Risk of covid and cytokine storm

[WTFiswrongwithmyVag]

Can any knowledgeable people help me understand the risks please. I am overly anxious about catching the virus and then dying from it.

I am mid 40s, female, fat and with hypertension. Also quite allergic to things so my immune system is not normal. I've had problems in the past with an excessive inflammatory response to sepsis/surgery.

I've read a bit about cytokine storms and think I might have had something like this before, albeit not fatally. But I'm worried if I get covid that my immune system could overreact again and potentially kill me.

Any reassurance or resources would be great.

If I start to get covid symptoms, should I take an antihistamine to dull down my immune response or would that be stupid and counterproductive?

What should I say to doctors if I get admitted? I want them to know my history (and in my mind the added risks of complications) but no idea if it was described as such on my medical notes.

Vit d might reduce risk of cytocine storm.

I'm getting out every day, eat a variety of foods and take a multi vit. Hope that's enough for vit d

Don't take this the wrong way, but being overweight is going to increase your risk of disease. You said you already suffer from high blood pressure, but you are also at risk of developing heart disease and diabetes. These are two of the biggest killers in the UK, although they are not being given the same attention in the media as covid-19....
If you want to live longer and improve the quality of your life, please find a way to lose weight. Mid 40s seems far too young to be suffering from hypertension. This should normally be seen in people twice your age.

Are you quite large, OP?

I'm a size 20. I don't need a lecture about my weight thanks. My hypertension is not weight related, something else caused it. Yes I know all the risks of being fat, but I'm not diabetic (have good test results on this) and the other 'risks' are long term. Heart function is good. I have regular tests. So all good in my general health.

My blood pressure is well controlled with meds but I am high risk for getting seriously ill with covid just because of the stats of deaths with hypertension, though I read that most elderly people have it to some extent which skews the figures.

I'm worried I could die in a few weeks if I got covid, not in 20 years time of heart disease or diabetes (neither of which I have).

My question was about the way covid works to create an overreaction by the immune system whereby the body damages its own organs in a stupid sort of self suicide bodily reaction. This is what I am fearful of because of my allergies and previous history of inflammatory reactions.

If anyone can shed some light or send me a link to some academic papers that could reassure me (or even just inform me so that I can discuss with doctors if I get admitted), that would be great

It's too new, OP. It isn't properly understood yet. Obesity seems to increase your risk, while smoking may reduce it (!). Swap pies for fags, then? Fuck knows.

Being female is a huge factor in your favour, as is your age. Chin up.

Yes, the information you’ve given will be in any basic medical history from your GP and accessible from the NHS spine.
We’ve been taking daily antihistamines in case, but the only studies on this were with children admitted with Covid19 in China so minimal evidence in adults.
Second the vit D recommendations.

Some of the drugs being trialled are immunosuppressants. Presumably they might work by calming inflammation and preventing a cytokine storm. It suggests to me it's possible that people already taking immunosuppressants, whilst perhaps more likely to catch it, are slightly more protected if they do. I think I read somewhere about antihistamines being looked at too. As well as Vitamin D, you could take a zinc supplement. It helps with the immune and respiratory systems. I know it's not so easy to just lose weight, and certainly not quickly.

Thanks, that's interesting about antihistamines and immunosuppressants. This is the sort of thing I am interested in finding out more about. I have recently been taking AH for hay-fever but it's eased off now so I stopped. I think I will definitely start again if I get any symptoms.

yes my gp when reviewing my meds last week said my age and sex are the best factors. But I keep reading about women in their 30s dying and it is just awful.

I am a single parent with young DC who have an absent father so I absolutely need to do everything I can to survive this as I am all they have.

can anyone shed any more light on this?

Op, have a look a the work of Dave Asprey. He is a health writer who talks a lot about cytokine storms and immunity. His website has tons of articles about these two topics and even one recent one about its relation to Covid 19. Here’s the link: blog.daveasprey.com/protect-yourself-coronavirus/
HTH

It's thought obesity increases the risk of cytokine storm. Obviously, there are only studies done on people with other illness so far (and I will be happy to link) but the gist I'm getting is that adiposity does appear to make a cytokine storm more likely to occur.

Your obesity is your main issue here OP.

The best thing you could do for your health by a very long way is to immediately go on a diet.

