Good Luck, Bad Luck

I tried taking Claritin D last night along with my night drugs. It cleared out one nostril from 4:30-6:30 am, which let me get two hours of sleep, but the Claritin itself kept me awake, and the one nostril was SO wide open it was dry and painful to breathe through.  Can't win, there.  lol  So I was up until 4:30 am tossing from side to side and sitting up straight on the futon with an airline pillow behind my neck to try to keep my head up.  If I sit straight up, I can breathe okay. If I lay my head back at all into a relaxed position, bam, my sinuses fill up and I'm toast on breathing.  It's really mean.  You get so sleepy and the second you relax enough to fall asleep, you're not breathing.  No migraine from it this time though. I think part of it was I spent all day in my glasses on my phone or laptop with nothing better to do, and the eye strain didn't help at all. So I've taken periods of time yesterday and today to unfocus my eyes, take off my glasses, relax them, etc.  I'm still up and moving throughout the day to try to keep my lungs in good shape.

Then came the next freaky revelation. I thought our scent machine was out, so I took it down, and sprayed it right in front of my face, and I didn't smell a thing.  I did it again in case I just missed the stream.  Nothing. So I grabbed an antibacterial wipe and sniffed it, and smelled...nothing.  I ate a green olive and could faintly taste it, but I've lost my sense of smell.  About a half hour later, I decided if I was going to lose my sense of taste, which I am, I was going to enjoy that last holiday roll that Ethan's wife made. So I warmed it up and put butter on it, and I could taste the butter and roll at the beginning, and by the end, it was just warm in my mouth, no taste.  You don't know how weird that is until you've experienced not having those senses.  So yeah, there we are.  So far in four days we've hit high fever, bad headache, severe sinus pressure, major congestion, light cough, diarrhea, loss of taste and smell.  The first two are gone, the third is lighter, the fourth and fifth are getting worse, the sixth may be gone, the last two just beginning. I've heard of people who went long term without their senses and that fa-reaks me out. I really hope it comes back fast. I don't like it.  So far I'm still coherent, at least.

I got vaccinated, and I said I'd worry about it if it happened, and I made it 2.5 years, which isn't bad when you're surrounded by large groups of people who have it.  The APHT I was on had entire units down with Covid, I was around them the whole time, and I never caught it. I guess it was waiting for me somewhere sneakier, later.  

Steve is lightly coughing. He says he doesn't feel great. He's not running a fever, and he doesn't have a headache or congestion or anything. He just says he has a throat tickle and light cough. Different than how I presented, so I'm hoping he doesn't get it. He doesn't need it and I'm sure it would kill his mom.  So we're isolating and doing the best we can. The only shared room is the kitchen, and I wipe down anything I touch anytime I go in there.

Maybe I'll just stay up all night instead of trying to sleep.  It may be less stressful in the end...