What have you been doing to protect yourself from COVID? (Uncommon ideas/practices, please, not the things that we've already talked to death)

[Halftime Hope]

I'm interested in steps that boardies have taken/are taking to lower their risk due to COVID, besides minimizing inter-personal contact, wearing masks, and getting vaccinated.  (There has been ample discussion of those three items already.)

What else have you done to mitigate your risk?  I suspect answers will fall into two categories: 1) I'm improving my overall health by ________. 2) I'm improving my odds against being exposed to COVID by __________.  (I'm really interested in the things that haven't been widely discussed and accepted as gospel truth, so consider this a "differential" question.) 

I want this to be an open, accepting thread for people to share what they are doing: those of you who like to confront/prod/demand proof, and communicate that propensity in ways that wouldn't be acceptable face-to-face, you are welcome to read, but please don't challenge people who volunteer their practices in this thread.  (Those who might think this is a nice place to troll, please don't. It's a serious question, and we should be able to draw on collective wisdom from our differing experiences and backgrounds.) 

Thanks, all! 

I'll go first with one item:  I've been using a 1:60 diluted betadine:distilled water nasal spray when I feel the need. I have to be around people for work, and when I think I've been put at higher risk than I'm comfortable with, it's easy to add a nasal spritz to my routine. There should be at least one study coming out on it in May, but I have no idea what it will say.  I'm happy to embrace this precaution without ironclad proof; the theory behind it seems plausible.  A nice side benefit: it soothes the nasal passages, unlike saline washes. (Allergies...) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bootsie]

I can't say that I have done anything unusual, but I have tried to do the basic things for good health--plenty of exercise, plenty of fresh outdoor air, lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and a well-balanced diet.  Probably the biggest change in the past year is getting plenty of rest, and giving myself permission to sleep late or take a nap.

[Ausmumof3]

Last year when it was more of a concern here we spent an hour a day outdoors through winter.  We’ve just had the non Covid bug from hell and I’m going to do it again for a while.  By the time we do school, housework and sports many days I’m barely outside and I think it’s making me unhealthy.

 

[Melissa in Australia]

Wore shorts as much as possable and stayed outside as much as I can. Exposing lots of skin

The exact opposite of what I would normally do as I live in Australia with the highest skin cancer in the world and I don't use sunscreen and usually cover. 

I am the most tanned I have  ever been in my life

[Ottakee]

These might have been covered already but Vit D, zinc, good sleep habits and as much outdoor time as possible.

[Pam in CT]

I've become vastly more conscious about ventilation. I consciously note whether there are windows, whether the windows are open, ceiling heights, cross currents, etc. As we slowly shift into Re Entry phase in the coming months, I think I'll privilege spaces that are ventilated and NOT air-conditioned, which will be a significant change from the BeforeTimes.

Echoing previous posters re more and better rest, better nutrition, less hectic pacing.

I'm attempting meditation again, and doing a bit better than prior runs at it. (I have always had serious difficulty turning off monkeymind.) That's more a mental health thing than physical risk mitigation, but to my mind the stress elements of COVID aspects have been very real.

[Roadrunner]

Yes, airing out the house a lot. I didn’t realize how much that mattered. 

Edited April 19, 2021 by Roadrunner

[Acorn]

A friend told me she bought a CO2 meter for her shared office.  I’m curious to read more about that.

[Halftime Hope]

9 minutes ago, Acorn said:

A friend told me she bought a CO2 meter for her shared office.  I’m curious to read more about that.

Let us know what you find out...trying to wrap my head around that one. 

[Acorn]

18 minutes ago, Halftime Hope said:

Let us know what you find out...trying to wrap my head around that one. 

She watches the CO2 rise as more people enter the office and is hoping to use data to get better air exchange.

[Roadrunner]

Well I watched a video somebody linked here about Covid. A British doctor was saying how in the old days they would air out hospital rooms before re-bandaging the wounds, and how clean air kept infections to a minimum. Apparently now that we build new hospital buildings where windows don’t even open, the infection rates are way up. He was basically saying it didn’t bode well for a pandemic.
 

[Tiberia]

Early on in the pandemic, when I had to go out for groceries or for work, I started doing a nasal rinse every night and then using Xlear nasal spray with xylitol. It's supposed to keep the virus from attaching to your nasal passages. Don't know if it works or not, but I never got covid despite being out a lot for essential work and shopping. 

