What an idiot, really...

Yeah, I've seen similar crap. My wife sent me a video that was an hour long and I couldn't get through 5 minutes of that idiocy.

Oh this is interesting, I was going to give the link but the video has been removed from YouTube for "for violating YouTube's Community Guidelines". Yay censorship!

 

So I’m not sick enough to get tested. I have difficulty breathing but don’t require a respirator. Hence, the situation decrees that I don’t qualify for a test. So, I am told to wait at home until I require a respirator, then call 911. At that time, I will qualify for a test and palliative care.

What?

 

So I’m not sick enough to get tested. I have difficulty breathing but don’t require a respirator. Hence, the situation decrees that I don’t qualify for a test. So, I am told to wait at home until I require a respirator, then call 911. At that time, I will qualify for a test and palliative care.

What?

That is not what we want to hear. Can you hold your breath for 10 seconds? Then that's good.
See what is the longest time you can hold your breath.

 

So I’m not sick enough to get tested. I have difficulty breathing but don’t require a respirator. Hence, the situation decrees that I don’t qualify for a test. So, I am told to wait at home until I require a respirator, then call 911. At that time, I will qualify for a test and palliative care.

What?

I have been in the diagnostic field for a long time and agree that current criteria for testing as I understand them do not make a lot of sense, if the availability of tests is limited.

1) You do not need to test the walking worried.
2) You do not need to test those who almost certainly need respirator support, regardless of etiology. Practice "universal precautions" -- a term created during the much earlier AIDS scare. Treat the patient.
3) You do need to test those in between the two extremes to limit contagion. Treatment should be based on symptoms, not diagnosis, as there is no specific treatment for COVID-19 yet. Testing should be based on epidemiological considerations.

The ultimate question is why the US was so "behind the curve" on getting testing spooled up? That should not be addressed during an emergency, but I hope when this crisis is over, our government will get the answers and fix the root cause so it does't happen again.

 

That is not what we want to hear. Can you hold your breath for 10 seconds? Then that's good.
See what is the longest time you can hold your breath.

Why 10 seconds? I used to be able to hold my breath for more than 2 minutes. I just tried with a stopwatch, and couldn’t make it to 9 seconds. After trying, my chest is in pain.

 

Why 10 seconds? I used to be able to hold my breath for more than 2 minutes. I just tried with a stopwatch, and couldn’t make it to 9 seconds. After trying, my chest is in pain.

That is not good news. Can you call your primary care giver, i.e. your doctor?

 

That is not good news. Can you call your primary care giver, i.e. your doctor?

In the US, the term is Primary Care Provider (PCP), which is the same as the acronym for Primary Care Physician. I prefer the latter.

 

Why 10 seconds? I used to be able to hold my breath for more than 2 minutes. I just tried with a stopwatch, and couldn’t make it to 9 seconds. After trying, my chest is in pain.

You need to drink lots of fluids. Also to help ease your chest, you can breathe over a pot of boiled water (if you have mint throw that in). Cover your head with towel over the blanket and inhale as deep as you can. Humid air kills the virus and eases the breathing. I used to get bad flu when I was a kid and this is a good remedy. If you dont want to do it, take a fairly hot shower. But if you have a fever you dont want to do the shower.

 

You need to drink lots of fluids. Also to help ease your chest, you can breathe over a pot of boiled water (if you have mint throw that in). Cover your head with towel over the blanket and inhale as deep as you can. Humid air kills the virus and eases the breathing. I used to get bad flu when I was a kid and this is a good remedy. If you dont want to do it, take a fairly hot shower. But if you have a fever you dont want to do the shower.

I agree with all that but @djsfantasi needs to seek professional care ASAP.

 

Why 10 seconds? I used to be able to hold my breath for more than 2 minutes. I just tried with a stopwatch, and couldn’t make it to 9 seconds. After trying, my chest is in pain.

If it is Covid, then everyone you’ve come into contact with e.g. people in the home need to be concerned and Isolate themselves. Chicken soup I dont know why if it’s comfort food or what, but it always make me feel better for some strange reason.

Growing up I was always sick, my lungs are compromised, my Mom had a wives tail sort of thing she would put Vicks Vapo Rub on a Kotex and tie it around my neck, and a little on my upper chest, I have no idea nor do I remember if it did anything at all.

kv

 

I agree with all that but @djsfantasi needs to seek professional care ASAP.

Yes, 100%. But just wanted to put it out there if he is stuck at home waiting for a response. Or worse yet if he gets the run around. Best wishes to everyone.

