Forum menu
There's a few reports of painful balls being associated with cv19, but it doesn't appear to be listed in the official symptoms. The daily mail and express have run a couple of articles about it.
Just reading about Covid toe too. Wife just sent me a link. I wore shoes for the first time in nearly a month today.
Noticed it after a bike ride, same shoes, thinner socks, hot day. Thought I'd somehow managed to seriously damage my toes and I've been worrying about background health issues, whether to bin a couple of pairs of shoes, where to start with new shoes.
Unbelievably itchy/hot/painful, kept me awake at night. Really inflamed and stretched skin.
Took a photo for a virtual GP. I wondered about calcinosis. She reckoned gout.
Blisters came to the surface, skin broke, scabbed over, healing nicely now.
Really very relieved to find it's likely to be virus related!
Those who've had it, have you healed up OK?
Hang on, painful balls?
I had that a week before the lock down. Got checked and got antibiotics but the doc couldn't really find anything.
I also had painful nostrils but figured it was due to having the test shoved up there but my mrs got it too a few days later before her test
I genuinely think that when I get an ab test it will be positive, there are enough little things that join up now. Thankfully if I did get it, it was clearly a mild one
I had more of a down week last week. Some good and some bad news - much less energy and was getting random chest / arm stuff. Ended up at Drs getting a few tests and an ECG. Fortunately the latter was ok. Resting HR is now down to under 60 and blood oxygen in the ok zone. On the downside the metal taste came back last Monday - apparently that could be linked to stress.
The Dr is a biker and runner, thought those of us who are more active are likely to be noticing the drop in fitness more. The general advice was take it easy, talked through what I was currently doing. Fortunately they didn't say no that's total lunacy. They just cautioned it could take a while to get back to fitness / don't push to hard.
Ridewise I've stepped back from my idea of riding every other day. It's just wiping me out. Last week I did 30km Monday (mistake) and 40km yesterday. Think I've got a handle on not feeling unusual by dropping my ride heart rate from under 120 to under 110. The only challenge is living on top of a hill so getting home without touching 140 is difficult. Not got a power meter on the bike and haven't been in Zwift for a while. Strava seems to think the power numbers are well down. I'm just picking rides to be as flat as possible, maybe as a bit over optimistic with my ones the other week. Recovery is definitely a lot slower than the bad flu I had a couple of years back.
Breathing cold air is still uncomfortable but I also noticed the same feeling of discomfort happens if my HR goes near / over 130. This is about where I start having to breath hard.
It's strange to do exercises and focus on trying not to do too much. Way back when I thought I would be trying a training program to build FTP on Zwift about now. I'll reconsider that in a month but at the moment riding gently to a beat is the plan.
As a proper confirmed Covid victim, I can confirm that complete body rash and very sore balls are both real symptoms
I'm happy to say that I missed out on the sore balls. And so did the missus 🙂
Like OAP I'm still very up and down. I did two one-hour gentle strolls over the weekend and feel nailed this morning. I also ended up at A&E after weird left arm numbness - my GP sent me there - for an ECG and various bloods, all of which were fine.
I had a brilliant extended, wide-ranging chat about life, the universe and everything, with a doctor from Barcelona while waiting for the blood results to come through. At the end he shook my hand - I washed mine immediately afterwards - and I realised that other than Mrs BWD, it was the first physical contact I've had with another human being since the start of lockdown. It kind of broke me slightly.
The non-Covid side of A&E was eerily quiet btw.
My mrs just got sent for a retest by one of her employers as she cant go back to them unless clear, the fire brigade on the other hand are like yeah come back with a cough you'll be ok
he fire brigade on the other hand are like yeah come back with a cough you’ll be ok
Cough can last long after you are no longer infectious. From an infection control point of view you can return to to work with a cough so long as you do not have a high temp. (This was the case a couple of weeks ago, guidance may have changed since then)
Have you ever tried wearing breathing apparatus with a bad cough
The one size fits all policy should not be one size fits all as it doesn't fit all
Mrs is currently 29 weeks pregnant,has got some back pain very similiar to previous pregnancy which turned out to be HELLP Syndrome, nearly killed her. She went to triage today to check it out, docs thought it was a blood clot so gave her a ct scan and xray. Turns out her lungs show signs of Covid19 damage, so shes been tested - should find out the results tonight. On a side note, our 3yr old was up all night throwing up, not even sure where he could have got a bug from as we've been in isolation since mid march.
