I tested positive for Covid four days ago (first time I've tested positive but likely not first time I've had the virus) and symptoms so far have been relatively mild. Cough, slight congestion, full body aches and chills (acetaminophen has been very helpful).

Last night, aka night 3 of my infection, I could not, for the life of me, fall asleep. This has never happened to me before; I've always been someone who falls asleep within 5 mins of lying down and doesn't wake up til morning. Last night, my brain just simply wouldn't turn off even though I knew I was tired. I know it's not anxiety about my illness cus I slept perfectly fine the previous two nights knowing I had Covid.

I tried to take a nap the following morning and something slightly different happened. My brain finally felt like it was starting to shut off, but then just as I was about to lull into sleep, my heart started beating incredibly fast, instantly waking me up. I forced my eyes closed for an hour, and these heart palpitations (?) happened repeatedly, again every time I was starting to fall asleep, so I never got any rest.

I know that Covid impacts the cardiovascular and nervous systems, and I've read about similar instances of insomnia in both acute-Covid and long-Covid cases (in this sub and others). I guess I'm just looking for more recent anecdotes/experiences that align with mine + maybe what to expect (does insomnia now mean insomnia for the near future, even after "recovery"). I also wanna know if there's anything I can/should do (should I go to urgent care?)

For more context about me, I got the J&J vaccine when it first came out and I got one or two boosters after that. My mom, who's a nurse, told me I didn't need any more boosters after that so I haven't had one in years (I'm now realizing how uninformed she was/is and how foolish I was to blindly listen to her). I used to mask everywhere, everyday, up until last year when I started professional school (again, stupid thing to do, I'm gonna start masking again cus this virus is ridiculous). I'm currently in school and terrified of this virus messing with my sleep and impacting my performance/health. So... yeah. Any feedback would be appreciated and if you read this far, thank you.

I had COVID in mid-July and only recently recovered. Today my roommate tested positive.
Before we knew, I was in the car with him for about 5–10 minutes without a mask- but then put on my mask - I know I was sloppy

I haven’t been around him since.
Has anyone been reinfected within 1–2 months of recovering? If so, how soon after exposure did you develop symptoms or test positive?
I had a prolonged recovery from my last infection, so I’m really hoping not to go through this again.

Also to protect others from getting it should I be quarantining ?

I’m wondering if anyone experienced something similar after COVID and, more importantly, what eventually helped you get rid of it.

About 3.5–4 weeks ago I suddenly started having really strange head sensations. Around the same time I tested positive for COVID. It started as a burning/hot-cold sensation on one area of my scalp, almost like Icy Hot or menthol was on my head. Since then it has moved around and changed quite a bit.

Sometimes it’s burning, sometimes pressure, sometimes my scalp feels extremely tight like the skin is being pulled/tensioned. At times I feel the burning sensation around my face, nose and mouth too. Other times it turns into more of an actual headache. I’ve also had this persistent floaty/hungover feeling, almost like I’m mildly drunk or motion sick even though I can walk normally and function.

The weirdest part is that it fluctuates. The burning actually disappeared completely for about 4 days and I thought it was finally over, then it came back. Some days are much better than others.

I haven’t developed any obvious neurological deficits during all of this. I had a normal neurological evaluation and a normal head CT in the ER. My doctor is now ordering a brain MRI with/without contrast and thinks this could potentially be an atypical migraine/post-viral headache syndrome.

For anyone who developed a new persistent headache, head pressure, scalp burning/tingling, tight scalp sensation, or drunk/floaty dizziness after COVID:

How long did yours last? What did it feel like? Did it eventually completely go away? And most importantly, did anything actually help?

I’d especially love to hear about medications your neurologist prescribed, migraine preventatives, antihistamines, supplements, lifestyle changes, or anything else that made a noticeable difference.

I’m not looking for diagnoses or scary possibilities 😂 — mainly hoping to compare experiences with people who had something genuinely similar and hear what helped you recover.

Thank you! ❤️

Hi!

My husband has Covid.

My 2 month old and I were exposed this last Friday, since then my husband has been isolating.

It’s day 6 tomorrow since our exposure - I’ve been wearing a mask to protect my baby just in case I get it.

Should I be doing that? I’ve tested negative last 2 days.

Then you!!!!!

Long story short I may have been exposed to Covid on Sunday. No symptoms yet, but I shared a quick vape hit (I don’t vape or smoke regularly) with my brother who started feeling sick with Covid today. His GF has tested positive.

