Dh sick for almost 3 weeks (4 weeks now)

[AbcdeDooDah]

Major fatigue, coughing, headache, chest pain, just blah, going on three weeks. Got a z-pack last week and it didn’t touch it. Went to urgent care last night and O2 was 91 with deep breaths. This is the second time since getting his Covid vax that he has been sick. Dr urged him to get a Covid test, which he just left to go get. Anything else nasty going around?

ETA also dizziness and fever on and off. Dr, said not pneumonia.

Edited June 28, 2021 by AbcdeDooDah

[Jaybee]

Yeah, there's a nasty upper respiratory thing going around here. Negative covid test and am vaccinated. Finished my z-pack yesterday, and the steroids this morning. Started with a steroid shot last Monday night, then by Wednesday went back in and was prescribed the other meds (and diagnosed bronchitis). My O2 was 97 though. Today is the first day I haven't spent mostly in bed; it's been mostly in the recliner instead, and I actually went out in the yard and walked around. My head has felt more like in a bucket today, even though there is little congestion, but the Benadryl I took an hour ago is clearing some of that up. It's hard to tell with fever for me because I run low, but I've been running a bit of one.

Dh (who is rarely ever sick) started in with some coughing on Saturday, increasing yesterday. He has been taking ibuprofen at night, which is extremely rare. He came home from work at noon, and just now got up.

I really hope he doesn't get as sick as I have been, because it really knocked it out of me. Today is the first day that getting a shower didn't absolutely wipe me out.

ETA: little congestion currently--there was definitely lots earlier on, mostly Wed-Fri.

Edited June 21, 2021 by Jaybee

[AbcdeDooDah]

I hope you are feeling completely better soon, Jaybee and no one else gets it. Sounds miserable.

DH did get a script for Albuterol. 

Weird that no one else in the house has gotten it. DH isn't exactly good about covering his cough.🙄

[plansrme]

Pneumonia is extremely difficult to diagnose via x-ray. My husband had it a couple of months ago, and his regular doctor couldn't see him for 5 days (!!!!), so he went to an urgent care doctor who insisted it was not pneumonia. It took a CT scan in the ER, where he went because the pain was so bad. Has he had a CT scan? 

[popmom]

RSV is going around in the south. My dd has a horrible cold right now. Probably RSV, but she isn't getting tested for it. One of my other dds had similar illness in May. It was really, really rough--like what you are describing about your dh. She was tested for covid twice--both negative--and she's been vaccinated. I think it took her over a month to completely shake it.

[AbcdeDooDah]

35 minutes ago, plansrme said:

Pneumonia is extremely difficult to diagnose via x-ray. My husband had it a couple of months ago, and his regular doctor couldn't see him for 5 days (!!!!), so he went to an urgent care doctor who insisted it was not pneumonia. It took a CT scan in the ER, where he went because the pain was so bad. Has he had a CT scan? 

No he hasn't. I might suggest it. The Dr. said his lungs sounded "gnarly."

[Slache]

Yes. I've been miserable for 5 weeks. It's awful. We both had negative covid tests.

[itsheresomewhere]

1 hour ago, popmom said:

RSV is going around in the south. My dd has a horrible cold right now. Probably RSV, but she isn't getting tested for it. One of my other dds had similar illness in May. It was really, really rough--like what you are describing about your dh. She was tested for covid twice--both negative--and she's been vaccinated. I think it took her over a month to completely shake it.

This.  I know a few adults who have had this and been hospitalized for it.  
 

If you are in the north, the flu is going on strong along with a nasty virus.  

[lauraw4321]

2 hours ago, itsheresomewhere said:

This.  I know a few adults who have had this and been hospitalized for it.  
 

If you are in the north, the flu is going on strong along with a nasty virus.  

Just QFT. CDC posted notice about big RSV spike. 

[happi duck]

I've never heard of rsv.  How do we avoid it?  Dh tends to catch respiratory things. 😟

[Jaybee]

Dh went in to urgent care, to my surprise. Negative covid test, but the NP said they had had 4 positive cases of vaccinated people today! 🙁 She put dh on a z-pack and prednisone. 