Had a chest x-ray this morning for ongoing pain and mild shortness of breath. No treatment expected, but I have a little concern about still being infectious. My GP is excellent and admits what we do not know. I think he's interested in my case from an academic - follow the progression - perspective. It does hurt though, and I have more of a lower respiratory cough than I did when I was really ill.
According to a Lancet publication, jolmes, presentation with just lung ct abnormalities is not unusual (18.5%). I had no classic symptoms. And absolutely no gammy toes or testicular enlargement.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1473309920300864?via%3Dihub
I had about 24hrs of heavy nads.....but then the girlfriend was away that W/e!
All joking aside there was about a 24hr period when everything was a bit tender - went to sleep thinking....ooohhhh errrr....woke up in the AM & job’s a good ‘un. Most odd. Fine now.
Here, I believe, is the origin of the theory for Gonadus Covid Painfulitis:
https://www.ajemjournal.com/article/S0735-6757(20)30194-7/pdf
According to a Lancet publication, jolmes, presentation with just lung ct abnormalities is not unusual (18.5%). I had no classic symptoms.
Aye I've seen that one before, she has no other symptoms other than this possible lung infection, the consultant specifically mentioned ground-glass opacity. She was not expecting to be coming out of hospital potentially having C19
if you want some perspective, last week I rode for 20 minutes keeping my heart rate to 120bpm. My average power for that was… 70 watts. My ftp before all this was not far shy of 300 watts and on a recovery spin, I’d be putting out around 135 watts and my HR for that would be around 115bpm or so
I am not that bad, but I too have taken a real hit from this. My FTP has gone though the floor and my HR was 180 yesterday when it should be ~ 140 for the same power. I've also developed a really annoying tendency to become wheezy. I am 6 weeks in now and just really hoping the wheezing is not minor lung damage.
I'm taking it properly easy now. Just doing some gentle strolls and seeing how I feel. My GP was pretty emphatic about staying off the bike and, to be honest, given how trashed I feel, there doesn't seem to be any particular benefit to be gained from riding other than maybe a psychological one.
My body's reacting to a flat, easy walk as if it were a significant training load. I also get quite an unpleasant coughing reaction to cold air and I'm guessing there's still inflammation to my airways, which is what you'd expect really.
On the plus side my O2 saturation is up to 98% and, for the first time this morning, didn't drop off after walking up the stairs, which feels like progress. [All as directed by my GP fwiw]
I've had a pretty positive week. Lung pains have gone, heart rate coming down, O2 food, I've felt well in myself mostly (one blip) and have been able to start riding short distances at low effort without too much bother. I can take on some small local hills if I go gently.
Last week I rode 3 days on the trot but third day it set me back and I got 'virusy' again which was a few days on and off. I'm taking it pretty easy now but I'm very much on the mend (6? Weeks in)
Now to see if I can gain my fitness back, but honestly I'm just pleased to be alive and feel normal and able to get out, even if it is slow and steady.
Best wishes to all still suffering, I do believe you'll get there.
A few might find this interesting
https://www.ft.com/content/be7e66c0-1243-45dd-829f-8b192c18acff
Should be free to read, headline “The wide variety of Covid-19 symptoms seen by doctors is confounding the scientific community”
Is it possible to regain full lung function once there has been damage from CV19 or blood clots?
Is it possible to regain full lung function once there has been damage from CV19 or blood clots?
I think it's way too early to say. It'll also presumably depend on severity of infection, but right now most of the focus seems understandably to be on treatment and prevention.
This might have gone up already - otherwise, here's a blog by medic academic on how it feels to be playing symptom bingo:
I have been wondering about the low oxygen levels issue and air travel - not that I'm planning any. More in a sitting in a plane for any length of time with random SATS isnt going to be a good thing. Might have been the delays in being able to get people flown back had an unexpected positive side effect.
2 of our neighbours - who live slightly remotely - both tested positive. Slightly older. I spoke with them at a distance yesterday. They had different symptoms - she cough, he no cough. No hospitalisation required, although he did need the ambulance after passing out. 2 weeks to get back to feeling relatively normal. He said he was fortunate as he had not any notable lung issues, but it completely floored him for a week.
