Your Covid risk... Do you think you will die from Covid?

[Noreana]

Last week I started CBT for health anxiety.
I’ve lived with it for a long time but have always been able to manage without it having too much of an effect on my life.

Since Covid my health anxiety has been completely out of control.
I didn’t want to seek any help as I just assumed everyone felt the same way.

But last year people my age started to enjoy “freedoms” when lockdown ended and I just couldn’t do it.

I contacted talking therapies and have waited 18 weeks for CBT.

Last week on our first session we discussed what it is that I’m struggling with.

So I said Covid and my risk.
I have a high BMI, no other health conditions.
I’ve had 1 vaccine but had it slightly later than when it was offered to me so second not due for 6 weeks.

I told my therapist I feel very high risk from Covid and I truly believe if I get it, I’m going to die.

She told me I’m catastrophizing and over estimating the danger and my risk (which I found quite patronising)

She told me she is going to do a survey and ask people with my risks, how they feel about Covid and we will discuss next week.

So, I want to hear from people here how they feel and how they perceive their own risk and what their risk factors are.

I’m 41 and still carrying 4 stone of extra baby weight. I don’t think that if I get Covid I will die. However, I don’t have time to be ill with two small children. I can’t afford to have time off work for self isolation so financially I’m more worried.

I managed to bring my second vaccine forward by 3 weeks so its now due in 7 days time.

Im trying to lose the baby weight (without much success atm).

I have honestly had much worse colds than covid

Anxiety is a terrible thing as it makes you feel worse catastrophising about something which is unlikely to happen. I haven’t got any risk factors except my age (51) and I have never (rightly or wrongly) been really worried about catching Covid. I’ve followed all the rules, had both jabs now but on a day to day basis I rarely even think about Covid. FWIW my brother had it before Christmas and he is overweight with high blood pressure and other health concerns and at 52 has made a full recovery. My 86 year old mum also caught it in her care home and has also recovered. No one I know is petrified of getting it, we are just living our lives and taking the necessary precautions. I hope you can get some help as I know (having had family members with severe anxiety) it can be absolutely debilitating.

So, after this thread how do you feel now OP?

I gave my answer above but just for clarification we are similar age and BMI.

At the end of the day what matters is how you feel, not us.

[quote Noreana]@Keepingitreal14

Being over weight alone probably wouldn’t make me feel at a massively increased risk.

I’m massively overweight though. My BMI is 38 😓[/quote]
I’m quite a bit higher then that (although has to check what my BMI was reply to this).

Even someone in their 80s or 90s has a much higher chance of surviving than dying from Covid.

I’m in my 30s with a healthy BMI so I understand my risk to be somewhere in the 0.001% ish range or slightly lower .

Have you plugged your data into QCovid? That will give you your odd

No, not remotely scared. In fact if I could choose to have it, I would for natural acquired immunity. You are absolutely catastrophizing which I think you know, or why else would you be seeking CBT for it?

No, I don't believe I will die of covid. I'm far far far more likely to die of any type of cancer, heart disease, obesity, stroke etc.

I’m 40’s, overweight. I don’t think I would die or be seriously ill, my husband who is older may not fair so well but I don’t think he would die.

I’m nhs frontline so had early vaccines. We got COVID on the ward less than 2 weeks after my first vaccine and despite being the ‘COVID nurse’ for 2 weeks I didn’t get it. That was a really stressful time but we got through it.

I’ve enjoyed every freedom when possible and don’t worry about COVID generally, not since the early days. I follow the rules and am an antisocial person anyway so not highly likely to get it except at work.

@SpringRainbow

So, after this thread how do you feel now OP?

I gave my answer above but just for clarification we are similar age and BMI.

At the end of the day what matters is how you feel, not us.

@SpringRainbow

It makes me feel quite sad that I’ve got myself into this fear.

I genuinely believe that people feel the same way I do.

I'm 36, quite overweight and was told earlier this year that I was CEV due to past GD. Not worried in the least.

Health anxiety on your level will not be cured by 10, 100 or 1,000 people telling you that they're not worried about dying.

