@Blackwater_Park It’s been over a month. I have pain from head to toe in my joints and muscles. I get a headache and dizziness when I stand up and my heart rate jumps up way high. I am exhausted all day long. I have brain fog and difficulty forming words and sentences. If I exert myself at all (even a shower, or brushing my hair, something minor), I will have especially bad pain and fatigue (post-exertional malaise). The longer I stand, the more my legs throb and burn and my head hurts and my heart rate stays elevated, so I remain in a chair for almost all day. I take 700–800 steps in a day, on average (which is probably an over-estimate as it is measured on my wrist). I sit in the shower. I cannot cook or wash dishes or help clean. I cannot help take care of my children. I still technically work full-time, but I really only do a few hours of work in a day and it is not at the quality that it was a month ago. My fingers throb and hurt so bad I cannot open packages (like food) or hold a plate or cut my own food.
Early on (a few weeks ago), I took my kids two blocks away to the park and sat while they played. Then we went home and I sat down in a chair. A couple of hours later when I tried to stand up, my whole body was throbbing and hot with pain. I limped into the kitchen for a snack and water and could barely drag myself back to the chair, where I remained for the rest of the day. The next day I could barely stand up out of bed. My pain and fatigue were elevated for a day and a half (to the point that I couldn’t do anything).. just for walking 4 blocks. I have a number of similar, but much smaller examples.
To be clear, I have my PhD (which I completed as a parent of three and during a global pandemic) and have successfully obtained my own funding and published several manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. I am highly capable and motivated. And right now, it takes all of my energy to not fall into a complete pit of despair and depression. My life is impacted in every way possible and I may not be able to work a job that utilizes my education, experience and skills. I am devastated. And there are many others like me.