I think many of us thought we’d ‘beaten’ Covid. We did everything by the book, took every precaution and respected all the mandates. When the vaccines and boosters rolled out, we breathed a sigh of (healthy) breath that we’d been spared from that frightening + sign. And then that d*ck omicron showed up and was all, “Who’s you Daddy?” It seems Omi can get to anyone, like Dr. Fauci, and now Buffy. Sarah Michelle Gellar posted that she, too, caught Covid after successfully avoiding it for two and a half years. And it hasn’t been fun, either. Sarah is vaxxed and boosted, which has kept her out of the hospital, but Omi still kicked her butt.
Many of SMG’s friends jumped on her comments. Amanda Kloots, with whom SMG talked about the effects of the pandemic on kids last year, hoped she feels better soon. My heart still goes out to Amanda. Charisma Carpenter and Selma Blair both sent their love. And while I’m sure it was nice to receive love from Brenda Song, Reese Witherspoon and Dule Hill, my guess is SMG posted this not for sympathy but as a cautionary tale. As she pointed out, plenty of people are still writing this off as “just a bad cold” and there are no guarantees where Covid is concerned. I’m sure SMG did not expect to get the virus and she certainly didn’t expect for it to take her down. And like Dave Navarro said, just because a person gets a negative test, that doesn’t mean the effects of Covid go away.
I know we are preaching to the choir #OnHere, but I’ll reiterate everything that CB, Kaiser, Peridot, Dr. Fauci and now SMG have said – please don’t take this variant for granted. Age, preexisting conditions, the strain you contract – it all affects how sick you get. And “pre-existing” doesn’t have to mean COPD or some huge medical issue. Asthma, allergies, dormant bronchitis, acid reflux, etc. can be triggered. My son (17) brought Covid home from school. He was sick for three days. He tested negative on the seventh day but is still coughing. My daughter (15) got it after my son and I did. She has asthma and acid reflux but was asymptomatic. She tested negative on the fifth day, never once suffering (except that she got her period during and cramps laid her out). My experience is closer to SMG. I have been sick. At day eight I’m still very much positive and have symptoms, although they’ve lessened considerably. It’s painful, folks. There were moments it felt like an all-over flu-like ache, but others like a Shingles every-nerve-ending-has-been-triggered pain. There are cold symptoms but they are in addition to other issues. I’m tired all the time, like pregnancy tired. My bad symptoms come back at night but they vary. One night it’s a headache, one night it’s tingling, one night its non-stop sneezing or coughing, one-night strep throat like pain. There was half a day that I felt like I had a brick on my chest, and it scared the hell out of me. Like SMG, I’m not looking for sympathy (I call my mom daily for that), I’m trying to scare you. I’m vaxxed, boosted and wearing a mask everywhere but it still got me so please: Be safe and Stay alert.
And throw a pie at my stupid husband who is STILL testing negative.
Photo credit Avalon Red and Instagram
Raises hand! Me too, tested positive May 30 and still dealing with head congestion, sinus headaches at times. Glad I’m vaxxed and boosted. Honest question… do I have to wait for the 2nd booster since I contracted it so recently?
My kids tested positive the day after they were boosted, and I was concerned, so I looked into it. Apparently having covid when you are boosted does not lessen the efficacy of the booster, but you may feel side effects from the booster more acutely.
Vaxxed and boosted but I tested positive for COVID on June 2nd. I had symptoms the day before but had tested negative on a home test. My PCR came back a few days later and I was positive. I was out of work for 7 days. I was not able to get the antivirals, although a coworker of mine did, and she has had a much better recovery than I have had.
I’m now out sick again with an infection and mild fever and I am convinced this is a direct result of me having COVID. Keep wearing your masks. I took mine off for 30 minutes to get a drink and take a picture with an old friend after being vigilant for 2 years. I agree with Sarah Michelle, I’ll be wearing my mask in the shower from now on.
