Claire Byrne has opened up about her road to recovery after being diagnosed with Coronavirus earlier this year, revealing it’s been very tough.
The presenter tested positive for Covid19 in March, but still isn’t completely back to her usual self.
Claire admits she’s constantly feeling run down, as she’s regularly catching colds.
Speaking to Maura Derrane and Daithi O’Se on The Today Show, she said, “I was as sick as a frog. You just have all sorts of respiratory issues.
“What I found afterwards was that it was really hard to recover from it.”
“Since I had it, which was back in March, I have picked up every cold going, every stomach bug going so I felt a bit depleted.
“Normally I would be a tough as boots and I wouldn’t usually get that sick but what I have found since is that I have been a bit vulnerable to being sick.”
She added, “My own personal experience is that I have all of these things going on since then that I wouldn’t have had before.
“I suppose what I would say to people is that if you’ve had this or you know someone who has had this, they’re probably going to be unwell for a good few weeks after the infectious period is over.”
Claire spoke openly about her experience from the moment she was diagnosed with Coronavirus, explaining the testing process and all the symptoms that came with the illness.
On her own show, Claire Byrne Live, she said, “I was asked a couple of questions, then I had a couple of swabs taken; one inside my throat and one in the nasal passage. Then that was it – I was free to go.
“When I was leaving the test centre, I felt really comforted because the nurses in there were so professional, so calm and they took me through the process with a smile and they were very warm.”
Claire’s symptoms began to worsen very quickly after that, as the Coronavirus took its toll on her body.
“The cough became much more ingrained,” she began. “It was very hard to deal with it and then I had the aching limbs, tiredness – a real fatigue.”
She continued, “The worst moment for me was for three successive nights, I was in bed with that hacking cough and I began to notice that I was becoming breathless. I started to worry about that.
“I was definitely getting to the point where I was struggling for breath. It didn’t get so severe that I felt I needed to call an ambulance or even close, but I know for some people that would be very distressing.”
For Claire, one of her biggest worries was who she had been in contact with – and who she may have unknowingly passed it on to.
“I went into guilt mode. Obviously I had been self-isolating for quite some time and following all the guidelines, but there’s always that thought at the back of your mind,” she said.
“I sat down and started to make my contact list and it’s really important to do this.”