How confident are you that you would ‘beat’ coronavirus if you got it?

[hamstersarse]

And if you are not confident...what steps have you taken in the last 4 months to strengthen your immune system?

Sorry I didn't clarify I'm about 90% confident I'd survive and be fine.

I guess 60:40 in favour of living !

White, under 50 but I'm on immunosuppressants. My lymphocytes are back up to 0.64 so I'm trying not to worry too much. Taking Vit C along side the other vitamins I already take.

I'm late 30's, mild asthma and very fat. I don't think I would die but I'm really worried about long term problems as I am a carer to dh and our disabled dc. Also really worried about dh dying. Obviously I don't want the dc to die either but statistically they are likely to be fine.

Really trying hard to get healthy. Have lost 2.5 stone but still got a long way to go.

Not very confident. I am 40s, borderline obese (brought bmi down from 35 at start of lockdown to 30ish now). Asthmatic. A cold knocks me for six, I suffer with persistent sore throats, swollen glands, my immune system is shite.

BUT, in March I had a cough and was using my reliever inhaler upwards of 5 times a day, minimum of 4 puffs everytime. I would get to the top of the stairs and have to lie down on the floor. (My asthma was under control prior to this, using blue inhaler once every 6-12 months, no asthmatic cough, although I now need to use my inhaler a couple of times a week which is not cool). I had no temp or any other symptoms of coronavirus (just a cough and bad breathlessness). I hadn't travelled and wasn't hospitalized (I was sent to A&E by 111 as I was asthmatic and breathless and they suspected covid but A&E wouldn't see me as I had suspected cv but wasn't in need of extra oxygen/intervention, in fact one dr was bloody rude about me being there, even though I was sent by 111 🤷🏼‍♀️). So, anyway, there is a chance I have had it, and if that was it then I did actually make it and whilst the breathlessness was awful, it could have been a lot worse ( a hell of a lot worse).

I'm absolutely confident I'd survive, having looked at the stats, it's incredibly rare for a woman my age to die. I'm not so confident about making a complete recovery with no complications though. I am diabetic, which is a risk factor for developing complications, and I'm concerned that I might be unwell for months.

I'm doing my best to keep my blood sugars under control, and I've been taking vitamins daily.

Oh should have said, started taking multivitamins and extra iron and vit D and was taking a vit c with zinc supplement but can't get hold of that at the minute.

@WreckTangled just seen your post - I too am a Type 1 and I’m also not especially worried, but wondered what you mean about poor care for Type 1’s in hospital? I’ve often been confused with Type 2’s (presumably as most ‘diabetics’ are Type 2) but wondered if there was something more

Fairly confident of surviving the respiratory symptoms but what scares me is peripheral side effects, such as neurological and organ damage. Since this is a novel virus, no one can accurately predict what long term damages may be.

I’m not confident at all. I have lung and kidney issues (both function at about 50%) and am on the shielding list.

Things in my favour are age (late 30s), bmi 25 (was 27.5 but I’ve managed to lose weight since March), healthy diet (lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, cook meals from scratch), being white.

In terms of what I’m doing differently: I’m exercising more, I didn’t leave the house for 11 weeks (I started shielding in early March on medical advice), I’m only going out now for walks (ie no shops/ pubs), strict social distancing, only seeing family/ friends outdoors, no public transport/ enclosed spaces, working from home, plus extra hygiene measures (constant hand sanitising which I did anyway Pre Covid given my health issues/ vulnerability, and I’m still disinfecting shopping deliveries). My DH and DC are also being very careful- have kept DC out of nursery since March , no play dates and DH also WFH, only meeting friends outdoors and no pubs/ shops etc). I take vitamins which I did previously anyway.

In March I was scared as I thought I wouldn’t have much chance if I got Covid. I’m less worried now but still worried enough (with good reason I think given my circumstances and the medical advice I’ve had) to do all of the above. It feels that life is very much on hold at the moment and it’sactually getting harder as things open and others start getting back to normal. Yes shielding is being paused on 1 August but guidance for shielders is clear that strict social distancing must still be followed which is hard when a lot of people seem to have given up on it. It can be hard to explain to friends why we won’t come to the pub/ for a meal or have play dates, ie because we can’t do those things whilst socially distancing and that we need to be strict about continuing with that.