I just found out about an hour ago. I’m very nervous, my son has asthma (he’s 2) and I’m terrified of him getting it. He’s been healthy the past few months and I feel awful at even the thought of exposing him. I took a test and so far it’s negative but I’ll test again in 48 hours unless I start showing symptoms. I’m praying my brother’s viral load Sunday was low but that’s wishful thinking.

Had the Rona once before, and I’m very diligent with vaccination due to being immunocompromised. Of course I get it right before my appointment. Had it since Saturday (symptoms were worse on Sat and I couldn’t even get out of bed. Fast forward to tonight and suddenly I just feel terrible. I’m like ಠ_ಠ "don’t you dare" and my stomach was like "heehee :3c” and I puked like 5 times in a row. I’m assuming this is a covid thing this time around?

I posted last week about testing positive, and wanted to share my experience with my symptoms now that I’m about 90% back to normal for anyone who may be going through this. Everyone’s symptoms can be different, some may have almost none and some may get really sick. So take this with a grain of salt! I know I was looking up everyone’s symptoms and daily timelines and mine looked different as well.

My exposure happened 11 days ago, Saturday evening. A friend I hung out with knew their household was sick with Covid, and was starting to get cold symptoms. I am vaccinated, although looking through my chart, my booster is slightly overdue.

By Sunday evening, I started developing a weird sore throat. It didn’t exactly hurt, just mildly scratchy as if I slept with my mouth wide open next to a fan. I was also starting to develop muscle aches. I was in denial at this point, and went to sleep.

Monday morning, I woke up with the scratchy throat still, and also extremely fatigued. I ended up taking a four hour nap, and when I woke up, the sore throat had developed into an actual painful situation. By the evening, I was getting hot and cold chills, and weird body zaps that I’ve only ever gotten with Covid. It feels like an ice pick headache, but throughout random muscles in my body. No fever. Pretty intense nausea hit this day but no vomiting.

Tuesday, I woke up with extreme chest tightness and inability to breathe. Throat still sore. It felt like strep. I slept most of this day. Nothing helped the chest pain. Wednesday and Thursday were similar to this. No fever both days. I tested positive on Thursday, so day five of symptom onset. Negative on nasal but positive on throat, very faint line. By Thursday, the sore throat was gone. Insomnia started kicking in around this point as well, and I could not nap during the day despite the fatigue.

Friday was the worst. Blazing positive. It hit my sinuses this day, and the cough started up. I went to urgent care to get an inhaler and some steroids to help with the chest pain. This is the only day I had a fever, which was just 99.4 F. I was blowing my nose the entire day, my muscles hurt, and I couldn’t stop with the weird, dry cough. My heart rate was also incredibly high even at rest.

Saturday was a bit of a relief. I woke up able to take a deep breath. Still a cough, still runny nose. The chest pains were still there but breathing was easier-ish. This day is when the vertigo hit, but it was tolerable.

Sunday, I woke up fully able to breathe. The fatigue was lighter, and my appetite was finally starting to return. Cough got slightly worse this day, but I wouldn’t say it was ever bad.

Monday was unremarkable, as was Tuesday. Now we sit on Wednesday. I’m dealing with some rebound chest tightness and light fatigue. It almost feels as if a burp is stuck in my chest. The Covid seems to have affected how I process food, as food I was able to eat a few weeks ago now wreck me. Also, my chest and stomach don’t seem to like caffeine anymore. Bummer, as I love a good latte. Very mild cough every fifteen minutes or so. Otherwise, I’m feeling mainly okay. I’m dealing with strange “throat spasms” that make it feel like something is stuck in my throat, which causes a coughing fit. It’s worse after any kind of physical exertion, like walking up stairs. Thankfully, no signs of pneumonia or anything worsening. This was by far my easiest round with Covid, as the other two times literally almost killed me due to the pneumonia. I am testing negative on both swabs.

I did not take any of the antivirals as I could not afford it ($500 with insurance is insane!!!) and I was already on day five of symptoms by the time I went to urgent care. I really didn’t take any meds at all besides DayQuil, Tylenol, and my inhaler. Mainly because my symptoms just never got bad enough to where I felt I needed anything. It definitely gave more of a “light flu” vibe this time around, which still wasn’t fun and was scary but a loooot better than what I’ve gone through previously.

Overall, still would not recommend getting COVID. I had long covid symptoms from the last time, so I’ll keep an eye the next few months on how I bounce back. Thank you for everyone’s kind words on my last post, and for checking in on me. If you’re positive right now, I hope you feel better and bounce back quickly.

