The Immune Boosters for Covid-19 One Mom Took + Her Day-by-Day Account of her Mild Case of the Novel Virus
Inside: Read one mom’s journey through COVID-19 and get the immune boosters she took that can help fight this virus.
Ten days before Christmas, I became became ill with COVID-19. Despite being cautious from the onset of the pandemic, it did not take me long to realize I had contracted the virus.
However, I never ran a fever.
I never developed a cough.
And, gratefully, I never had trouble breathing.
In fact, my case of COVID-19 was nothing like what the media described.
However, I had a friend who had had a mild case of the illness in November. Otherwise, I would have taken a few painkillers, chalked my symptoms up to a cold or sinus infection, and not given it a second thought.
Because I did know that mild cases of COVID exist, when I began feeling “off” one afternoon–and later became cold and achy–I immediately began to think that I might have the virus.
And So It All Begins
The first night, I felt chilled and achy, and I had an almost undetectable headache and extremely mild sore throat. I tossed and turned all night, but I had the flu in early 2019, and these body aches were noticeable but nowhere near what I had experienced with the flu.
In fact, I had experienced worse colds than this. I’ve had one sinus infection in my life–back in 2005–and it was worse than this. Mono was significantly worse.
The next morning, the faint headache and sore throat were gone. The body aches were now my only symptom. I don’t normally take painkillers, but I have four children I needed to parent, so I popped one Aleve and got on with my day.
The only person I was supposed to see that day was my assistant, who comes to our home a few days per week to help me with my business. I texted to tell her that I hadn’t felt well the night before and that she needed to stay home just in case I was getting sick.
The painkiller completely masked my symptoms. I felt off but did not feel ill at all until later that evening, when the Aleve began to wear off. Then, the chills and body aches returned.
That night, I told my husband: “I think I might have COVID.”
“There is no way you have the virus,” he answered. “You haven’t even been around anyone. You aren’t even acting like you feel bad.”
“I know,” I told him. “I know–but I think I might have it. The body aches return as soon as the painkiller wears off.”
To me, body aches usually equal one thing–the flu. We’ve all been told that COVID feels similar to the flu. I’ve never had body aches with a cold. However, most normally have a sore throat, swollen glands, fatigue, and a fever with the flu–and with COVID (in addition to other symptoms). At this time, I had none of these.
I told my husband that I wanted to get tested for both the flu and COVID. I knew that it would take a few days to get my COVID results back, and I could get flu test results back almost immediately.
The next day, however, the COVID testing site near us was closed because of the weather. So I waited.
The day after that, my body aches were gone even without a painkiller. But I had the start of a stuffy nose.
Could a stuffy nose be COVID? Could three days of body aches and some chills, followed by a stuffy nose really be it? I thought to myself.
My husband is a teacher, and while he mostly works from home right now, it happened that he was giving exams that week. He isn’t able to go into work if anyone in his home has any symptoms of COVID. I needed to get tested, or he would need to continue staying at home.
So with no other symptoms but an increasingly stuffy nose and mild sinus pressure, I drove to the testing site.
I got there twenty minutes before they opened.
I waited in my car for two hours.
The nose swab they gave me–a PCR test–was painless. It felt like a feather, and it tickled so much that I giggled. It was nothing like the “brain scrape” that I had seen on memes circulating around social media. (I have heard since that more invasive tests are still being administered in some areas.)
After the COVID test, I headed over to the CVS Minute Clinic to get a flu test. My CVS was not giving out COVID tests at the time, so I only had to wait a few minutes before seeing the nurse practitioner.
We discussed my symptoms, and she told me that her adult son had had COVID a few months earlier. “His only symptom was a stuffy nose,” she told me. “He thought he had a sinus infection, but he had to get tested for work.”
“Hmmmm. So his symptoms were just like mine?” I asked her.
“Yep,” she replied.
The flu test was much more invasive than the COVID nose tickle. I wouldn’t exactly call it a “brain jab,” but it definitely went up further into my nose.
