Fever is Back... Again

My morning started out better than I have experienced since we were in Manhattan last month which was quite a relief for a change.  I was feeling well and I was up an hour before Sheila so I managed to get a few little things accomplished around the house that I had been putting off for more than three weeks because I had been so sick.  I showered and then Sheila got up out of bed.

After just an hour of little everyday things around the house that everyone takes for granted without a single thought of how they will accomplish it, that was about it for me.

I started feeling exhausted.  I was starving.  Before long, I was dizzy, I was having more difficulty breathing, my vision was narrowing and my peripheral vision was filled with sparkly grayness.  I've experienced this many times, especially in the past year after my previous COVID infection, so I quickly identified it as the cascading symptoms of anaphylaxis.  I grabbed my epinephrine and some of my emergency medications and did what was necessary to stay conscious.  My doctors keep telling me that I must head to the ER whenever I use epinephrine but that would mean I would be heading to the ER at least once a month.  Instead, I self-medicate.  I do sometimes need emergency care but I usually manage on my own.

I started feeling a bit better...  well, more stable anyway...  within about 15 minutes.  I took some additional medications and then napped for a few hours.  

By now it was mid-afternoon and I wanted to watch an NCAA basketball game but I was still feeling kind of lousy...  stable, but kind of lousy.  I'm craving protein too.  I decided to check my O2 saturation and that was good at around 97%.  Then I checked my temperature and I found that I have a fever yet again.  My temperature is at 99.4 degrees.  It is not a high fever but it is enough of a fever to negatively impact my primary illness, systemic mastocytosis.  And, that is definitely happening today.

Once again, this COVID infection seems to be tapering off in waves.  It seems to be gone for a few hours, then I feel lousy for a few hours...  for months!  This is exactly what I've experienced the many other times I've contracted COVID.  If this is indeed just like my previous experiences with COVID infections, these waves of miserable health will continue for months.

The other problem and perhaps an even bigger problem (not to minimize the severity and seriousness of any virus especially the COVID virus) is that the virus seems to be trigging a mass response by my mast cells.  My mast cells (which don't behave as they should due to my primary illness) degranulate which causes all sort of debilitating symptoms including symptoms of anaphylaxis.  Anaphylaxis is the most urgent life-threatening problem so that is what gets the more significant treatments.

We'll see what happens but, so far, it is clear that this COVID infection is not behind me yet and, to compound things significantly, it is negatively impacting my primary illness.  

Oh....  and I feel quite lousy...  still...  for parts of every day...