WALLINGFORD, Conn. (WTNH)– A Wallingford mom is now recovering after she says she’s been following social distancing for weeks and has no idea where she caught COVID-19.

Doctors say her recovery is all due to a controversial drug.

“I’ve never gotten so sick so quickly,” said Caitlin Houston, Wallingford.

Wallingford Blogger Caitlin Houston is used to sharing her story online. That didn’t stop when the 34-year-old became gravely ill from COVID-19.

“I told my husband when I went to bed at night, I thought I wasn’t going to wake up some nights,” said Houston.

She’s been living a 17-day nightmare. It started with a sore throat and fatigue.

“Everything hurt from my fingertips to my toes,” said Houston.

At first, her doctor thought it was the flu and put her on Tamiflu and Amoxicillin.

“It almost felt like something sitting on my chest,” said Houston.

But it wasn’t until she lost her sense of smell and struggled to breathe that she was tested for coronavirus. Then her prescriptions were updated. She was given an antibiotic Z-Pack, followed by Plaquenil, a drug recently approved to treat COVID-19 patients.

“My energy level has picked up, definitely. I’m not in bed each day, everyday,” said Houston.

Finally, some reprieve. Doctors say Houston’s lungs are looking good and Plaquenil is to thank.

Although the drug is stirring up some controversy, causing shortages for patients with immune disorders like Lupus who’ve relied on it for years.

“There is this guilt where I’m taking this and I know that I’m taking it from someone else,” said Houston. “At the same time, the doctor told me yesterday this is the only thing that could be saving me.”