“I have studied the human body as a health coach for 27 years and practiced functional medicine for the last 7, with an emphasis on immune function and disease prevention. I have been preparing for this virus since February and I’m glad I did because everything I did worked perfectly.”

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Johnnie Jackow is a very fit 55 year old health coach who reached out to share how his Oura Ring helped him track his illness and recovery during his battle with COVID-19.

“I contracted the virus after a visit to the dermatologist on June 12th and started showing symptoms mid-day on June 17th. This is the day I took notice because my Oura Ring showed my Readiness was low and told me to take it easy for the day because my body was under strain.”

Having noticed a dip in his usually optimal Readiness Score, Johnnie was on high-alert, so when his first symptoms started to appear later that day, he noticed them instantly and grabbed a thermometer and pulse oximeter to confirm.

“Normally my HR is 58-63 bpm at rest sitting behind my computer, but it increased to 85-110 bpm and would further jump to 120-130 bpm by simply walking to the restroom when I checked with a pulse oximeter. Within hours, I had a low grade fever of 99.1. My wife never contracted the virus thanks to the Oura Ring and me being so in tune with my body that once I got notice that my Readiness was low I immediately went into isolation. Not only that, but my daughter and two granddaughters came over to the house that day and I sent them home just to be safe…My instincts turned out to be right.”

In the hopes that others might be able to catch COVID-19 patterns early and self-isolate, Johnnie shares a detailed breakdown of his symptoms.

“I am very fit for my age with a 30” waist and muscular build with low body fat and no underlying health issues but I was definitely scared because I didn’t know how my body would react to the virus as it affects people so differently. Here’s my story.”

Johnnie’s Symptom Journey

Below is a timeline of Johnnie’s symptoms and his subsequent Oura data.

February 2020

“I have been preparing for this virus since February…I implemented an infrared sauna, infrared light by JOOVV, and started to take higher doses of certain supplements that improve immune function and are anti-inflammatory. To my surprise, none of those things I did kept me from contracting the virus. However, I do believe what I did combined with leading a healthy lifestyle helped me to recover and not get severe symptoms.”

June 17th 

“I got notice that my Readiness was low and I immediately went into isolation.”

Johnnie’s Readiness dips on June 17th [Week 25] and declines steeply the following week [Week 26] with several weeks of recovery [Week 27-29].

June 18th

“I went to the ER because of severe back and leg pain, rapid heart rate, and low grade fever. They checked my heart and all was normal except for the tachycardia and they tested for COVID and the test came back negative.

The fever persisted so I went to my local urgent care clinic where they did another COVID test, chest x-ray, and EKG. Chest x-ray was clear and EKG was normal. At that time I did two different COVID tests. One was the rapid 15 minute test and another one that is more accurate (PCR), but takes 3-5 days to get results. Both of those tests came back positive.”

June 19th

“My symptoms were a low grade fever that never spiked above 101, mild chest tightness and mild cough, and rapid heart rate. My blood pressure remained normal throughout the fight and I’m sure glad I have no cardiovascular issues because I cannot see how anyone with cardiovascular issues could handle such stress on the cardiovascular system that this virus causes…”

Johnnie’s Respiratory rate spikes on the 19th [during Week 25] and continues to climb over the next few weeks [Week 26-27] before slowly declining.

June 20th

“I lost my sense of smell and taste – my fever persisted between 99.1 and 100.8.”

June 24th

“I noticed that I started to get my sense of taste back after my wife went out to get me a spicy beef and brown rice bowl from Chipotle.” Johnnie’s senses rebound but he hits his lowest Readiness yet.

June 29th

“On the morning of day 13 my temperature finally returned to 97.7.”

Johnnie’s temperature peaks for several days [up to June 25] before declining [June 25-28] and returning to his baseline [June 29]. His heart rate is elevated alongside his temperature [Week 26] and takes several weeks for return to normal as he recovers [Week 27+].

July 17th

“I have been 100% symptom-free for the last 18 days and I’m closely monitoring how my body recovers. Although my HR was higher than normal as well as my respiratory rate, so the Oura Ring proved to be an invaluable tool to help me gauge my recovery because I would have gone on about my business not realizing that my body was still recovering. As you can see by the screenshots it took longer than I would have ever imagined for me to get back to my pre-virus readiness levels. Almost 2 weeks to fully recover after my last day of symptoms.”

Tips From Johnnie

Having gone through this month-long recovery and illness journey, Johnnie leaves us with a few techniques that worked for him so that others can learn from his experience:

  • Use Breathwork To Support Your Lungs: “I remained stable the entire time I had the virus and the virus never did get to my lungs causing any severe symptoms. My O2 saturation remained at 98% the entire time, although I did have a mild dry cough and a mild tightness in my chest when taking a deep breath. I did deep breathing exercises every 2 hours that I was awake and repeated the exercises when I woke up at night.”
  • Give Your Body The Fuel It Needs: “My metabolic rate was very high while my body was fighting the virus and I did lose 9 pounds in 12 days. Regarding diet – I ate a lot of greens. I noticed if I ate meat of any kind that my fever would spike. I’m thinking that the meat I was eating was causing more oxidative stress which in turn caused the spike in fever. I did the calculations and I would have had to eat an additional 2500 calories per day just to maintain my weight due to the fact my metabolic rate was so high fighting the virus. I was very hot all the time and never really got chills. My body was definitely in overdrive and I could see how someone in bad health could succumb to this virus.”
  • Get Sunlight Or Supplement: “I was getting a lot of sunlight weeks prior to contracting the virus and my vitamin D levels in early June were at 44ng/mL. I am still working to improve my D levels to upwards of 65-80ng/mL or so since studies show that people with lower D levels have more severe symptoms and if they are below 10ng/mL they are finding a lot of those people are succumbing to the virus.”
  • Try Infrared Light Therapy: “At 55 years of age I will say I handled the virus very well, but I had also been using an infrared sauna daily for about 3 months, a JOOVV infrared light for about 3 months. The infrared sauna improves heat shock protein activation in immune cells and is very beneficial. Also, infrared light by JOOVV helps kill off any pathogens, helps immune response, and hormone function. I used these devices before I contracted the virus and stopped use during the course of the virus.”

Please note: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein belong solely to the author, and not necessarily those of the author s employer, organization, or medical program. Nothing in this article should be construed as medical advice.

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