Covid-19 miscellany

[Angra Mainyu]

Well, looks like I got covid

And I know who I got it from.

Almost 2 years of doing everything right could not stand to stupidity of a relative with .... medical background.

I hope you get better soon.

 

[TSwizzle]

well, well, well, Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti has tested positive. Hilarious. He was in Scotland attending the COP26 boondoggle and was tested before he was due to return to LA. So he’s stuck in Scotland for at least a week. I haven’t laughed this much since my granny caught her tits in the mangle.

 

[blastula]

I myself lost some sense of smell. Don't smell alcohol at all, very little vinegar. Though some other chemicals smell fine albeit somewhat reduced. Taste is still 100%. Body temperature has been more less normal for the last couple of days, right now 36.8C
Blood pressure is low 100/70. and heart rate is high 80-90, but I usually get high BP under stress.
Oxygen is 93-95, but I had 95 average before this crap.
Very minor coughing. I mean I have to remind myself to test-cough it to check it is still there.
No headache and muscle pain is gone with temperature.
Problem are cold sweat/hot flashes during night. During day I feel fine now. I don't know if that's an indication that I am getting better or just a period before shit hitting the fan.

I was 95 baseline on my oximeter too, but I still don't know if its just badly calibrated. When I had covid, it read as low as 88 which worried me, because google says even under 95 is bad, so I asked a virtual doctor if I need to do something, and they said get help if you ever have difficulty breathing, and so I stopped checking the meter and instead looked at my breathing itself, which was never in trouble.

OK, googling says shit hits the fan between day 5 and day 10. I am day 6 now.

Second week is when things can turn bad, but hopefully your vaccination has lessened that risk. The thing is so variable with everyone. For me, I had nasty flu symptoms for a month, and they changed from day to day and week to week. I would feel better in morning, because fever is lower then, but it would always go back up. The coughing was daily for me, and didn't completely stop till after 8 weeks. The worst part were the headaches which began after 2 weeks in, never had them much before, and these were intense, felt like what I imagined migraines would feel like. Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen did help a lot though both for fever and headaches. Pro tip, you can take them together without one counting against the other's daily limit.

Good luck.

 

[barbos]

I was 95 baseline on my oximeter too, but I still don't know if its just badly calibrated

Google says it's individual differences in blood micro-circulation in extremities. If you have cold hands then it will show lower oxygen in finger, which does not mean it is low in the rest of the body.

I presume you were not vaccinated at the time, because your symptoms looks way worse than mine so far.
Everything has been normal for more than 24 hours (BP, temperature)
Basically, I have dry coughing, and nose passages are slightly narrowed but no snots, just self-aware when breathing through nose.
that could be burn from trying to smell vinegar too much.
And of course almost no sense of smell. I hope all that is meaningful indication of things going well.

 

[Angra Mainyu]

I myself lost some sense of smell. Don't smell alcohol at all, very little vinegar. Though some other chemicals smell fine albeit somewhat reduced. Taste is still 100%. Body temperature has been more less normal for the last couple of days, right now 36.8C
Blood pressure is low 100/70. and heart rate is high 80-90, but I usually get high BP under stress.
Oxygen is 93-95, but I had 95 average before this crap.
Very minor coughing. I mean I have to remind myself to test-cough it to check it is still there.
No headache and muscle pain is gone with temperature.
Problem are cold sweat/hot flashes during night. During day I feel fine now. I don't know if that's an indication that I am getting better or just a period before shit hitting the fan.

(I hadn't seen this post). Well, you had two doses of a vaccine, so that probably helps.

I presume you were not vaccinated at the time, because your symptoms looks way worse than mine so far.
Everything has been normal for more than 24 hours (BP, temperature)
Basically, I have dry coughing, and nose passages are slightly narrowed but no snots, just self-aware when breathing through nose.
that could be burn from trying to smell vinegar too much.
And of course almost no sense of smell. I hope all that is meaningful indication of things going well.

Yeah, it doesn't look so bad. But I have no medical background. Did the doctor say anything?

 

[barbos]

Did the doctor say anything?

Did not ask. Considering that medical "worker" got me infected.

 

[repoman]

Almost 2 years of doing everything right could not stand to stupidity of a relative with .... medical background.

She infected at least one other person besides me, and that person has shitload of underlying conditions and was not vaccinated.
two others she had contact with while here are OK for now.

I myself lost some sense of smell. Don't smell alcohol at all, very little vinegar. Though some other chemicals smell fine albeit somewhat reduced. Taste is still 100%. Body temperature has been more less normal for the last couple of days, right now 36.8C
Blood pressure is low 100/70. and heart rate is high 80-90, but I usually get high BP under stress.
Oxygen is 93-95, but I had 95 average before this crap.
Very minor coughing. I mean I have to remind myself to test-cough it to check it is still there.
No headache and muscle pain is gone with temperature.
Problem are cold sweat/hot flashes during night. During day I feel fine now. I don't know if that's an indication that I am getting better or just a period before shit hitting the fan.

You should read this paper NOW and consider the possible need for cyproheptadine

SAGE Journals: Your gateway to world-class research journals

Subscription and open access journals from SAGE Publishing, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

journals.sagepub.com

While a majority of the focus in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been on the common and often fatal lung disease, reports of neurologic dysfunction have been increasing since the pandemic began.1,2 The spectrum of neurologic disease has been broad, from encephalopathy to thromboembolic disease,1,2 among a series of other pathologic mechanisms described by others.3–12 While these reports have not described serotonin syndrome-like manifestations per se, the evidence is mounting in regard to the presence of elevated plasma serotonin levels in COVID-19 patients,13,14 both in severe and non-severe disease, thought to be a result of an intense degree of platelet activation and serotonin liberation from activated platelets due to severe acute respiratory distress syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.13,15,16 Clinically, in two case series, more than 60% of severe COVID-19 subjects exhibited hyperreflexia or myoclonus,17,18 signs relatively specific for serotonin toxicity, occurring at a high enough rate in severe COVID-19 that is unaccountable for by pre-existing use of serotonergic medication. In addition, diarrhea of COVID-19 has also been attributed to an elevated plasma serotonin state.19

We recently encountered two critically ill COVID-19 patients who met the clinical criteria for serotonin syndrome, but neither had identifiable provoking serotonergic medication use. Both patients had extensive evaluations and both clinically improved with supportive care and additional treatment that included serotonin receptor (5HT-2A) antagonism with cyproheptadine.