[Farrar]

I do think the typically discussed steps are BY FAR the most important things one can do right now.

But going forward, the ventilation thing is the thing I'm really aware of. As we start socializing indoors again, in addition to masking, I know I'm going to be really aware of ventilation. We've been airing out the house a bit more, but when we start having company again, I know we'll leave windows open. And in evaluating whether I feel safe spending time indoors somewhere with people, I know that's going to be my major question. Right now, I haven't been - only going indoors to get necessities. But now that I'll be fully vaxxed soon, I'm going to start going places again. And while I'll stay masked, if I'm choosing an indoor activity, then this is going to be my major question. Is it ventilated.

[Ausmumof3]

1 hour ago, Roadrunner said:

Yes, airing out the house a lot. I didn’t realize how much that mattered. 

Yes this too.  The funny thing is reading Charlotte Mason and vintage house keeping books there’s always so much emphasis on ventilation (and Florence nightingale) but it’s like vaccination and antibiotics have made health so easy that we’ve got really lazy.  Funnily enough fatigue management and focus are a million times better for all of us when we pay attention to air quality.

[iamonlyone]

Speaking of nasal sprays, have you seen news about SanNotize? The trials in Canada and the UK look promising: https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/clinical-trial-confirms-nasal-spray-efficacy-in-treating-reducing-transmission-of-covid-19

 

[Catwoman]

@Halftime Hope  Thank you so much for starting this thread — I’m getting some excellent ideas and information here! 

[prairiewindmomma]

Aside: We have an AirNow air quality meter. We got it during wildfire season, but it has been surprising how high our CO2 ratings get at times during the day. We open our windows much more frequently now.

[Amira]

I can’t air out my apartment here (air quality issues and rats living on my balconies make that less desirable in my own place), but I have been glad to live in a country right now where I can do nearly everything I need to do outside.  I do most of my grocery shopping in an outdoor market, just running into a corner store in the morning for a couple of minutes when we need eggs or milk.  Air conditioning isn’t common so windows and doors are open everywhere to keep things ventilated.  Public transit and taxis always have their windows down rather than using the AC. No one thinks twice of sitting outside rather than inside here.  Plus masking means that the air quality issues are less of a concern for me, which is obviously important since I’m outside so much.  

If it does turn out that corona has been less of a problem in lower-income countries (which isn’t at all sure yet because we really don’t know what is going on in most of the world), I’ll wonder if simply having more of life going on outdoors will have made a big difference, because there truly are no other mitigation attempts going on here except for some limited indoor crowd control.

[klmama]

Using hydrogen peroxide on swabs in nose and ears upon returning home after close exposures.  I know, I know, it kills skin cells.  It kills viruses, too.   

[Laura Corin]

Over the winter we were running a humidifier in our bedroom. Dry winter air makes it hard for the body to make mucous to carry viruses away.

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/op-ed-humidity-can-aid-in-the-fight-against-covid-19/

[fraidycat]

This is a great thread! 

[Halftime Hope]

20 hours ago, iamonlyone said:

Speaking of nasal sprays, have you seen news about SanNotize? The trials in Canada and the UK look promising: https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/clinical-trial-confirms-nasal-spray-efficacy-in-treating-reducing-transmission-of-covid-19

 

Yes, there are a couple, and it makes complete sense.  

[Bootsie]

I have avoided taking elevators; I use the stairs in the open rotunda part of my building at work rather than entering into the stairwell which is isolated by fire-protection doors.  

[Pam in CT]

20 minutes ago, Bootsie said:

I have avoided taking elevators; I use the stairs in the open rotunda part of my building at work rather than entering into the stairwell which is isolated by fire-protection doors.  

Yeah, I avoid elevators as well -- take stairs up to 3rd or 4th floor. And when I *have* to go on one -- my FIL and SIL both live on the 12th+ floor, I take a YUGE breath before I go in, hold it as long as I can endure, and pray fervently the entire time it's moving that there isn't a malfunction. There's a teeny tiny chance this may be a bit over the top, LOL.

