I have COVID-19

[audreyh1]

I posted a while back on another thread that I'm pretty sure I had COVID-19 also, back in early March. But no testing was being done at that time at all, so I just stayed home and toughed it out. With regard to fever - I had a pretty high fever almost from the onset, and I thought it would be best to just let the fever run its course, as I know that fever is the body's way of responding to the virus. After 2 1/2 or 3 days of almost no sleep and constant fever day and night, however, I decided to take ibuprofen to try to take the edge off of it. At the time, I had not read anything about avoiding ibuprofen if you have COVID-19. Anyway, taking ibuprofen every 5 hours or so did take the edge off of the fever somewhat, at least allowing me to get a little bit of sleep at times. As I mentioned in my post, I had many of the other COVID-19 symptoms (chills, body ache, extreme fatigue loss of sense of taste), but I only had a very slight cough. It took about 6-7 days before I started feeling a bit better, and after a couple more days, I felt okay.

Of course I have no proof that I had COVID-19, as no test was available, and there is no reliable antibody test available yet either, to my knowledge. But I believe that I did have it.

Caninelover, I don't know if your experience getting through this will be anything like mine or not, but chances are very good you will get through it and be back to normal in a week or so.

That article said that ibuprofen was not a problem for Covid-19, but of course since I have Tylenol on hand I would take that.

 

[besa]

i think sleep/rest is very important. I don't sleep well or at all when I have fever/body aches.

I take a pain reliever just before bed, but suffer out the fever during the day.

I am not going to tempt fate and say I think I already had covid, but I have been more ill this year than any year of my life.

I had a lite, dry cough since mid Jan. I can control it generally around people, but when I am alone, I will let it go. It is productive. I have have had a couple of bouts of body aches as well.

My thing is I work out fairly hard and I generate body aches from that. Especially when I do leg work outs. The recovery from leg day almost feels like a low grade cold.

Thanks.

 

[Dalmore]

I hope you start feeling better soon.

As far at catching it from TJ's. I am curious, did you buy any fruit or produce, and if so, did you wash it thoroughly when you got home?

 

[pb4uski]

Be careful if shingles appears on your face......3 plus years later I'm still taking Prednisolone drops for where it infringed on my left cornea......it'll likely outlive me.

Thank you.... yes, I was lucky that it didn't spread to anywhere near my face or eyes...just the back of my ear and a couple small ones in the outer ear. My doc had warned me to monitor it and if they started heading in my ear or near my eye to go back in back in.

I since heard from a friend that it can also spread to inside your mouth... that would be real nasty.

 

[ckelly78z]

How will getting a positive COVID 19 test change your treatment from the standard flu ?

 

[Nemo2]

Thank you.... yes, I was lucky that it didn't spread to anywhere near my face or eyes...just the back of my ear and a couple small ones in the outer ear. My doc had warned me to monitor it and if they started heading in my ear or near my eye to go back in back in.

I since heard from a friend that it can also spread to inside your mouth... that would be real nasty.

I still have, (as well as the eye problem), a couple small scars on my forehead which will never go away.

Odd thing, when you hear about other people's awful experiences with shingles, I had zero pain. Then again, perhaps not so odd, I've always been a nonconformist misfit.

 

[caninelover]

Yes, we did wash produce that wasn't pre-packaged (we buy cut broccoli, for example, in a package. We also didn't wash bananas since they are peeled before eating) and wipe the outside of packages. Then wash hands our own hands thoroughly again (after washing when walking in the door) before doing anything else.

Thanks for the well wishes. Feeling ok.

I hope you start feeling better soon.

As far at catching it from TJ's. I am curious, did you buy any fruit or produce, and if so, did you wash it thoroughly when you got home?

 

[Sunset]

How will getting a positive COVID 19 test change your treatment from the standard flu ?

If I was in that situation a test showing positive for me would mean:

1. I'd look up which hospital to go to if/when breathing became difficult.
2. I'd start sucking on zinc cough drops in the remote chance it helps.
3. I'd update my Will/other papers & review bank logins as once really sick that won't be happening.
4. I'd buy one of those overpriced pulse oxygen meters with expedited shipping, so I can easily tell if need the hospital trip before I suffocate .
5. Should I recover, I'd be happy to go out without mask/gloves as I'd be immune.

