Self help tips whilst you have Covid.

[HyggeandTea]

I'm on day 11 now and appreciate everyone is different, but thought I'd share what has helped me.
(I'm not a medical professional and official advice is always the way to go, this is just personal musings)

Lots of warm drinks. Honey and lemon has been particularly good. Good at stopping a coughing fit.

Regular paracetamol or lemsip and ibuprofen.

Naps...so many naps. Rest, rest, rest.

No taste or smell and painful sinuses. Was advised to use saline wash. Daughter and I came up with a system where we prepared cooled boiled water with pinch of salt and bicarb, then took a straw, sucked some up into it and trickled it up our noses over the sink! Less scary for us than snorting it and it worked well and was soothing/didn't hurt.

Warm flannel compresses on face to help relieve sinuses.

Tried smelling fresh herbs every day. Hint of basil on day 10 which was a cause for celebration.

Rowntrees fruit pastille ice lollies. Comforting on the throat and could taste something, even if not a flavour exactly.

Junk tv and books rather than news and social media.

Supplement-wise.
Vitamins C, D and Zinc.
N-acetyl cysteine for the cough. (has helped me out previously with coughs)
(No idea if either helped, but made me feel pro-active)

Try not to panic. It is unpleasant, but we have all started to get better. x

Thank you. Glad to hear you are all on the road to recovery.

I know ibuprofen wasn’t recommended at the beginning - has that advice definitely changed now? That would be useful to know.

Useful tips, thank you OP.

Licorice is good too - soothes sore throats and coughs (but go easy on it, particularly anyone with high blood pressure).

Garlic. Antiviral, antibiotic, and antiseptic properties.

Turmeric (with black pepper) and ginger. Anti-inflammatory.

Herbs are great. Basil, oregano (especially the oil), rosemary.

Good to hear you and your dd are getting better. I wish you both a speedy full recovery.

@Zandathepanda

I know ibuprofen wasn’t recommended at the beginning - has that advice definitely changed now? That would be useful to know.

Think it's still uncertain. If you want to err on the side of caution, use paracetamol instead (acetaminophen is paracetamol ok USA).

www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/treatments-for-covid-19

The WHO initially recommended using acetaminophen instead of ibuprofen to help reduce fever and aches and pains related to this coronavirus infection, but now states that either acetaminophen or ibuprofen can be used. Rapid changes in recommendations create uncertainty. Since some doctors remain concerned about NSAIDs, it still seems prudent to choose acetaminophen first

Great tips these. I used a throat spray which really helped to avert coughing fits. I drank ginger tea to help with nausea. Fortunately I only lost my sense of smell / taste for a short time so I could actually taste it. I remember my partner saying to me what do you want for tea and I said a packet of ginger biscuits 🐷 whatever gets you through right?

I made a big pan of fresh ginger and lemon tea on a morning and sipped it all day

I took paracetamol and ibuprofen regularly. And drank gin in the evenings. Ate a lot of biscuits. Anything with protein tasted very bitter. So biscuits will get you through.

I agree with you on smelling the herbs! I'm on day 10 now and I have done the same thing 😊 it was a great day when I could smell the mint!

I drank hot drinks with turmeric, lemon, ginger, pepper and honey all day and upped vitamin d to twice a day.
Gargled with listerine mouthwash.
Took paracetamols and just rested. I don’t know if it helped but I only felt really ill for 3 days then it was just feeling lethargic for a few weeks and messed up sense of taste and smell.

Great tips on here

Ibruphrophen is fine to take and will likely help you more than paracetamol due to its anti inflammatory properties.

Regular teeth cleaning helped too! I know that's a bit random, but when I had no taste/smell, it helped that I knew my mouth was fresh and helped with the nausea a bit too.

Belvoir Ginger Cordial made with hot water and a slice of lemon in it, we drank bottles of the thing, it really really helped. Regular paracetamol.
We ate biscuits for about two weeks.
When the thought the O2 saturation was going down, we proned ourselves, two pillows under the tummy, it relieved pressure on the lungs.

We tried to keep in contact with friends/family every day, hypoxia delirium is a clear sign you need more than paracetamol (we didn’t have a pulse ox)