Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Covid

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Worried About Coronavirus- thread 38

991 replies

TheStarryNight · 18/04/2020 13:57

New thread

OP posts:
Thread gallery
51
HeIenaDove · 03/05/2020 16:06

Perhaps all people in that category should shield right now My overweight friend who cleans in our local hospital included. And the others who are overweight who work in the NHS, for supermarkets and in care homes.

Does anyone know if they can get furlough.

Perhaps they should just walk out and say that due to the concern about their weight re. Covid 19 its best that they #StayHomeSaveLives.

pocketem · 03/05/2020 16:13

Or maybe try to lose weight?

Saucery · 03/05/2020 16:19

That’s not going to happen quickly, is it?

Yes, it appears to be a risk factor. Yes, that sucks if you are in that category. Maybe it might spur some people on to address a risk to their health starting from now or in the future. Or then again, it might not.

What is not helpful is the almost gleeful Othering of overweight people on here in the last few days. Fucking pathetic and cruel, when there are other risk factors. Haven’t seen that many threads crowing that old people, BAME people etc are more at risk than the average slim, white, young MNer. Give it time though, this place is downright fucking unpleasant right now.

HeIenaDove · 03/05/2020 16:21

So they should take a few weeks /months to lose weight so they dont have to shield. Confused

Saucery · 03/05/2020 16:22

And if it is such a risk factor then yeah, let’s see anyone with a BMI of over 35 or whatever refuse to accept the increased risk. Give the Fat Shaming wankers something to really whine about when they can’t get their shopping done, their dc educated, their GP appointment, their meds from the pharmacy, their office cleaned, their accounts done etc etc et-fucking-cetera.

HeIenaDove · 03/05/2020 16:26

@pocketem i got gallstones due to fast rapid weight loss. I know a lot of people who work in healthcare despise overweight people Even post weight loss. And you have proved that right too.

So what if they lose weight really quickly and then develop gallstones as a result. They would be in excrutiating pain and OFF WORK.

Plus they woudnt get a gall bladder removal now. Because its not Covid

HeIenaDove · 03/05/2020 16:34

heres an old post of mine from a couple of years ago...

HelenaDove Mon 22-Oct-18 19:49:58
I lost 10 stone 16 years ago.. I got gallstones and it got so bad i couldnt eat SOLID food. i went through months and months of excrutiating pain and A + E admissios. In and out of A + E for TEN MONTHS. then doctors coming to my home to give me morphine injections whenever i had an attack . Finally a doctor prescribed me morphine pills which melted under the tongue that i took every time i had an attack. First attack was 3 July 2002 Scan was on 19 Dec 2002 after months of A + E admissions. Early Feb 2003 i got a letter telling me id have to wait for ANOTHER YEAR. I cried my eyes out and actually considered suicide. It was only after a private consultation with a surgeon and then another admission to hospital and an NHS appointment with the same surgeon that my op was promised within 6 weeks It was done 5 weeks later on 28 April 2003.id lost 8 stone by the time i had my op. The surgeon and two doctors told me it was caused by losing weight too fast (slimming world) The pain was excrutiating and the first attack appeared after id lost nearly 4 stone. Back then i had no idea fast weight loss could cause gallstones I was losing a stone a month and whenever i did try to slow it down i either stayed the same or gained.

I actually did seriously consider suicide especially after i got the letter telling me id have to wait ANOTHER YEAR. I thought it was beyond cruel especially when id lost the weight by myself with willpower

i believe due to mixing tramadol with as many over the counter drugs as i could in the early months to stop the pain i have been left with long term issues and its also left a bitter taste in the mouth TBH. Im grateful for the NHS but i was in so much pain i was thinking of overdosing (which i was bloody close to anyway) i also think the fact i won Class Slimmer of the Year and started to appear in our local papers may have been a factor in me getting the op sooner than that awful letter said but i shall never know

HeIenaDove · 03/05/2020 16:36

Maybe it might spur some people on to address a risk to their health starting from now or in the future

A perfectly sensible and measured comment.

I dont know why a lot of other posters cant seem to manage it.

Saucery · 03/05/2020 16:41

I’ve got to the point over the last few days on here, Helena, that I think it’s just pure spite and wanting to feel they have frightened and upset someone on the other end of the Internet.

Yes, being overweight, obese and morbidly obese are risky to your health. Yes, you should probably do something about that, in the way you should give up smoking or drinking to excess etc. But this gleeful haranguing of posters who are saying they are terrified of this new and dreadful virus? Wankers. 24 carat Wankers. What a fucking empty life you’d have to have to take pleasure in doing that.

ToffeeYoghurt · 03/05/2020 16:51

maybe try to lose weight
A poster on a different thread wrote about her thyroid condition yesterday. It happened to a friend of mine too. Both were told to go away by doctors. Repeatedly told it was nothing or it was psychological. My friend eventually had a private diagnosis. The poster here was diagnosed when she moved to America. As a consequence of their delayed diagnoses both gained weight. Caused by the condition.

