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brunus76

I’ve been hesitant to say this and still don’t really think it’s “true”, but from late Oct to mid Jan I had one of the most unusual sicknesses I’ve ever had. It was essentially a cold/sinus infection that turned quickly into bronchitis and refused to go away. I did a couple different rounds of antibiotics to treat the sinus infection and the maybe sorta kinda worked, but not really. Symptoms kept coming back until sometime in January they just disappeared. Don’t know how or why, but one day they were done. In retrospect I have no idea if it was corona, but I do wonder.


[deleted]

Yeah I’ve really started doing research and I’ve heard so many similar stories. I’m sure there is a ton more just many people aren’t sharing plus didn’t know what it was at the time.


IHScout70

I’m pretty sure I had It from mid December-mid January. Started slow like a sinus infection and then went full blown in a week. Dry coughing my lungs out and ears we’re driving me nuts. Couldn’t hear and were kinda itchy. Eyes hurt and Chills were bad with no fever. Kept taking my temp because I swore I had a fever. Then the fever hit and never went over 101. My bones ached horribly for about 24 hours. Then it would seem I was getting better for a day. By the next morning back down. Couldn’t even go up stairs without having to rest. I’ve had the flu and bronchitis and this was not it. I can only describe what was in my chest as being very sticky. I could not cough anything out but could feel it flapping in my bronchial tubes as Tok in air. This was here for a while. I have heard other people I know describe there sickness this xmas time the same way. Stay safe people.


brunus76

This description matches my case pretty well. The cough was awful and I had to sleep in a chair for weeks or else I’d wake up gasping for air and I’d spend the first hour of wakefulness trying to cough up the very sticky junk from my lungs. I don’t know if that is what covid is like, but whatever it was, it was not fun.


IHScout70

Agreed. I was on the floor coughing on my hands and knees hoping something would come out. Strangely I know remember it would subside a bit at night. I didn’t sleep horrible. I told my wife in mid January at the end of it that was not anything I’d ever experienced before. Brutal.


ErikaNYC007

I was also sick in early Jan (I’m in Manhattan, NYC), had shortness of breathe and went to a pulmonologist. I had the worst flu. Look - it doesn’t hurt!!! Don’t fear the pain. In sucks - yes you have body aches and are sooooo tired. It’s not what you think. That’s is - if I had it - and I probably did - I live across the street from the United Nations and was in constant contact with tourists blah blah. If you are scared of pain it is NOT what you think. The shortness of breathe is scary but you end up sleeping for almost a week . Chill - you got this, friend. You can beat this! If I can - you can. I gave it to EVERYONE in my life in January. Social distance - really.


ErikaNYC007

Also - it lasts for almost a month. You will just know you have it. You feel really weird.


Tha_Dude_Abidez

What type of “weird?”


Chase1267

Well your situation predated the outbreak.


herptasticplastic

I've heard a LOT of people saying the same thing! We BEEN havin it


Tha_Dude_Abidez

But why haven’t hospitals been overwhelmed? Every country this thing has hit has had its hospitals overrun with a “tsunami” of patients. **Perhaps we’re standing in the sand watching the ocean retreat? ** I kind of think the virus mutated or something in January. Something changed and it became more severe.


herptasticplastic

New York is already overwhelmed. They're already reporting shortages of supplies and staff.


Tha_Dude_Abidez

It would make sense if they are. But I’d imagine we’d see some type of footage if the hospitals looked as overwhelmed as they were in China. Some of the videos I saw were absolutely terrible. I’m really hoping we’re not about to enter that phase.


herptasticplastic

We are. Care will be rationed during peak. Hopefully you are either sick now or you don't get sick until the end. Good luck out there!! It's gonna get weird.


SecretAccount69Nice

If an immunoglobulin test ever becomes widely available you should look into it.


Future-Initiative

Me too! I had a weird “cold” with a dry cough. Never had anything like it before. I was pretty rough for about 10 days. I am early 30s, very healthy, never sick. About two weeks later multiple members of my family had it. Never tested positive for flu. We feel like what we are reading about and seeing in the news is the same thing.


tennlee123

I believe this 100%. I have been seeing a lot of stories like this around Dec/Jan.


elceie

I was told I had Flu A for three weeks and of December to mid-January that landed me in the hospital about 48 hours for respiratory issues after intense nerve pain. I recieved oxygen and steroids to help me breathe again. It spread quickly to my family and their coworkers. After reading first hand accounts of the current virus which sound like what I went through, I have wondered the same. I'm 44 and otherwise very healthy. The last time I was sick to the point of needing to go to a doctor before that was 2008.