We've been adhering to the guidelines, but, slightly 'chesty' a few times over the last few weeks has made me think a bit. However, I have to remind myself that the fields around us are now bright yellow with oilseed rape and I have suffered from hay-fever since I was a child...
It is getting close to home here. Our local care home, 5 minutes walk away) has lost 10% of it's residents to Covid in the last 2 weeks. One member of staff died, one in ICU. Son's girlfriend's mother works there full time. OK soo far.
Another care home 2 miles away has lost 10 out of 64 residents to Covid.
https://www.milngavieherald.co.uk/news/reports-10-deaths-bearsden-care-home-covid-19-2843866
We've covered Covid Toe and Covid Balls, how about Covid Shit?
I've noticed a greater than usual variation in the colour of my stools. Consistency is fine, but they are occasionally a bit lighter than usual. Not "clay coloured" as reported in some patients, just a bit paler. I can't think of any dietary pattern, maybe exertion plays a part.
Anyone else?
During week one, when it didn't occur to me that I might have the thing - the one that started with the splitting head-ache and the throwing up - I noticed a dramatic increase in frequency at all all-day level instead of just once after breakfast. I cant say I recall anything about coloration though.
A GP who I spoke to said that gastric symptoms were more typical in younger people, but who knows. In the adulterated words of Forrest Gump: 'Covid-19 is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get'.
Anyone else had Covid Insomnia, which is apparently a thing?
Btw, if anyone's interested, this is the FB group that gets mentioned in the blog that OAP posted above. Lots of people struggling with duration of the infection and glacially slow recovery. Also some tips on medicines etc that have worked for some:
This is my first post in this thread. Back in early March I had what I now believe to have been coronavirus, obviously not tested and proven but the symptoms were what felt like a really aweful cold, headache, sore throat, tiredness, dodgy tummy, followed by cough on day two and then day 3 a temp of 38.6 on the in ear thermometer. This progressed into shortness of breath and lingering lethargy for around 8 days, really putting me out if sorts and struggling. During this time I was still working but it was no fun at all and the guy who I work with also got it too. He is early twenties and fought it off in a week or so but had a bad cough too.
Fast forward to now and I'm still struggling with days where I am suffering with shortness of breath and really bad fatigue. Some days I feel fresh and good but others I am wiped of energy and struggle to walk up the stairs without panting, I'm sat on the sofa now and my heart rate and breathing are all over the shop.
Over the last couple of months I've managed a few flat rides on my bike and generally have been ok but these are good days and today for example there is no way I'd make it up the hill in my back lane.
I guess I will have to speak to the doctor next week and this is becoming a problem and work is beginning to get tricky when I'm so tired. It would be very handy to have an antibody test and know for sure what has been going on.
I appear to have COVID foot, google it, its a thing.
Dr didn't seem that fussed by it, prescribed antibiotics and strong anti inflamatories to be on the safe side.
Probably means Ive been merrily spraying It arround the countryside on my rides as Ive had zero other symptoms.
. It would be very handy to have an antibody test and know for sure what has been going on.
Readily available in the UK in various places like this:
https://www.summerfieldhealthcare.co.uk/corona-virus-testing/
Readily available in the UK in various places like this:
Isn't there a problem that none of them have been particulalry accurate?
And unless there's persistent immunity as a result then its unfortunately pointless anyway.
Still inching back towards some sort of normal here. My HR is still elevated and relatively modest strolls - under an hour - wipe me out next day, but the shortness of breath is mostly gone as is the cough. Not riding the bike yet, it seems pointless. No training effect, but runs down the battery.
Anyway, this is interesting for anyone going through as very slow recovery process from what is / probably is / might be Covid-19. Seems like a significant number of people are experiencing prolonged symptoms that go way beyond the 'official' one or two week recovery, but I guess we knew that already:
Having had many of the symptoms and taking 5 weeks to feel almost back to normal, I was 99% sure I had the virus.
This week my employer paid for us to take the anti-body test........it came back negative!
Still no clearer as to whether I've had it but either way that might suggest no immunity if no anti-bodys detected
I was about to post that article @badlywireddog
Again matches my experiences of whatever I’ve had. Albeit on an actually shorter time frame.
