@Mountaindewed - I've been sheltering/isolating in my apartment for literally 7 days, so I'm not sure that it could be Covid, but who knows - maybe the omicron does mildly affect us through fomite (surface) transmission, or perhaps there is shared air coming through my vents, including my central heating unit. I do feel a little safer knowing that more and more people are getting mild infections. So far, my niece and her husband who have Covid (the kind that took away their smell and taste though) are fully vaccinated and having only mild effects (they aren't yet eligible for their booster, and now they have to wait longer since they got a breakthrough case). My nephew, who is on leave from the Army, is staying with them temporarily. He tested negative for Covid, even though he is not yet boosted and is staying with two Covid-positive family members (his sister and brother-in-law). It seems like the vaccines work on preventing illness, too. He gets tested again when he returns to base, and before he flies. I think he's safe. The son of my niece and her husband is too young to get vaccinated, and he, too, tested negative. Their tests were at a doctor's office, so not the rapid tests (which are now impossible to find). I'm glad they are safe and doing well. They've been sick for 7 days though.

The last time I saw anyone was outside and social distanced. I saw about 4 people to give them gifts, and I always met them outside. We are all fully boosted and vaccinated, fully masked, and socially distanced while outside only. That occurred about a little over a week ago. I never had any symptoms, but I still self-quarantined for 7 days from that point. The only symptom I had was the migraines and light sensitivity. There is fluorescent lighting in my apartment, so I wasn't using the lamps that I normally would because I'm doing deep/spring cleaning very late this year, LOL. I cleaned the walls with Scentivia on my Swiffer, and I dusted a lot. I didn't wear a mask while I was doing all this cleaning with chemicals and dusting. There could be some 'Rona virus on there, but perhaps deactivated or weak. I tried to clean and disinfect as many things as I could after the inspections I had on Dec. 1. I also unpacked over 40 boxes between 2 days ago and this morning, so perhaps my migraines are coming from a bunch of things. But who knows. I am just grateful for being alive and relatively healthy, even though my health remains poor.

@Mountaindewed and @Yzen and @RoxanneToto - Thank you all for your replies, and I'm sorry you guys struggle with those things, too!

I struggled with those things before this pandemic, so it's hard to tell what could be symptoms of Covid and what could be symptoms of something that's just within me.

I've been quarantining/isolating/shielding/sheltering/or whatever it is called these days (I'm so confused) for almost 2 years (since March 2020). I only go out at odd hours (middle of the night or early early morning) to check mail, get packages from the enclosed package room, dump trash outside, dump recycling outside, and get door deliveries (nonperishables), and I always wear a double-mask when I do so (sometimes just KN95's, other times N95s if on a "bar night" like Thursdays, Fridays, or over the weekend). I will sometimes go out during the daytime to go walking outside or to walk to and from my appointment at the VA, which is about 1.25 miles away (2.5 miles round trip), which gives me exercise and also shields me from any pathogens on public transportation. I wear N95's or N99's while out - I'll double-mask my N95 with a KN95 on top, but I think I'm okay with just a singular N99 (there's a rubber seal inside that really keeps my breath in). I think I'm safe and others are safe around me, too. I only dump trash and all that about 2 times per week. The rest of the weeks, I'm on lockdown.

I've been doing this for almost two years. Initially, I felt like the walls were closing in on me, and that I was trapped and doomed forever - like on house arrest or something. I felt punished.

But then I got used to this life. And now I know that there's freedom to go out when I want to, and that the vaccines and booster are working well enough, though I still go overboard with precautions, cleaning, and distancing. Each of my Winnix air purifiers covers 350 square feet, but I have 7 in my 700 sq ft apartment so that they clean the air more per hour. So far, that works for me. My electricity is only slightly higher, and I clean the washable filters (not the HEPA) every month or more frequently. I will replace the filters every 3 to 4 months, since they get pretty dusty and filled during wildfire season with that gook. I cleaned so much of that wildfire gook off my walls! I can't believe I was breathing that in, though I tend to wear masks in my apartment on really bad wildfire days.

Thankfully, the air is clean now, so this is when I do most of my cleaning.

I think my eye sensitivity is connected because I get migraines with the eye sensitivity. At that point, I can't even stand the computer light. I'm trying to find the settings to dim the computer light. I found it on my cell phone, but it gets brighter again during the day. I wish I could keep it dim 24/7, LOL.