If it was the flu, I'd stay in bed and rest and not bother with any of the above, as I've had the flu a bunch of times in life.

 

[caninelover]

Quarantine, Day 3: Feeling good. Fever was 99.1 this morning so holding pretty steady. No cough today (had a mild one yesterday morning) and breathing is normal. Achiness is mostly gone and no chills. Energy level is good, slept well last night after taking NyQuil before bed. That stuff always knocks me out.

I feel bad for my SO having to bring me meals and leave them by the door. Maybe I can go downstairs and make my own meals as long as he isn't in or near the kitchen?

I also miss spending time with him.

 

[sengsational]

Yes, we did wash produce that wasn't pre-packaged (we buy cut broccoli, for example, in a package. We also didn't wash bananas since they are peeled before eating) and wipe the outside of packages. Then wash hands our own hands thoroughly again (after washing when walking in the door) before doing anything else.

Thanks for those details. It's sounding most likely it was being inside the grocery store that was the problem (aerosols). Not impossible to have been a surface to hand to face, but I keep thinking back to that case in LA where the group of singers, all wary of the virus, but early in the spread, ended up having so many contaminations.

Thanks for the well wishes. Feeling ok.

Great news!

 

[caninelover]

Yes, I think it's that last point a test would help with. I wouldn't want to assume I have it and relax precautions, even unconsciously.

Not worried about the actual illness anymore as it is very mild so far. A flu is much worse. Even a cold is much worse honestly, at least so far.

If I was in that situation a test showing positive for me would mean:

1. I'd look up which hospital to go to if/when breathing became difficult.
2. I'd start sucking on zinc cough drops in the remote chance it helps.
3. I'd update my Will/other papers & review bank logins as once really sick that won't be happening.
4. I'd buy one of those overpriced pulse oxygen meters with expedited shipping, so I can easily tell if need the hospital trip before I suffocate .
5. Should I recover, I'd be happy to go out without mask/gloves as I'd be immune.

If it was the flu, I'd stay in bed and rest and not bother with any of the above, as I've had the flu a bunch of times in life.

 

[eytonxav]

Glad to hear you are feeling better and hope that continues. If it is Covid and you get over it quickly, you are probably lucky and won't have to live in fear of contracting in the future.

 

[harllee]

caninelover, so glad you are feeling better. But based on everything you told us about your lack of exposure I really don't think you have had Covid 19, I bet it was a sinus infection or something like that. If I were you I would try to get a Covid 19 test, that way you would know for sure if you had it or not.

 

[LOL!]

I feel bad for my SO having to bring me meals and leave them by the door. Maybe I can go downstairs and make my own meals as long as he isn't in or near the kitchen?

Uh, no.

If anyone gets sick in my household, they will be banned to their room which has an adjoining bathroom. They will get meals supplied in plastic ware that after use they will keep in their room. They will get plastic kitchen garbage sacks to put their used dishes and tissues in. Those plastic garbage sacks will pile up in their room until a couple weeks after they recover or die. Then those plastic garbage sacks will be put into other garbage sacks using aseptic technique the night before trash pick-up comes and tossed into our roll-out-to-curb bins.

 

[gwraigty]

Called my doctor who called me back on video call. Ran through my symptoms and it is suspected COVID-19. We know it is not flu as I had a flu shot, but then had the actual flu in January (tested positive via nasal swab for flu, and responded well on Tamiflu).

They will monitor me through the weekend but they advised against a test as they are still trying to save them for people with underlying conditions or first responders.

caninelover, I am not a doctor but I want to suggest that you could possibly have another disease.

+1

Coronavirus can't be confirmed through a phone call or video call.

I posted a while back on another thread that I'm pretty sure I had COVID-19 also, back in early March. But no testing was being done at that time at all, so I just stayed home and toughed it out.

<snip>

Of course I have no proof that I had COVID-19, as no test was available, and there is no reliable antibody test available yet either, to my knowledge. But I believe that I did have it.

+1

As I posted in another thread, I had symptoms that started Jan. 10th and continued through early March. Some of my symptoms included those that weren't publicly reported as potential symptoms until mid-March. Yet, unless I qualify for an antibody test to prove it one way or the other, I won't say that I definitively had it. Even if I told a doctor of my symptoms today and was told I probably had it, without a test, there's no way to know for sure.

