Dh has a fever and a cough and we are afraid of coronavirus - need to talk

[Flyingfish2019]

Hello,
Just need to talk. Dh has combat ptsd and has been very afraid of the coronavirus ever since this started.
None of us has left the house much and dh works from home and only left the house after nightfall to go jogging (alone) because he was afraid of meeting other people.

Now dh has a fever and a cough. The rest of us are okay. Dh is self isolating now and very afraid and to be honest I feel a bit afraid too.

He doesn’t want to see a gp because he is afraid of catching the coronavirus if he doesn’t already have it.

He has a fever and a cough but NO loss of smell or taste.

@Bluntness100 It's quite scary how people are so unaware of the science.

It is an airborne virus. If someone sneezes it airborne because the droplets travel in the air.

There is research showing that if you pass a runner or cyclist who is breathing out heavily (obviously, that is what they do) the virus can be held in the air or blown in your direction.

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/06/coronavirus-and-airborne-transmission-scientists-warn-australia-to-be-on-guard

It's quite irresponsible to say that this man does not have Covid when he has 2 out of 3 of the classic symptoms. The advice is anyone with these must have a test.

Not up to us to play detective and work out how he might have caught it or say he can't have it.

He has a fever and a cough.

That's enough to be tested.

Just think of the common instances of coughs and fever before Covid. They're all still around. So it very well might not be, but he should take a test, definitely.

He probably doesn’t have it but YOU ALL need to self isolate either for 14 days or until you have a negative test. You can probably get one organised today.

OP why don't you book a test for yourself as well? Then if it's positive you'll know there's a chance it could be. Chances are more likely that it's another random virus or bacterial infection, if your DH could rule COVID out wouldn't he feel better about that? If it was our household, I'd just order tests to be delivered and hope he would do the test if you did.

My DH ordered a test this way as he'd had symptoms and wanted to know for certain. It was negative.

I do feel for you, this all sounds very draining.

@TimeWastingButFun
Just think of the common instances of coughs and fever before Covid

Errrrr....so if he's not been anywhere how would he catch something?

You don't catch a cough. You catch a virus which may turn into a cough.

@Flyingfish2019 A lot of the negative results are down to people doing the test themselves. It's hard to get enough of the virus doing it yourself as the swab has to go right to the back of the nose and throat which many people don't do as it's slightly uncomfortable.

Our neighbourhood watch organisation is sending a list of test centres every week. There will be one near you.
You book it online through gov. uk

Get yourself along and hopefully your DH will too.
Meanwhile you ALL have to self isolate for 14 days now anyway- no jogging, kids not playing out....the whole works.

If you have a proper test done and you are all negative, you can resume what you were doing.

Just think of the common instances of coughs and fever before Covid. They're all still around. So it very well might not be, but he should take a test, definitely.

True enough. But it isn't cold and flu season, they're not around much this time of year. So these symptoms are actually more likely to be COVID now than if we were in February or March. And a cough and temperature are classic symptoms however you look at it.

He has the symptoms so he needs to have the test. That's all there really is to it. But until he has the result they all have to self-isolate.

Please arrange a test.
It is quick and simple.
My OH developed a cough this weekend. He phoned NHS and was sent to a Covid testing station within 2 hours.
It was a drive through, no uncomfortable swabs ( he had to do it himself).
The results were texted 7 hours later ( negative thankfully)

In our area anyone can go online, put in symptoms and get a reference to quote to have a drive through test. Hope you're all ok and I'm sure you will be. X

www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/testing-and-tracing/ask-for-a-test-to-check-if-you-have-coronavirus/

He can order a home test kit, so wouldn't have to go anywhere and can do it in the safety of his own home.

About the hypertension, is it possible for you to buy a blood pressure machine to use at home ? Get him to take and make a note of his blood pressure a few times a day , say morning , midday and evening over the course of several days. I do wonder about white coat syndrome given his fear of all things medical, sometimes peoples readings are much better when taken at home. If you are not able to buy your own machine some GP practices will allow you to borrow one. Doing this will give a better picture of his blood pressure overall, and he could then ring the GP and let them know the readings.

Good luck OP , I too have a DH who will do anything to avoid going to see a Doctor, its hard work isn't it !

We don't need to speculate anymore about whether or not a poster has COVID. They just need to have a test.

So dh had a test. His fever is gone btw. A bit scary.

Thats good news, sounds like he is on the mend

I hope so and hope it is a sign it is not the coronavirus.

He used to talk about having ptsd with other men who had it too but now feels like this is a symptom he cannot talk about with them because they have very different opinions about the coronavirus. They basically believe it is just a hype and he is afraid they say he is a coward and bought into a hype when he discusses with them how he is feeling afraid of it.

If he’s on the mend (which it sounds like he is), does it matter if it was coronavirus or another virus?

@Drivingdownthe101 of course it matters - if (as seems most likely) it’s a different virus, the entire family won’t be isolating

I thought OP said they were isolating anyway?

Ah sorry I see further down that she said they were seeing people.

Well if it's not Covid-19 you'll soon know.

A family member with Covid-19 wanted to avoid hospital if at all possible (long time spent there as a child) and was sent oxygen and an oximeter to use at home, so it's worth having a conversation with the GP if necessary.

I'm glad your DH is feeling a bit brighter.

Glad he’s feeling better. Remember OP that all of you must truly isolate until you have the results (including no evening jogs).

Any possibility of your DH getting some
1:1 therapy? Especially as his other PTSD groups don’t seem to be of much help at the moment.

He did CBT for ptsd and it helped him but currently he is not seeing anybody and he feels like he is the only one feeling like this and that he is being a disgrace to his family, his country, the human race, whatever. He hates feeling like this and thinks it is unbecoming a man.... so he is really reluctantly talk about this.

I think if he has coronavirus it’s important he gets some support. He is currently very stressed... but I think it’s likely he doesn’t have it.

I think he needs support whether it is coronavirus or not. Otherwise he’ll have this reaction every time he gets any symptoms that he thinks could be cv.

Has he been on touch with military ptsd support like:

www.combatstress.org.uk/

ptsdresolution.org/

walkingwiththewounded.org.uk/Home/News/234

Has he read Jason Fox’s book on his ptsd? www.amazon.co.uk/Battle-Scars-Story-That-Follows-ebook/dp/B07G7MC8C7?tag=mumsnetforu03-21