I couldn’t sleep, even after taking two 5-HTP tablets. Gigantic headaches, fever, severe inflammation with excruciating muscle and joint pains, severe dehydration, chest pains, weird needle/stabbing pains in specific areas of my body.
The chronic left psoas (hip flexor) pain which I had managed through yoga and diet, came back with a vengeance. I almost forgot how it felt like. Of course with it came back the stiff right leg as well. Gotta love inflammation lol.
Slowly splashing really cold water on my face helps with the fever and after repeating this 3-4 times throughout the day the headache is gone.
The homemade electrolyte water (one freshly squeezed organic lemon, a pinch of black rock salt (or regular sea salt), a tablespoon of organic honey) has helped immensely and immediately with the dehydration.
I'm also taking my anti-inflammatory tea (turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, black pepper) at least one cup a day, and it seems to help with the leg cramps and back pain.
Despite my severe weakness and dizziness, moving around has helped more with the joint and muscle pains than staying in bed.
But of course, I had to take my training and even yoga down a notch. Inverted rows only instead of pull ups, no reaching failure nor breaking rep records, light walking, nothing that gets me sweaty and dehydrated (so LISS or HIIT cardio or MetCons are out of the question). Just treating the pain I'm dealing with. To give you an idea:
Warmup:
- 1 set of beginner level Sun Salutations (not the intermediate muscle prep stuff I usually do)
Strength training (if you can call it that):
5 sets of 5 reps each, 10-30 seconds rests between sets, 1 minute rests between exercises:
- Inverted rows
- Standard push ups
- Air squats
- (No abs today)
The above are done at a comfortable and really slow range of motion.
If there's one thing I know about my body, is that giving in and taking full day rests to “heal and recover” doesn't do that at all for me. It makes me feel worse and prolongs my recovery. Hence why the pain got better after this mini workout. My body needs to hear “nah, getting sick is not an option, we're working today. It’s “business” as usual”.
Cooldown:
- Light yoga (specific asanas) for back pain and relaxation (this helped SO MUCH).
I've noticed some light tummy troubles (mostly gas) since contracting Covid, so I will try to extend my fast for a couple of days (it will help with healing too).
Now how does someone like me, who was on self-quarantine for 2 years straight, contract Covid? Simple: I got school kids and a husband who works. And no I'm not vaccinated.
Kids have also contracted Covid, as my husband tested every day and it took about a week after his symptoms to show up as positive and he sincerely thought it was just flu like last time. But I think we may have got it from the kids’ school, as 2 kids (one in my son's regular classes and one in my daughter's special needs class) were home for the last week due to getting Covid (and my son mentioned the kids in his school aren't very careful).
My daughter is still in good mood and only has cough for now, my son threw up at 2 am and he has the same headache I have and fever.
Husband (the only one who is vaccinated) had (and still has) the same amount of fever, muscle and joint pains, headaches, dehydration with dry and sore throat (I don't have the sore throat yet). He also lost his appetite and his sense of taste (I haven't lost my sense of taste nor smell yet, but I haven't had an appetite in a couple of months now due to OMAD, high fat diet and surgical menopause).
My surgical menopause symptoms have gotten worse the last 2 months, so I was expecting a drop in immune system and higher inflammation rates. One of its symptoms are suicidal thoughts as well, so as I realized that I got Covid, my mood swings went from “no worries, we'll fight this just like everything else” to “if it kills me, I don't mind” and then back to “let's do some sets and yoga at 4 am and see if I feel better, I don't want to skip training entirely“ lol.
Anyways the headache gets worse when I try to shut my eyes, and the muscle and joint pains get worse when I lie down so I haven't slept, at all. With both kids waking up in the middle and husband snoring the whole night through, I didn't see the point to skip my workout and “rest”. These symptoms are best managed during the day when I do the natural remedies stated above.
It is now 5:42 am, starting Covid recovery day 2. Will update again later.
Disclaimer
I am NOT a doctor, personal trainer, registered dietician, nutritionist, athlete, influencer, nor at the end of my fitness journey. The content of this blog is based on what worked for me and is for informational purposes only, not a replacement for medical advice from a professional. Furthermore, we and our bodies are unique, so everybody is different. My results may not reflect your own. Any action you take upon the information provided by ZenGainz is strictly at your own risk.