cold and flu" symptoms seem to be behind me but my level of fatigue is still quite overwhelming. I spent just about all of this past weekend sleeping. I awoke only to use the bathroom, eat and take medications.
I still have some minor symptoms of a cold... some gunk in my nose and running down the back of my throat at times. The fever has been gone for days though so that is good. Headaches still come and go but are so minimal at this point that they are hardly worth mentioning. I still get bouts of difficulty breathing but that could be due to my primary illness since I do experience this regularly anyway. What I was experiencing a month or two ago, however, was well beyond my usual breathing problems (since being on medications to control these problems). Overall, most of these untested, undiagnosed "cold and flu" symptoms seemed to have dissipated.
The fatigue is worse than usual though. It is lingering. It is overwhelming. I'm exhausted and can hardly keep my eyes open for longer than an hour or two at a time... then I sleep for two to four hours. I have no energy for anything. My bone pain and spinal pain has been brutal for the past few months as well.
My own opinion about this COVID-19 virus is the following:
- I believe FAR more people have this illness than is being reported especially since it is almost impossible to see a doctor unless you are on your death bed and testing ability (limits) is an embarrassing joke.
- The educated and common sense side of my brain tells me that there will be no complete immunity from this virus until we have an effective vaccine (having antibodies due to a previous bout with this virus, however, will help the body fight this virus down the road... this, however, is NOT immunity).
- This very slow national response and a dangerous lack of testing has bit us in the butt and caused far more death and illness than was necessary. The United States should be ashamed of this pandemic response. I, personally, believe this slow response and continued dragging of any semblance of a response is criminal.
- Quarantines being too short has and will continue to bite us in the butt... 14 days is too short... it should be 30 days. I've been saying this for months (since mid-February).
- Not testing the entire population will prolong the ability of our society to move beyond this pandemic. Testing, contact tracing and quarantining is the only effective way to minimize death, and minimize prolonged health issues due to this virus at this time.
- I believe this virus has been bouncing around the US since this past autumn. I have been saying this since mid-January. The info about this virus was widely and freely available in early January and, at the time, I felt this virus was already in the US for months based on our own experiences with what we were told were "colds and flu" yet very different than any colds or flu we've ever experienced previously.
- This pandemic has proven that United States is closer to being a third world country than a first world country today. I have seen enough third world countries throughout my career and I can tell you with absolutely certainty that it looks very much like what we are experiencing in 2020. I admit that I've seen worse third world countries but we are far closer to these third world countries than being the first world country we claim to be. Our federal government has failed us as a first world country and we, as a society, should be ashamed of ourselves for naively and ignorantly allowing this to happen. We may even pay a very long term and dire price for this ignorance and passivity. Check history from reliable sources if you don't believe me. (As if I care if people believe me anyway.)
If I had more energy, I would be angrier and have far more ability to fight for what is right. My advice for what is left of this country is you better wake up and smell the coffee... your federal government has abysmally failed you and history has shown us that it is time to unite and behave like a first world country and the leader of the free world. The ignorant and unenlightened must never lead... they must be left behind in our dust.
POST EDIT - Monday, April 20th: I spent the entire day sleeping again today. I only managed to get up to use the bathroom, take medications and eat. The overwhelming fatigue is just that... overwhelming. It is sort of like being enveloped with a completely soaked wet blanket or trying to get up after being slammed across the back of your neck with a large 2x4 swung at me like a lumberjack swings an axe.
I still have some minor symptoms of a cold... some gunk in my nose and running down the back of my throat at times. The fever has been gone for days though so that is good. Headaches still come and go but are so minimal at this point that they are hardly worth mentioning. I still get bouts of difficulty breathing but that could be due to my primary illness since I do experience this regularly anyway. What I was experiencing a month or two ago, however, was well beyond my usual breathing problems (since being on medications to control these problems). Overall, most of these untested, undiagnosed "cold and flu" symptoms seemed to have dissipated.
The fatigue is worse than usual though. It is lingering. It is overwhelming. I'm exhausted and can hardly keep my eyes open for longer than an hour or two at a time... then I sleep for two to four hours. I have no energy for anything. My bone pain and spinal pain has been brutal for the past few months as well.
My own opinion about this COVID-19 virus is the following:
- I believe FAR more people have this illness than is being reported especially since it is almost impossible to see a doctor unless you are on your death bed and testing ability (limits) is an embarrassing joke.
- The educated and common sense side of my brain tells me that there will be no complete immunity from this virus until we have an effective vaccine (having antibodies due to a previous bout with this virus, however, will help the body fight this virus down the road... this, however, is NOT immunity).
- This very slow national response and a dangerous lack of testing has bit us in the butt and caused far more death and illness than was necessary. The United States should be ashamed of this pandemic response. I, personally, believe this slow response and continued dragging of any semblance of a response is criminal.
- Quarantines being too short has and will continue to bite us in the butt... 14 days is too short... it should be 30 days. I've been saying this for months (since mid-February).
- Not testing the entire population will prolong the ability of our society to move beyond this pandemic. Testing, contact tracing and quarantining is the only effective way to minimize death, and minimize prolonged health issues due to this virus at this time.
- I believe this virus has been bouncing around the US since this past autumn. I have been saying this since mid-January. The info about this virus was widely and freely available in early January and, at the time, I felt this virus was already in the US for months based on our own experiences with what we were told were "colds and flu" yet very different than any colds or flu we've ever experienced previously.
- This pandemic has proven that United States is closer to being a third world country than a first world country today. I have seen enough third world countries throughout my career and I can tell you with absolutely certainty that it looks very much like what we are experiencing in 2020. I admit that I've seen worse third world countries but we are far closer to these third world countries than being the first world country we claim to be. Our federal government has failed us as a first world country and we, as a society, should be ashamed of ourselves for naively and ignorantly allowing this to happen. We may even pay a very long term and dire price for this ignorance and passivity. Check history from reliable sources if you don't believe me. (As if I care if people believe me anyway.)
If I had more energy, I would be angrier and have far more ability to fight for what is right. My advice for what is left of this country is you better wake up and smell the coffee... your federal government has abysmally failed you and history has shown us that it is time to unite and behave like a first world country and the leader of the free world. The ignorant and unenlightened must never lead... they must be left behind in our dust.
POST EDIT - Monday, April 20th: I spent the entire day sleeping again today. I only managed to get up to use the bathroom, take medications and eat. The overwhelming fatigue is just that... overwhelming. It is sort of like being enveloped with a completely soaked wet blanket or trying to get up after being slammed across the back of your neck with a large 2x4 swung at me like a lumberjack swings an axe.
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