Covid and the Mouth Tape
I recently experienced having covid. In rapid fashion, I turned into a mucus factory, had a throat so sore that I was spitting in the sink to avoid swallowing, ran a fever, had vomiting, diarrhea, intense headaches, chills, lengthy coughing spasms and needed to blow my nose constantly.
As my symptoms worsened, especially in relation to my throat, I became concerned about protecting my airway. My throat was swollen, swallowing was incredibly painful and I did not want to make it any worse. I realized that one of the best ways I could support myself was to maintain my nasal breathing. That was a big ask when I was in the depths of emulating a mucus factory. And yet, that is what I did.
I have seen how mouth breathing is harmful and I have worked diligently over the last few years to become a consistent nasal breather. I know, from my experience, that nasal breathing is better for my immune system and I was willing to do whatever it took to maintain nasal breathing as a way to help myself through the covid.
For days, I relied on endlessly blowing my nose to keep my nasal passages open. That was a near constant endeavor. I had to be committed and have tissues ready 100% of the time. I had boxes stationed in every room of the house and one parked next to me in bed. I blew through a couple of boxes a day. No joke. The constant blowing allowed me to keep breathing through my nose.
Early on, I realized that lying down horizontally worsened everything, so I committed to sleeping in a more upright position. I initially experimented with different heights to determine that I could sleep at a 45 degree angle for a few hours and then would need a more upright position of about 70 degrees. So, I started in bed at the 45 degree angle and then migrated to the couch to the more upright angle. Sleep is vital to recovery and good health, so I maintained vigilance in caring for my sleep. Though I was not experiencing my most restful sleep with all the nose blowing and trips to spit in the sink, I did manage to get periods of comfortable sleep where I limited my coughing and nasal congestion by sleeping in the more upright positions.
Each night I taped my mouth shut to ensure I was nasal breathing, even when I was constantly blowing my nose or getting up to go spit in the sink. I would just re-tape my mouth and get back to sleep as best I could. I have learned that even after years of mouth taping, I still have a propensity to breathe through my mouth, so I tape every night. I decided that having covid was not going to deter me from taping. Every night, I taped, and I blew, blew, blew my nose.
The whole experience required that I be really patient with myself and allow myself to do the best I could. Recognizing that I could do things to maintain my nasal breathing and better support my immune system allowed me to feel like I was not totally helpless. My whole experience with covid highlighted the importance of airway health and nasal breathing to my overall well being. Once again, my desire to stay ahead of my breath served me well.
