One Of The Many: Opening Up About What It’s Like To Have Covid-19 As An Immunocompromised Young Adult

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Like many other young adults in America, I was never scared of Covid. My friends and I lived our life as normally as we could, never afraid to hang out in large groups or go to restaurants or malls. I was upset that Covid was ruining my college experience when every health professional seemed to insist that Covid would never hurt a healthy, young person like me. 

However, I am not completely healthy. I am immunocompromised, but that never really frightened me.

Three months into my junior year of college, I tested positive for Covid-19 along with hundreds of other students at Elon University in North Carolina. There was a spike in numbers and I was bound to test positive once all of my friends and around me had. Even then, I wasn’t afraid - not even with the added risk of having an autoimmune disease. I was more upset with the inconvenience of quarantining when I have a job, am part of two clubs on campus, and love to be active and social. 

I want to share the details of my experience quarantining with Covid-19 as a 20-year-old college student, because I don’t think many people understand - or have read about - the perspective of students my age. 

My Physical Health

I began developing symptoms long before I actually tested positive for Covid-19. Luckily I began quarantining the moment I noticed those symptoms, but that unfortunately made my time in isolation feel even longer. 

My symptoms were barely noticeable at first: a sore throat and a sniffly nose. That quickly developed into horrible body aches and chills, which worsened as days went on. All my friends who had tested positive previously described their symptoms as mild, close to nothing. I wasn’t prepared for what I was about to go through.

There were two days I remember as being truly terrible; Sunday and Monday. I couldn’t get out of bed for two days straight because of horrible nausea I experienced every time I tried to move. I also couldn’t keep any food down and had no appetite at all. 

I didn’t sleep for more than two hours at a time because of the horrendous, debilitating body aches and intense muscle pain. I can’t even describe the intensity of that pain because I had never experienced anything like it before. 

Although all of these symptoms were awful, I was still mostly focused on the hope that my lungs would stay clear and normal. I knew that if they didn’t, that’s when the problems would really start happening. I knew from experience that every time I get a cold, I also contract pneumonia or a lung infection because my immune system is so poor. I was sure that I would end up in the hospital if I began to experience lung issues. Around day five of quarantine, I began to cough heavily and had trouble breathing. Thankfully, my prescription inhaler really helped to ease any pain I had in my chest and kept my lungs mostly clear.

My Mental Well-Being

While my physical symptoms were no walk in the park, it’s my mental health that I was really concerned about. Along with being immunocompromised, I have also been diagnosed with anxiety. A lot of my anxiety stems from separation, fear of missing out, and failure to perform well in school. Obviously, my entire life was put on hold when I had Covid. I wasn’t able to see my friends, wasn’t able to leave the four walls of my room, and definitely couldn’t do my school work even though I constantly tried. 

And then I was of course anxious about my health. I had no idea what Covid would be like for me, but I knew I would experience much worse symptoms than any of my friends and I was terrified to end up in a hospital with my parents being 14 hours away back home in New Hampshire.

In the news, you constantly hear about people being hospitalized and all of the negative effects Covid can have on one’s physical health, but no one really talks about the effects it can have on mental health. Before Covid, I could never imagine being trapped in my room for 10 days. No one really understands how much that can take a toll on someone. 

My University’s Response

My university was helpful when I tested positive, but they definitely didn’t seem to have my best interest at heart. I received a call from my school’s health department three days after I received my Covid result. They never asked me if I was okay before talking through the protocol with me. I never felt I got the support I needed from the school and had the sense that they were just trying to cover themselves instead of truly helping me in the way I needed them to. 

I don’t know if other universities around the country are also more concerned with their protocols than with the mental health of their students, but I think going forward, universities need to offer support programs to students who test positive and are in isolation.

Resources

If you are struggling with your mental health while being in quarantine with Covid, here is a list of resources from the CDC for support: 

To receive immediate help in a crisis:

To find a healthcare provider or treatment center for substance use disorders and mental health struggles:

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