I can’t think straight - tell me what to do (covid)

[PinkTulip]

DS22 tested positive for covid - PCR results came today, symptoms started Thursday night, tested yesterday. Low-grade fever, slight tightness in his chest, cough, lots of joint pain, generally feeling crummy. Pulse ox is 96-ish and heart rate is normal. He lives in a very small apartment about 20 minutes away with 3 others and shares a room with his buddy. Buddy tested negative and understandably all the roommates don’t want DS staying there. So DS is going to come isolate at my small-ish 2 bedroom apartment. I have him in the primary bedroom with attached bath, with a quality air purifier running. He and I are both wearing KN95 masks all the time. 
 

I know the CDC recently changed the quarantine rules but I’m too tired to figure them out. How long does he need to isolate? I’m assuming I do, too, due to exposure. We are both double-vaxxed, I am boostered as of early December, his booster appointment is this Tuesday. 
 

I am giving him Tylenol/Motrin for fever and joint pain, and just gave him Nyquill so he can sleep tonight. I’m having him lay on his stomach to help with breathing, and checking his pulse ox fairly regularly. What else do I need to be watching for / giving him to help? 
 

Like I said, it’s late, I’m tired and stressed due to other reasons, and I can’t think straight. Help me out friends!

Edited January 9, 2022 by PinkTulip

[Starr]

Others have gone through this and can give you good advice. I'm sending hugs and hope he gets well soon and you stay well.

[busymama7]

The guidelines are that if you are at least double vaccinated you do not have to quarantine unless you develop symptoms.  I'm not sure that is the wisest set of guidelines but they are the current ones. I would probably go off the previous set if you have contact with at risk people personally or professionally. That was his 10 days plus 14 for you after his end. 

I would not have a sick with covid person wear a mask unless direct contact with you couldn't be avoided. When he's in the room alone he should take it off. The heavy, can't get a deep breath feeling is really miserable and I can't imagine it with a mask too.  I don't think any potential benefit is worth his discomfort. 

Vitamins such as D, C and Zinc seem to be helpful as are things like Gatorade to make sure he remains hydrated.  

[GracieJane]

My dad is in the hospital with Covid; the things they are doing there that can be done at home:

1. laying on his stomach 

2. chest percussion (hit his chest and back to loosen mucus so it can be coughed up)

3. breathing through the nose (apparently breathing in and out through the nose creates better oxygen flow)

4. sitting up whenever possible (lying down for long periods makes the lung effects worse)

[SoCal_Bear]

I hate to write this here. The guidelines are due to be updated again early this coming week per CDC because they got SO MUCH blowback from medical professionals.

I would go with 10 days which is what it was before all this craziness. I would go and have yourself tested at the 10 days so that you don't have to quarantine. 

 

Edited January 9, 2022 by calbear

[busymama7]

10 minutes ago, calbear said:

I hate to write this here. The guidelines are due to be updated again early this coming week per CDC because they got SO MUCH blowback from medical professionals.

I would go with 10 days which is what it was before all this craziness. I would go and have yourself tested at the 10 days so that you don't have to quarantine. 

 

Will anything apply to contacts who are vaccinated? Or just a longer quarantine for positive cases?

[SoCal_Bear]

If you are fully vax'd, you are supposed to wear a mask for 10 days after your exposure and best practice is to test 5 days after exposure. If you develop symptoms, then you are supposed to quarantine until negative test.

I know people are not following this because my friend just walked past someone at Target who was on the phone telling someone they just tested positive for Covid and other people saying they tested positive but didn't feel sick so went to church and gave it to a bunch of other people. I trust no one at this point and wear my mask everywhere when I have to go somewhere.

[PinkTulip]

2 hours ago, calbear said:

I hate to write this here. The guidelines are due to be updated again early this coming week per CDC because they got SO MUCH blowback from medical professionals.

I would go with 10 days which is what it was before all this craziness. I would go and have yourself tested at the 10 days so that you don't have to quarantine. 

 

Thank you for this. So if if I’m understanding correctly, he needs to quarantine for 10 days starting from his first day of symptoms, and I will need to be tested 5 days from now? (He came to my place tonight). I saw a meme about quarantine math on a future SAT test and I am really relating! 

Edited January 9, 2022 by PinkTulip

[easypeasy]

25 minutes ago, PinkTulip said:

Thank you for this. So if if I’m understanding correctly, he needs to quarantine for 10 days starting from his first day of symptoms, and I will need to be tested 5 days from now? (He came to my place tonight). I saw a meme about quarantine math on a future SAT test and I am really relating! 

That's what I'd do. I agree with ^^ about not having him wear a mask when in the bedroom by himself. Keep the air filter by him and call it good.

I'd also move his booster shot back by another week or two. I've heard getting the booster right after having Covid can make the booster reactions more intense.

(We all just had it and my kids' doctors recommended waiting 15-30 days post-last-day-of-symptoms, so we pushed back our boosters a bit.)

