And then COVID

Naked Faces

Spring was here and it was finally time to go maskless! I remember my first tram ride after the mask mandate went away. It felt great, comfortable, and free! Maybe I had a little twinge of anxiety, but felt mostly confident that even if I got it, the symptoms would be very minor for a triple-vaxxed person like myself.

It Starts

Of course I have no idea where I actually picked up COVID, but I know when the symptoms started. A week after that first tram ride, at the end of a days work I started to get a sore throat. Not terrible, but bad enough to take a little medicine. Two days later I was in bed and slept the majority of the next 5 days. My symptoms were not terrible, mostly just sleepy.

Post

Here is where things start to get really tricky to figure out. At the same time I was coming off of COVID, my American prescription medications were running out. I was able to get some equivalent medications in Poland, but something wasn’t right. For a few days I was relapsing into severe losses of energy, dizzy, nauseous, so bad that walking could turn into a real struggle. And I was still taking about 12 hours a week off from work. This pattern lasted for a few weeks and then I finally got my blood pressure checked. It was higher than I have ever had.

Rapid Energy Loss

I am 60 days out now and I was able to swap out some medications and on a normal day I am okay, including my blood pressure. I struggle with long (> 3 miles) walks but I seem to be able to ride my bike as far as I want. When I do lose energy, I seem to lose it rapidly and completely. Walking home from the main square this weekend felt almost dangerous. Of course this is exaggerated in my mind, but every step just felt like it could be my last. Really severe lack of energy and pain in my joints.

Next Steps (see what I did there?)

I will be visiting the US again in about a month and I will visit my regular doctor and get the works done. Hopefully I hear something other than “well you know, someone of your age…”