Although I guess he could have written that in one of the “I feel ok now” windows
What test did you use Gav?
@69er_Gav Which test though? Some give far more reliable results than others!
Today is the 8th week "anniversary" of my first day of feeling really rubbish on Saturday 21st March, four days after I came home from work to my better half coughing continuously (the day our first of two isolation periods began, we went back to work after 14 days but she had a bad relapse after a week and was given antibiotics while being off for a further ~2.5 weeks, during which I was told to isolate again to protect her in case she didn't have COVID-19 during the first isolation period).
The short version is, despite never getting more than relatively mild symptoms compared to my better half, I'm still not completely over it (I'm still struggling to try to get back the fitness I lost) and neither is she.
Some days I've been able manage a sub 25min effort in the past couple of weeks around my lowered FTP of 280W compared to 294W in Feb, but other days I've felt so wiped out I've not jumped on the turbo at all, while other days I've tried to ride at race pace and my legs/lungs have given up after ~10mins. Before all of this, I could go at race pace for up to several short events on a day and throw in a structured workout, sometimes after work shifts where I've covered ~6 miles, sometimes doing back to back days. At the moment, not a hope in hell!
My rather depressing "power and relative effort" chart, seeing my winter training from Jan to end of Feb go up in flames, which includes my cycle commutes and deliveries by foot at work...
Some days I’ve been able manage a sub 25min effort in the past couple of weeks around my lowered FTP of 280W compared to 294W in Feb, but other days I’ve felt so wiped out I’ve not jumped on the turbo at all, while other days I’ve tried to ride at race pace and my legs/lungs have given up after ~10mins. Before all of this, I could go at race pace for up to several short events on a day and throw in a structured workout, sometimes after work shifts where I’ve covered ~6 miles, sometimes doing back to back days. At the moment, not a hope in hell!
If it makes you feel better, the last time I rode a bike my power output at 120bpm was an average 70 watts for 20 minutes and I spent the next two days recovering from the effort. Before all this, my FTP was a little shy 0f 300 watts 🙂
Bit of an update and something of a revisit of some older posts.
I've never really trained to a power or relative effort - or trained really. Experiences of virus on power are back in the early pages. I was more shocked at the massive drop than anything else for what I thought were mild symptoms. It just didn't seem to fit right with what was being said about the virus at the time.
What I've worked out over the past couple of months - my body is on trickle charge. Energy levels build and improve week on week. It is also really easy to chew through the whole lot in one go if I'm not careful. Probably the biggest factor in improving was being put in Furlough at Easter. Not having to focus on being able to actually get through my work to hit a deadline and move to resting.
I don't like sitting still but have really forced myself to do this a lot. It has paid dividends although I still have to remember to do this to prevent chewing through the energy reserves. Although these are now higher they are not to previous levels.
One of the advantages of being in a small community is I've been able to get out and walk twice a day. Yes - breaks the rules - honestly I feel little and often exercise has helped get my fitness up. Not sure how I would have been able to do it living in anything other than a really small village. Even then it's been a case of going very early and very late in the day to avoid meeting people. These gentle strolls have made a big difference. I now wish I'd stuck on strava for each walk - just so I could look back at how my walking has changed. I now feel just walking about is pretty much normal. Did take a walk up a small fell the other day. It highlighted my fitness is not what it was but it will come back.
On the bike I'm now upto 14 rides on the bike post worst symptoms - what is working for me is riding to a beat. Putting the emphasis on keeping to or more correctly below a heart rate. In my case 110bpm - worked out through trial and error. Not an approach I recommend because it was a fine line between making a mistake and being OK. Mistakes generally being having too high an expectation / or thinking oh I feel good and trying something. The other thing is time between rides - three to four days seems to work. Whilst riding actually just focusing on the ride - not the speed / movement / end - punctuates it with rests. Taking more time out to stop - take in the views, look at the flowers, enjoy the clouds.
This week I have found I am naturally rising to holding 115bpm with comfort and being able to go over 130bpm without gasping or getting back home and feeling unusual. Originally I thought I'd try one of the Zwift FTP building programmes at the start or May, then I thought June, right now I'm thinking just keep in the bottom half of Zone 2 on HR. The theory being not trying being the new trying and over time what I can do by not trying will increase.