[KSera]

2 hours ago, calbear said:

I know people are not following this because my friend just walked past someone at Target who was on the phone telling someone they just tested positive for Covid and other people saying they tested positive but didn't feel sick so went to church and gave it to a bunch of other people. I trust no one at this point and wear my mask everywhere when I have to go somewhere.

I saw a picture a couple days ago that someone took of the person in front of them on the plane texting, and you could read their screen, and it said something about, “we have Covid right now….shhhhh…..we’re on the plane” 🤦‍♀️😢. I don’t understand people. 

[Acadie]

Have him hydrate like crazy.

When dd had Covid we had her put a towel in the gap at the bottom of her bedroom door (it’s a big gap).

Are there windows you can open? Even at 20 degrees we did a quick 15-20 minute airing out of her room and separately the rest of the house once a day. 

Assuming you’re sharing a bathroom, can you wash your face and brush your teeth in the kitchen. and stay masked in the bathroom except for showering? Maybe shower in the morning or sometime when he hasn’t used the bathroom for some time? And if you have a window or fan to the exterior in the bathroom to ventilate that would be ideal, if unlikely.

[ktgrok]

9 hours ago, calbear said:

I know people are not following this because my friend just walked past someone at Target who was on the phone telling someone they just tested positive for Covid and other people saying they tested positive but didn't feel sick so went to church and gave it to a bunch of other people. I trust no one at this point and wear my mask everywhere when I have to go somewhere.

And...this is why we skipped church today. 

[ktgrok]

I'd put a towel under the door, and have him crack the window in the bedroom with a fan near the bedroom door blowing across the room toward the open window, so that any air flow comes from the hall into the bedroom and out the window, not the other way around. 

[PinkTulip]

4 minutes ago, Acadie said:

Have him hydrate like crazy.

When dd had Covid we had her put a towel in the gap at the bottom of her bedroom door (it’s a big gap).

Are there windows you can open? Even at 20 degrees we did a quick 15-20 minute airing out of her room and separately the rest of the house once a day. 

Assuming you’re sharing a bathroom, can you wash your face and brush your teeth in the kitchen. and stay masked in the bathroom except for showering? Maybe shower in the morning or sometime when he hasn’t used the bathroom for some time? And if you have a window or fan to the exterior in the bathroom to ventilate that would be ideal, if unlikely.

These are good suggestions, thank you. I hadn’t thought about the towel under the door idea, so we’ll definitely do that. Fortunately there are two bathrooms so we don’t need to share. And even though it’s bitter cold here, I think I will crack the window for 10-15 minutes a few times a day. 
 

Thanks so much for everyone’s help. I appreciate it so much!

[Halftime Hope]

6 hours ago, KSera said:

I saw a picture a couple days ago that someone took of the person in front of them on the plane texting, and you could read their screen, and it said something about, “we have Covid right now….shhhhh…..we’re on the plane” 🤦‍♀️😢. I don’t understand people. 

Boggles the mind, doesn't it! 

[Halftime Hope]

Pink tulip, you can use nasal and oral hygiene to your advantage, and based on what we know about Omicron, it may be even more useful there with the high viral replication in the nasal passages. This concept is well-known and well-documented even prior to SARSCov-2 in ENT (ear, nose, and throat circles), and I've been doing one version (or multiple) since last summer...so far, so good. 

You can use a neti pot, a McNeil irrigation device (squeeze solution up into the nasal passages) from the drugstore, a bulb syringe, or whatever your preferred method is.  I like the small XClear and/or Nutribiotic vertical nasal sprays as well, and use them in rotation with povidone iodine solution in small glass nasal spray bottles from Amazon.  

Traditionally, ear, nose and throat doctors and surgeons have used diluted solutions of povidone iodine, which is readily available in drugstores.  Other doctors (generally functional or holistic doctors) have recommended diluted solutions of food grade hydrogen peroxide, but since I'm not as familiar with that, I will leave it at 'I'm aware of it'.  

More recently, Dr Peter McCullough posted a home recipe, in the age-old tradition of doctors teaching patients self-care at home. (I'm old enough to remember home self-care being a part of doctors' practice in decades past, but I think it's something my doctors in the latter years have lost.) The recipe is 1/2 tsp (2.5mL) of 10% povidone-iodine solution diluted into 1.5oz (42 mL) of normal saline solution (salt water). 1.5 oz is the amount in a shot glass. What that works out to, roughly, is approximately 0.75% povidone-iodine solution.  Do this every 4-6 hours, snuff it back into your nasal passages, then spit it out; don't swallow.  You can also gargle with the same solution.  Whatever hasn't been used at the end of the day, throw away.  I have been making and using the same solution in small glass nasal spray bottles from Amazon, for months, and if you don't throw away the iodine solution, it stings. (It degrades somehow, and you'll know it if you use something that isn't fresh!) How to make normal saline:  1/4 tsp of refined, un-iodized salt in a cup of distilled water.  

You can google nasal hygiene for COVID, and probably find a lot of similar resources.  Best wishes as you care for your son. 

 

[Faith-manor]

9 hours ago, KSera said:

I saw a picture a couple days ago that someone took of the person in front of them on the plane texting, and you could read their screen, and it said something about, “we have Covid right now….shhhhh…..we’re on the plane” 🤦‍♀️😢. I don’t understand people. 