Other people gain weight whilst waiting months for operations to improve their mobility. Then there's MH reasons. Be it comfort eating (as deserving of help and empathy as anorexia) or side effects of psychiatric medication. You could say that sometimes it is the broken NHS that is the cause of many people's obesity.

Add in the strong link to poverty - many living without proper cooking facilities and reliant on (often less healthy processed) food from food banks. And stress. It's an acknowledged contributor to obesity.

Saucery unfortunately I've seen posts Othering all the more at risk groups. Particularly the elderly (and many think elderly starts at 40!). It's very unpleasant whoever is being Othered but I'd say it says a lot more about the person doing the Othering than anything else.

No point having a gallbladder or any other operation now only to end up with Covid. It's terrible how the pandemic is impacting on us all, particularly the vulnerable and those waiting for treatment. But we can't magic it away. All we can do is mitigate the damage.

HeIenaDove · 03/05/2020 17:00

Agree Toffee There were some particularly unpleasant threads about the over 70s

ToffeeYoghurt · 03/05/2020 17:06

Helena they're really showing themselves up tbh. Your gallbladder experience sounds horrific. I'm sorry you went through that.

HeIenaDove · 03/05/2020 17:14

Ta Toffee Thanks

Was a long time ago now but that experience has made me totally against fast weight loss. Should always be slow and steady IMO.

Saucery · 03/05/2020 17:16

Crash diets also inadvisable from the point of view of a healthy immune system.

Anyone in a risk group (which are ever-changing as we find out more) knows they are in that risk group. Repeatedly telling them to lose weight/stop working with the public/jump in a DeLorean and not smoke for those 10 years/ change ethnicity/walk away from elderly relatives they care for is trolling the worried and vulnerable.

HeIenaDove · 03/05/2020 17:26

YY Saucery.

Speaking of time travel Channel 4 news did a follow up report last week on people who were ill and on ventilators over Easter.

One bloke talked about how he dreamt he was in the First World War It was a bit of a Life on Mars moment though was probably a side effect of the drugs or side effect of the illness itself.

Saucery · 03/05/2020 17:29

Interesting, Helena. I’m not watching any ‘live’ news at the moment, just reading it online, so missed that. I wonder how much is informed by your imagination v experiences in that situation?

Saucery · 03/05/2020 17:31

For instance, isn’t it endorphins or something that are thought to cause Near Death Experiences? That’s why they share commonalities like bright lights and tunnels.

HeIenaDove · 03/05/2020 17:33

Ah I see. It was really eerie listening to him talk about it.

RedToothBrush · 03/05/2020 18:06

^www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52506114^
Coronavirus doctor's diary: Take care when you clap for carers

But when people have gone out to clap we've seen interesting little peaks in accident rates that we weren't expecting.

People might need to be a bit more cautious, especially if they've been sitting down all day and then get up to clap. It might be one of the only times older people come outside and so there is a risk of falling and I'd just remind people to take care.

"The clap for carers has made us a little busier," says Richard Pilling, consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Harrogate District Hospital.

"It's very nice that everyone is very enthusiastic about showing support but it's escalated, so people are coming out banging pans and seeing who can clap the loudest, and therein accidents lie.

Saucery · 03/05/2020 18:49

That is just bizarre RTB! Shock Grin

Keepdistance · 03/05/2020 19:04

Lol. A lot bit true . My dc were spurred on from the clapping and had a bowl and spoon bashed it too hard and chipped the bowl, china in her leg and chips over the carpet.

I did think that was going to say peaks of infection though where neighbours too close

RedToothBrush · 03/05/2020 19:05

Why is it bizarre?

The BBC and social media have fuelled Thursday Dickwaddery and encouraged the competitive wankery for getting on the tv or having the best video. They've made it into an event for people to attend. The purpose of lockdown was in part to stop events and the pressure that events put on the NHS.

Theres still dickheads letting fireworks off here.

woodencoffeetable · 03/05/2020 19:16

I don't find it surprising.
many people are not very bright andvalso quite selfish.

WhyNotMe40 · 03/05/2020 19:24

So I've been offered a Zoe Covid symptom tracker test on the basis of being a keyworker with symptoms.... Except I haven't been into school in nearly 2 weeks and when I reported symptoms of feeling "off" with a headache yesterday - overnight it developed into a migraine. So I know I'm not ill. But the email says something about wanting to test healthy people as well.
I really don't know whether to take the test up - I don't need it as I'm not on rota next week so won't be going into school anyway for 7 days, I'm not ill, and I don't want to take a test from someone who needs it, and the hassle with. 3 small kids plus a full time working husband and home schooling just is a headache itself!
Anyone have any comments to help me decide?

Saucery · 03/05/2020 19:38

Because it doesn’t mention fireworks or dangerous stunts, RTB. Just getting up from your chair especially if you are old and competitive clapping. Probably journalistic spin and fireworks etc causing the weekly rise but making your way to the front door? That’s why I thought it was odd.