I need a hand hold... in shock after positive Covid test

[EdinaMonsoon]

I'm 5 days away from getting the vaccine. I have stayed home an entire year except for walking my dog in the most remote spots I could find & medical appointments. Youngest DS picked it up at school (Y12). I'm terrified. Became symptomatic yesterday. Positive result today. I'm aching and coughing with a bit of a headache. I'm terrified. Please tell me your positive outcome Covid stories or just take my mind off this shit show.

@willitgetworse

My father is almost 60 and has been a heavy smoker all his life, he did the best out of all of us with covid. Painkillers, fluid and rest. You're going to be fine

That's a reported thing isn't it - smokers recovering better, though tbh I think they tried to suppress that info.

@KingdomScrolls Thank you for sharing. I'm glad you have all recovered. It must have been a very frightening experience to have your DS in hospital but so good to hear he has now recovered. I'm liking the sound of being back to jogging in a month! I'm usually very fit and healthy, working out most days with a mix of running, HIIT, strength & yoga. I've been particularly diligent this last year so I'm hoping my lungs & body are strong to face this challenge.

@SlothWithACloth Yep been taking Vit D, C, B12, Iron & a Multi-vitamin regularly since July/August last year. I think the Vit D dose I take is 3000? Will check and take a look at the Dr's info you recommended.

@LittleBearPad I'm slightly nervous about the oximeter because I have reynauds meaning I have appalling circulation and am worried that I may panic when actually I just have cold fingers!

@AcornAutumn I did say it's because the covid is unable to penetrate through the amount of tar in his lungs.

Spent an afternoon at my friend's house (it was during lockdown- shoot me), she did not feel herself that day, said her neck was hurting and the very next day after my visit she got worse, testing covid positive 2 days later. Somehow, I did not catch it- did test a week later, but NOTHING. Took extra vit C and D for couple of weeks just in case.
You might be ok, too. Don't panic.

Thank you all so much. I think emotionally this is going to be a really tough time for me but it has helped hearing your reassuring stories.

@willitgetworse Maybe I should take up smoking?! Trying to imagine DH's face when I ask him if he'd brave the supermarket for a packet!

@MatildaTheCat I'm so sorry for your loss. It must be awful to not be able to be with a loved one in this moment.

[quote willitgetworse]@AcornAutumn I did say it's because the covid is unable to penetrate through the amount of tar in his lungs. [/quote]
😂

OP I think you need to be careful re the oximeter, it's easy to obsess.

Paracetamol and rest as much as you can. When you start feeling better listen to your body and don't overdo it. I'm 41, was unwell right at the start of the first lockdown, achy for about 3 days, I was so worried we would run out of paracetamol, there was none in the shops back then, I slept and slept for the quarantine time, think it was a week back then, have felt worse with flu to be honest. Suddenly felt better, cleaned the house and then was so exhausted I was back in bed for a couple of days! Think I spent 2 weeks having afternoon naps and then I was fine.

Hope you're feeling better soon. Rotten luck.

I’ve had it - I’m also 50 , contracted it through work , along with the whole of my team , and in fact a lot of our building . I had three days where I started off with a sore throat , blinding headache and then got the cough . Didn’t get out of bed for 3 days because it was exhausting , but after that with painkillers and fluids , started feeling better . Everyone I know who got it has recovered more or less within two weeks, although I have also heard of other people’s relatives really struggling with it.

@JFCO I hope your friend has recovered well (& no judgment here - we do what we need to do). You were very lucky to not develop it. I'm hoping DH and eldest DS will be the same. Youngest DS is my koala baby (even though he's almost 17!) and we are always giving each other hugs. Eldest DS & DH are far more reserved and don't really go in for physical displays! Hopefully they will remain well.

@unvillage

All of these immediate replies "are you CEV" "what are your vulnerabilities"

honestly have you zero sympathy?

OP I hope you're okay, not just covid-wise but dealing with this well. I'd feel exactly the same, I'm only slightly vulnerable but have spent the last year doing everything possible to avoid the virus. Please be reassured that only a small number of people are seriously affected by it. Chances are you'll have a rough few days, and make sure that someone outside your household is aware of what's going on with you, so should you fall out of contact they know something is wrong. All the best.

Well I would have asked because I would have first assumed that might be why OP might be legitimately be really scared if they were at high risk of serious illness with covid or a family member. Since she’s not, all likelihood is she’ll be absolutely fine like most people are.

OP I know it’s a shock and it’s horrible you know people have died from this of course, but statistically you will be fine and recover with no issues. Is it possible you’ve worked yourself up over the past year given you and your family have barely gone anywhere which is pretty extreme if you don’t have any medical vulnerabilities etc?

Do hope this fear hasn’t transferred to your kids too and that he doesn’t feel too guilty for passing it on. I have had my own health paranoia with something else and know it is hard, so don’t mean this to be cruel.