[HSmomof2]

I was sick for a little over a week….mine stayed upper respiratory (headache, very sore throat, severe congestion). I did go for a Covid test even though I’m vaccinated, and they tested for flu as well, both were negative. The NP I saw said there is a non-Covid respiratory bug going around, and they’ve seen a lot of it. 

[Amy in KS]

Yep…. Hubby had the same symptoms 16 days.  Finally diagnosed covid pneumonia.  He was put in the hospital for three days where he was given steroids and oxygen.  Sent home with oxygen and steroids.  Feeling much better, but easily winded now (which he wasn’t before going in).

[AbcdeDooDah]

3 hours ago, Amy in KS said:

Yep…. Hubby had the same symptoms 16 days.  Finally diagnosed covid pneumonia.  He was put in the hospital for three days where he was given steroids and oxygen.  Sent home with oxygen and steroids.  Feeling much better, but easily winded now (which he wasn’t before going in).

Hope he recovers quickly. 

[Carrie12345]

6 hours ago, Jaybee said:

Dh went in to urgent care, to my surprise. Negative covid test, but the NP said they had had 4 positive cases of vaccinated people today! 🙁 She put dh on a z-pack and prednisone. 

I had one of my vaccinated dds get independently tested (negative), but the hospital declined to test other dd *because* she’s vaccinated. I was pretty outraged because we NEED that data. (I would have pushed if I was there, but I wasn’t.)

I love seeing my state say “less than 200 cases” and whatnot... but her experience makes me wonder.

[Ausmumof3]

2 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

I had one of my vaccinated dds get independently tested (negative), but the hospital declined to test other dd *because* she’s vaccinated. I was pretty outraged because we NEED that data. (I would have pushed if I was there, but I wasn’t.)

I love seeing my state say “less than 200 cases” and whatnot... but her experience makes me wonder.

Yuh.  Not testing vaccinated people is certainly going to make the vaccine data look better.

[Shelydon]

There is a respiratory illness circulating here too.  Hope he feels better soon

[TCB]

2 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Yuh.  Not testing vaccinated people is certainly going to make the vaccine data look better.

I guess what happens may depend on politics. Around here it’s more hush hush that all the patients in the ICU are unvaccinated.

[popmom]

17 hours ago, happi duck said:

I've never heard of rsv.  How do we avoid it?  Dh tends to catch respiratory things. 😟

It just causes upper respiratory symptoms like a bad cold, but it can be very serious in infants. 

[AbcdeDooDah]

Expectedly, Covid test was negative. His chest sounds much better (DS is an emt) but the Albuterol is just masking the symptoms.

 

[Katy]

22 hours ago, popmom said:

It just causes upper respiratory symptoms like a bad cold, but it can be very serious in infants. 

Very bad cold. Cough until you puke multiple times a day bad cold. 

[popmom]

2 hours ago, Katy said:

Very bad cold. Cough until you puke multiple times a day bad cold. 

Well, that’s most any cold virus for me, but I have asthma. 

[popmom]

4 hours ago, AbcdeDooDah said:

Expectedly, Covid test was negative. His chest sounds much better (DS is an emt) but the Albuterol is just masking the symptoms.

 

I’m curious if they tested for RSV. The CDC was recommending it in the south if the COVID test is negative. It’s not something that PCP typically do though. 

[AbcdeDooDah]

1 hour ago, popmom said:

I’m curious if they tested for RSV. The CDC was recommending it in the south if the COVID test is negative. It’s not something that PCP typically do though. 

No, they just did a chest x-ray. If it continues, I’ll encourage him to go back for RSV or further pneumonia testing. He went back to work today and has had a crazy time with activity. He’s going to be exhausted.

[Halftime Hope]

On 6/22/2021 at 2:18 PM, popmom said:

It just causes upper respiratory symptoms like a bad cold, but it can be very serious in infants. 

It can make adult patients pretty sick...tends to be worse with those that are immune compromised in some way, or getting older...a cough that just will not. go. away. without a whole lot of other symptoms can be RSV.  Hard coughing, but not the same coughing spasms like with adult whooping cough (pertussis.)

