Elderly and covid

[Oscarbin]

My elderly mother has caught Covid from myself,
Very faint line on LFT today, i am on day 5.

She is quite weak and also has dementia, doubled vaccinated and boostered. Does anyone know how bad this new variant gets?

I'm quite for and it has floored me! Still not sleeping with the aches and pains.

God it's such a worry!

Just needed some advice x

.

The truth is, its impossible to say how this might affect your mum. How sick you get depends on:

• the varient
• the size of the initial exposure
• your underlying health
• the make up of your immune system
• your vaccine status
• whether youd had COVID before.

Put that through the mincer and it can be anything from a slight sniffles to akin to severe flu. You might find your mum is less sick than yourself, or because her general health is not great, it could make her very poorly.

The important thing is that she's vaccinated. Those taking care of her need to keep a close eye on her and seek medical input if she deteriorates. If that happens there are a range of treatment options that may help her.

its horrible to worry about but I do hope you aren't blaming yourself. At this point infection from some source or other is really inevitable.

It's honestly impossible to say. My 92 year old Mum with COPD and an immune disorder seemed to breeze through her brush with Covid a few weeks ago. But others aren't so fortunate. As said earlier, the most important thing is that your Mum vaccinated.

Hope you both recover quickly.

Thank you

She's just more confused than usual, so that could be it.

It's just awful, don't know what to do for the best anymore!

Thank you for replying.

Laura

No one can tell you how your mum might react. But my previously shielding grandma caught it a few weeks ago and barely noticed. I know that’s anecdotal, but just an example of how it’s not a given that your mum will be really ill.

My 89 year old mum has it currently and seems basicaly fine, it's more like a sore throat/code.

Was just to hear something positive about it all I think.

It's just a worry with the vulnerable.

She may be entitled to anti viral drugs, have you contacted her gp? They need to be started asap to be most effective.

I don’t think you can ever tell.

My dad tested positive twice last year, both times in hospital.

Not a single symptom each time.

He’s 86 and has vascular dementia.

Thinking of you. My 99 year old grandparent had it about 6 weeks ago. Thankfully no symptoms, it was picked up on routine care home PCR testing. Back to their normal self as soon as isolation was over and we could visit again.

My nan who is 95 had it last week. She 'felt a bit funny' and a bit sick at first but continued to eat etc. She was more tired. Her mobility is bad generally but she was fine and is fully recovered now.

Have you got an oximeter for her?

Hi no oximeter at the moment

She just seems more confused but that could be the virus.

An increase in confusion is a common sign of COVID amongst the elderly. It would be a really good idea to get hold of oximeter and keep an eye on her blood oxygen saturation. Your gp might be able to help, or you can buy them off Amazon.

Thank you I have just been looking on Amazon.

Where did you read about the symptoms in elderly? Everything I read just says the old cough and temp.

Many thanks

This might be useful: covid.joinzoe.com/post/delirium-phe-update

And this is a useful thread from a doctor: twitter.com/danielgoyal/status/1499839766979923970?s=21

Yes on the Zoe covid app. And my friend's father suffered with it when he caught COVID (he also had dementia).

Has your Mum's positive result been reported into the NHS? In our area (and I assume elsewhere as well), there is a service which contacts potentially vulnerable people with Covid, sends them a Pulse-ox if needed and keeps tabs on how they are doing.

My Mum received one in the post the day after her positive test and the service called three or four times a day to ask for readings.

Hi yes it has been recorded through NHS! I will look into this thank you

I know an 87 year old fellow who breezed through last week.
No dementia but he has a pile of other health issues.
X fingers for your mum.

My mum is 80 and had it a month ago. Apart from a few minor symptoms she felt OK, sore throat, cough and loss of taste. She only stayed in bed a few days cos her vertigo decided to rear its ugly head at about the same time. Her GP contacted her and someone brought an oximeter to her house and rang her every day for her readings. 12 days after testing positive she was in hospital having her eyes done so she couldn't have felt that bad. If it was the same for everybody we wouldn't be in the mess we are. Hope you both feel better soon op

If you want positive anecdotes, my grandad also has dementia alongside various other conditions and when we all had it, he was asymptomatic. I, 50 years younger was rough as arseholes!

It's just very hard to say. On a population level, elderly people are more likely to get really ill than younger people, but there are still millions of them barely affected. Because the numbers involved are so high and because it's not actually a disease that kills or causes serious illness to most people even when they are very old.

Thank you for your messages !

My mam has no symptoms still she said she felt a bit cold but that was before covid.

I am now on day 6 and after feeling good this Morning! I feel horrendous again. Aching, feel sick, knackered but cannot sleep.

Urghh!