Also my brother had it and had no symptoms at all, others I know who have had it had very mild symptoms - if that helps at all!

@EdinaMonsoon I was also gutted that we'd done so well not catching it, been so careful, then end of January youngest started with symptoms about a week after a GP appointment. Plenty of fluids and paracetamol - I found ibuprofen made me feel worse but that's anecdotal I guess.

@wonderstuff Glad to hear you recovered. It's interesting that you say you felt flu was worse. I've had the misfortune to have flu 3 times in the life and each time it totally floored me from day 1. I don't want to tempt fate but this feels more like a really crappy cold virus right now. Fingers crossed it stays that way.

@AcornAutumn yes, I can imagine & I definitely have obsessive tendencies. I once had to monitor my BP a few times a day over a course of a week and I would feel fine in-between but as soon as I put that cuff on I would feel my body change. I basically had white coat syndrome in the comfort of my own home! So the plan is to have it on standby just in case I or DS begin to feel much worse.

So basically I need to relax and rest as much as possible, plenty of fluids and keep dosed up on ibuprofen & paracetamol.

For those of you who had it and live with a partner/family, did you self isolate from the rest of the household at all times? Or did you mix with them, socially distancing with a mask?

@LabbyNoona Honestly, I totally understand why you asked about CEV etc. And I think to an extent you are right that the underexposure to other people & social situations has probably made the fear somewhat worse to a small extent. I've been very careful to make sure my DCs feel no responsibility whatsoever - the risk of COVID is just a sad reality of where we are right now, as awful as they may be. They have been careful and followed guidelines. It would break my heart to think that DS would feel he had somehow hurt me. We've been FaceTiming and messaging each other all day from our respective quarantine rooms. I did say to him that he shouldn't feel responsible and he was very chill and replied that he didn't & seems pretty upbeat for a kid who's stuck in his room!

I understand how you feel , hope you feel better soon

I had it and worked all the way through (on zoom). My symptoms were extreme tiredness and a cough. My husband who's in his 60s had it and he didn't take to the bed either. He was sick, sitting in the armchair watching TV for a few days

I had it a year ago, I was pretty ill but had an underlying health condition that I was unaware of at the time.

I've now had a positive antibody test, and I'm glad I've had the virus it's out of the way, and there is little evidence that you can have it twice. I would have been panicking every time I heard someone coughing from half a mile away, and although I'm still careful, I'm not at scared as I would have been.

Lots of fluids, paracetamol and rest and hopefully you'll feel better by the weekend.

Let your GP know so they can reschedule your vaccine - they are asking for a month clear of symptoms here.

For those of you who had it and live with a partner/family, did you self isolate from the rest of the household at all times? Or did you mix with them, socially distancing with a mask?

No - but in fairness, we didn’t realise it was COVID at the time...

It was early March 2020, and the person in our household with symptoms didn’t have a cough, only a temperature and fatigue. We thought it couldn’t be COVID if they didn’t have a cough.

You couldn’t get tested then, and given how low the reported UK infection rates were at that time, we reasoned that the chances of it being COVID were tiny.

We only found out it actually was COVID through an antibody test several months later.

For what it’s worth, no one else developed symptoms, despite us not isolating (possibility we were asymptomatic though).

My sis in laws works in a care home her and 5 staff and every resident (32) all had it not to long ago. every1 off them survived and are fine now.

Sending you all of the and it's a terrifying time, it's all the whole world has talked about for the past year, so it's natural to be frightened! Have a nice hot bath/shower, comfy PJ's and relax. Find yourself something to sink your teeth into on Netflix and do an online food shop WITH TREATS. Chances are you won't become very ill, but you're likely to feel under the weather so best to just rest and reserve as much energy as you can! Keep us updated with how you're feeling

You will be absolutely fine. Paracetamol regularly and aspirin to avoid any blood clots . Just rest as much as you can . 💐

I'm sure this has already been mentioned but the survival rate with covid has changed completely over the last year. Have you got an oximeter?

For those of you who had it and live with a partner/family, did you self isolate from the rest of the household at all times? Or did you mix with them, socially distancing with a mask?

We tried to be more distanced to begin with and DH slept in the spare room but once I got it we gave up and curled up on the sofa together. We have young DC who were highly unlikely to get properly ill, (one did test positive but was full of beans) and tbh we figured once it was in the house it was only a matter of time before we all got it. Youngest DS didn’t seem to but who knows at his age.

I had Covid over Christmas family were all ok and I didn’t socially distance because we had all been together prior to my result. I was only tested for work reasons .

One of my employees spent months horribly stressing about Covid as she has had cancer and also her mum is CEV.
She finally caught it in December and was slightly under the weather for a couple of days and then bounced back. Her mum also caught it, also totally fine.
She says she actually hadn’t realised how anxious and stressed she’d been all year worrying about catching it as she said she feels like a huge weight has lifted now she’s had it and was fine.