Not sure if you are on here today, but if you are Kevin or anyone else with medical experience give me some advice? I’ve been coughing for days. Was dry at first now is wet. Every breath I take I can feel it in my right upper chest. Sometimes when I cough stuff comes up and I feel better for a few minutes...but then it comes back. Ended up with a big blood streak in my eye yesterday so called my doctor and left message. He called back and asked me some questions then told me I probably have the virus, and if I get worse to go to the ER. I’m pretty disappointed in his advice since 1) I would like to know if I have it 2) I want some Hydroxychloroquine and a Z Pak and zinc if I do have it. Any advice guys?
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- Thread starter DirtDiva
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Not sure if you are on here today, but if you are Kevin or anyone else with medical experience give me some advice? I’ve been coughing for days. Was dry at first now is wet. Every breath I take I can feel it in my right upper chest. Sometimes when I cough stuff comes up and I feel better for a few minutes...but then it comes back. Ended up with a big blood streak in my eye yesterday so called my doctor and left message. He called back and asked me some questions then told me I probably have the virus, and if I get worse to go to the ER. I’m pretty disappointed in his advice since 1) I would like to know if I have it 2) I want some Hydroxychloroquine and a Z Pak and zinc if I do have it. Any advice guys?
Unfortunately they won't do anything unless you are in an at risk group. For whatever reason doctors are not being proactive here yet. He should have at least recommended some over the counter things to help symptoms.
I probably could have gotten treatment when I had 103 fever because I am over 60. That was enough to get admitted to the emergency room for "flu."
If your fever goes over 100, or you have trouble breathing call the emergency room before going in to give them a heads up. I think either of those will get you admitted.
Normally I would say follow your doctor's advice, but since your doctor isn't helping, here are some over the counter things to help...
Zinc, Vitamin C, Vitamin D3, and expectorant cough syrup. The expectorant cough syrup will thin the mucus in your lungs and help you cough it out without busting a gut.
Get some Fisherman's Friend cough drops. Less sugar, more active ingredients than other cough drops. They help sooth my throat which is raw from coughing. They are very strong, and I don't use a whole lozenge at a time. I only keep it in my mouth long enough to soothe my throat and then take it out. I might get 4 uses out of one lozenge.
I probably could have gotten treatment when I had 103 fever because I am over 60. That was enough to get admitted to the emergency room for "flu."
If your fever goes over 100, or you have trouble breathing call the emergency room before going in to give them a heads up. I think either of those will get you admitted.
Normally I would say follow your doctor's advice, but since your doctor isn't helping, here are some over the counter things to help...
Zinc, Vitamin C, Vitamin D3, and expectorant cough syrup. The expectorant cough syrup will thin the mucus in your lungs and help you cough it out without busting a gut.
Get some Fisherman's Friend cough drops. Less sugar, more active ingredients than other cough drops. They help sooth my throat which is raw from coughing. They are very strong, and I don't use a whole lozenge at a time. I only keep it in my mouth long enough to soothe my throat and then take it out. I might get 4 uses out of one lozenge.
Oh Doc I did not know you were sick too! Sorry I missed that, but thank you for the advice! I’m taking the vitamins you mentioned. Up the dosage today. I’ve been taking mucinex and Robitussin dm. Will get some of the Fisherman’s Friend cough drops if my hubby can find it. Reading about MMS and will take a small bit of that to start with.
Thank you Schpier! You are a physician, right? I’m not one for taking pain meds. I handle pain well.
I thought I had the flu at first. This was back in February, so at that time you could only get tested for COVID-19 if you had been to China or had been exposed to someone from China. I got it from my wife, who got it at a conference. She had normal flu symptoms and recovered in less than two weeks. But what I had was not like any flu I've ever had and it took over a month to recover to the point where I didn't feel sick.
It infected my throat, lungs, tonsils, ears, eyes, and sinuses, in that order. My wife had to yell at me in order for me to hear her and eventually just starting communicating with hand signals. I would wake up with thick dried mucus covering my eyes. I had to go the bathroom and submerge my face in a bowl of warm water to get them open all the way. My vision was blurry for several weeks, even when my eyes were cleared of mucus. I still have not recovered full sense of smell and hearing. Yesterday was the first time since February I heard the "beep" on the microwave when it finishes.