🙋🏻♀️ Another one here. We were isolating long before the pandemic was called My daughter is severely immuno-compromised due to non-Hodgkins lymphoma stage 4. She’s been triple VAXed, but still manage to get Covid twice. The last time was recently. She and her brother went to a Crowded House gig. They were gloating the next day because the singer announced the cancellation of the rest of the shows because he and other band members had tested positive for CCovid. Two days later they were as sick as anything. Those rats went out and brought the virus back to the nest. I begged my daughter to go to hospital because of her immune system. She didn’t. she just suffered through. Me, on the other hand, ended up in hospital for almost 2 weeks. I had the Gastro type rather than the lung or brain kind, so was treated by the Gastro enterologists. One doctor told me that she’d had it so she knew exactly what I was going through. I can’t say it enough – The doctors, nurses and other hospital staff were absolutely fantastic.
Check with your doctor or a local medical clinic about your booster. Age, health and other personal details will influence the answer to your query.
One of my kids and I had COVID in January (1.5 months after I had my booster), and thankfully we did both have milder cases. (Although I swear the brain fog hasn’t gone away completely) My kid tested positive literally the week that the booster was approved for her age group (I’d made both kids an appointment the day before we’d started to test positive). In our case, our pediatrician advised waiting 90 days to get the kids their booster. Having said that, my husband and disagreed about how long to wait, but agreed that we’d follow whatever the doc said. I feel like our doc was trying to be on the cautious side. My other kid and husband still haven’t had COVID although they’ve definitely been exposed through work/school/sports/me.
Me too. I work from home and wear a mask when I’m out but my husband brought it home from an outbreak at his work. I’m on immunosuppressants with 2 shots and 2 boosters. Diagnosed on may 25. Had to stop taking my immunosuppressants meds and took paxlovid. I was one of the people that “rebounded” with that medicine so I’m still going through it now. Don’t get it! Reading stories on the Covid positive subreddit, this variant his really hitting a lot of “healthy” people.
My father lives with me and got COVID. He’s 74, so I was worried, but thankfully he only had a few days of fatigue and tested negative within three days. I developed symptoms 5 days after his positive test, but never tested positive on the rapid or PCR. Since I had cold symptoms, it very well could just be a cold, but he was the only person whom I was in contact with. But these damn symptoms are lingering three weeks later. There was also a recent article in the NYT about people with close contact exposures who developed symptoms, but never test positive. So I have no idea what is going one.
Anyway, I just feel like we are living in hell. My mental health is worse now than ever.
I still haven’t had it (unless I had it and didn’t know), and I am still quite scared of it! And now we have to worry about this monkey pox thing?!?
Same, I thought I avoided it but suddenly caught it in February, still don’t know where from. Vaccinated, boosted, with great immunity, I have never even met my doctor since switching to her when I turned 18, and I am now 34.
Covid beat me for 8 days – thankfully no fever and no pain, but the EXHAUSTION.. I couldn’t recognize my body.
I am sure if I hadn’t been vaxed, I would be in a hospital, no doubt.
I’m still masking when I go to the grocery and the like and I can’t remember if it’s even effective with so few people still masking. It bums me out. I caught a real mild case from one of my kids but now my body is more or less ready for bed at 6:30 pm.
I like SMG an FP, J so much. I don’t know why; it’s like I can see the normal human behind the fame?
Yes so many people have just given up on masks. Sigh.
I like SMG and FPJ because they are unproblematic.
Keep on doing what you’re doing. I wear my KN95 EVERYWHERE outside. I was one of maybe 10 people I saw in my local mall the other day still wearing a mask. I had to go into a dept. store to get some alterations done. Had to ask the tailor, (who was sneezing and sniffling!!) to put a mask on! I didn’t feel comfortable. Disheartening to say the least. Hell, I won’t go to an indoor place to eat, only outdoors, and ONLY if the tables are spaced (and I *do* look to be “upwind” rather than downwind lol.) I also leave my mask on until my food arrives and put it back on as soon as I’m done. I get looks, but I don’t give a flying fig about it.