Only it isn't. Diets in those who are obese create a rebound effect and 95% of people and up larger afterwards than before. Steps towards a healthier lifestyle is better.

Depends on what you mean by diet.

A diet can easily be just simple steps towards being healthier.

People who are overweight have lower vitamin D levels.
See vitamin D in obesity but lots of other info if you google.
A higher dose of D3 supplement or more sun exposure will be needed, current RDA is too low and perhaps this is a factor in why overweight people are at greater risk from coronavirus.
Easy to get a testing kit online, I use BetterYou they use an NHS testing lab and advise how much to take based on result, also a D3 supplement included in price.

Unfortunately i agree about the weight apparently it increases inflammation.

There is a weight loss thread in coronavirus topic i think.
Bear in mind too that the weight might affect the vitamins as in vit d is fat soluble. I dont know but would think then that possibly overweight people are deficient as they are storing the vitamins.

Lots of women i think get high BP after having kids. Especially if they got high bp in pregnancy.

Ive got pcos so while not diabetic my blood sugar is high. So in many situations its possible to not be quite in the requiring treatment stage but not optimal.

The point about the weight is also unfortunately i think it's harder to ventilate heavier people as the pressure of the weight on the lungs makes it harder to inflate.
I appreciate it's hard though as it's also very stressful at the moment.

I've been having this discussion about immunosuppressants with dh. I'm on two, methotrexate and a biologic that inhibits an interleukin.

We were all ill at the end of December and if we had it now then we would've been tested for CV.

I was ill yes, felt like death but I was less ill than dd.

Diets in those who are obese create a rebound effect and 95% of people and up larger afterwards than before

This is such a non-argument.

The only reason obese people have this rebound effect is because they fall off the wagon.

There was never anything wrong with the diet, just a lack of willpower in the individual attempting to follow it.

If you want to remain a healthy weight, you need to watch what you eat every day, for the rest of your life.

Hi op.
In terms of being as well as you can incase you do get this awful virus. So VIT D very important
Would you consider trying to eat very low carb?
Not just because of the weight that is lost but also the health benefits.

Or trying intermittent fasting. It’s not a scary as it may sound. I do 16:8 everyday. You can build up much slower. Say 12:12 for the first few days.

There is lots of evidence that this can help your metabolic health.
There is lots of advice and guidance online.

I am an asthmatic that takes steroids daily and although I am just over the healthy band in BMI I wanted to do whatever I could to make my body well and able to hopefully survive this virus if and when I get it.

Following with interest. I'm not overweight but I too feel like my immune system has an issue as I always get really ill with everything (e.g. the rest of my family would have a bit of a cold and I would end up in bed with a fever and a variety of secondary infections etc). I also have allergies and asthma, and my body always seems to have some kind of inflammation going on (hands, feet, etc). I'm concerned about the cytokine storm because the last time I had the flu and pneumonia it wasn't actually the flu/pneumonia that made me ill enough to be admitted, but apparently it was the ridiculous immune response from my body, and this kind of makes me think that I would be likely to have similar issues should I catch Covid. I'm off to research antihistamines and vitamin D!

This is a good book on supporting immunity and reducing inflammation. www.amazon.co.uk/Staying-Well-Healthy-Immune-System/dp/0008370265/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=immunity+book&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1588262729&sr=8-1
I just read it and it talks a lot about how your immune system can go into overdrive/auto-immunity etc.

@PonderTweek
The above author talks a lot about asthma and allergies in the book.

@fedupfrida Thanks! I'll check it out.

@WTFiswrongwithmyVag

Following and OP please get in touch (IM me) if you come across any useful info or just want to chat.. I too am v. worried about cytokine storms with covid-19.

I've got palmaplantar psoriasis (unmedicated) - an autoimmune condition, basically an overactive immune system, plus I'm same size as you and BP is higher than it should be. I've been doing keto on and off and it is a great way to lose weight, but it needs to be a way of eating. Fasting also is supposed to be very beneficial for immune/inflammatory conditions. (Just a point but, if we do get CV, and god forbid, are hospitalised - we must insist or get someone to insist we lay on our stomachs so we're not squishing our lungs!)

I've been taking 4000 mgc of vitamin D2 + K3 for the last year or so for general health as my D levels were less than half of the normal range.