-
Itchy throat (first sign of something wrong) - this seems fairly common, based on other people's experiences that I've read. I had an itchy throat as the only symptom for 2 whole days before the other symptoms showed up.
-
Runny nose - clear nasal discharge that lasted about 4 days.
-
Fever - I had a fever of about 100.4ºF for 1 day, and a slightly elevated temperature for another day. Tylenol helped keep this in check, but the fever subsided fairly quickly.
-
Cough - I had a very minor cough (about 3 coughs/hour) for 3 days. Coughed up phlegm very few times.
-
Sinus pressure - The feeling where my sinuses feel a bit full, exerting pressure on my face. This has reduced, but not gone away 14 days later.
-
Headache - This is likely related to the sinus pressure, and is a dull/background annoyance that also continues to persist.
-
Loss of smell - this took a while to realize, since the nasal congestion likely masked it for a while. I am still unable to smell any odors (no matter how strong/pungent). My doctor has advised taking OTC Flonase to help with the inflammation for 1 week.
-
Muted sense of taste - while I can taste sweet and spicy notes, more subtle notes like sour/tart tastes are not registering as strongly (ketchup just tastes sweet, for example).
-
Hydration - for the first 4 days, my rate of expelling water was quite high, so I consumed a lot of water to keep hydrated. The water was also above room temperature.
-
Tylenol (at night) - allowed me to sleep through the night, feeling more rested.
-
Zinc supplements - could be a total placebo tbh. It didn't hurt to take it though.
-
Vitamin D supplements - I've been taking this for a while, and continued to do so.
-
Frequent small meals - instead of eating 3 big meals a day, I ended up eating 5 smaller meals.
-
Rest - I rested for a whole week without leaving the house (isolating in 1 room). Funny side story - my Apple Watch complained about how little exercise I was getting for the time I isolated.
Exposure - 17-Dec
Itchy throat - 19-Dec
Positive rapid antigen test - 21-Dec
Positive PCR test - 21-Dec (results available on 22-Dec)
Onset of symptoms - 22-Dec
Fever - 23-Dec
End of nasal discharge - 27-Dec
Negative rapid antigen test - 29-Dec
Ongoing symptoms (smell/sinus pressure) - still persist as of 7-Jan
All in all, it definitely felt like a mild head cold that lasted about a week - except for the ongoing lack of smell and slight sinus pressure.
I was vaccinated (Moderna x 2) and boosted (Pfizer), though the booster immunity was lacking since I only got my booster on 17-Dec.
Apologies for the late response (and I hope you have your taste/smell back). My taste never went away - though I still cannot taste foods that need nuance (cardamom, cloves etc.). My smell is still very slowly returning - it’s <10% back still.