I'm not sure any of us can be "confident" that we would "beat" the virus if we got it.
I mean, statistically, I'm not in a vulnerable, or at risk group, but this is a very new virus We have no idea yet of the long term damage this is doing to people who contract it. We don't know yet why some people appear to contract it but be symptomless whereas others can be critically ill. We don't know yet about damage to our bodies that can have long term implications for our health.

I'm doing what I reasonably can to avoid contracting it, as that seems a better way of thinking than trying to do something such as boosting my immune system (is that even a thing?).

In Australia so not sure how relevant my answer is, but I'm fairly confident I would be fine. I have asthma but it is well controlled currently. I have been keeping fairly isolated since mid March, eat predominantly very healthy meals and take multivitamins, iron, vit D and vit C. (Have recently had a baby hence the mutitiude of vitamins).

@JemimaPyjamas ever been on a sliding scale? Many hospitals make you go on them and they're awful. I control my diabetes well (hba1c currently 5.8 but trying to lower eat) and eat a low carb diet. If I become unwell and end up in hospital I can't do that and nurses don't have the knowledge or time to be micromanaging my diabetes for me. Higher blood sugars make it harder to fight off infection and I'm sure many nurses etc would see no issue with a bs of 9 or even 12 whereas that's one of my worse nightmares. I remember being in with DKA (after having a sickness bug) and then I hypo'd, the nurse made me drink so much coke plus pushed glucose through my drip that I snot up to 35 and was so ill again.

Not confident at all. Unless my overactive immune system can kick it into touch within the first few days, I reckon I could be a goner, or if not that then I'd probably have prolonged symptoms. I'm mid-60s and have an autoimmune disease, generally my health isn't that good.

My mum is a smoker and had TB as a child. She caught covid from work (mental health nurse, they had 9 confirmed on the ward) and we were worried. She was fine. Yes she was poorly but ultimately was fine. So because of that, I think I would be ok. I'm early 30's healthy, eat well, BMI is good. We haven't done much to up our immune systems but like I say I think we would be ok

Yes I am. But I would worry about passing it onto my family, especially my mum.

@MrsSSG

I'm a healthy, active 39 year old who has had Covid for 4 months. I have been very ill throughout this (many symptoms but mostly heart and neurological problems as well as difficulty breathing and severe fatigue) and I'm still not better.

Doctors don't know for sure if I will ever get better. Many many tests suggest no underlying health problems.

I'm alive, but I'm not living.

This could happen to anyone.

This is my fear, not death. I read the stats and they look ok, but there is this group and this concerns me greatly.

So I would much rather avoid if possible.

@MrsSSG

Also I agree with @BackforGood

My 90 year old grandad and my uncle with severe asthma both managed it at home without medical intervention so I'm sure most will be fine

Not in the slightest bit confident

I ‘strengthen’ my immune system by taking second-line TKIs, which keeps the leukaemic proliferation of immature white blood cells in check

This means I should live a normal or near normal life span

There is some evidence that when blood counts are normal, I am not at greater risk of catching Covid. Evidence on severity less clear - deaths seem to follow age pattern, but my age group is also over-represented in ICU admissions, and I don’t fancy that much either

So I’ve been following the shielding advice pretty closely and, as always, the haematologists’ advice to the letter

It only gets dispiriting when I read comments about how those who have to shield we’re going to die soon anyway

@WreckTangled I had a suspicion your answer might have been along those lines! I have luckily never had a DKA episode as I’m luckily not prone to ketones. I did have to argue against a sliding scale once as I was also on a pump - I was admitted three days before DS was born as I couldn’t feel movement. I had to get very pushy until the diabetic consultant got involved.

I’m not sure. On the one hand, I don’t tend to get ill very often. I’ve only ever had the flu a couple of times in my life even when others close to me have had it. I hardly ever get colds.
On the other hand, my weight (bmi of 28), my age and ethnicity might work against me.
I’ve been taking vitamin d and trying to lose weight. I exercise daily and get lots of fresh air.

Seeing how this virus seems so indiscriminate I think it's wise to be cautious. As others have said there are varying degrees of illness, you might be fine or even asymptomic, or you might be hospitalised. disease mildly.Another issue is that even if you get it mi!dly you could transmit it to somebody elderly or vulnerable. I think it's difficult to say for definite somebody will only get the disease mildly.

Sorry, my last post was jumbled but I think the gist was there.

@JemimaPyjamas my mum (type I) reckoned the food was diabolical. Either laden with simple carbs or you choose not to eat. So be prepared to manage your own food.

@InsaneInTheViralMembrane my DS is eight now, it was a while ago!