In an effort to try keep this thread on track of "first-hand symptoms" and avoid personal opinions on the politics of vaccines, I will reluctantly share my current situation, seven months past my COVID event. The comments below might explain why I am reluctant to lock this thread and why it is one of the few Hunt Talk threads I have notifications on. I want to know what others are experiencing for current or lingering symptoms.
I've had first-hand symptoms (topic of the thread) since I was diagnosed on December 9th. I supposedly got over it in January after four weeks of sleeping in a recliner, taking albuterol steriods, and coughing like a stranded seal. Had I not been at the peak physical shape of the season, I suspect the outcome could have been even worse.
While at the Mayo in April for my liver checkups, the normal consistency of my below-normal baseline of liver/organ health has been interrupted since my last checkup in 2019. Things are getting slightly better, but still a big time PITA with symptoms. They think a bum liver might have contributed to how bad this hit me.
I have been released for moderate hiking for almost two months. I have slowly been going at it and my lungs seem to be slightly improving from the May diagnosis that the lung damage made me the equivalent of someone who smokes 10-20 cigarettes a day. Deep breaths are still a struggle, especially when I push it with incline and elevation.
My heart still has random events that, at times, makes me feel like the end could be near. Sometimes it is A-Fib feeling, and sometimes it is PVC, and sometimes it is like my heart beats are so hard that my eyes will pop out of my head. A strange change for someone whose resting pulse has been in the low-40s all of his life and who considers high blood pressure to be anything over 90/60.
While emcee last Friday at the RMEF World Elk Calling Championship, if you watched the Livestream feed and it looked like I was going to pass out, here is an EKG of my heart taken during the next break. My cardiologist prescribed this cool Kardia device which allows me to take an EKG with my phone. When the EKG report is snarewire, it gets sent to him so he can call and ask, "What the heck were you doing a half-hour ago?"
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I had none of these symptoms until COVID showed up in December. The doctors thought the symptoms would go away over time. The symptoms have lessened a bit, though at the rate of improvement that will make for a very difficult hunting season ahead. Having a goat tag will be an interesting challenge, but I'm confident that a season of hunting will have me ready for that hunt the last two weeks of November.
Good news is that the chart above is now once every day or two, sometimes even less often, rather than every two hours. I am thankful that hiking has given me a huge mental lift and seems to be making my symptoms more manageable with each week. I think the mental benefits of being released for hiking (my favorite activity after hunting and fishing) is probably more therapeutic than the cardio/pulmonary benefits of hiking.
Anyone else have lingering symptoms (6+ months post-COVID)? If so, what degree of improvement have you seen and over how long?
you oughta watch George Carlin Save the Earth one more time..