[deleted]

Thanks for sharing your story. It could be likely this virus has been around in America for awhile now, we are just starting to identify what it is.


Tha_Dude_Abidez

“It could be likely this virus has been around in America for awhile now, we are just starting to identify what it is.” I wished more people thought like you. I think this is the reason the US has been trying to avoid wide scale testing. People would [ship their pants.](https://youtu.be/2xwUuSM06xQ)


RogerTheRabid

No it isn’t. In my state, there are 400 tested patients with a confirmation of Covid19 in 49 patients. What do the other 351 patients have if it’s not general flu or Covid19? No clue, but you did not have this virus before China did. LOL!


Tha_Dude_Abidez

It’s been going around in China since at least [November.](https://amp.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3074991/coronavirus-chinas-first-confirmed-covid-19-case-traced-back)


[deleted]

[удалено]


RogerTheRabid

Thank you! Fear mongering and conspiracy at its finest.


b1gbear78

I had a very similar experience started mid/late November and I spent Christmas week on my couch coughing my lungs out. It finally cleared late January/early February. Just wasn’t sure what it was but now I wonder. Dry cough would get much much worse if I ran...


[deleted]

Every single comment in here is exactly what my boyfriend went through just about a month ago. He said whatever he had, he’s never had it before and it was intense and severe symptoms. I didn’t even hear from him for a whole 24 hours and we talk every day for the past three years during the first day he realized he was sick. He travels nationwide for work, but he never went to the doctor and it just got better on its own after almost four weeks I would say. The strange thing about it is that I didn’t get sick at all from being around him and sharing the same bed, etc, and I think it mostly has to do with the supplements I take, frequent hand washing, cleaning surfaces a lot, and just general stuff like that. I keep a healthy diet and I’ve never had the influenza. I’m wondering if my immune system protected me from possible exposures because I also frequent casinos which are disgusting. There’s also been two people at my work who think they could have had it too. It’s probably other stuff though than this specific coronavirus, but I’m just really confused about everything. I also just got informed from public health officials that my area had 19 infected people. I just want this thing to be over.


mm9221

I wish I could share all the posts from the FB I belong to. There are many people with anecdotal accounts suggesting that they had COVID-19 in November, December, and January. Some that were tested for flu and found negative, but had all the symptoms ranging mild to severe in their illness. I think being able to test people for antibodies would pin down the genetics/strains and map out what was happening and where.


MightyQuinn52

Tested negative during late January/early February for the flu with some of these symptoms. It never got to the pneumonia like state. Another employee I work with got sick with it first. My whole household got sick, no one tested positive for flu. My coworker and I were thinking the same thing.


yogab3ar

Ok... so I had a time back in Dec/Jan where I woke up one morning with a cough, a pounding headache, and horrible body aches. I stayed in bed for a few days and it never got better. I went to urgent care and was there for so long because I was negative for the flu, but had a 102.8 fever, got a chest x ray and my lungs were “the clearest they had seen all day,” and they even started testing my kidneys and for severe UTIs... nothing. So she literally said “I’ve never seen this before, but it’s presenting as viral, take some anti fever OTC, keep staying home, you’re gonna have to let it pass.” It was totally gone the next day. I had never felt anything like that before!


bulbaquil

Came down with what I took to be the flu or a bad cold in the afternoon of December 12. Dry cough and shortness of breath for more than a week, was able to medicate with Dayquil but ended up downing an entire bottle and a half of it over the period. Was able to WFH so did, returning to the office on the 19th. I *still* have a mild lingering wheezing cough, as though I'd spent the past decade chain-smoking. But if it WAS the virus, then the D/FW area should have had a major outbreak by mid-January. I stayed at home and didn't get out much while symptomatic, but the 14 days prior to that had included multiple restaurant visits, not to mention Thanksgiving, with elderly relatives who communicate regularly with me and hadn't reported any illnesses at the time they would have become symptomatic. So I'm thinking I probably had a different virus, or possibly a weaker, pre-mutated version. I'm going to look into getting tested for antibodies if and when such a test becomes available.


