Coping with Covid breathlessness

[Twinkycat]

I have severe anxiety and depression which is mostly health anxiety and I have recently started CBT after some awful bouts all throughout this year. I just felt like I may be getting somewhere and was beginning to feel a little hopeful and then my husband contracted Covid and then I tested positive. My husband and daughters have all had Covid before but I didn’t. Throughout pandemic I managed to keep calm and even had my gallbladder out during the restrictions but I am beyond terrified. I had a mild fever and aches and chills but an awful head cold. My husband and I both tested negative after 4/5days but I am on day 5 and I have awful phlegmy cough and breathlessness. It’s Xmas day and I’m still in bed. I tried to get up for a bit but I can’t stop crying. I feel so rough and I’m scared to death I’m taking a turn for the worse. Or is it my anxiety and panic as I get really tight chested and breathless with that but this seems worse. I feel I e ruined Xmas. Husband cooked but he’s coughing still and it all went wrong and he’s upset. Two grownup daughters stuck in the middle. Could I just be making things worse with the stress? I feel like I’m battling so many things. I am 56 with mild asthma. I’m so scared.

[ankietyjoe]

Could I just be making things worse with the stress?

Yes x 1000

The current batch of Covid is highly, highly unlikely to cause any serious side effects. I had it several weeks ago and did experience some breathlessness too. Mild, but noticeable. I noticed it most when I was drinking water, I could only take a sip or two before it felt like I needed to gasp air in. It's normal, and will almost certainly pass.

This is your first post here, but I'll try and encourage you to not label your anxiety and/or depression as 'severe'. I can guarantee you 75% of people that post here truly believe theirs is severe, and worse than anybody else can possibly realise.

It's almost certainly not.

What you are feeling is almost always a reaction to a trigger, not the trigger itself. The reality is Covid feels like a bad cold for most people, or even a really bad cold bordering on flu. But in this case you are taking anxiety, multiplying it by covid, adding in all the media scare stories you've read over the last year, multiplying that by your asthma and the resulting thoughts are 'this is it'.

In a few days you'll feel a lot better, and in a couple of weeks you'll feel pretty much back to normal again. But, it's sensible to keep an eye on how you're feeling, just in case. That doesn't mean you need to obsess over how you're feeling and check the internet for statistics and symptoms every 10 minutes.

You will have other Christmases to celebrate with your family, and I suspect they just want to look after you, so you really haven't ruined anything now have you?! :)

[pulisa]

I'm on day 5 too and pacing myself. I'm older than you but I'd agree that this is a nasty virus. My daughter is still testing positive on day 9. It's normal to feel like this with covid. It's our first bout too. Anxiety will magnify everything. Try to normalise your illness and accept that you will feel rough but that you'll come out the other side in a few days time.

[adannels]

I can’t tell you how much I needed to hear this.I got Covid on Christmas Eve and most of my symptoms are gone but the phlegmy cough and I’m terrified it’s in my lungs. Covid almost killed my sister so I have some ptsd. The one person that could calm me down my mom died in June and the anxiety has been bad. Thank you.

Yes x 1000

The current batch of Covid is highly, highly unlikely to cause any serious side effects. I had it several weeks ago and did experience some breathlessness too. Mild, but noticeable. I noticed it most when I was drinking water, I could only take a sip or two before it felt like I needed to gasp air in. It's normal, and will almost certainly pass.

This is your first post here, but I'll try and encourage you to not label your anxiety and/or depression as 'severe'. I can guarantee you 75% of people that post here truly believe theirs is severe, and worse than anybody else can possibly realise.

It's almost certainly not.

What you are feeling is almost always a reaction to a trigger, not the trigger itself. The reality is Covid feels like a bad cold for most people, or even a really bad cold bordering on flu. But in this case you are taking anxiety, multiplying it by covid, adding in all the media scare stories you've read over the last year, multiplying that by your asthma and the resulting thoughts are 'this is it'.

In a few days you'll feel a lot better, and in a couple of weeks you'll feel pretty much back to normal again. But, it's sensible to keep an eye on how you're feeling, just in case. That doesn't mean you need to obsess over how you're feeling and check the internet for statistics and symptoms every 10 minutes.

You will have other Christmases to celebrate with your family, and I suspect they just want to look after you, so you really haven't ruined anything now have you?! :)