Having Flu during a Covid pandemic

For the majority of October, I was seriously ill. It was a terrifying time of being confronted by the fear of it being the dreaded C-word and that I couldn’t even get help from my family because of social distancing rules.

Initial headaches

It began around the 3rd of October when I started developing migraine symptoms of feeling nauseous and my whole head was just pounding. The light hurt my eyes and I knew it was going to be a rough ride.

Despite feeling completely down with the sickness, my boyfriend dragged me around our local park for a walk to clear my head. This didn’t work and I literally returned to bed as I got home. In my mind, I expected to rest the rest of Sunday and to resume feeling better Monday. This didn’t happen, and my symptoms ended up getting worse.

A fever you can’t sweat out

By Monday, I was a wreck. My temperature was between 39–41°C which caused my body to shake uncontrollably when I thought I was cold. I knew at this point that I should probably call a doctor. All I wanted to do was sleep, but I made myself get up early to phone the doctors in hope of a return call. By 12pm, I had received a call and thought I was finally on the mend.

Instantly, the doctor thought Covid. The only main symptom I had was a temperature, but I was…