“So, have you seen much flu this season?” I asked the NP, while we waited for my results.
“Not at all,” she replied.
“You mean, you haven’t seen very many at all?” I asked her to clarify.
“No,” she continued. “I mean, I haven’t had any positive flu tests at all.”
“Why do you think that is?” I asked.
“I think people are just doing what they need to be doing–and staying at home,” she replied.
“Then why is there so much COVID right now?” I asked.
Right then the timer went off for my test results.
Negative for both flu strains.
I quickly exited the examination room and headed home.
To Test Or Not To Test–and Are They Accurate?
At my urging, my husband took all 4 of our kids and got tested the day after I got tested. I didn’t have my test results back yet, and none of them had symptoms. However, I didn’t want to keep isolating from my family, especially at Christmas, if they were already all positive anyway. I had a feeling that they were.
My husband and the kids waited 2 1/2 hours at the same testing site where I had gotten tested the day before. All of them described it as a tickle. They said even my 3-year-old didn’t flinch at the test.
I didn’t know it at the time, but my husband was already developing a dry cough.
It took me about 36 hours to get my positive test results back, but it took a few days to get results for my children and husband.
We got my youngest daughter’s results back first–positive. She had developed a low-grade fever (100.5) and a headache the night before (gone by morning), so we were not surprised with her. My son vomited the next night and had some loose stools. We chalked those up to be his version of the virus, as COVID manifests as gastrointestinal issues in some people–particularly children.
My older two children–the two who attend school three full days per week and are out in the “real world” most often–tested positive without any symptoms at all. Their cases of COVID were completely asymptomatic.
Bonus: As a bonus for joining my weekly newsletter, download a free checklist with my immune boosters for COVID-19.
My husband, surprisingly, tested negative on his first day of symptoms (a cough).
Although the PCR test is thought to be much more accurate than the rapid test, my husband went on to develop more standard symptoms of COVID-19 than the rest of our family, even though he tested negative via a PCR test on the day he became symptomatic.
Because we had read about the inaccuracies of the rapid tests, in particular, we did not opt for those.
I personally believe that rapid COVID tests give a false sense of security. If they are positive, then one can go ahead and begin to quarantine from others. But if they are negative, the person is still left wondering since the rate of false negatives is so high.
It is recommended that only those who are already presenting with symptoms take the rapid test. Even the PCR tests can yield false negatives if they are administered too early in the course of the illness.
We have two theories as to why my husband tested negative–even with symptoms present. Our first guess is that his test was mixed up with our son’s. He witnessed the person who administered the test place his test in our 3-year-old’s test vial. When he spoke up about this, the tester said they would swap the labels before packing up the tests. It’s possible they forgot to do this.
The other possible option is that my husband simply tested too early in the course of his illness to yield a positive result. This leads me to believe that my children–although all asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic at the time they were tested–might have contracted the virus earlier.
They, perhaps, even gave it to me.
(The timeline in which our family had COVID lines up with the timeline when there was a small cluster of cases at my older children’s private school. I believe it’s highly likely that they contracted it there and transmitted it to me–even though they remained asymptomatic.)
Some people are afraid of getting tested because they are concerned about having COVID on their medical records.
Others–and our family falls into this camp–believe that most of us will contract the illness at some point in time and prefer to have our records show that we already have had the virus and should, hopefully, have developed some natural antibodies and immunity to it.
Bottom line: I personally believe testing is a good thing for those who may have been exposed or who have symptoms of the illness and want to know if they need to quarantine from others. I would skip the rapid test and get a PCR test at least five days after exposure or three to four days after onset of symptoms.
Bonus: As a bonus for joining my weekly newsletter, download a free checklist with my immune boosters for COVID-19.
Losing Taste and Smell
While I still had my taste and smell on the morning I got tested for COVID, by that evening, I noticed that I could not smell my bar of soap in the shower.
This is strange, but perhaps it’s psychological, I told myself.