Whilst breathing cold air is not the unpleasant experience it was a couple of weeks it is still causing a little discomfort. The return of cold air this week reminded me I was finding this an issue.
With the return to the outdoor and plenty of people having been inactive and having Covid I am wondering what impact this will have. Especially when recovery for some of us is about not running before you can walk.
What I’ve worked out over the past couple of months – my body is on trickle charge.
I'm treating my fitness like a badly discharged mobile phone battery. If you keep hammering it without allowing it to charge up fully, you just end up with... a badly discharged mobile phone battery. Small steps.
If it makes you feel better, the last time I rode a bike my power output at 120bpm was an average 70 watts for 20 minutes and I spent the next two days recovering from the effort. Before all this, my FTP was a little shy 0f 300 watts 🙂
It's amazing how varied COVID-19 impacts different people!
I know I got off quite lucky compared to many, but I feel mightily pissed off at having a second successive of winter training written off, moreso this time because I pushed myself to my own brink in the hope of this year trying to make up for a really disappointing outdoor season in 2019.
Having only joined the "cycling for fitness gains" bandwagon just over three years ago, time is not on my side at 46 to keep punishing my body and trying to improve sustained power on top of what is currently a pretty physical job as a postie in these "stay at home, order the world from the internet times" we are in compared to a normal spring.
One of my random aims is to get a "95% of 20min" figure of 300W+, I hit 298W in early March 2019 and 294W in early Feb 2020. Trying to now improve my current 280W by another 20W feels like mission impossible, every relative good day is typically needing three easy days recovery. From how things have gone in the last couple of weeks, I might even struggle to keep hold of what I have now.
Probably one of the more unexpected things - which I've remembered as I'm sat in my kit ready to go for a road ride. I get a little bit anxious - probably slightly more so today as it's the first cool / windy day.
On FTP - I went from just over 200 to not being able to hold much above 60-80watts. Latest trip to the Zwift, having avoided it for weeks, over the 100watt barrier for av power. Even went over 200 watts without my heart rate going daft. Just climbing up out of one of the undersea tunnels so nothing major.
One of my random aims is to get a “95% of 20min” figure of 300W+, I hit 298W in early March 2019 and 294W in early Feb 2020. Trying to now improve my current 280W by another 20W feels like mission impossible, every relative good day is typically needing three easy days recovery. From how things have gone in the last couple of weeks, I might even struggle to keep hold of what I have now.
Maybe backing off for a few weeks and letting your body recover properly would work better than banging your head against a viral ceiling, particularly given your job. Your goal seems a bit arbitrary as well, but really, it sounds like you need a rest. Sure, you may lose a few watts, but you'll get them back once you're properly well again. Honest 🙂
Having only joined the “cycling for fitness gains” bandwagon just over three years ago, time is not on my side at 46 to keep punishing my body
Nick Craig is now 50, I think, and still competitive at elite level. Just for perspective.
Just going back to trail and error - in working out what I was comfortable with for a HR. I came in too high on the first rides. Thinking 120 was fine - a whole day of unusual followed. Should have come in at 100. I have seen articles saying your body will know when it's ready to go. I found this to be true but also I had had a reset. I worked this out by thinking go would be back to normal. As with everything about the virus there is a new normal. With hindsight I should have gone for just into zone 2 on HR. And with even more hindsight - even this could have been a risk without even knowing what my HR had been doing just basic gentle walks. In otherwords I have found a way that seems to be working for me but that doesn't mean there aren't risks and I was just bumbling my way out a situation without knowing or understanding them.
piemonster
What test did you use Gav?
Posted 7 hours ago
It was the Abbots antibody test. This is the blurb I was sent after i'd already been tested
I am delighted to announce that the Abbots (USA) Laboratory analyser ANTIBODY test for SARS-CoV-2, that we are providing to patients at The Health Equation, through The Doctors Laboratory, received Public Health England approval yesterday, Thursday 14th May 2020. Abbotts say the specificity of the ANTIBODY test is between 99.7 and 100%.
The Abbots Antibody test joins the Roche Antibody Test as the only 2 PHE approved SARS-CoV-2 ANTIBODY tests in the UK. Whilst the UK Government said in their press release that the ROCHE test was 100% specific, Roche themselves say it is 99.8 to 100% specific. At the moment Roche are only providing their test to the NHS.