What do you recommend buying, in case of covid?

[starfish4]

Just preparing for winter and bugs (usually do this), but just wondering if there's anything that'd be really good to have in just in case we caught covid.

My normal prep includes keeping stocked up so I wouldn't be too worried about food for a week or so. In case we're ill I normally have fruit juice, soup, honey, squash (DH likes when ill), paracetamol, ibuprofen, strepsils, soothers, lemsip and tissues. Is there anything else people who've had covid would recommend?

I currently have Covid.
Pain relief - paracetomol/ibruprofen, lempsip if you can't swallow

Cold drinks - I was constantly thirsty

Tissues

Throat sweets/cough mixture

Easy microwaveable meals, soup, freezepops, ice cream maybe?

I would buy a pulse oximeter; you can get them for about £15 on Amazon. I bought one at the start of the pandemic and it detected my husband's low oxygen levels (91%) when we had covid a couple of weeks ago, meaning that we sought medical advice even though he seemed okay. He then spent 4 days in hospital with covid & pneumonia. We wouldn't have detected the low oxygen without it and the early treatment meant that he recovered very well.

I'd just add decongestant tablets as the sinus pain was horrific followed by floods of snot!

@treesarebeautiful

I would buy a pulse oximeter; you can get them for about £15 on Amazon. I bought one at the start of the pandemic and it detected my husband's low oxygen levels (91%) when we had covid a couple of weeks ago, meaning that we sought medical advice even though he seemed okay. He then spent 4 days in hospital with covid & pneumonia. We wouldn't have detected the low oxygen without it and the early treatment meant that he recovered very well.

Good idea. I've been using mine to check levels. It's been reassuring when I've been breathless. A digital thermometer was invaluable too as temp went up to 39.6 regularly.

Hope you and your husband are on the mend.

middleager hope you feel better soon.

treesarebeautiful sorry to hear your husband ended in hospital. I hope he's made a full recovery. Oximeter has been put on the list!

Your list sounds good so far. I would add in some supplements. My reading and prior experience of COVID has lead me to plan for the following as daily doses, if ill with it:

5000mg vitamin C daily -I would suggest the ascorbate form – e.g. calcium ascorbate or magnesium ascorbate. A powder form enables you to take high doses more easily and is usually better value for money

1000iu vitamin D / 5000iu once a week.
30mg zinc daily
500mg Quercetin 2-3x daily
Spatone 1 daily with vitamin C
Sambucol

I'm also giving DC sambucol and vitamin D preventatively.

In terms of food, I'd just try to have a backup of basics - long life or frozen milk, bread, tins etc.

We all have Covid in my house this last week and we've been enjoying pots of jelly plus all the above

Dioralyte. Covid made me very dehydrated and nauseous

Pulse oximeter definitely.
On a more trivial note if you lose your sense of taste and smell I found I wanted strong spicy flavours. Also tangy sweets.

I agree that a pulse oximeter is very important. Luckily our oxygen levels stayed ok but it was very reassuring to be able to measure them when breathless and with palpitations.

Other than other medical things like paracetamol and a decent thermometer thing I found really helpful was a selection of individual juice cartons with straws. I really lost my appetite to the extent that even drinking was a challenge. With the individual cartons I could just lie in bed and take little sips without much effort.

When I got my appetite back a shed load of chocolate would have been useful. Although I don't normal have a particularly sweet tooth I absolutely craved sugar and chocolate in particularly for about a week. My half stone Covid weight loss sadly didn't last very long!

Thanks @starfish4. He is doing fine now, but it was a very stressful few days, especially as his mum & sister sadly died of covid earlier this year.

@middleager I hope you feel better soon.

Totally agree that the pulse oximeter is great for reassurance when you're feeling breathless, and second the suggestions for juice etc. We found ice lollies were very popular too.

I've COVID at the moment in addition to that already mentioned I'd also add:

Cool patches (for keeping fever down between paracetamol doses)

Thermometer if you don't have one already

Low sodium foods (I became hypersensitive to the taste of salt which around 1/3 do apparently)

Plenty of water to drink - I found having the sport top bottles helped as at times I couldn't cope well with more than sips I'd get choked up Also makes it easier to drink lying down

Soft/easy to swallow foods - between sore throat and fatigue you'll want easy stuff. Tinned pasta, mashed potato, soup that kinda thing.

