My Long COVID Story: Symptoms and Healing

As someone who had no pre-existing immune problems, I NEVER thought in 1000 years that a pandemic would completely uproot my life — especially with being so “young”.

For many, the pandemic made them bored and they just wanted to get back to normal life. They had to miss out on sporting events, couldn’t go out to eat, or find all the groceries they were looking to buy at the store.

But to me, it was more than just being bored. It was more than just simply “missing out on life events”. It was a matter of health.

And, if you’ve ever been through a chronic, debilitating illness, you know just how much you’d give to feel normalcy in your life once again. To feel well. You’d do just about anything.

So, what is my story with COVID?

Let’s start from the beginning.

My COVID-19 Journey

• In May 2020, I was hospitalized for COVID with a 104-degree fever and bilateral pneumonia. I had COVID for 19+ days before getting admitted to the ER after my lung scan came back “foggy”. Luckily, I lived in Charlotte, NC at the time, so I was able to take part in a clinical trial for Leronlimab by CytoDyn. (This is what I believed to be the reason for my fast recovery at the hospital.) I was 23.

• In December 2022, I got COVID yet again in Budapest, Hungary after staying at a hostel in the middle of the city. I had to end my Europe trip early and come home because I had immense brain fog, confusion, and GI issues. (I didn’t think I had COVID because I did not have a fever or respiratory issues. I tested negative abroad, but I tested positive once I was back in the States.) I was 25.
• In January 2023, I got weird health issues and symptoms ranging from vertigo, fatigue, feeling faint, brain fog, bloody stool, tightening throat, loss of appetite, liver pain, palpitations, chronic sinusitis, ear pressure, and numbness of the face/hands. The symptoms were/are all over the place.