Alyssa Milano Details Her Months-Long Battle With COVID
Alyssa Milano says she tested positive for COVID antibodies after feeling like she was ‘dying’
Actress Alyssa Milano is going public with her frustrating, months-long battle with what she now believes was COVID-19. After feeling extremely ill and presenting with multiple symptoms of the virus, she received negative test results from two separate tests. After testing positive for COVID antibodies recently, Milano decided to open up about her experience with the disease.
In an Instagram post, she shared a photo of herself from April, taken shortly after becoming really sick with coronavirus symptoms. “This was me on April 2nd after being sick for 2 weeks. I had never been this kind of sick,” she writes. “Everything hurt. Loss of smell. It felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t keep food in me. I lost 9 pounds in 2 weeks. I was confused. Low grade fever. And the headaches were horrible. I basically had every Covid symptom.”
She says that at the end of March, she took two separate COVID-19 tests — both of which came back negative. After she began recovering, she took the antibody “finger prick” test to see if it determined she did actually have the virus. That test was also negative. Her symptoms didn’t stop, however.
“After living the last 4 months with lingering symptoms like, vertigo, stomach abnormalities, irregular periods, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, zero short term memory, and general malaise, I went and got an antibody test from a blood draw (not the finger prick) from a lab,” she continues. “I am POSITIVE for covid antibodies.”
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Because coronavirus antibodies might dissipate before reliable antibody tests are developed, patients might not receive formal confirmation of their COVID-19 experience, according to USA Today.
She says she wanted to be candid about her experience because it’s important people know the testing system is “flawed,” and that real numbers are so difficult to accurately report because of that. Milano, like Pink and Tom Hanks, is using her platform to inform the public about how very real, and very serious this disease is.
“I also want you to know, this illness is not a hoax. I thought I was dying. It felt like I was dying. I will be donating my plasma with hopes that I might save a life. Please take care of yourselves. Please wash your hands and wear a mask and social distance. I don’t want anyone to feel the way I felt. Be well.”
