MY COVID-19 EXPERIENCE

 

Today, I am grateful- My COVID Story.

It all began with a sudden low-grade fever on a regular Thursday night. Just fever no cold or sore throat, was a bit weird in my case because whenever I have common cold my symptoms usually follow a sequence starting from a sore throat followed by fever and a runny nose. This time it felt a little different but I thought I would feel better in the morning so I tucked myself in a double layered quilt and slept off. However, the next morning my condition worsened, I had a constant throbbing pain in my head, tiredness, fever was mild but still there, and a lot of sneezing. I showed myself to a general physician, and got medicines for 3 days. The very next day I felt completely fine, as fresh as a daisy.

However, I was still a little suspicious about why was it different this time? Why did I not have a sore throat or a runny nose at all? Fortunately, I did maintain social distance and took necessary precautions because two days later when I woke up and washed my face, I noticed I couldn’t smell my facewash. I then tried smelling other scents as well, but for a fact I wasn’t able to smell even the strongest of all scents, not even a bit. This situation kind of scared me so I told my folks about it but they thought I was exaggerating and asked me to calm down and not over react (my parents being parents). As being told, I decided to give it some time and wait for my smell sensation to come back (while following social isolation). Two days passed but my smell sensation was still not recovered, showing no sign of improvement. I was infuriated by the situation. The feeling of not being able smell anything was frustrating. I decided to get myself tested before the situation worsens causing an olfactory damage. I got myself tested after almost a week from when I first had fever and my test turned out to be positive with COVID- 19. I had no other symptoms apart from complete loss of smell and partial loss of taste.

Meanwhile, during my self-isolation although I was physically fine, but my mind was constantly thinking about how different my life would be if I lose any one of my senses and sometimes how ungrateful I am towards life, that I don’t acknowledge the good that I already have in my life. Losing my sense of smell made me realize that wanting more in life is not a bad thing but at the same time being grateful and acknowledging the good things that you already possess is the foundation of all abundance that can keep you optimistic and happy in life. It took me some time to understand the importance of the littlest things in life that I have taken for granted, opening my eyes to see there is so much to be grateful for! This is when I learned to appreciate the good things in life by taking time to be thankful for even the smallest blessings.

How I worked on getting my smell sensations back?

-         Steam thrice a day (very important)

-         Drinking warm water and warm fluids.

-         Practicing Pranayama

-         Vitamin C, D3 and Zinc supplements.

-         Omega-3 rich foods (fish, walnuts)

-         Nasal irrigation (if necessary)

 

Olfactory training:

-         Repeated and deliberate sniffing of odorants (camphor, coffee, eucalyptus, essential oils, etc.)

I regained my smell sensations (not completely) on the 17^th day from the day of onset of my symptoms. Yes! I spent 17 days of my life without being able to smell anything at all. The feeling was weird and annoying but I got through it quite well. I could later discover that the cause for the loss of smell was not actually olfactory dysfunction but just a congestion justifying the nasal and squeaky voice tone I had for weeks. I truly believe taking steam did most of the work but I would still recommend training olfactory nerve by not letting it rest because to some extent it was helpful too.

My COVID- 19 experience not only made me aware of all the great things I have in my life but also reinforced the belief of gratitude in me.

Thank you for reading!