Some school marms will get mad at me posting this, but I want to have the best chance of making it through.

 

[repoman]

This is from TWiV (This Week in Virologology)

Starting at 19:10 talking about fluvoxamine and the Together Trial



My question is should a doctor be allowed to prescribe fluvoxamine today for a matching covid condition compared to the together trial or have to wait until official CDC/FDA/NIH/WHO etc sanction?

 

[DrZoidberg]

That's a problem because of how we live.

Yes, the way you live is not covid-sustainable. But I wish you luck.

It turns out that my girlfriend dodged the bullet. She didn't get infected, in spite of having sex with somebody with confirmed Covid. Sometimes we're just lucky in life.

 

[Keith&Co.]

So the uber driver and I who arrived at the give way simultaneously this morning should have gotten out of our vehicles, and held an auction for who gets to go first, with the winner paying the loser for the privilege?

No, it should have been sufficient to play a quick game of 'mine is more expensive than yours', no need to dismount.

 

[Toni]

Privileged or willing to stand up for one’s’ self? I would probably decline to book with any provider of any service, medical or otherwise, if the provider and/or support staff were not vaccinated. I get that is much harder to do if there is only one dental practice or whatever in your town, and that would make it much harder to do. But privilege? I’d say that someone who is willing to stand up for themselves has a backbone and may be willing to endure some inconvenience. I don’t see that as privilege. Privilege isn’t someone willing to do something that you are not willing to.

We have a few leaky shut off valves in our plumbing with cups to catch the slow drips. No immediate emergency but I'm sure I'll be looking for a plumber in the next few months. As I call around I'll be making sure to book a vaccinated plumber. It's just about insisting on appropriate service as far as I'm concerned.

We were doing some long scheduled renovations in the days before vaccinations were possible--and at a point where suspending work would have been really, really bad for us and for contractors. So, I sanitized high touch areas before and after they arrived and everyone masked if we were in the same area and socially distanced regardless. This was pre-Delta days so more was unknown and also less virulent strain was prevalent. Luckily it was easy to be in different parts of the house during their work hours as by the time this was happening, I had retired.

 

[ZiprHead]

My wife has confirmed to me that the dentist I spoke about earlier was not vaccinated.

 

[jab]

I am gonna wait 72 hours. coughing feeling seems to be slowly dissolving and in in general it feels exactly like common cold (except high temperature)
To get to doctor I would have to go to the Covid ward. General hospital where I got the shot is pretty much deserted.

The temperature is worrying. Hope you just have a little bacterial infection--or that if it's side effects, it goes away quickly.

A bit over a week ago my son was sent home from school with a fever of 99.6, sniffles and a lot of fatigue. He got tested and negative. Two days later he was fine. We have no idea what it was but colds/flu don't go away that fast.

some colds do, but colds don't usually have fevers.

 

[jab]

Well, looks like I got covid
And I know who I got it from.
Almost 2 years of doing everything right could not stand to stupidity of a relative with .... medical background.

Oh, no; I'm sorry. I hope you get better quickly.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

You're rather privileged if could do so. Not everyone is.
Tom

I don't understand why anyone can't get a different dentist or PCP or barber. Privileged? I don't understand.

I'm saying that by the time you're in a position to ask you're likely to already be in a position you'll be billed for the appointment even if you walk out. And note that if you have HMO insurance you might not have a lot of choice in who to see.

You're billed on procedures done. If no procedure is done there is nothing to bill for.

There are also facilities charges. I think that's what's happening here but it certainly shouldn't apply in this case.

 

[ZiprHead]

You're rather privileged if could do so. Not everyone is.
Tom

I don't understand why anyone can't get a different dentist or PCP or barber. Privileged? I don't understand.

I'm saying that by the time you're in a position to ask you're likely to already be in a position you'll be billed for the appointment even if you walk out. And note that if you have HMO insurance you might not have a lot of choice in who to see.

You're billed on procedures done. If no procedure is done there is nothing to bill for.

There are also facilities charges. I think that's what's happening here but it certainly shouldn't apply in this case.

Facility codes must be accompanied by a procedure code. And technically they are called Place Of Service codes.

 

[barbos]

Sense of smell is returning back. I can smell alcohol again and other stuff smells stronger now, have not tried vinegar though.
7 days since first symptoms.

 

[Toni]

Sense of smell is returning back. I can smell alcohol again and other stuff smells stronger now, have not tried vinegar though.
7 days since first symptoms.

Glad you are seeing some improvement. Hope the trend continues and that you make a full recovery.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

Sense of smell is returning back. I can smell alcohol again and other stuff smells stronger now, have not tried vinegar though.
7 days since first symptoms.

Did you try to do the wasabi test?

 

[barbos]

Sense of smell is returning back. I can smell alcohol again and other stuff smells stronger now, have not tried vinegar though.
7 days since first symptoms.

Did you try to do the wasabi test?

I don't know what that is and I doubt i will find it here.
Ok I googled it, real wasabi certainly can't be found here. I can go and dig some fake wasabi up.