DH horrendous cough

[justbananas42]

DH is on day 4 of isolation and his cough is really terrible. It’s practically non stop and he’s wretching occasionally as well. He also feels very under the weather, like he has a case of flu or something. He’s 44 years old and double jabbed with Astra Zeneca. I’m worried

OP is he sleeping on his front? It's also important to make sure he gets up and gives his arms and chest a good stretch every few hours.

It's so frustrating when doctors feign ignorance at times- she completely understood what you meant ref steroids, just trying to put you off for some reason.

‘When covid first started they said if there was no improvement after 10 days likely hood would be you would end up in hospital (don't want to scare you).’
I don’t know if this was strictly true for all cases but there were some cases like this HOWEVER that was with the original variant and Delta behaves a little differently. I think you need to try not to read too much in to all this differing advice and info and go straight to the source. The doctor has given you her advice, if you are not happy with it I would ask for a second opinion. Covid can be nasty, can properly knock you out ( as proper flu can) but lots of rest and taking ibuprofens and paracetamol will help, you can alternate them so temp is always controlled. Lots of fluids and don’t be afraid to ring docs again if concerned. It might take a while to shift it but rest snd not doing too much will also help, so maybe not wandering round garden even if stir crazy and feeling slightly improved.

I'd be worried that he has a secondary chest infection/pneumonia with a temp that high still op. I think he needs face to face examination with a doctor.

@SilverSandStorm I just looked up the symptoms - DH says he’s “not really” coughing up mucus. After a bit of cross examination, we finally agreed that meant he is coughing up a little bit. I will mention this to 111 tomorrow. Thanks for flagging.

No worries @justbananas42

Make sure your dh doesn't downplay his symptoms too, even if he doesn't get seen he can be prescribed antibiotics via a telephone consultation if needed. Hope he turns a corner soon

Are you checking his temperature and his oxygen levels around 4 times a day ? If you do this breakfast , lunch , tea time and bedtime it should give you a better reading of what is going on . If his temp is high and he is shivery paracetamol will bring it down and also help with any headaches he may have . Hope he is feeling better soon . When my DD was admitted to hospital she constantly had a temp over 40 degrees for a week. From the readings of his temp and his SATS he seems to be holding his own . I also wouldn't worry about him not eating too much , you can do without a lot of food for a while but you do need to make sure he's drinking plenty to avoid dehydration . As a PP said it's the colour of the urine that points to dehydration, if it's dark then he needs to drink more. Water will do if he can't face milk or anything else . Good luck

justbananas42 how's dh?

Hope he's had a better day

I had a friend who called ambulance for a high temp with covid they came out and done a full assessment she didn't need hospital turns out she hadn't taken anything to bring temp down but might be worth doing that

Jesus, @Cherrytart23, your friend is not very bright.

@whitehorsesdonotlie

I had a friend who called ambulance for a high temp with covid they came out and done a full assessment she didn't need hospital turns out she hadn't taken anything to bring temp down but might be worth doing that

Jesus, @Cherrytart23, your friend is not very bright.

I think panic just took over her which to be fair is understandable in the circumstances.

Hi everyone, not much time to update this morning but DH is much the same. It's been over two weeks now - I'm really starting to struggle mentally trying to work, look after the DC and keep the house going, all on very little sleep. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up and am starting to worry he will never get better.

justbananas42 oh no that's awful. Has he had antibiotics? He should be seen really by the sounds of it.

OP - what's his temp / o2 and pulse like today?

You need to insist he is seen today

@Cherrytart23 , in a time when the NHS and the ambulance service is horrendously stretched, your friend calling an ambulance for a temperate she hasn't even tried to treat could have resulted in the death of a patient who needed an ambo more.

@whitehorsesdonotlie
Am sure if she could go back in time and do things differently she would like i say she just panicked!

@justbananas42

Hi everyone, not much time to update this morning but DH is much the same. It's been over two weeks now - I'm really starting to struggle mentally trying to work, look after the DC and keep the house going, all on very little sleep. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up and am starting to worry he will never get better.