Just make sure you are wearing a high grade mask: 4 ply, level 3 if it’s just a surgical, or a KN/N95 when in crowded places. Keep up hand hygiene. Too many are forgetting that and touching their noses then common objects, like door handles and elevator buttons (I STILL use elbows, tissues or clothing on those things lol). And hope for the best! You’re doing all you can.
My husband recently caught it for the first time, he is sick right now.🙁 We are both vaxxed and boostered. We have split the apartment (each has their “own” rooms) and wear mask in the shared rooms. It sucks but the alternative sucks worse.
I just told him about SMG’s comment with the shower and he agrees.
I’m a risk patient. My husband does not have a mild case. This is NOT some mild flu.
People keep telling me “why don’t you get infected and get it over with?”. Getting the immune boost from an infection obviously doesn’t protect you forever.
Like others said… I just try to avoid it as long as I can!!
So I had the flu in March and it was the sickest I’ve been in 20 years. I almost NEVER get sick but as soon as the mask mandate was lifted here, BOOM.
Anyway, the flu itself is no joke–I was insanely sick with a temp of 102 for 8 days straight. But you know, there is no such thing as Long Flu–you get sick and then you get better. The scariest part of COVID is the utter unpredictability and the lasting damage.
Exactly. People downplay Covid as “just the flu” but the flu is no joke by any means and can do permanent damage to your heart. Still, my husband says Covid is worse than the sickest he has ever been, flu or other respiratory infections. He is very weak. We just hope he will have no lasting effects. A friend of mine is unable to work due to Long Covid and doesn’t know whether she’ll ever be able to return to her job. Scary indeed!
Except for people who contract CFS/ME after a viral illness such as flu, for them yes there can be a long or even lifetime disabling postviral condition, not the same as long covid but still not good.
Luckily the vaccines do diminish the chances of getting long covid. Or so they say. Long covid is vastly under reported and still a mystery at this point.
I got it March 2020 and I still get a fever and chills when I am stressed. Before that I had a had a near constant fever. The vaccine did help considerably.
JFC, ” get infected and get it over with?” It’s not fkn chicken pox! And you can get it again and again with your 1 in 5 chance for long covid resetting each time you get sick.
I really appreciate that she’s being real about this. And I NEVER say that I haven’t gotten COVID yet, but that I haven’t gotten it *that I know of*. Because we were not testing regularly at the beginning of this thing and there’s no way to be certain that I didn’t have asymptomatic COVID at some point.
Anyway, I’m still wearing my mask in indoor spaces. Surprised to see so many people on the train maskless….seems like an unnecessary risk to me.
I went to my GP a few weeks ago and got an antibody test.
At my request, two tests were done: first, to determine the immunity level caused by the vaccination (“SARS-CoV2 Spike Ab”). Second, a test to determine if I had the infection at any time in the last 2 years without realising (“SARS-CoV2 Nucleocapsid Ab”). I had to pay for these tests myself (30 EUR), but it was worth it because I wanted certainty. I’m not sure what these tests would cost in the US, but they are probably available there too?
*cries in American* insurance wouldn’t cover that so it’s probably in the hundreds if not thousands
My sister is 27. Exceptionally fit. Works outdoors for a living as a guide in the mountains etc.
She is vaxxed and boosted. She got it almost three weeks ago and still can’t go back to work because she hasn’t stopped coughing. She is SICK.
You have no idea what you are gonna get. How covid will effect you. And so many people are getting it a second or third time. I swear – covid decimates your immune system. Like the measles. Do I have proof of this? I mean some scientific articles are saying this etc. But more than that it’s watching my healthy friends get covid then just …. Keep getting sick.
Sorry to hear about your sister and a swift recovery for her. Getting vitamin d levels checked is a good idea; there’s quite a bit of evidence on correlation (not established causation) out there on vit d deficiency and COVID.