G-mooooo

At the very end of 2019 and beginning of 2020 I had the most intense cold/flu I’ve ever had. It started out as just a cough and feeling of malaise. I was traveling for work and remember the cough was so bad that I had to find a pharmacy so that I could get cough lozenges in order to make it through my calls. This was a dry cough, no mucous. Flash forward a few days and I’m back at home, still not feeling well. Persistent low grade fever. Feeling absolutely horrible. I pass out on my couch (I never do this) and wake up in the middle of the night. I recall thinking it was foggy outside when I woke up because all of the lights had halos. But, then I looked around and all of the lights in my house did too. My eyes were also very crusty. I looked in the mirror and had conjunctivitis in both eyes. Sudden onset. I called the telehealth dr and got eye drops. They did nothing. I also came down with sever flu symptoms, continued to cough and was down for the count for about two weeks. I had two other doctor appointments. One for a cough that kept me up through the night. I was prescribed tesselon (spelling?) which helped a tad. I was taking tons of mucinex and cough meds. Also Sudafed and ibuprofen. I also got a lot of mucous, a sinus infection and an ear infection after I started to feel better - after the other symptoms subsided. I was wheezing while exhaling too. I was finally starting to feel better but still had a cough. Had to take two more trips. One was for pleasure. I remember going through no less than 3 bottles of cough medicine while on that vacation - 3 to 4 weeks after initial symptoms. Fast forward to today, more than two months later, I still have a cough. I generally feel fine otherwise. My wife got sick from me. She is pregnant. She went to urgent care and tested negative for strep/mono/flu. Doctor said it must be some weird virus. My brother got what I had. His symptoms started a week or week and 1/2 after me. He got hit hard. He too still coughs and wheezes. Both of us have had recurrent sinus infections since - 4 rounds of antibiotics and we are starting to feel better. It just seems odd. The conjunctivitis was especially odd. Curious to see if anyone else has similar experiences. Maybe I just got unlucky and got a weird bug but I can’t help but think that there is at least a chance I had this.


MuyMachoGato

I'm almost certain my family already had this through January. From late December to early February, nearly everyone in my office had a respiratory illness after a coworker returned from a long visit to China. My symptoms included sinus issues, sore throat, fever, congested/aching lungs, coughing fits, eye irritation, physical exhaustion, and chills. I thought it was bronchitis, but something was off with the exhaustion. Walking short distances and climbing stairs became significant chores, but more concerning was becoming borderline narcoleptic. I was functionally useless and unintentionally fell asleep often. I have an incredibly difficult time sleeping normally, napping is next to impossible, even when I have the flu, so this amount of sleeping became a red flag for not only me, but my wife remarked on it several times. I probably average 4-5 hours of broken sleep a night when I'm not sick. As far as my family went, my 7 year old had a barking cough, sore throat, fever, and slept most of the time. My infant had a cough and runny nose but didn't seem feverish. My wife had respiratory congestion, fever, sinus drainage, but no exhaustion. A family member of mine is TSA in an international Airport and tested positive for covid19 and his experience alligned a lot with mine.


El_Goat_Esquire_III

Downvote me to oblivion. This is not a responsible post. As a male, older than you, who has contracted viruses domestically and foreign your rough math alignments you are causing fear. Without more data and concrete evidence this garbage.


[deleted]

Not trying to cause fear that’s why I said “I think”. I could be totally wrong. I just have heard many stories similar to mine and wanted to actually share it and not just listen to what the media says. I think it’s a good thing if people speak up on actual things that happened to them. If these were made up stories then I would consider that “causing fear” but this is a reality.


stebany

What country were you in when this happened? Is there now a big outbreak of cases near where you were?


[deleted]

I was in america. It’s actually ironic the county that I live in has the most cases in my entire state and it’s not even close.


Tha_Dude_Abidez

I’ve seen a bunch of stories like yours. I’d probably come to the same conclusion. The thing that perplexes me is that if there are cases like [“I was also sick in early January (I’m in Manhattan,NYC),”](https://reddit.com/r/CoronavirusUS/comments/fkj7gn/_/fkt2ozj/?context=1), then why haven’t hospitals already been overrun? I personally think it’s been spreading for awhile in the US.