People, as a general lot, are horribly selfish. You run into people who are not, who.have risen above the Darwinian, me, myself, and I mindset. But this pandemic has shown that easily half of the humans in our country are pretty darn sociopathic in their level of toddler like selfishness.

OP, I would do ten days for someone with a positive test, and for you, test at day 8 with a PCR, and if negative, probably feel okay to end quarantine but always mask inside anywhere but your own home because the public is not anyone's friend at this point.

Edited January 9, 2022 by Faith-manor

[Garga]

Does anyone know if there’s any reason he can’t use Sudafed if he has nasal congestion and Mucinex if he has chest congestion? I would think you’d want to clear out the gunk by using those OTC meds.  

[ktgrok]

34 minutes ago, Garga said:

Does anyone know if there’s any reason he can’t use Sudafed if he has nasal congestion and Mucinex if he has chest congestion? I would think you’d want to clear out the gunk by using those OTC meds.  

My SIL is using them on the advice of her doctor. There is zero reason I can see to avoid using them, unless one normally needs to avoid using them for some personal medical reason. 

[Tree Frog]

1 hour ago, Garga said:

Does anyone know if there’s any reason he can’t use Sudafed if he has nasal congestion and Mucinex if he has chest congestion? I would think you’d want to clear out the gunk by using those OTC meds.  

Dd and ds each used one of them to help with their symptoms. It made them feel more comfortable.

[PinkTulip]

1 hour ago, Garga said:

Does anyone know if there’s any reason he can’t use Sudafed if he has nasal congestion and Mucinex if he has chest congestion? I would think you’d want to clear out the gunk by using those OTC meds.  

Good idea. I have Sudafed, but I’ll go get some mucinex. You’d think I’ve never had a family member sick before, but it has seriously been more than 2 years and I’m not thinking straight now. 

[drjuliadc]

The nutribiotic nasal spray someone mentioned above is amazing. I don’t have any personal experience with it in regard to Covid, but it is awesome for any other nasal condition, especially sinus infections. 

[SoCal_Bear]

Regarding getting a booster...there is no point in getting boosted if you got Covid after being fully vax;d. This is redundant. The Covid infection just spun up your immune system response and your anti-bodies, there's no need for a booster. 

[SoCal_Bear]

If he has the omicron variant, the virus is actually sitting more in the upper respiratory tract which is why omicron is so much more contagious than delta and previous variant of covid. This is why omicron is generally a more mild version of Covid because it isn't getting to the lower respiratory tract before your immune system is mounting a response. So OTC cold meds will be very helpful at clearing the congestion and symptoms. If you have a humidifier, I would be running it in there as well to help with coughing.

Edited January 9, 2022 by calbear

[Malory]

1 hour ago, calbear said:

Regarding getting a booster...there is no point in getting boosted if you got Covid after being fully vax;d. This is redundant. The Covid infection just spun up your immune system response and your anti-bodies, there's no need for a booster. 

Do you have links to good articles or medical studies on this issue? A friend of mine is recovering from her covid infection and is in distressed because her work place is requiring all employees to get boosted by the end of the month, no exemptions allowed unless she is willing to be transferred. She asked me if I knew of any good study on the harm of boosting too soon (or at all) after an infection. She was fully vaxxed before her infection.

Edited January 9, 2022 by Malory

[freesia]

15 minutes ago, Malory said:

Do you have links to good articles or medical studies on this issue? A friend of mine is recovering from her covid infection and is in distressed because her work place is requiring all employees to get the boosted by the end of the month, no exemptions allowed unless she is willing to be transferred. She asked me if I knew of any good study on the harm of boosting too soon (or at all) after an infection. She was fully vaxxed before her infection.

I’ve never seen anything about harm, just that it’s not necessary. 

[SoCal_Bear]

7 minutes ago, freesia said:

I’ve never seen anything about harm, just that it’s not necessary. 

This... See if she can get a note from her dr about this.

 

Edited January 9, 2022 by calbear

[KSera]

11 minutes ago, freesia said:

I’ve never seen anything about harm, just that it’s not necessary. 

Agree. Guidelines I’ve seen say it should be at least ten days (so isolation period is over) and symptoms resolved. In the Uk, they are recommending four weeks to avoid the clinical situation being muddied if you have a return of symptoms and they don’t know whether it’s from Covid rebounding. It’s not recommended to wait longer than 90 days because it appears that risk of reinfection goes up around then.

People who received monoclonal antibodies do need to wait 90 days, though, in order to be able to mount a proper immune response.

Edited January 9, 2022 by KSera

[SoCal_Bear]

@MaloryAnother alternative is to ask HR if an antibodies test ordered by her dr would be sufficient as well. I find that most people are woefully (even well educated people) about why a booster is not necessary after an active covid infection. 

It also it is not reasonable to ask people who had Covid last year or year before to get fully vax'd. All they need is a booster or single dose. We fail to have reasonable nuanced conversations unfortunately as a society.