Age: 54.0
Sex: M
Vaccine: COVID19-2
Symptoms: Arthralgia, Bone pain, COVID-19, Cough, Dysphagia
Clinical narrative: On 1/5/2023, I had a viral infection. I had flu-like symptoms (headache, low-grade fever, sore throat, and body aches). This lasted from 1/5/2023 - 1/8/2023. I took a home antigen test and got a negative result. I also got a negative result on a COVID-19 test at an urgent care clinic. I treated my symptoms by taking vitamin C, resting, taking zinc, and increasing fluid intake. It was a mild event, overall, and I didn't feel the need to take additional medicines. Ever since that event, I have had fatigue, though. Then on 2/10/2023, I had sinus congestion, postnasal drip, and sinus pain and pressure. On 2/14/2023, I woke up with a severe headache that was like the start of a migraine. By 4:30 PM that day, my whole body began to ache. There was both muscle and joint soreness. My neck really hurt. The sinus pain was so intense that I felt it in my cheekbones. The headache was like a skull cap headache; it felt like the skin was ripping. I began to feel flush, and I took my temperature, which was 100. My throat felt kind of like strep throat, and it was difficult to swallow. I also had a deep, violent cough; it was so intense that my muscles constricted, and I felt it in my feet. It was nonproductive. I took a home antigen test and got a positive result. I called my PCP, and I was told to go to urgent care. At urgent care, they did a nasal swab, and the result was negative.  I then took a rapid antibody test, and the result was positive. I was prescribed Paxlovid. From the evening of 2/14/2023 to the evening of 2/15/2023, I was bedridden. I only occasionally got up to go to the toilet. I was more fatigued than I had ever felt in my life, and I had to drag myself out of bed. On 2/16/2023, I felt a little better, but I still spent most of the day in bed. On the afternoon of 2/16/2023, I felt less bad than before. My postnasal drip was gone, but I still had had some sinus pressure. The skull cap headache had changed from an inflamed pain to more of a dull ache. The neck stiffness was gone. Most of the muscle soreness was gone, but I still had some joint stiffness, but not pain. On 2/17/2023, by the evening, the COVID-19 symptoms were gone. The cough, sinus pressure, headache, and joint inflammation were all gone. However, I had a sensation that was like the early stages of bronchitis; it was like a tingle. I thought that maybe it was my asthma. I called my PCP to ask if I should use my albuterol inhaler. I took a few puffs from the inhaler, but it didn't relieve the sensation; it was like the sensation had settled in my chest. However, it didn't progress beyond that. After I finished the Paxlovid, the sensation continued. By the 2/18/2023, I was moving around the house. Not only did the bronchitis sensation linger, but I also was easily winded after any activity. The bronchitis sensation lasted until about 4/5/2023. The fatigue was so intense, I often felt the need to nap, even if I had had a full night's sleep. The fatigue and the windedness also lasted until 4/5/2023. At the time of this writing, everything is much less intense than it was 4/5/2023. Everything improves day after day. I now barely feel the bronchitis sensation. I also can move without getting winded. The fatigue is now very mild, as well, and is a minor nuisance. On 2/24/2023, I took a home antigen test and got a negative result, but I stayed in isolation until 3/17/2023 to be on the safe side.