Next, I tried smelling my shampoo, which has a wonderful citrus mimosa scent. Nope–I couldn’t smell a thing. When I got out of the shower, I tried smelling my husband’s deodorant, which has a very strong but pleasant smell. Nada.
Losing taste and smell is the one telltale sign of COVID-19. In fact, I’ve known some people who have been diagnosed as positive without taking a test simply because they lost taste and smell. Not everyone loses it–and there is some research that shows that those who do lose their senses of taste and smell often fare with milder cases of the illness.
The theory is that those with milder cases have a better immune response that helps prevent the virus from spreading beyond the upper respiratory tract, but that response may increase inflammation in the cells that process smells (source).
Some people lose their senses of taste and smell for days. Others lose these senses for months, and, in rare cases, COVID-19 survivors may never regain their senses of taste and smell.
There are some cases of individuals who only lose taste and smell.
I’m the only one in my family who lost taste and smell. My asymptomatic children never developed any symptoms despite positive tests–not even this one. My two children who had extremely mild symptoms–one with a 100.5 fever and headache one evening and one who vomited one night–never lost their senses of taste and smell either.
My husband did not lose his, but he ended up with a more moderate case than I had. While his temperature never rose higher than 99.9, he developed a persistent and troubling cough, chest tightness, and trouble breathing–in addition to the stuffy nose, sinus pressure, and fatigue that I experienced. He also has asthma.
Related: Common Essential Oils Mistakes
Is this all in my head?
On the night my smell started to go, I told myself: This is probably all in my head.
I sniffed a bottle of essential oils. The smell was muted but detectible.
It’s probably just my stuffy nose.
I woke up the next morning at 6:00 a.m. It was day 3.5 of the virus. I immediately grabbed the bottle of essential oils on my bedside to give it a whiff. I could not smell them at all.
I had completely lost my sense of smell.
I didn’t have my test results back yet, but I knew. I had COVID-19.
After a brief moment of panic, I reminded myself what I had read–that those who lose taste and smell normally have a milder case of the virus.
Later than day, I received my positive test result.
I texted several friends to let them know I had COVID, and one friend (who is also my doctor) called me immediately. She encouraged me to continue resting and taking my supplements that we reviewed. She recommended that I add NAC and a baby aspirin to my regimen, diffuse some wild orange essential oil (I had no idea that citrus essential oils aid in producing healthy cells) and to get a pulse oximeter (praise God for next-day shipping on Amazon Prime–get a free trial and start using it today here!).
While it appeared that my case of the virus was mild, my doctor informed me that those who take a turn for the worst usually do so on days six through nine. I was on day four and not out of the woods yet. She wanted me to remain vigilant.
The illness the entire world had been fearing for ten months was now a reality in my life.
Walking
A few weeks before I became ill with COVID-19 myself, I had a brief conversation with my daughters’ school nurse. She was recovering from the virus at the time, and she gave me her very best advice: Walk.
She explained that lung function was a big part of whether or not someone fared well or had a downward turn with this illness. She suggested that everyone should be walking as much as possible–and preferably daily–before getting COVID, and that walking while you’re sick with COVID is also beneficial (as long as you are able–those with respiratory symptoms below the neck should avoid exercise during the illness).
“Even if you can only walk from your bedroom to the kitchen to get a glass of water, do it,” she told me.
I had admittedly not been the best with walking before I got sick, but I was determined to walk as much as possible while ill. Besides the movement being good for my lungs, the best way to get vitamin D is via the sun, and vitamin D is crucial in fighting COVID.
I surprisingly had a lot of energy my first four days of the illness. I even took a couple of hour-long walks around my neighborhood, while wearing a mask in order to protect any neighbors that I might meet along the way (I didn’t run into any).
By day 5, however, fatigue began to surface.
Fatigue
I took a 45-minute walk on day 5, and, when I came inside from my walk, I was utterly and absolutely exhausted. By this point, my primary symptoms were the persistent stuffy nose (not runny, not sneezy–but extremely stuffy, like it was clogged) and no taste or smell.
