If Covid dragged on forever, that means you had
long covid, and that means you could have had
long-term consequences. I'm glad it appears you didn't, but we've all had the flu and I don't get where it is excruciatingly painful. It's not at all painful. Yeah, you're tired and might have a headache (or not) and you're pretty sick for a few days, but unless you have some severe underlying conditions it's, well, just the flu for most of us.