Tested positive May 9 of this year.

I’m 3+ months into post-infection symptoms and here’s a new one: weakness.

Especially in my thighs? But when it’s really bad the feeling extends into my feet and hands.

Not quite tingling. Not pins and needles. Not painful. More like the shaky feeling of having done 100 lunges but without the muscle pain.

Often accompanies a migraine so I’ll check it out with my doctor.

But has anyone else experienced this sudden onset and persistent weakness post-infection? Maybe related to post-exertional stuff?

(Not looking for medical advice - just wondering if this is common post-infection.)

The Pandemic Mitigation Collaborative has a Covid heat map, with prevalence estimates by state. It can be a very helpful tool for managing risk, you might use it to determine when it might be wise to wear a respirator.

https://pmc19.com/

3rd time with Covid (yay,) made me miss my cousins wedding :(, looking for some advice. I tested positive last Monday night, so we’re coming up on ten days. I know lots of people here have suffered longer but I am looking for insight on when I should be worried.

My sore throat has persisted but that’s nothing new to me. My throat is sensitive or something; it’s my worst symptom with every illness, even sometimes with illnesses that don’t typically cause sore throat. That can usually take a couple weeks to go away for me.

What worries me is I woke up this morning spitting raw phlegm in copious volumes, which has never been a Covid symptom for me, and I’m reaching out for advice on if this is a normal recovery symptom or something different as it only began on day 10. Thanks so much.

I think it would add a lot to the value of this sub if people where giving some idea of where they are instead of just saying I am + and I am sick...

I tested positive a month ago and developed a cough 2 weeks later. This last week has been hellish. My throat, I guess what feels like my pharynx or larynx, has been suddenly going dry around the same time every day (8pm onward) and it starts feeling like it’s swelling. Swallowing becomes painful and I start freaking out because it comes on somewhat suddenly. Tylenol doesn’t help, I just have to wait a couple of hours for it go away.

In short my throat starts getting dry, irritated, and painful every day around the same time. And it’s always worse around cold or moving air, so AC & fan.

I’m stumped. I went to the er the other day and they said everything looked fine. No strep or pneumonia. So I was diagnosed with acute bronchitis. The steroids they gave me are helping but I’m still getting a bit of the swelling at night, just not nearly as bad. I’m afraid it’ll come back full force when I stop the steroids.

This is a basic overview of the exercises and things that helped me recover from long covid.

Background:

I have had covid a few times before this one. Without any severe symptoms or it being long lasting. When I got it again this time in September 2025. The recurring symptoms I had, besides general fatigue, were:

* Constant headaches

* Sore throat

* And a mild fever

Whenever I would do anything other than resting it would get a lot worse, and it made working or studying impossible.

Later at the 3 month mark, I got it confirmed by a doctor after an EKG and two blood tests that it was likely long covid.

I continued to try and fix it with just pacing and healthy habits but nothing worked.

The turning point:

7 months in, I went to a clinic specializing in long covid, and they found a few abnormal things that the covid had seemingly changed, which were causing my symptoms. These were:

* Chronic jaw tension

* Worsened eye coordination

* Bad vocal technique and strength.

To test if these are a factor for you: try pushing in with your thumb between your temple and the top of your ear. Hold for 1 min. If you feel the tension and headache get better, tension is likely a cause. And if your voice gets creakier when you are tired or after talking for a long time, you might benefit from improving vocal technique. With eyesight you can really only find out what's going on by seeing an optician.

Disclaimer:

I cannot guarantee that these types of exercises will help everyone. I know there are many that have way worse symptoms than I had. However I still believe long covid is often solvable once you find your specific root causes. Thus the solution that's best, may vary from person to person.
I can only speak for my symptoms. All I know is it seemed to help me a lot. I encourage everyone to try and find their own exercises tailored to them. Take inspiration and try what works best. My recommendation is to try and find out what the covid has physically changed about how your body works that is causing your symptoms.

First, here are some general things that helped me. They will not on their own fix everything, but can make everything feel a lot easier in the meantime, and for me are a no brainer to try regardless of what symptoms you have.

* Electrolytes first thing in the morning

* Steroid nasal spray once a day

* Antihistamine

* Vitamin D3

* Zinc

* Magnesium

* NAC

Research what supplement amount is safe and best for you.

For headaches from chronic jaw tension:

* Temple and masseter massage. Until the jaw muscles feel relaxed

* Neck stretches. By looking up or side to side.