I had not taken any naps during the illness up until this point. I lay down in my bed and realized that I needed simply that–to nap.
For some, fatigue is the symptom of COVID that lingers the longest–even months after recovery.
Why Was My Case Mild?
It’s impossible to predict how COVID–or any virus, for that matter–will affect you. The fact that I am female, relatively young (40), have no underlying risk factors, and type O- blood gave me hope that I would have a milder case of the illness if I were to get sick.
And I did.
I also eat sugar-free and gluten-free and focus on eating real, whole foods via the low-glycemic Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle. (I’m a certified THM health coach). Our family has been using natural cleaners and natural remedies for more than a decade, so our toxin load should be lower than some–although not perfect by any stretch of the imagination.
I was already taking a good number of immune boosters every single day from the start of the pandemic until the moment I became ill. Then, I upped my regimen (keep reading to find it) while I was sick.
Did my lower risk factors and healthy lifestyle translate into the milder case for me and asymptomatic cases for my children?
Perhaps.
But I also am a firm believer in us being complex individuals and that control is an illusion.
We humans trick ourselves into thinking that if we make all the right choices that life will turn out the way we want it to.
That is a lie.
And, frankly, we give ourselves too much credit.
Regardless, we can do all the “right things” and still come down with illnesses because we live in a fallen world.
We can’t name and claim our health.
Fooling ourselves that doing all the “right things” will keep us from getting sick is part of what my friend Donielle has called out as being part of the prosperity culture or control culture.
“It’s really crummy that there’s such a stigma with getting COVID!” Donielle recently commented on one of my Facebook posts. “There really is this feeling of moral failure that often comes with it because so many people vilify those that get it. Which is just another way that our prosperity culture and/or control culture is lived out–that if you do things ‘right enough’ (isolate yourself, wear masks, use sanitizer, etc.) that no one should get it. So many don’t realize that you can do everything ‘right’ and still get COVID.”
I couldn’t agree more. And this is not to suggest that we take no precautions. Our family took many (more on that below).
But operating under the illusion that we can prevent illnesses by making all the right choices can be a setup for a lot of shame and psychological distress that simply shouldn’t even factor into this.
Related: 10 Natural Ways to Prevent Colds and Flus
How Did I Catch the Virus?
We have no idea. Well, we have some ideas, but out of the six of us, my 2nd grader (whom I am homeschooling full-time) and I leave home the least.
In fact, I could count on one hand how many times I had left home during the period of possible exposure:
- 8 days before onset: I attended an outdoor event in our neighborhood. Later than evening, I picked up a pizza, waiting inside the restaurant lobby for about 15 minutes. During this time, I was among three masked individuals and three unmasked individuals waiting for pizza. None of the restaurant staff were wearing masks.
- 3 days before onset: I attended an outdoor event in a church parking lot.
- 1 day before onset: I spent most of the day helping a friend cook & clean in prep for a family visit. If anything, I believe I would have exposed her at this point (she did not contract it, and I don’t believe I got it from her).
- Day of Onset: I was around my assistant and family.
If you’ve been exposed to COVID-19, isolate and wait a few days before getting tested
One theory, that seems increasingly more viable, is that my older daughters–albeit asymptomatic–contracted the virus first and spread it to me.
This seems especially likely in that all four of my children tested positive on the same day that my husband tested negative. Their positive tests indicate that they had had the virus for a few days by that point. They were tested four days after my onset of symptoms.
While it’s rarer for asymptomatic individuals to spread COVID-19, it is still possible. This is especially true if asymptomatic individuals are in very close contact with others–like their parents.
Immune Boosters That Can Actually Help With COVID-19
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, nor a healthcare professional. This information is my personal experience with the coronavirus. Seek out the advice of your trusted healthcare professional before beginning any supplements or immune boosters for covid-19.