[*****]

Have you all tried hot water with apple cider vinegar drink?  About 1-3 tsp. maybe. It is good for help clearing the lungs.  A friend of mine told me her grandmother drank it all the time, never got respiratory stuff. Not the best taste, but it does help, I often drink it to ward off colds, etc.  Add honey to make it taste better or drink it quickly. 

[TravelingChris]

On 6/21/2021 at 5:09 PM, popmom said:

RSV is going around in the south. My dd has a horrible cold right now. Probably RSV, but she isn't getting tested for it. One of my other dds had similar illness in May. It was really, really rough--like what you are describing about your dh. She was tested for covid twice--both negative--and she's been vaccinated. I think it took her over a month to completely shake it.

Can adults get vaccinated for RSV?  

[Fritz]

1 hour ago, TravelingChris said:

Can adults get vaccinated for RSV?  

There isn't a vaccine for RSV. It's more problematic for babies, the elderly, and immunocompromised of any age. Usually is just a really nasty cold for healthy children and adults.

[Longtime Lurker]

12 minutes ago, Fritz said:

There isn't a vaccine for RSV. 

There was a vaccine for RSV at one point. My son had it (the vaccine, not RSV) as a baby. He was high risk since he was a preemie and I had to go through a special approval process to get insurance to pay for it as it was very very expensive. Is there no longer a vaccine in use, or is it just not available to the general public (i.e. - for high risk people only)?

[Fritz]

3 minutes ago, Longtime Lurker said:

There was a vaccine for RSV at one point. My son had it (the vaccine, not RSV) as a baby. He was high risk since he was a preemie and I had to go through a special approval process to get insurance to pay for it as it was very very expensive. Is there no longer a vaccine in use, or is it just not available to the general public (i.e. - for high risk people only)?

https://www.cdc.gov/rsv/about/prevention.html

Researchers are working to develop RSV vaccines, but none are available yet. A drug called palivizumab (pah-lih-VIH-zu-mahb) is available to prevent severe RSV illness in certain infants and children who are at high risk for severe disease.

[TravelingChris]

20 minutes ago, Longtime Lurker said:

There was a vaccine for RSV at one point. My son had it (the vaccine, not RSV) as a baby. He was high risk since he was a preemie and I had to go through a special approval process to get insurance to pay for it as it was very very expensive. Is there no longer a vaccine in use, or is it just not available to the general public (i.e. - for high risk people only)?

Yes, I seem to remember that my youngest got that vaccine too.  I know she got a vaccine that was later removed from being used.

[prairiewindmomma]

Synagis (the palizumab mentioned above) is the preemie RSV shot. It billed as $12k a few years ago. It’s a monthly biologic that most people would consider a vaccine but is technically not one—it is antibodies. 

https://www.synagis.com/index.html

[Katy]

There’s never been an RSV vaccine. If your child was high risk (male, premature, prenatal in-untero drug exposure, heart defect, had to be in NICU for breathing difficulties, immune compromised, has coded, I think there’s one other risk factor that escapes me at the moment) you may have had a medication to prevent RSV been overnighted to your home while your DC was an infant.  

An RN would have come to give the medicine (a shot) throughout flu season at least, if not for the first year of life or longer. I think the RN who gave my DC shots said there was one child she’d been giving shots for 3 years. She didn’t go into what diagnosis called for that.

Anyway, if your child got the medication you would remember. The pharmacy called to verify delivery time and that an adult would be there to sign, it was packed with dry ice, insurance had to get special preauthorization where the pediatrician had to call each month.  Not to mention shots and a crying child.  It is a hassle. 

[Longtime Lurker]

16 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Synagis (the palizumab mentioned above) is the preemie RSV shot. It billed as $12k a few years ago. It’s a monthly biologic that most people would consider a vaccine but is technically not one—it is antibodies. 

https://www.synagis.com/index.html

 

8 minutes ago, Katy said:

There’s never been an RSV vaccine. If your child was high risk (male, premature, prenatal in-untero drug exposure, heart defect, had to be in NICU for breathing difficulties, immune compromised, has coded, I think there’s one other risk factor that escapes me at the moment) you may have had a medication to prevent RSV been overnighted to your home while your DC was an infant.  

