Coronavirus worries?

[MyNameIsTerry]

Interestingly, I asked multiple staff members when i was in hospital if they felt nervous and for all of them it was a resounding "no". I just wish I could be as brave and calm as them.

Probably because they work around various nasties all the time? For instance, we have an infectious diseases unit at our hospital so you can imagine they have to work like this all year round.

Aside from that I think they are used to having to work under difficult conditions and go home. If they couldn't do it they wouldn't last in the job just as it is for other professions e.g. police, fire service, army, etc. Look at medical staff who work abroad in war zones.

We have ex and current nurses on here as well as partners of them so they will be able to explain how they manage this.

It's a very tough job. It's great to see the support signs people are putting up in their windows. Some are even painting their walls (I saw one today, a wooden pallet painted with the support logo on and mounted on top of their garage along with a stay safe bear made of wood).

[glassgirlw]

But I do also wonder if all the worry, all the constant news, all the constant thinking about this and feeling anxious is exhausting too.. So it might be that.

I think this is a very real possibility. When you think about it, how many various “symptoms” have you had over the years in relation to a particular illness or disease that you “thought” you had. Your mind is literally able to manifest SO MANY symptoms that it’s a little unbelievable really. Yet you’ve recovered and moved on to another worry, and new symptoms develop. I really don’t think there’s much the mind can’t do quite honestly. At least that’s the way I feel about my own HA!

I don’t mean to disregard your symptoms - you may very well have a bug and are recovering from it. But I do absolutely think that excess stress and constant reading of the news can negatively contribute to your mental state overall - causing exhaustion.

[Murphy93]

Hi Murphy - All I can say to you is that your symptoms sound exactly like mine. I had a very sore throat for 3-4 weeks - and it went through a phase where my throat felt like sandpaper - extremely dry and tight (almost like the airway was closing up). This led to multiple panic attacks and very nearly calling an ambulance (though I didn't- somehow).
I then felt it "travel" down into my chest - where i've experienced about 4 days of chest pain so far. Initially the chest pain was horrendous , felt like my whole rib cage was extremely tight and right in the centre of my chest it felt very painful... In the end I did go to A&E with this (on dr's advice) , but if i'm honest I really wish I hadn't , because all i've done is made myself MORE worried I've caught coronavirus from being in with other CV patients in the hospital. Today my chest pain is still there - but much less... Just feel fatigue.

What I'd say is just try to stick it out as best you possibly can. I'm personally taking daily vitamin C, eating a tonne of fruit + veg and resting ... but yeah, it's difficult. Very stressful. Hope you feel better soon!

Thanks Dan! It’s awful isn’t it - I actually phoned nhs111 tonight just to see their thoughts basically the same as you said self care and plenty of rest

I hope you feel better soon ! This is such a horrible time for everyone.

Thanks for taking the time to respond to me .

[.Poppy.]

I think this is a very real possibility. When you think about it, how many various “symptoms” have you had over the years in relation to a particular illness or disease that you “thought” you had. Your mind is literally able to manifest SO MANY symptoms that it’s a little unbelievable really. Yet you’ve recovered and moved on to another worry, and new symptoms develop.

I do think you’re right, and that’s what I’m trying to tell myself. I’ve even had, long ago, a time where I felt short of breath and it was all down to HA. So I say that’s what this is too. Historically, eventually my mind would get “tired” of whatever I thought I had and my symptoms would go away. I’m hoping that happens sooner rather than later with this one.

[Murphy93]

I’m the same here wide awake club ,

I struggle to sleep so badly when my anxiety is playing up

What happened when you went to a&e yesterday did they treat you for anything ?

[Murphy93]

I totally understand! This whole thing is a hypochondriac like myselfs worst nightmare !!

I think you will be fine I really do, but I don’t blame you for panicking with all the scaremongering in the media it seems inevitable .

To be honest I been struggling for well over a year now - right when my anxiety returned - some months I’ll be great and then others I’ll just have periods of insomnia - it’s awful . My minds just racing with anxious thoughts 24/7

[glassgirlw]

It sounds like they said your lungs and heart were normal but you may have a chest infection? If so - i will say every time I have a chest infection of any kind, the coughing is so, so much worse at night. Like to the point it keeps me awake. It’s awful. I don’t know if you guys have the same meds over there that we do here but I live on NyQuil at night when I have chest infections. Also Vick’s vaporub. Hot showers or steam to help break up mucus, hot tea and honey makes the throat feel so much better. I’m sorry you’re dealing with that on top of Covid worries, but honestly I do think you’d have had to been closer than you were to the coughing people and the lady behind the curtain wheezing I don’t think would have exposed you either - there was space and a curtain and a mask between you. I’d think at least a couple of those would have worked.

I know that’s not much reassurance. Try to get some rest and maybe tomorrow you’ll start feeling better.

[MyNameIsTerry]

It sounds like they said your lungs and heart were normal but you may have a chest infection? If so - i will say every time I have a chest infection of any kind, the coughing is so, so much worse at night. Like to the point it keeps me awake. It’s awful. I don’t know if you guys have the same meds over there that we do here but I live on NyQuil at night when I have chest infections. Also Vick’s vaporub. Hot showers or steam to help break up mucus, hot tea and honey makes the throat feel so much better. I’m sorry you’re dealing with that on top of Covid worries, but honestly I do think you’d have had to been closer than you were to the coughing people and the lady behind the curtain wheezing I don’t think would have exposed you either - there was space and a curtain and a mask between you. I’d think at least a couple of those would have worked.

I know that’s not much reassurance. Try to get some rest and maybe tomorrow you’ll start feeling better.

Yes, it's because you lie down which causes the mucus to shift. That's what my doctors have said in the past when I've had many chest infections with my asthma.

We've certainly got Vick over here.

Dan, dose up on vitamin C. I've beaten several chest & throat infections in recent years like this when before it always bit my asthma and meant antibiotics. It's not a replacement for meds but it can help your body greatly. But space it out as the idea is to keep blood plasma levels high. Taking a big 1000mg tab is pretty worthless as you just excrete most it since the body can only hold so much at a time (somewhere around 360mg I think but would have to check online). So I space out doses like that 4 times a day and find it to work for me.

As for the anxiety, it's hard to say as in bad times it can be hard to find something that's works and you may have to try various typical things we do to help ourselves. Yes, you have had a triggering exposure that would worry most people and could cause panic for us. It's a traumatic experience. It has started lots of stress chemicals pumping for a longer time. The body needs to excrete or metabolise these to something else. Exercise causes the body to do this but beware high cortisol inducing exercise e.g. greater than 60 minutes of lifting weights causes cortisol to spike, something you really don't need right now! So if exercise doesn't cause you more anxiety, as it always did me when I was really bad, do something, even if gentle, because otherwise your body can't rid you of those chemicals circulating. You may also sleep better since exercise influences sleep hormones.

[Toby2000]

Any good news for today?

[BlueIris]

Only two more working days til the Easter break