I'm 2 weeks in and my appetite still very poor and can only manage one meal a day something soft

I too have lost 1/2 stone in that fortnight just fell off! Still losing

Oximeter if anyone likely to get breathlessness (reasonable quality one), only I did and I have asthma / allergies.
Industrial quantities of tissues for the heaviest cold ever. 1 packet per person per day for first 5 days or so.
Cold and flu tablets or similar for the decongestant and paracetomol.
Cough medicine for chesty coughs - had benelin
Drinks - having drinks with lemon as one of few things can taste (anything sour will do)
I have been taking vitamins including iron but I get low in iron, ones without if you don't may be useful for if you can't taste / get gastric symptoms.
Imodium for gastric symptoms.
I have used anti-histamines for rashes but have allergies and only one to have rashes
Food may lose all taste / smell so can just taste texture and also when hot I couldn't stand eating hot food. Dairy makes me sick. But difficult to say with food, it varies by the day.

Also cleaning products/handgel if trying to avoid it spreading though tbh not up to cleaning when had it and it spread to 3 out of 4 of us.

Difflam throat spray. I have covid and my throat is really sore. Not as bad as tonsillitis, but it's not miles away.

And yes to tissues. Jeez I'm snotty 🤧

Covid seems to cause different symptoms in different people.
I was hospitalised but had zero cold symptoms, no runny nose at all. I have asthma and although I got a cough it wasn't an asthma cough.
I did lose 12lb in a couple of weeks, which went back on when appetite regained.
I got awful mouth ulcers around week 4.
I got the salt sensitivity, all food tasted salty.

I'm recovering from COVID and luckily no cough at all (relieved as I have asthma), sore throat, temperature and blocked sinuses. Hardly any snot at all. Loss of smell for about 5 days but sadly no loss of appetite what so ever. I'm on a vaccine trial so already had a thermometer and pulse oximeter. My sats didn't go below 99% so I guess the vaccine probably did it's thing. Worse symptom for me was the sinus pain. Nice food definitely a priority purchase if you are like me and eat your way through feeling grotty and bored.

Ice lollies for sore throats

DD has had Covid this week, it didn't really affect her chest or breathing at all (thankfully).
I tried to avoid paracetomal and gave ibuprofen instead. I only reduced her temperature when she was really miserable to support the immune response. She had a bad headache and high temp for 5 days. Slept alot and was fatigued for along time. Upset stomach (diarolyte, extra toilet roll), coldsore (zovirax), ulcers (bonjela), lost appetite and really sore throat (strepsils, soups, frozen fruit juice ice lollies to get some nutrients into her).

Why avoid paracetamol. It's easier on the stomach. Surely alternating is best

@shouldbedoing I didn't want the paracetomal to bring down her temperature unless she was really uncomfortable. The whole point of a temperature is it is an immune response to kill infection, letting it run its course gets rid of infection quicker.

I'm with TiddleTaddleTat, I work in a school so I've been taking 12mg zinc & vitamin D since September. I started with a cold on Friday, so I also started taking 1000mg vit c every 1-2 hours. Tested positive, mild cold symptoms and felt a bit tired over the weekend. I'm on day 5 now and feel fine no other symptoms so far, so hopefully it's helped. I get zinc & vit D from Savers and order bulk vit c online.

@Hpandtheneverendingbedtime
Ibuprofen lowers temperature. As an adult I've tried to let temp flare a bit for the immune response but it bloody hurts!

@shouldbedoing I didn't realise that I'm sure I was always told it didn't, should have goggled. I thought it was ibuprofen for pain and swelling and para for pain and fever. Either way she's better now and she didn't have that many tablets anyway.

Our pulse oximeter was invaluable, not for oxygen levels because they stayed relatively good but for my dh’s pulse rate which suddenly went sky high one day and the gp was able to diagnose a possible secondary infection and was given antibiotics.

I’d also recommend vitamin d and have freshly squeezed lemon juice (and honey if you want it sweet) hot drink daily for vitamin c.

We had lots of soup and added ginger and turmeric for anti inflammatory. You could add it to a drink as well.

We have vitamin c powder, d3 drops with K2, magnesium drops, quercetin.

Some rehydration packets with minerals.
Bromelain and then some other protease enzymes.

Plus lots of herbs with which to make tea. Yarrow and elderflower, thyme, pine needle are my go tos. I've also made some elderberry cordial with which to make a lovely warming drink.