*knocks on entire wooden door*
I have not contracted it yet, but then again, I have not left home unless absolutely necessary in damn near three years either. I mask up when I am at the store, pharmacy and work.
Vaxxed, boosted and still waiting on the CDC to approve the second booster for us middle agers.
Ditto. As I’m an oldster, I got my second booster yesterday. About to travel on a plane for the first time in I can’t remember any more how long. Definitely masking up & hoping it’s not a big mistake.
It’s scary.
My daughter got it last January at an outdoor event (neighborhood clean-up) after holing up for months trying to avoid it. She experienced it like a bad flu.
My son had it at the very beginning of the pandemic. He and several friends got it at a wedding in February 2020. He didn’t know it at the time, just thought he had a little cold. He has a crazy good immune system. Months later he tested positive for antibodies and realized what had happened.
I got it after two years, last April 22nd. But April 25th I was testing negative already. The onset of symptoms was sudden. My eyes felt like they were going to burst from the force of my coughing. It wasn’t even productive cough, it was just extremely itchy/scratchy throat that would make me cough up so hard I felt the force of it down my arms and legs. I had my nose so stuffed up for two days that I thought I lose my sense of smell. By Tuesday, everything was gone and like nothing happened. Fortunately I’m not having any long covid effects and neither are my sister and my Dad who both got it last March. My Mom and my older sister, both RNs, haven’t got it. Same for my brother who was the one going out a lot the moment restrictions eased up.
I’m a healthcare and Frontline worker. I’ve worked through 2 covid outbreaks at work. Never got it for 2 years so when the symptoms started, I knew right away. I’m double vaxxed and boosted. And even today I still don’t know how I got it.
2.5 years in and I tested positive for the first time this week. I’m as vaxxed/jabbed and boosted as I can be here in the UK, and am still very cautious. I’m not quite sure where I picked it up, as I work from home and am largely a hermit.
It’s no joke; I’m laid out, folks. Today is better, but two days ago I felt like I’d been hit by a bus. Aches, dizziness, pounding headache, coughs, sniffles, sneezes. Oh, and I can’t taste or smell. Take care of yourselves.
Recovering right now.
I finally got it too and am also fully vaxed with one booster. I was actually getting ready to get the second booster when I got sick. I was smothered (unknowingly) in my teen daughters Covid germs while on a road trip together. We tested her when we got home and she was positive. She didn’t think to tell me about her symptoms because we both have seasonal allergies, usually the worst May/June. I knew I would get it so I sat home Memorial Day weekend waiting. It was torture, not going to lie. Had symptoms just under 48 hours after exposure and a positive test on day 5 from exposure. I luckily had a mild case with it only feeling slightly worse than my usual allergies. I still have some sinus pain though which has caused dental pain, but if that’s all then I count myself lucky. What I found odd about this virus was how each day seemed to present with a new symptom or two and then would disappear overnight to be replaced with different symptoms the next day. They were all mild and I never lost taste/smell. I had one day of intense brain fog that did mostly resolve but I can tell it’s not totally gone.
After 2 1/2 years, I too finally got it. Caught it from friends while in Hawaii. No symptoms until 5 days after I returned. Just a bad cough and fatigue. No lingering side effects. Gave it to my husband. He had bad muscle aches and thing smell weird. Both of us are vaccinated. Both in our mid to late sixties.
I can’t even with the hair. COVID what? She definitely looks better as a brunette.
Same thing here…after 2+ very diligent years, masking, distancing, vaccinated and boosted, covid caught up with my family too. We have all recovered but it sucks and I am sooooo pissed off and upset that we couldn’t outrun it. That I couldn’t keep my teenagers safe from it! I worry about any possible long-term health issues we might face. I live in Colorado and since our air quality sucks right now, I still have bouts of labored breathing and a throaty cough several weeks out. Sadly, it is spreading like wildfire again and no one seems to care anymore. I honestly can count on 1 hand the number of people I know who haven’t had covid at some point now. Ugh!