 

Thanks everyone. I’m very familiar with these varied ameliorative measures, having nursed parents, children and myself through the flu in the past.

And I have sought professional care. A recent post of mine chronicled what happened when I did. Basically, I was told to stay at home until I need to call 911. Only then, could I get a prescription (you need a prescription from your PCP) for a COVID-19 test.

 

Why 10 seconds? I used to be able to hold my breath for more than 2 minutes. I just tried with a stopwatch, and couldn’t make it to 9 seconds. After trying, my chest is in pain.

10 seconds is just a magic number. The word is every morning hold your breath for 10 seconds and if you can do that no problem you should be OK. There are about a half dozen other self test we can do at home. While I know easier said than done you need to see a doctor, be it your primary card physician if you have one or not. Granted this is much harder to do than say but you need to see and get some medical assistance. Nobody here is a doctor but with your symptoms this is nothing to screw around with.

OK, I see you posted. Well see how it goes but if things get worse then do the 911 thing.

Ron

 

If it is Covid, then everyone you’ve come into contact with e.g. people in the home need to be concerned and Isolate themselves. Chicken soup I dont know why if it’s comfort food or what, but it always make me feel better for some strange reason.

Growing up I was always sick, my lungs are compromised, my Mom had a wives tail sort of thing she would put Vicks Vapo Rub on a Kotex and tie it around my neck, and a little on my upper chest, I have no idea nor do I remember if it did anything at all.

kv

Ha ha that is nothing compared to me - wearing mashed potatoes around my chest. You either degrade fast or get better.

On a more serious note, please take it easy on painkillers. Aspirine (Bayer) should be ok for pain I believe. But if you start to get a fever, dont fight it. Fever is good (unless too high of course). But make sure to hydrate with sugar water.

 

...And, so they say, no where to hide save Antarctica? -- Yet, it seems, many envision Fort Howard as a safe haven?!

But seriously! Please try to relax! The public health aspects of this are nowhere near as dire as the (likely accurate albeit 'raw', out of perspective) statistics might suggest! -- A bit of basal common sense coupled with much patience will see you through!

As regards the economic corollaries? That, unfortunately, is 'shaping up' to be quite another matter...

Please take care!

Very best regards
HP

 

Ha ha that is nothing compared to me - wearing mashed potatoes around my chest. You either degrade fast or get better.

On a more serious note, please take it easy on painkillers. Aspirine (Bayer) should be ok for pain I believe. But if you start to get a fever, dont fight it. Fever is good (unless too high of course). But make sure to hydrate with sugar water.

I stopped other methods and will only under dire circumstances take Aspirine (Bayer) no others never have for a long time knowing they can destroy you liver or other organs. I also know that many folks using regular pain meds find that they are not recovering as well as those keeping themselves simple.

Refined sugar I will not do but Honey on the other hand, I will have always, Thank you. Even though I do know, many don‘t and this is a good Forum to say it to those who maybe don’t know.

kv

 

...And, so they say, no where to hide save Antarctica?

there's also the international space station .... I'm just say'n

 

I stopped other methods and will only under dire circumstances take Aspirine (Bayer) no others never have for a long time knowing they can destroy you liver or other organs. I also know that many folks using regular pain meds find that they are not recovering as well as those keeping themselves simple.

Refined sugar I will not do but Honey on the other hand, I will have always, Thank you. Even though I do know, many don‘t and this is a good Forum to say it to those who maybe don’t know.

kv

Comletely agree. Honey is the way to go, but I encounter too much resistance when suggesting it so was playing it safe. I stick with honey and garlic. Both will help keep any opportunistic bacteria at bay as well.

 

The public health aspects of this are nowhere near as dire...

I tend to share that optimism but on the other hand, we’re still living the snake-in-the-sleeping-bag scenario. Until we identify the species of snake, the only prudent action is to prepare for the worst.

We know next to nothing so far. The only data we have is on the tiny, non-randomly selected subgroup of people that have actually been tested and/or died. Everyone wants to extrapolate that data but it’s simply not valid to do so.

I’ve been studying my grandfather’s WW I service and I’ve become fairly certain that he had the Spanish Flu and (obviously, since I’m here) recovered. The French hospital he was in recorded that about 2% of all patients entering that hospital died of pneumonia or “other” disease. That’s pretty consistent with the global experience with that flu. He entered that hospital in mid-October of 1918, the peak of the global pandemic. Yes, he had been gassed in one of the most brutal battles in human history, but he was in the hospital until Christmas. I have a hunch he had to recover from more than gas. Just a hunch.