Before I became ill with the coronavirus, I was taking a number of vitamins and supplements to boost my immune system. I was taking these immune boosters nearly every single day for nine months prior to contracting the virus. These included:
- Vitamin D3 (5,000 IUs/day)
- Vitamin C (2,000 mg/day)
- Zinc (50 mg/day)
- Probiotics
- Juice+ (I no longer take these. I felt the expense wasn’t worth it, but I think these off-brand alternatives may be worth it. I took them during my pregnancies.)
- my multivitamin
- elderberry capsules
- magnesium (300 mg/day)
When I contracted COVID-19, I stepped up my immune boosters to combat coronavirus and added some additional supplements as well (after speaking with my doctor). I stopped taking elderberry, as there has been some conflicting research on whether or not this herb helps or hurts when one has COVID. Read this article and decide for yourself.
The immune boosters for Covid-19 that I took included:
- Vitamin D3 (5,000 IUs/TWICE per day)
- Vitamin C (2,000 mg/TWICE per day)
- Zinc (50 mg/TWICE per day)
- Probiotics
- Juice+ (I no longer take these. I felt the expense wasn’t worth it, but I think these off-brand alternatives may be worth it.)
- my multivitamin
- magnesium (300 mg/day)
- quercetin (500 mg twice/day)- My doctor recommended this one. It was also mentioned in this article that I had read right around the time I contracted the illness. It’s supposed to help with inflammation, immune response, and cardiovascular health.
- NAC (600 mg twice/day)- My doctor also recommended this one. I had also never heard of it before. NAC is an amino acid that is supposed to help with lung function.
- Melatonin (5-10 mg/night–before bed) – This article tells why this is an important part of any immune boosting regimen for COVID.
- Baby Aspirin (1/day) – My doctor told me that even the mildest cases of COVID are sometimes showing an increase in blood clots and that she wanted to me take a baby aspirin every day both during and for two to three months after having the coronavirus.
Related: How to Take a Detox Bath
Other Medications & Immune Boosters for COVID-19
In addition to the the above, I also took Umcka as needed for symptom relief. I also took daily (sometimes multiple times per day) epsom salt baths. I took some echinacea and garlic early on in the illness, right when I began to feel ill.
Around week 2 of the virus, I experienced leg pains–especially at night. I would describe these as very similar to the Restless Leg Syndrome I had during my pregnancies. I continued taking magnesium and added in an electrolyte drink–Ultima–to my daily immune boosters for covid-19.
I have since learned that leg pain can be common after a virus. I think this is what I was experiencing.
In addition to what I took, my husband also took Clear Lungs. While I never had any respiratory symptoms beyond a stuffy nose, my husband had more of the stereotypical COVID symptoms, including trouble breathing.
My husband also has had asthma since he was an infant, so he has a higher propensity to respiratory illnesses. He eventually needed steroids. When he was not improving after two full weeks of the illness, we asked the doctor about steroids. In retrospect, we wished we had asked about him getting on steroids earlier.
I happened to have had a phone appointment with my integrative doctor around day 10 or so of the virus. It was about something different, but since I was recovering from COVID, I told her that I had it.
She prescribed me ivermectin, an anti-parasitic that has shown some promising results for COVID patients. Because I was already so far along in the illness and had a mild case, I filled it but ended up not taking it. I have friends who have since taken it with great results.
My COVID-19 Journal
All-in-all, I would describe my case of COVID as a mild flu and a mild cold and a mild sinus infection wrapped into one illness.
I wanted to share my experience and the immune boosters we used to fight covid-19 to help others prepare for the illness. As well, I hope that by sharing my experience, it will help still some fears that some people may be experiencing.
I, in no way, want to diminish the real suffering that so many have experienced, and my heart and prayers go out to the loved ones of the more than 500,000 (at this writing) Americans who have lost their lives to this illness since it began.
Download Your Free Checklist
This checklist will give you an immune-boosting regimen that can help you prepare for or fight COVID-19. Get it now, as a free gift for signing up for my weekly newsletter. Note: I am not a doctor, and this is not medical advice. Run this list by your trusted healthcare provider.
