UPDATE on COVID-19 co-worker---he had to call 911

[crimycarny]

Last Wednesday I posted about a co-worker who had tested positive for COVID-19. In my post I had listed his symptoms and stated that he felt a bit better. Well, I just learned today that he crashed about 6 days in and had to call 911. He was having severe breathing issues. (My original post: https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213123558)

I also have friend whose wife tested positive about 6 days ago. She is under 50, in great health, works as a radiologist. He told me she hasn't had to call in sick in over 20 years. She was dealing with the virus pretty well until Sunday night when she started having severe breathing problems. He said in all his years of dealing with illness in himself, wife, and kids he has never been so scared. They were minutes away from calling 911 but her symptoms eventually subsided to the point that she felt it wasn't necessary. Then again last night she had another breathing attack, but not as severe. She seems to be on the mend now, but still can't take more than 20 steps without feeling exhausted. They are thinking it will be another week before she can go back to work.

My friend has been exposed to his wife for days before she knew she was sick and has been taking care of her now that she is sick (with as many precaustions as possible). So far he is feeling fine. He was tested before his wife got sick as he was exposed at work. He still hasn't gotten his test results back as they are totally backed up.

I don't want to scare anyone, I think there is enough news out there to scare us all and then some. But I also wanted to pass this information on.

Finally, there are a lot of articles out there about Zinc helping to curb the effects of coronavirus. The jury is still out on whether or not it will have an effect, it's too early to tell. If you do take Zinc, do NOT take a formula that includes vitamin C. Apparently Vitamin C can neutralize the impact of the zinc ions in fighting the RNA virus. There is a scientific study on this that I was reading through but didn't understand a word. Below is a video that is a "RNA virus for dummies" type explanation. They talk about the Zinc study towards the middle of the video.

[LAS14]

1. Thanks. I find these kinds of first(ish) hand reports very helpful. Interesting..

.... about the zinc possibility. I had already decided to use Zicam as I would with a cold if one of us got sick as it works spectacularly well if used very early on a cold and it didn't seem as if could hurt.

Any other direct knowledge reports?

tia
las

[crimycarny]

9. Only other report is vague

My sister has a neighbor who tested positive for COVID-19. He is in his 40's and went through chemotherapy about a year ago for esophageal cancer (in remission). He was sick about a week, never got any breathing issues. He had been to a conference on the "East Coast" (not sure which state). There were 24 people at the conference, 22 of which later tested positive for COVID-19.

Pretty vague information which is why I didn't pass on. Only specific info is the 22 out of 24 who tested positive.

[LisaL]

2. From what I read about covid, it might tike 7 to 8 days of relatively mild symptoms,

then some people might take a turn for the worse, and some for the better. Some people start feeling better only to take a turn for the worse.

[crimycarny]

8. Yep

And that's why I wanted to post information on real people that I know and what they experienced. I had assumed it would be like any typical virus in that when you start feeling better you're on the mend. But now two people I know have had crashes after feeling better.

Again, my post isn't an attempt at creating hysteria and I certainly don't want it to be taken as "this is what will happen to EVERYONE..so please panic!". I guess my post is meant to underscore how unpredictable this thing is.

I'm really curious as to find out whether or not my friend's husband's COVID-19 test turns out positive as he has had zero symptoms.

[Hekate]

3. "Another week before going back to work"?! It takes many weeks of treatment/recovery...

She (and he) will likely be contagious for who-knows-how-long from now.

Also, seems to be sadly common for "recovering" patients to crash.

[crimycarny]

5. She will be cleared first

She works in the medical field so she will be need to be cleared before she can return to work. Both her and her husband have been extremely careful to keep from spreading the virus.

I'm simply passing on what I know to help others. The whole "at least a week before she can go back to work",--key words being "at least" --was simply a comment from her about how she doesn't see how she is going to feel better any earlier than a week.

For some it takes many weeks to reovery, for some it does not, for some they don't even feel symptoms. No one knows. I will keep everyone update on her progress as well as my co-worker.

[Mike 03]

4. I can't thank you enough for posting this information.

That's especially interesting about Vitamin C interfering with Zinc. Even though I have a plan and am taking certain supplements, if I get sick I'm likely to just start throwing everything I can think of at it, and that would have included Vitamin C for sure, so I'll be eliminating that from my small arsenal of nutritional supplements.

[crimycarny]

7. Me too

I was actually looking for a zinc/vitamin C combination thinking "hey, if zinc is good then zinc with Vitamin C must be better!". Then I stumbled across this article of zinc and it's effect on SARS: https://www.bmj.com/rapid-response/2011/10/29/zinc-ions-and-fight-against-sars

About the 6th paragraph down I read this:

Although zinc lozenges are available, most products fail to achieve
their goals because the amount of zinc they contain is too low or because
the formulation contains substances such as Vitamin C that trap the zinc
ions.

EDIT: I don't think taking Vitamin C outside of the Zinc tablet would harm anything, though obviously I don't know that. It seems that having Vitamin C in the same lozenge as Zinc is what caused the issue. I still plan to make sure I get Vitamin C, I'll just make sure I don't take it the same time I take Zinc. I have a "shake" I make in my Vitamix that includes hand fulls of baby spinach mixed with Orange Juice and Costco's frozen 3 berries mix. Tastes like crap but it's a simple way to get a ton of vitamins in one dose. Too much work to sit there masticating on cups of spinach.

[BComplex]

6. Very good information on zinc and chloroquin.

Thanks!

[lostnfound]

10. Thank you!!! Been taking zinc with orange juice... 👀

I appreciate this very much

[KY_EnviroGuy]

11. From the professional articles and videos I've seen...

all those with substantial symptoms should at least have bloodwork done. An x-ray or CT scan is also suggested.

That is to insure there's no on-going organ damage to their liver, kidneys and heart. It can also do brain damage.

It's worrying that people are dealing with this virus without direct medical treatment. For a number of people around the globe, this thing as taken a nasty turn even after they seemingly improved and killed them in a day or so.

---------------------

This is one of the best videos I've seen by a professional that explains how the virus was originally transmitted, how it attacks our bodies and the typical treatments.

The presenter does not look the part but really knows the topic. Several MDs have complimented this presentation. The video runs 50 minutes and is well worth the time for our education.

If you're not interested in the disease spread aspects, skip to the 14:30 time mark for the medical parts.

COVID-19 | Corona Virus: Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, Diagnostics

[Lars39]

12. Tested positive 6 days ago,

and she thinks she’ll go back to work in a week? Probably not. She’ll still be positive most likely.

[crimycarny]

13. Ugh...like I stated earlier

She works in the medical field so won’t be able to back until CLEARED. She doesn’t “think” she can go back to work in a week. Her “at least a week comment” was just her stating that she didn’t feel like she would be anywhere close to being able to return to work for AT LEAST a week,

As for whether she’ll be virus free by then, or feeling strong enough by then, I’ll leave that up to her and her doctor. It’s not for me to say “oh there’s no way you’ll be ready!”