I think that's why people are doubting your therapist story.

In fact, I think I recognise you from a previous post. This thread will continue, most people will tell you they're not worried and you will completely ignore it.

I'm sorry if I sound harsh but you have a recognised medical condition and need specialist help to overcome it.

I’m ten years older than you, the same BMI...

I’ve assumed for the last year and a half that I’d either get it asymptomstically or get it about as bad as flu tbh.

Very unlikely. I am luckily in very good shape for a 47yr old.
However, due to menopause and lone parenting I have no desire to catch it and have any down time or post viral problems. I've had to spend a decade trying to avoid iillness and I'll keep it that way.
And I didn't touch door handles before this started, let alone now.

C* So next week when she has the results of the survey and we go over them, i will post them here. *
I assume they will be on a document of some sort so I can upload.

We will all be on the edge of our seats im sure

@woodfort

Have you plugged your data into QCovid?

Yes, it says my risk of death is 0.001% and risk
being hospitalised is 0.043%

I’m not sure how accurate/ reliable that is though.

No. I watched my mum (mid 70s with a heart condition) go through having covid twice. First time she was in hospital, second time she wasn't, but both times she's had no ill effects afterwards. I don't feel that there's any more risk to me than there is when I cross the road or something.

@Noreana don’t feel bad about it, this had been quite a scary and stressful time.

However, what you can do now is try and move forward and work on reducing your anxiety.

There is a risk, of course there is. Even getting out of the bed in the morning comes with a risk. What matters now is how to deal with those risks.

As a rough rule of thumb, an unvaccinated person who catches Covid has the same risk of dying as they would of dying from other natural causes in the next year.

So although at a population level that potentially doubles the deaths in a year, which is a huge deal, the risk for any given individual isn’t particularly high unless they’re in their nineties or very ill indeed. Your rational level of anxiety about dying from Covid should be the same as your general fear of not making it to your next birthday.

As a healthy fifty year old with a BMI of twenty five my risk from Covid is much much higher than yours, but no I wasn’t paralysed by fear of dying from it. However even a “mild” case can be very nasty indeed and I have a relative severely impacted by Long Covid from spring 2020, so I’m taking due precautions.

I have bad anxiety but no health anxiety.

I’m 57 had 2 jabs and still kind of scared….

I'm mid-30s and have a few risk factors.

I'm not scared of dying from Covid, but I am scared of contracting Long Covid. I already live with pretty debilitating illness, not sure I could survive more.

@Noreana I’m 42, massively obese - BMI of 56. I have mobility issues, which haven’t helped. Apart from that I have no underlying anything else.

I have health anxiety, and spent last year absolutely convinced I was on a death sentence and COVID would kill me. I cried, had panic attacks and ate myself about 5 stone more than I already was. It was a nightmare.

I say was, because I sought help (both with anxiety meds, and talking therapy) in December, and although I am still a little anxious - it’s so much easier now. I’ve been fully jabbed, and hopefully that will offer you some reassurance. Even one jab has given you more protection.

What helped me as well was signing up to a health coach, who have given me diet goals, achievable ones and it’s making me feel like I’m taking a bit of control over the spiral of self destructive catastrophising that I was on. Slow and steady, and taking control is what works for me.

early-mid thirties, obese
I also have health anxiety, and was very afraid of catching it in the first wave.
Then I got it, this year, asymptomatic (caught by a lateral flow test). Would never have known.
Honestly, I wasted a lot of time worrying!

Pressed send too soon.
I was lucky, as I wasn't ill at all. I didn't mean to brush off quite genuine concerns.

I know someone who is convinced they will die from Covid.
They are more than twice your age have a higher BMI and are CV/CEV on multiple counts.
They had Covid last March and were mildly unwell for about 10 days, they have been double jabbed.
All HCPs agree that the risk is actually quite minimal and they are unlikely to be even as ill as last time.
MH is what makes them think this. They are an intelligent person with risk analyse experience, anxiety prevents them from applying their skills to their own circumstances.