[Guest]

I didn’t kiss my husband when he came home from a fishing trip! 😆

I permanently changed the way we eat certain foods, most notably, birthday cake. No more singing over a cake and having one person blow on it. (Like, why did we ever think that was a good idea...) We slice one piece, put a candle on it, cover the main cake, sing, person blows out candle, then reopen the cake and give everyone a slice. 

If we have a tin with cookies in, people must wash hands before taking out the cookies they want. Same with anything like chips, nuts, etc. Pour out the portion you want, don’t fish around in the bag or box with your hand. 

Especially earlier in the pandemic, eating food communally skeeved me out more than most things. 

[itsheresomewhere]

The only thing we have changed is making sure we are taking time for us.  

[Halftime Hope]

Thanks to everyone who has contributed. Keep the ideas coming!  

Here in my southern state, it's almost impossible to ventilate anywhere that isn't your own home.  Work, school, church -- not able to change any of that. 

My overall emphasis has been to do the best I can to enable/strengthen/shore up my own immune system and to have a plan for a doctor who will treat us as outpatients early in the disease. Check and check!  

One further thing that is off the beaten path is that I decided I was done with a job that I was miserable in. I stuck with my workplace through the first two waves and did very well by them and by all our membership -- I listened by the hour! -- and I'm grateful for the chance to have been there for people and to have been involved with them more than ever before. But when another door opened up, I moved, and that has been such a delightful and healthy thing. I'm truly grateful, and I consider it a "God thing" that this new job, with truly wonderful people, opened up when I needed it most.  Happiness is good for our health, too.   :-) 

 

 

 

 

[Farrar]

I have to take the elevator if I drive to the grocery store. Sometimes it's just unavoidable.

Today at the post office, I just stood there holding the door open because it was so clearly stuffy inside. I swear my post office is the absolute worst in the nation.

[fraidycat]

23 hours ago, iamonlyone said:

Speaking of nasal sprays, have you seen news about SanNotize? The trials in Canada and the UK look promising: https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/clinical-trial-confirms-nasal-spray-efficacy-in-treating-reducing-transmission-of-covid-19

 

Thanks to this thread and link, along with these links:

https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/full/10.1164/rccm.200202-138BC

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306987705006328 shared in another thread, I hummed on my drive to and from the store today. 😁

Who knows if it actually does anything, (my drive was only about a minute, not an hour!), but it's easy to do, so why not! 🤷🏻‍♀️😁

[Catwoman]

26 minutes ago, fraidycat said:

Thanks to this thread and link, along with these links:

https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/full/10.1164/rccm.200202-138BC

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306987705006328 shared in another thread, I hummed on my drive to and from the store today. 😁

Who knows if it actually does anything, (my drive was only about a minute, not an hour!), but it's easy to do, so why not! 🤷🏻‍♀️😁

 

So now I’m sitting here humming....

 

[BeachGal]

@Halftime Hope I did not know you could make your own betadine nasal spray! I will be giving this a go.

Besides vitamin D, I am still a believer in the power of O3, ozone! 😁 And it is still being offered to patients in Italy and a few other countries.

 

[Halftime Hope]

9 hours ago, BeachGal said:

@Halftime Hope I did not know you could make your own betadine nasal spray! I will be giving this a go.

Besides vitamin D, I am still a believer in the power of O3, ozone! 😁 And it is still being offered to patients in Italy and a few other countries.

 

Yep, but I had a hard time gettting betadine last spring!  I'm still on the same 12 oz bottle....it goes a long, long way when you're just spritzing it.  (I think you can gargle with it, too. I would if I knew I had active COVID.) 

[Bootsie]

I drank more hot herbal teas over the last year than usual--especially ones that were designed for respiratory health and wellness.  

Also, when I have enjoyed a glass of red wine, I am hopeful that the alcohol would kill any virus in my mouth and throat.  And a hot toddy is good for a cold or flu, so perhaps it helps COVID, too.

It isn't a way necessarily a way to prevent COVID, but one thing I have noticed myself doing in the past year is paying much closer attention to a range of scents and the nuances of taste.  Often when I get a brief whiff of something--I savor it thinking to myself, "I probably don't have COVID because I definitely haven't lost my sense of smell."  It has probably helped reduce stress and savor the moment--and has encourage me to eat and enjoy a wide range of foods.