I Got Covid and Aged Ten Years Overnight!

I guess Covid was going to finally get me sooner or later – it seems like it’s coming for us all, regardless of being double-jabbed, but hopefully, for most of us, it’ll be fairly mild. Of course, the health implications aren’t pretty – but neither are the beauty ones! Talk about ageing 10 years overnight – from the moment I tested positive I saw and felt changes to my face and body that were pretty scary, including the loss of my eyelashes!

It might sound frivolous discussing the way I looked when I was knocked-for-six with Covid – I know that my health was the priority and don’t get me wrong – I am grateful that I recovered as quickly as I have, but it has definitely taken its toll on my reflection. It reminds me of when I was pregnant and bemoaning the fact that the impending pregnancy glow just wasn’t making an appearance and my mum said that maybe the old wives tale was true – that when you were carrying a girl, your beauty was sucked away to give to the growing baby. Hmm, cheers Mother Nature – I wouldn’t mind if you just forgot to gift me the glow, but to impart me instead with a swollen nose, psoriasis and an extra 5 stones was just blooming mean! But like my pregnancies, Covid did a great job at leaving me looking like an older, uglier version of myself – just hasn’t left me with a cute little bundle of joy at the end of it.

As well as waking up after a couple of days looking like a naked mole rat because my eyelashes were falling out, no matter how many fabulous oils and moisturisers I slathered on, my skin remained grey and papery and looked drier than it’s ever been. Add to that psoriasis around my hairline and between my eyebrows and crusty, flaky lips and wow – you get the stunning picture, right? I felt okay in myself after 5-7 days but I winced at my reflection every time I looked in the mirror, so was quietly happy that I had to stay isolated from the world for 10. In fact, even now I’m free – hallelujah – I’m glad it’s winter so I can wrap a scarf around my mush and slink into the hood of my coat on the pretext that it’s because I’m cold – not because I’m not quite ready to reveal my face – you’ll thank me for it, I promise you. Even my postman tried to pretend he didn’t double-take when I answered the door to him yesterday – he probably thought he’d knocked on my 90 year old neighbour’s by mistake.

Anyway, Covid got me good and proper – a roaring temperature that had me hallucinating, no sense of taste or smell for a few days – which strangely, didn’t deter my appetite because I was going through cupboards eating whatever I could lay my hands on ‘just to test’ if I could taste it. And the worse thing for me – a dizzy feeling of not being quite on this planet with an odd sensation of floating and swaying – sort of like a cross between a hangover and jet lag.

The silver lining from my time out with Covid was that I got 10 days to slumber on my own (yes, I missed #StressedHusband, but not his sleep talking and constantly being jolted awake by his size 12 cold feet landing heavily on my legs) and within that time, I started to meditate with my Calm app and more excitingly, began to read through the notes for a novel that have sat on my desktop in a folder named ‘book’ for about 10 years, give or take a week or two. I’m even adding to the notes and rewriting bits and bobs…things in the writing direction are moving…again.

As Del Boy says…”this time next year Rodders…I’ll have written a book.” Ok, he didn’t say the last bit, but here’s hoping it’s true!

And in the meantime, I’ve ordered some eyelash serum and I’m still working on de-crinkling and livening up my skin – so I’m hoping I’ll be out from under my scarf and hood soon and will tell you all about the products that have helped to resurrect my glow!