- Download the free checklist. Join my weekly-ish newsletter and as a bonus, you’ll get the printable! Just click here to download and subscribe.
- Print. Any paper will do the trick, but cardstock would be ideal.
- Hang your checklist somewhere handy, like inside the door of your medicine cabinet.
Here’s a sneak peek of your printable checklist:
Sources & Further Reading
https://www.uchealth.org/today/the-truth-about-asymptomatic-spread-of-covid-19/
https://www.covid19treatmentguidelines.nih.gov/statement-on-ivermectin/?fbclid=IwAR1coeN05UAnXt69q7XGO_Dzlfv8VR6gRMUbLYitkvnaa6-JcIRbMiqpHQ4
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/what-its-like-to-survive-covid-19#Asymptomatic-infections
https://www.foxla.com/news/studies-suggest-4-vitamins-to-prevent-severe-cases-of-covid-19
https://ard.bmj.com/content/80/3/e42
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/covid-19-survivors-are-losing-their-hair-heres-why
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/12/covid-19-sleep-pandemic-zzzz/617454/
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20201116/Xylitol-and-grapefruit-seed-extract-nasal-spray-could-help-COVID-19-patients.aspx
https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4763
https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4851
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/strongest-most-consistent-sign-covid-115303993.html
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, nor a healthcare professional. This information is my personal experience with the coronavirus. Seek out the advice of your trusted healthcare professional before beginning any supplements or immune boosters for covid-19.
Now it’s your turn. Have you had COVID-19? Leave a comment and let me know your tips for what immune boosters to take to fight this virus.
Beth Ricci
I am so glad that your experience was relatively mild, and that you all recovered okay. Thanks for sharing your experience with everyone in detail!!❤️
Erin
We are so grateful! I hope that by sharing our experience that others can be blessed as well!
Barbara
Thank you so much for sharing this. It is much appreciated and very comforting
Erin
I know this is such a difficult and confusing time to navigate, and I hope sharing my family’s story will help others. Thank you, Barbara!
Marci
Thank you for sharing this! My family also had a really mild case. I chalk it up to the fact that we all take a ton of Vitamin D, which has been talked about in the media. I get so frustrated when people get angry that I had a mild case, and yet the VAST majority of people have this experience. Thank you!
Erin
I’m so glad to hear that your family had a mild case too, Marci! I hope that, by sharing our stories, we can help put others at ease and give some tools that can help with the virus as well (like the Vitamin D–so important!). Thank you for sharing!
Mae
Erin,
Thank you so much for sharing. I just got your email with a subject heading “I’m so sorry.” I really don’t think you need to apologize for anything. Your blog post was very informative and very well written. (And not trying to judge too harshly here, but people these days get offended soooo easily. Hopefully you can let those comments roll right off of you!)
Erin
Thank you so much, Mae! I have had so many requests for this information that I was a little disheartened when a few people were offended, but I also realize this is an incredibly sensitive topic, and I want to be sensitive to those who have suffered greatly with this illness themselves or have lost loved ones. I hope this post can help many people! Thank you again for your kind words!
Kimberly Harris
Thanks for sharing your experience, friend! So glad you all had mild cases, and that you had good holistic medical care too.
Erin
Thank you so much, Kimberly! I am so glad y’all are ok too! We are so thankful for our healthcare providers!
Ylva
Now that the vaccine is starting to become available, it’s the best immune boost we can get in my opinion (unless you are one of the few who can’t receive the vaccine). Even if it may be mild for me, I don’t want to pass it on to high-risk family members. But of course, the other things don’t hurt either.
Erin
I feel like I’m even more concerned about spreading it now that we had it since I know it’s so easy to catch. I actually had my antibodies checked today. It concerns me for being around my parents. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts, Ylva!
Rebekah Hoffer
Thank you for your vulnerability and sharing your experience. I still think that losing your taste and smell has got to be one of the most bizarre symptoms. It is so crazy that you couldn’t smell your soap that same night you were tested.
Erin
Yes–crazy indeed!