Oh my gosh! That sounds awful! Don’t you think it was the virus? Sure sounds like it.
I don't know what else it could have been. The first week was typical for COVID-19.
Brent S
Top Poster
It’s more for the temperature control but helps with aches as well.
Brent S
Top Poster
Glad you recovered doc. Sorry, that didnt sound fun.... hope we can get antibody tests before too long to give peace of mind.
I took Aleve when my temperature got to 103°F, and it got it down pretty quickly and I didn't have to keep taking it. I closely monitored my temperature after that and it stayed between 100° and 101° for several weeks but I figured that level of fever wasn't dangerous so I decided to just let my immune system do its thing and didn't try to reduce the fever after that.
Brent S
Top Poster
So sorry to hear your sick Georgia. Keep aware of your breathing above all else. If it gets much worse don’t hesitate to call the ER. Not being too personal but is your husband feeling ok?
So here’s my opinions on testing for the bug.
A positive result
does not change treatment and
should not change behaviour.
There is no definitive treatment other than supportive
During the pandemic everyone should behave as if there is a risk of contracting the infection and take appropriate precautions
A positive test for the presence of antibodies implies that the person did have an infection at some time.
If the test does not detect associated antigen, then the person may be a suitable candidate to donate antibody- rich plasma as a treatment for others
Therefore the test should be for the presence of antibodies not antigen
A negative test should not change behavior.
There are both false positive and false negatives in all tests. Therefore no test is either 100% specific or 100% sensitive
Since testing is still time consuming ( 24 hrs ?) I think that they are only worthwhile where there is a system for transfusion as described above
A positive result
does not change treatment and
should not change behaviour.
There is no definitive treatment other than supportive
During the pandemic everyone should behave as if there is a risk of contracting the infection and take appropriate precautions
A positive test for the presence of antibodies implies that the person did have an infection at some time.
If the test does not detect associated antigen, then the person may be a suitable candidate to donate antibody- rich plasma as a treatment for others
Therefore the test should be for the presence of antibodies not antigen
A negative test should not change behavior.
There are both false positive and false negatives in all tests. Therefore no test is either 100% specific or 100% sensitive
Since testing is still time consuming ( 24 hrs ?) I think that they are only worthwhile where there is a system for transfusion as described above
Brent S
Top Poster
I was thinking the the antibody test would be a way for people to be able to get in with their lives and begin to save what we can of the economy. Right now I’m not even donating blood but normally believe in it. It will be nice to get back to our lives one day
Since I'm in several risk categories, knowing for sure that I had it would at least help my state of mind. I could just wear a cheap dust mask (for other people's states of mind 
) instead of the N100 respirator I'm wearing now when I go shopping.
) instead of the N100 respirator I'm wearing now when I go shopping.
Behavior I agree, but I disagree with treatment. I realize that is the reality, but I believe being more proactive will help save lives and hasten recoveries. We still have counties here with completely empty hospitals and doctors twiddling their thumbs waiting for the influx of critical patients. It makes no sense to let people get critical before treating them. unless you are already overwhelmed. And what better way to get overwhelmed than to not treat people until they are critical?
Doctors refusing to be proactive feeds the conspiracy theories.
KateMTx
A True Doomsday Prepper
Sorry you're sick! If you don't have the drugs you mentioned (which I honestly wouldn't recommend taking without a doctor's supervision, because they can have serious side effects) then take zinc supplements (don't overdose!) along with plenty of vitamin C. The zinc may not be as effective alone but has been shown to be effective in helping fight sickness, and vitamin C is good for the immune system (and is actually being used for COVID-19 patients).
Most likely with these supportive measures you will get better soon, whether you have COVID-19 or the flu. If you start having trouble breathing or hyperventilating then go to the ER.
If you get too much zinc you can't absorb copper, which is also important.
tmttactical
A True Doomsday Prepper
GP, sorry you are sick. DR. H, sorry you were sick. GG, I hope you don't get sick. My most fervent wishes that you all have full recoveries.
The only problem with that is ; we don’t know for sure whether the antibodies confer long-standing immunity to the virus. For example, presence of antibodies to a seasonal flu virus does not imply that the person will be immune to flu. The strain of virus changes almost every year. Virologists routinely develop new vaccines in order to deal with different viral strains.