Sorry to hear it's still not looking good, as he managed to be assessed again?

Do you have anyone to help you OP? Family nearby? Friends? Get your kids PCR tested & so long as they are negative, ship them off to someone for a few hours or even a sleepover? If you are worried about your husband still being infectious, get him to do a LF & see if it’s still positive. It’s unlikely after 14 days. I tested positive from day 1-day 9 but it was faded on day 9 & negative from day 10 onwards.

I can’t help think his continuing fever is from a secondary infection rather than covid at this point. Could be chest, could be sinuses.. I really think you should get him checked by your GP for your peace of mind as you sound so worried & exhausted.

Can you take some annual leave while your kids are at school? Can you pull a couple sick days for the sake of your mental health? Spend the time catching up on some cleaning & having a rest! I don’t think anyone would blame you. I’m quite used to looking after my kids & house on my own as my OH works away quite often but it must be a shock if you are used to him helping a lot!

Can you take some annual leave while your kids are at school? Can you pull a couple sick days for the sake of your mental health?

On this note, you are actually entitled to (unpaid) leave as a parent, so it might be worth asking to use some of that..
Info below taken from the Gov website incase you weren't aware this was a thing, if it gives you a bit of a break it's worth asking for it as they can't refuse and you can say it's to care for children when DH is so ill and unable to share the parenting burden..

Obviously this depends if you can afford to take a weeks unpaid leave but definitely worth considering IMO.

Entitlement
Parental leave is unpaid. You’re entitled to 18 weeks’ leave for each child and adopted child, up to their 18th birthday.
The limit on how much parental leave each parent can take in a year is 4 weeks for each child (unless the employer agrees otherwise).
You must take parental leave as whole weeks (eg 1 week or 2 weeks) rather than individual days, unless your employer agrees otherwise or if your child is disabled. You don’t have to take all the leave at once.
A ‘week’ equals the length of time an employee normally works over 7 days.

My 46 year old brother very recently had Covid and was very similar to your husband. He took himself off to a&e after his isolation period and it ended up being a nasty chest infection. The antibiotics have helped him to make a full recovery.

Fair enough, @Cherrytart23 , I hope she's ok now!

Op, how is your h? What's his pulse rate and oxygen sats? Have you persuaded him to seek medical advice?

His temperature has come down into the normal range and has been stable for several days, since he started taking regular Nurofen every four hours. So that is good news.

He rang 111 again today and was really quite upset by the response - apparently they just gave him very general advice about over the counter medicines and drinking warm water, like they did with me.

He also called his GP and was told there was a three day wait as they have to prioritize patients in terms of need, despite the fact that DH is really struggling!

He then rang the pharmacy who were helpful and said they thought he needed antibiotics for the cough. But he has to wait three days to get an appointment with the GP!

Honestly the system is maddening, absolutely ridiculous and I’ve completely lost faith. It’s all very well the NHS website saying to ring if you have this or that symptom, but when you do you are given information that is plain wrong (in the case of me being told I need to isolate) or you’re told to take throat sweets.

I’m honestly at my wits end and wondering who to turn to. I can understand why @Cherrytart23’s friend called an ambulance TBH because right now, it seems like the only way to get anyone to listen.

If you are worried about your husband still being infectious, get him to do a LF & see if it’s still positive. It’s unlikely after 14 days.

I thought that @Bobholll but then I read that LFTs are not always accurate and that you’re not meant to take one for 90 days after you get Covid! Is that even right?! My head is spinning with all the information I’ve read - I blame the tiredness

DH’s oximeter readings seem to have stabilized at 93 today. It’s not great but at least it’s more consistent - for now.

He took himself off to a&e after his isolation period and it ended up being a nasty chest infection.

@Thisislifefornow did your brother have any chest pains do you know? I was trying to work out whether DH’s cough is on his chest - he said he doesn’t have chest pain so I concluded it wasn’t?!

I wish the pharmacy could just prescribe antibiotics, because getting seen by a GP seems pretty much impossible right now

My friend has a chest infection and got antibiotics after ringing 111.