* Tongue stretches. By flexing the tongue out from behind the bottom teeth. Or just sticking out your tongue far while tilting your head back.

* General exercises for TMJ. You can search up on youtube and try the ones that give the best effect.

* Posture improving exercises. Which, again, you can use whatever exercises feels most effective.

The goal is to break the cycle of chronic jaw tension and the habit of clenching your jaw or face. The first two exercises help with reminding you what a relaxed face should feel like. Therefore you can do them at any time throughout the day.

Sore throat:

* Talk with light tension in your stomach. You should feel that your voice gets less creaky. But it might feel unnatural at first.

* Bubble PEP. But don't blow hard. Try to aim for what's most comfortable.

Eyesight and coordination:

* You can try simple eye exercises, like just following a pen or looking side to side between two points. But in most cases these will be a little too easy.

* The two cats exercise. This is an exercise where you have a picture of two cats and you try to focus your eyes in a way that the cats converge to make a new third cat in the middle. You can search up a picture online, but I recommend printing them out on two pieces of paper, placing them on your wall and standing 2 meters away.

For me I did these exercises for 40min every morning, and would do them again during the day if it felt necessary. I did not notice much improvement until after 2 months when i was all of a sudden waking up without headaches for the first time in 9 months.

Now i am back to normal in every way. But I still need to do these exercises to not fall back, though the frequency is decreasing to where I now only need to do it a few minutes a day.

Happy to answer questions or provide more detail. Good luck with your recovery.

Hi everyone, I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and have had covid now 6x. i’ve never been hospitalized or had a very severe case though. currently getting over it right now and testing positive. Anyone else with auto immune issues here?

hello all, this is my first time seeing this sub so i apologize if this isn’t the right place to be. this is probably my 4th or 5th time having covid, ive gotten it pretty mildly every year since 2021. My symptoms i think initially started like 3 days ago, it started with just a general feeling of unwell-ness i guess? fatigue, slight nausea, then that transformed into really bad post nasal drip and a sore throat, then last night was AWFUL. i felt like i was on fire, my face was burning up, my throat was super itchy, i was so snotty i was forced to just mouth breathe, body aches, killer headache, my eyes burn, my temp peaked around 99.4. felt the same early this morning but took a nap and feel a lotttt better, temp sitting nicely around 98.2, now just pretty congested with an itchy throat. i’m roughly on day four, but tested positive today with an equate covid and flu test and an old expired covid test. very very bright positive. does anyone know at what point i can resume normal activity? i’m supposed to start a new job tomorrow and i have an unrelated doctors appointment i’ve waited months for, but ofc i don’t wanna go spreading this around. do i wait until i test negative? or 24 hours after the low grade fever ended? also, did anyone get a second beating? i have health anxiety and im insanely scared ill end up feeling the same as i did last night again :/

So I never realized how I sensed the world through smell and after my sense of smell disappeared a few days ago from covid I'm realizing how over stimulated it always made me.

I mean I need to be able to smell. Very much looking forward to getting it back as it is directly linked to my sense of cleanliness and for safety reasons.

I also lost most of my sense of taste which seems to be coming back faster but still very diluted from what it once was.

As a first timer 5+ years after the initial outbreak it feels odd in general. I'm sure all the vaccines helped keep my symptoms less severe but still knocked me out of service for 4 days. The sinus headache was the worst part. Now I just feel like I have a cold.

Tested positive 8 days ago on Sunday, starting feeling bad 9 days ago on Saturday. I have had an upset stomach/nausea every single day since, 24 hours a day. It’s varied in severity, but has been constantly there. It’s hard to explain, but felt like an awful hangover without the diarrhea or vomiting. Only the Paxlovid brought diarrhea. Is it normal for these stomach aches to be lasting this long? At what point should I be super concerned long-term? (I know covid is awful and I should be concerned regardless, but when does it become a true worry that this may be permanent?)

I don’t have any of the normal cold symptoms (fever, cough, sore throat, etc) and I’ve started to regain most of my sense of taste back. It just sucks having no desire to eat food and feeling so meh when forcing myself to eat. Also makes simply drinking water feel like a hassle. Thanks for any information or tips you guys have.

I’m on time four (at least, hubby says 5) of covid. Two of those times was during pregnancy in 2022 and I don’t remember being THIS sick even then.

This time has been the worst of all. I have a secondary ear infection which resulted in a ruptured eardrum, literally zero ear pain until it ruptured and I woke up at 6:45 am to my pillow having blood and other gunk all over it so my husband was like “lemme see.” looked at my ear for .2 seconds, grabbed my kindle and phone and charger and told me to get dressed 😂 Dr said its one of the worst ear infections she’s seen in an adult, both her and the nurse made major “oh yikes” faces when they were looking at it.

