Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Covid

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

Flip

Original poster

Obesity and COVID-19

23 replies

Mrsclaus5 · 28/12/2020 19:01

Just feeling really worried tonight.

If anyone is obese would they mind sharing their experiences of COVID please? My bmi is 40 and I’m just scared of what could happen.

I’m 30 for context, no other underlying conditions, I take vit d etc.

Anyone similar had it and been ok?

OP posts:

TroubadorinTrouble · 28/12/2020 19:04

A male relative of mine tested positive. He’s in his mid-60s, morbidly obese on the BMI chart and has a heart condition. He had a mild cough which persisted for about five days and has now made a full recovery.

Jrobhatch29 · 28/12/2020 19:06

My friends dad is morbidly obese and was asymptomatic.

Pipandmum · 28/12/2020 19:10

It's still a very low morbidity rate. If you were male and Asian that would be more cause for worry.
Its like many illnesses. You could be a vegan marathon runner and still have a heart attack at 40, or be a smoker and obese and live in to your 80s.

Trailing1 · 28/12/2020 19:10

I have a high BMI, I had covid and did not need hospitalization, for me it was like having flu. Not to mention some VERY horrible headaches all down left side of my head going into my facial area.
I had three weeks off work. The fatigue is still there.
Apart from being obese, I don't have any other health conditions (as far as I know). I had started to lose weight at the start of first lockdown but obviously this is still an ongoing process as I have loads to lose.

Dusty9729 · 28/12/2020 19:11

I know people who have had it and are obese, they recovered fine. It is an increased risk like many other factors but you needn’t be too worried. You are only 30 too. I’m very similar, late twenties and my bmi is 35 but I have lost a few pounds and intend to lose more in the New Years. Not just because of covid.

I reckon we could have had it too. Don’t know for sure but my dc were very poorly earlier in the year. At the time I said I had never experienced anything like it in my 10 years of parenting. Never seen them as poorly and the doctors had no answers. I felt a little under the weather after but
Nothing extreme, just like an average virus.

ouchmyfeet · 28/12/2020 19:11

I have a BMI of 40 too and am 10 years older than you. The only symptom I had was loss of my sense of smell.

Try not to worry, the risk is very low.

HairyFloppins · 28/12/2020 19:14

I did a similar post the other week after I caught it. My BMI is in the low 40s and luckily I only got a mild dose and seem much better. Fitter, thinner DH ended up in hospital though. This virus is very random about who gets a worse case.

Original poster

Mrsclaus5 · 28/12/2020 19:18

@HairyFloppins that's the worst bit I think, there's no real criteria for a bad case just generalisations. I hope your DH is all better now.

@trailing1 I hope you get your energy back soon!

Thanks everyone for commenting, it's reassuring to read these

OP posts:

BrokenCircle · 28/12/2020 19:26

My BMI is about the same as yours. I had Covid a few months ago. It took me a few weeks longer to get over it than it took DP, who is not overweight. Other than that, the symptoms were the same. I was back at work after three weeks, but in hindsight I should have taken a couple more weeks off as I was still short of breath.

Trailing1 · 28/12/2020 19:26

Thank you Mrs Claus. I hope so too, I'm just about making it through work these days.

HairyFloppins · 28/12/2020 19:26

He’s on the mend now thanks Mrsclaus. Try not to worry for most folk it’s a mild illness.

buckeejit · 28/12/2020 19:28

This is helpful for me. I'm also
Bmi of 40ish & planning to lose weight in Jan but really worry when numbers are high.

It does seem to be completely random in who gets hospitalised.

Wester · 28/12/2020 19:51

Dear friend was obese, did regular exercise, caught it in Nov, got put into a coma and unfortunately passed away.

It is a risk factor that is within your control, if you are worried, why not do something about it?

Original poster

Mrsclaus5 · 28/12/2020 19:54

I am @Wester, I've lost 40lbs this year but it's a slow process. I'm sorry for your loss.

OP posts:

MadameBlobby · 28/12/2020 20:58

@Wester

Dear friend was obese, did regular exercise, caught it in Nov, got put into a coma and unfortunately passed away.

It is a risk factor that is within your control, if you are worried, why not do something about it?

Because just as people don’t become obese overnight, they can’t become not obese overnight.

So sorry about your friend

Fancymarmite · 28/12/2020 21:15

5 work colleagues have died from covid. Two were slim men in their 50s, one was an overweight woman in her 50s, one was an obese woman early 30s and one was an extremely obese woman (BMI easily over 50), she was in her 20s.

I don’t know about any of the medical history of them apart from the woman in her 30s. She had no known conditions.

heydoggee · 28/12/2020 21:33

@Wester

Dear friend was obese, did regular exercise, caught it in Nov, got put into a coma and unfortunately passed away.

It is a risk factor that is within your control, if you are worried, why not do something about it?

Aren't you lovely?

Fwiw I am obese like you OP, and equally concerned, because I have small children.

My weight gain was the result of many different things, but mostly the cocktail of antipsychotics I was prescribed for post natal psychosis two years ago. That's when I kicked into the morbidly obese category anyway.

I don't binge eat, ever. I hate takeaways. I scratch cook all our meals and rarely fry anything. I don't smoke, or drink. Sometimes I have two biscuits with my afternoon cuppa.

I am awaiting a test result for Covid as I've had fever symptoms and loss of taste/smell. So far it's like flu, but no worse (touchwood).

Definitely invest in an oximeter, a very handy tool for a vulnerable patient with Covid.

ChristmasinJune · 28/12/2020 21:36

I'm in my late 40's and have BMI over 40 plus moderate asthma. I had 3 days of a fairly unremarkable cough, a week where I lost taste, smell and appetite then 10 days of really hard to shake headaches. Followed by a month or so of on/off fatigue. I never really felt worse than "under the weather" it was irritating rather than distressing. So you can't really tell for sure.

Monkeytennis97 · 28/12/2020 21:38

Congratulations on losing 40lbs this year! That's brilliant! Keep going! I've lost 72lbs this year and have gone from BMI 42 to 28. Have eaten like a horse over the last week so reigning it in and getting back on it tomorrow. We can do this!!😊😊

ThirstyGhost · 28/12/2020 22:05

Hi OP, I recommend listening to this episode of More or Less. It's a Radio 4 programme that explains the numbers and statistics used in politics, the news, etc... It was recommended to me by a friend as I'm usually hopeless at understanding stats and what they really mean. The prog is great. Anyway, have a listen if you have time. The risk is a lot less than you might be thinking. I was worried about a family member and now I've got more perspective on it and I'm not.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000htw2

ThirstyGhost · 28/12/2020 22:06

.... the episode specifically deals with obesity and Covid. I should have said!

Original poster

Mrsclaus5 · 29/12/2020 07:10

Thanks @ThirstyGhost that's very kind of you!

OP posts:

buckeejit · 30/12/2020 17:51

@ThirstyGhost thanks for this - I will listen in the morning

Flip