A word of advice. Alyssa Milano urged her fans to take the coronavirus seriously after revealing that she recently tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies despite testing negative for the illness in March.
The Charmed alum, 47, shared a photo of herself hooked up to a ventilator via Instagram on Wednesday, August 5, along with a screenshot of her test results.
“This was me on April 2nd after being sick for 2 weeks,” Milano wrote. “I had never been this kind of sick. 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.”
The New York native said that in March she was tested for coronavirus twice and also took a COVID-19 antibodies finger prick test, but all her results came back negative. Milano explained that she felt lingering symptoms such as heart palpitations, shortness of breath and vertigo over the next four months.
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This was me on April 2nd after being sick for 2 weeks. I had never been this kind of sick. 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. At the very end of march I took two covid19 tests and both were negative. I also took a covid antibody test (the finger prick test) after I was feeling a bit better. NEGATIVE. 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. I am POSITIVE for covid antibodies. I had Covid19. I just want you to be aware that our testing system is flawed and we don’t know the real numbers. 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. I love you all (well, maybe not the trolls. Just the kind people.)❤️
The Who’s the Boss alum — who is reuniting with Tony Danza in the upcoming revival series — recently decided to take another antibodies test from a blood draw and her results came back positive.
“I just want you to be aware that our testing system is flawed and we don’t know the real numbers,” Milano concluded. “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.”
Reese Witherspoon supported Milano with an encouraging message writing, “Oh babe. I’m sorry you were so sick but thank you for helping educate us. We need to learn more.”
Milano isn’t the only celebrity coming forward with her diagnosis in an effort to encourage people to take the pandemic seriously. Lena Dunham shared on Friday, July 31, that she tested positive for COVID-19 in March.
“The nerves in my feet burned and muscles wouldn’t seem to do their job,” the Girls alum, 34, wrote via Instagram. “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.”
Dunham added, “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.”
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