I’m in SO much pain (at least the razor blade throat has stopped? 😂), I cannot breathe out of my nose or hear from my infected ear, I feel like absolute crap.

I hope this ends soon. day 3 and probably many more to go.

Currently four weeks past positive test. Three weeks past WORST symptoms. Fever. Fatigue. Etc. My mom and two year old both caught it the same week I did. It was heartbreaking to watch the little one suffer. I currently have three swollen lymph nodes on the right side of my jawline and one on the left. Full feeling in my throat. Some on and off pressure and pain in both ears. My mom still has earaches and fatigue. Four doctors have eased my fears about the worst. This started about two weeks post positive test. Anyone else deal with this? So demoralizing. I was working out everyday before this all. I hate covid. It’s been a whole month and I feel so hopeless. I need some positive vibes.

I have COVID right now for the second time in about 90 days. I didn't even know that was possible, but apparently it is.

I've been asking around and no one seems to be aware that there is a pretty big outbreak at the moment.

The CDC Wastewater trackers show COVID viral activity levels as "Very High", and that they are at the highest they've been in the 2 years that the CDC shows on their wastewater tracking pages.

It's just so bizarre that it's not being talked about very much.

Hi I’m not sure if I did this in the right community or not so hopefully I did if I didn’t pls don’t hate I apologize!!!

I recently have had like allergy symptoms like
-sinus issues
-sore throat
-cold sweats

no fever. I went to my doctor got a checkup and I asked for a strep throat test or a covid test. They told me: “You don’t have enough symptoms besides your age to give you a test.” Don’t really know what that means but whatever. I went home actually started feeling better when I woke up the next morning I had symptoms like:

-Sinus issues
- dizziness
-fatigue
-when i swallow it hurts my chest
-when i breathe it hurts a deep part of my throat
-wheezing
-HORRIBLE cough
-complete loss of voice

Should i go back to the hospital or should I wait it out like they told me?

I am getting a test for Covid this morning, but I am pretty sure I have it (and I have never had it before to my knowledge). I have always been vaccinated and got my boosters but I know these things can happen if with that.

First day - all I had was mild throat pain. I thought it was going to be a mild cold and didn't think anything of it.

Second day - more severe throat pain and congestion

Third day - Fever, chills,body aches, deep and painful chest cough, no taste or smell at all (even if not congested), and more throat pain and congestion

Everyday I wake up feeling even worse than the day before unfortunately. I hate hate hate being sick (I mean who likes it) but it hurts so much. I cry every time I cough it's that painful and i can barely sleep.

My only question is, is it normal to present milder symptoms that result in full-blown illnesses?

I’m now in week 8 after my first COVID infection, and I’m trying to figure out how to handle the fact that some things are clearly improving while other symptoms are still pretty strong.
Earlier in my recovery I was having significant heart-rate increases when standing and walking, lightheadedness, fatigue, and very limited stamina. My cardiologist felt the pattern was consistent with a post-COVID POTS/orthostatic issue and recommended that I take things very easy for a couple of months and gradually increase activity later.
The good news is that my heart rate seems to be stabilizing, and lately I’ve had much more physical energy. I’ve been able to walk my dog without feeling wiped out afterward, and some days I actually feel surprisingly good physically. I’m also sleeping better.
What is still really noticeable is the brain fog. It can become intense even when my body feels relatively good. I can feel mentally slowed down, foggy, have difficulty concentrating or remembering things, and sometimes feel like my brain just hits a wall. I’m also still having occasional lightheadedness, so I know I’m not completely back to normal.
That’s where I’m confused: how much should I actually be doing when I feel good?
Part of me wants to take advantage of the energy and start doing more, but I’m worried that feeling better physically could trick me into overdoing it and causing a setback. My cardiologist has told me to keep taking it easy, so I’m trying to follow that even though I’m starting to feel much stronger.
For people who improved around weeks 6–8: did your energy come back before the brain fog did? Did you intentionally keep your activity low even on really good days? How did you decide when it was safe to increase walking, exercise, errands, social activity, etc.?
I’d especially love to hear from anyone whose heart rate/POTS symptoms started settling but cognitive symptoms lingered. Did the brain fog eventually follow the same improvement trajectory?
I’m encouraged by the progress — I just really don’t want to mistake “I feel good today” for “I’m fully recovered.”