OP, I'm glad you're feeling better. Given what I've said, unless you can get confirmation via a test, please continue to take precautions as though you could still get it. That's what I and the others in my household are doing. Please keep us posted on your condition and any test results you may eventually get.

Maybe the thread title is influencing the tone. Certain posters are assuming OP got the virus from grocery shopping, when it's not confirmed that OP even has it.

 

[gwraigty]

Uh, no.

If anyone gets sick in my household, they will be banned to their room which has an adjoining bathroom. They will get meals supplied in plastic ware that after use they will keep in their room. They will get plastic kitchen garbage sacks to put their used dishes and tissues in. Those plastic garbage sacks will pile up in their room until a couple weeks after they recover or die. Then those plastic garbage sacks will be put into other garbage sacks using aseptic technique the night before trash pick-up comes and tossed into our roll-out-to-curb bins.

How will you know if they need an ambulance if they take a turn for the worse?

 

[LOL!]

How will you know if they need an ambulance if they take a turn for the worse?

They will text me from their room or fail to respond to my texts.

 

[eytonxav]

How will you know if they need an ambulance if they take a turn for the worse?

Get a pulse/OX meter and if it drops below 92% and you are feeling flu like symptoms and fever, it is probably time to go.

Edited % after Aerides pointed out my mistake, yet another senior moment. I think my mind is starting to go.

 

[Aerides]

Get a pulse/OX meter and if it drops below 82% and you are feeling flu like symptoms and fever, it is probably time to go.

I think you meant 92%. Either way, talk to your doctor about the right percentage and when your symptoms might need more care than you can provide at home.

 

[ER Eddie]

Not worried about the actual illness anymore as it is very mild so far. A flu is much worse. Even a cold is much worse honestly, at least so far.

Oh, that's good to hear.

Glad you're on the mend.

 

[statsman]

Maybe the thread title is influencing the tone. Certain posters are assuming OP got the virus from grocery shopping, when it's not confirmed that OP even has it.

It would be pretty consistent with how many states and medical communities are assigning some of the deaths to be because of COVID-19 when in fact it might not have been the main cause of death at all. Add in the discussions about how the COVID-19 tests produce a good number of false negatives and false positives, and I wonder if we'll ever get an accurate measure of COVID-19 on the fatalities here and overseas.

 

[caninelover]

Quarantine, Day 4: Adventures in Testing.

I woke up after another solid night of NyQuil-induced sleep. No fever or other symptoms except a minor cough. I headed out to the drive-thru testing center when it opened at 9 am. I did think about calling first but since the place was close (15 minute drive) and I felt up to it, I opted just to drive there. I also thought they would have a harder time saying no in person.

The testing center was in a parking lot outside of a large urgent care facility.
There were 3 cars ahead of me when I arrived. The first car was a minivan and they seemed to test (or so it appeared from a distance) all in the minivan (3 or 4? couldn't tell exactly). The next 2 cars were single-passenger cars (like myself) and they tested one, and seemed to send the other away without a test. Then it was my turn.

I pulled up and there were 2 health care workers in full PPE. I had a bandana over my nose and mouth (don't have a mask). I rolled down my window as instructed and explained my symptoms and when they started. They took my temperature with a hand-held forehead device, and took my oxygen saturation level with one of those devices you stick a finger into. Both were normal, and they told me that unfortunately with no underlying conditions or not being part of a special population (i.e. over 65) I don't currently qualify for a test.

They did say that next week the county might open up testing to anyone, but by then I feel like I'll be over this completely (unless I take an unfortunate turn for the worse). So, I was sent home with instructions to continue my quarantine.

So, that settles that - no test for me.

Still, it would be nice to know once and for all. I don't hold out much hope that antibody testing will be any better than the actual virus testing, meaning it will be in short supply and not widely available despite what the various talking heads say on the news.

At least I am still feeling good, and that is the most important thing.

 

[Ronstar]

...At least I am still feeling good, and that is the most important thing.

Yes it is!

 

[sengsational]

Thanks for the report on your test (or 'no test') experience.

 

[pacergal]

thank you for the update on testing availability .
glad you are feeling good.