Lena Dunham describes secret coronavirus battle in horrifying detail
The Girls star, 34, has opened up about the 21 days she suffered with coronavirus, and said that she still has lingering symptoms
Lena Dunham secretly suffered with coronavirus for 21 days, and still has lasting symptoms.
The Girls star, 34, took to social media to reveal that she was diagnosed with COVID-19 back in March.
In a lengthy Instagram statement, she explained that she had been reluctant to share the news with her followers as she talked through her symptoms in horrifying detail.
Sharing a picture of herself wearing a face mask, she wrote: “I’ve been reluctant to share this, having written and rewritten it anxiously. I don’t want to unnecessarily add my voice to a noise landscape on such a challenging topic, as an unfathomable number of people have lost their lives to COVID-19 – a phrase we didn’t even know in January.
“But seeing the carelessness with which so many in the United States are treating social distancing, people jogging without masks and parties on Instagram, I feel compelled to be honest about the impact this illness has had on me, in the hopes that personal stories allow us to see the humanity in what can feel like abstract situations.”
She went on: “The fact is, the Coronavirus kills people. We know that. But it will also alter the bodies and lived experiences of so many who are infected, in ways they could never have predicted.
“In some odd sense, I feel blessed to have entered this experience as a ‘sick’ person; otherwise I don’t know how I would have tolerated crossing that threshold from well to unwell. Lots of people are doing it gracefully right now. But worse than that, they’re doing it alone.”
Lena went on to explain how her symptoms began and the toll they’ve taken on her.
She wrote: “I got sick with COVID-19 in mid-March. It started with achy joints, which I was unable to distinguish from my usual diagnoses, so I didn’t freak out. But the pain was soon joined by an impossible, crushing fatigue.
“Then, a fever of 102. Suddenly my body simply… revolted. The nerves in my feet burned and muscles wouldn’t seem to do their job. My hands were numb. I couldn’t tolerate loud noises. I couldn’t sleep but I couldn’t wake up.
“I lost my sense of taste and smell. A hacking cough, like a metronome keeping time. Inability to breathe after simple tasks like getting a glass of water. Random red rashes. A pounding headache right between my eyes. “It felt like I was a complex machine that had been unplugged and then had my wires rerouted into the wrong inputs.
“This went on for 21 days, days that blended into each other like a rave gone wrong. I was lucky enough to have a doctor who could offer me regular guidance on how to care for myself and I never had to be hospitalized.
“This kind of hands-on attention is a privilege that is far too unusual in our broken healthcare system. I self-isolated with my pulse oximeter, monitoring my level (mostly because my mom constantly texted: ‘oxygen level???’)
“After a month, I tested negative for COVID-19 and was able to spend time around my isolation pod again. I couldn’t believe how intense the loneliness had been, in addition to the illness.”
Despite Lena testing negative for the virus, she said her battle was far from over as her symptoms remained.
She added: “But my symptoms weren’t gone – I had swollen hands and feet, an unceasing migraine and fatigue that limited my every move. Even as a chronically ill person, I had never felt this way.
“The doctor determined I was suffering from clinical adrenal insufficiency – my pituitary gland had almost entirely ceased to function – as well as ‘status migrainosis’ (in human terms, a migraine that won’t stop.)
“My arthritis flared and required an immune-modulator drug that is hard on my body. And there are weirder symptoms that I’ll keep to myself.
“To be clear, I did NOT have these particular issues before I got sick with this virus and doctors don’t yet know enough about COVID-19 to be able to tell me why exactly my body responded this way or what my recovery will look like.”
The actress continued: “I know I am lucky; I have amazing friends and family, exceptional healthcare and a flexible job where I can ask for the support I need to perform. (One of my biggest goals in life is to show the film industry that you don’t need to be perfectly able-bodied to be a mogul! Who’s with me?)
“BUT not everybody has such luck, and I am posting this because of those people. I wish I could hug them all.
“The serious long-term health consequences of a COVID-19 infection are something doctors are learning more about every hour. We have never moved this fast in medicine – we’ve never had to – and experts are doing some incredible work with containment and prevention.
“But we don’t yet understand the long term impact of this illness on people’s bodies and minds.”
Lena ended her statement: “So – hey, you, in the hat that says FREE MUSTACHE RIDES – put down your cigarette and listen to me! This isn’t like passing the flu to your coworker – ‘Sorry, Brenda! Lunch is on me next time!’
“This is the biggest deal in our country, and in the world right now. When you take the appropriate measures to protect yourself and your neighbours, you save them a world of pain. You save them a journey that nobody deserves to take, with a million outcomes we don’t yet understand, and a million people with varying resources and varying levels of support who are not ready for this tidal wave to take them.
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