An RN would have come to give the medicine (a shot) throughout flu season at least, if not for the first year of life or longer. I think the RN who gave my DC shots said there was one child she’d been giving shots for 3 years. She didn’t go into what diagnosis called for that.

Anyway, if your child got the medication you would remember. The pharmacy called to verify delivery time and that an adult would be there to sign, it was packed with dry ice, insurance had to get special preauthorization where the pediatrician had to call each month.  Not to mention shots and a crying child.  It is a hassle. 

I don't remember what it was called. The doctor referred to it as a vaccine, but I guess it was probably actually the Synagis biologic. It was $1000 a shot and my son had four shots, each a month apart. I think there were only four because that was all there was time for between the insurance approval and the end of RSV season?? They were given as an injection at the doctor's office. This was winter of 1998-1999. 

My son was born at 32 weeks after induction due to my HELLP syndrome (severe pre-eclampsia) and spent 3 weeks in the NICU and 8 additional weeks on oxygen at home, so that's why he qualified.

Edited June 26, 2021 by Longtime Lurker
add info

[sassenach]

On 6/21/2021 at 3:09 PM, popmom said:

RSV is going around in the south. My dd has a horrible cold right now. Probably RSV, but she isn't getting tested for it. One of my other dds had similar illness in May. It was really, really rough--like what you are describing about your dh. She was tested for covid twice--both negative--and she's been vaccinated. I think it took her over a month to completely shake it.

Yep, RSV was my first thought. It's everywhere right now.

[aggie96]

I've been sick (head/chest cold-ish, no cough but burning lungs/chest, no noticeable fever but fever-break sweats, fatigue, insane headaches), then all 3 kiddos followed suit. Vaccinated so not likely Covid. Plus it was really not acting like Covid (which we had at the beginning of epidemic). But is was clearly contagious. Didn't know there was an RSV outbreak. Would make total sense that this is what we were battling. Yuck. I hate RSV. Tends to linger in us, not bad, just takes forever to feel 100% again.

[AbcdeDooDah]

Dh has not improved. Said some breathing issue today. It is in the 100s where  he works so that could be part of it. He got an appointment with his doctor for July 12th🙄. He’s been on albuterol, cefdinir and prednisone this past week.

 

[mommyoffive]

2 minutes ago, AbcdeDooDah said:

Dh has not improved. Said some breathing issue today. It is in the 100s where  he works so that could be part of it. He got an appointment with his doctor for July 12th🙄. He’s been on albuterol, cefdinir and prednisone this past week.

 

Oh man that stinks.  Poor guy.  Can he call and get in any earlier?  I know it is hard with the holiday.  He hasn't improved at all?  I hate that he has to be at work.  

[AbcdeDooDah]

Just now, mommyoffive said:

Oh man that stinks.  Poor guy.  Can he call and get in any earlier?  I know it is hard with the holiday.  He hasn't improved at all?  I hate that he has to be at work.  

That was the earliest. He could go to urgent care for a third time but they’re not going to search out a cause.

[Kassia]

1 hour ago, AbcdeDooDah said:

Dh has not improved. Said some breathing issue today. It is in the 100s where  he works so that could be part of it. He got an appointment with his doctor for July 12th🙄. He’s been on albuterol, cefdinir and prednisone this past week.

 

That's awful - so concerning and frustrating.  I'm sorry.  😞

[plansrme]

2 hours ago, AbcdeDooDah said:

Dh has not improved. Said some breathing issue today. It is in the 100s where  he works so that could be part of it. He got an appointment with his doctor for July 12th🙄. He’s been on albuterol, cefdinir and prednisone this past week.

 

My husband (who had non-covid pneumonia several months ago) had a similar, but less-extreme, issue trying to get in to see his primary care doctor. He was in extreme pain and couldn't get an appointment for 4 or 5 days. What is the point of primary care if it takes two or three weeks to get in?? Who can be sick that long? I think some primary care doctors need to get back to work or extend their hours or lower the barriers to entry (are there not scads of foreign doctors we could license?) or keep appointments open for existing patients who are in severe pain or something.