Morning routine of a hypochondriac during a pandemic

[Shermann]

I think mild hypochondria runs in my family. Normally I have mine mostly in check, but the pandemic has pushed it into overload.

Here's how my day will probably start tomorrow:

6:00 am - Alarm goes off, temperature check and hit the shower. Hmm half a degree higher than yesterday.
6:15 am - Getting dressed. Do my feet look different? Are those covid toes?
6:30 am - Off to work. Better keep my speed in check lest I get pulled over by an anti-distancing police officer.
6:45 am - Mask up! I had to open three doors to get to my desk, better hit the hand sanitizer.
7:00 am - I'm the first in but I better sanitize my station for good measure.
7:15 am - Cough! Probably nothing. Cough! Hmm...is that scratchiness in my throat?
7:30 am - Guy in next office : Cough! I heard that...I wonder how much this air gets circulated.
7:45 am - This coffee lacks any taste. Zoinks! I better smell the beans. I guess I can smell that (hard to be sure).
8:00 am - Better check the Johns Hopkins website. Well none of that looks good.
8:15 am - Need to use the restroom. GAAAAAAHHHHH
8:30 am - OK that was harrowing. I need to drink less coffee and hold it longer. I can't taste this shit anyways.
8:45 am - Need to focus on work and not think about pandemic...need to focus on work and not think about pandemic...

[Diamond_Dog]

1. I know, right?

And any time I’m near a person who coughs, I’m like immediately in a panic. How close to them was I? Was this person masked? (I always am). What direction did they cough? Did I accidentally walk into their wake? What are they doing out in public if they’re coughing?? etc. etc.

[Shermann]

8. And why aren't sidewalks six feet wide??

I have a defensive strategy for the "wake" you mentioned...it's positive air pressure. If I have to walk past another individual or group on the sidewalk, it's one long exhale. Hold your breath a bit, keep on walking until you are into clean air.

[VarryOn]

2. The more I get out and about...

my anxiousness has gotten less. And the vaccine has certainly helped. I've just accepted that there will always be some risk of catching covid, and that it's pretty low. And if I do, I'll probably be ok.

Hell, I drive a car everyday. There's risk in that.

[Shermann]

10. Oh no, phobias don't work that way

Dystychiphobia is the fear of accidents, and I don't have that. So there's cold comfort for me in that false equivalence.

[VarryOn]

16. Sorry you have to live with that...

Wasn’t trying to be dismissive. Sorry you took offense.

[Shermann]

19. No worries, no offense taken

I guess I'm more interested in sharing a laugh over this than trying to garner sympathy pains.

I've managed to remain one of the lucky ones so far.

[senseandsensibility]

3. I'm sorry you're going through this

Do you mind if I ask if you've had the opportunity to be vaccinated? That could make a big difference.

[Shermann]

6. I got shot #1 a week ago

I appreciate the concern and it has improved my outlook considerably.

I'm exaggerating a bit in order to find the humor. If I can laugh at something, then I can take some of its power away.

[senseandsensibility]

9. Oh believe me,

I've done everything you mentioned including the trying to find humor part. That's why reading your post was kind of jarring. I understood completely what you were saying. I don't even have to work around other people. I finally got the J&J shot, so I'm hoping it will relieve some of my anxiety. Good luck!

[luvs2sing]

4. Not so different from what mine would be..

if I were working outside the home. And I definitely lean away from hypochondria and more toward “It’s just a flesh wound.”

Although that sinus infection I got on New Year’s Eve had me a little freaked out. Glad I was starting to feel better by the time the weekend was over and I could get hold of my doctor.

[Tree Lady]

17. Having allergies and sinus issues

This past year more than any other has been a challenge. In the beginning of this last year I kept thinking I had covid. Now I just say to self, its allergies its my sinus stuff, but a tingling thought is always there in the background till it's gone.

[LizBeth]

5. Walking my dog yesterday, I coughed. More than a block away I saw a couple's heads flip around to me

What a cough does in todays world. I have coughed and then say, .... Not a covid cough, really, as people back up. (Always masked).

[multigraincracker]

7. I'm very lucky to balance it out with my ADD.

My worries only last about a half of a second and then on to something else.

Look, squirrel!!!!

[StarryNite]

11. I start off with nightmares of having forgotten my mask...

and being in a room filled with others who are not wearing masks! Those nightmares have subsided somewhat since I was vaccinated with the J&J twelve days ago.

[Shermann]

12. Yeah I forgot about those

They are a bit unusual for me but I've had a few doozies. I had one nightmare where I was in a mall and had to use the restroom and it was wall-to-wall men jammed in there without masks. There was another where I had to get a haircut, and found myself in a "conservative" barber shop where masks were frowned upon. That one really sucked.

[onecaliberal]

13. I've been working inside the office since last June.

There were 2 outbreaks I narrowly missed. We have a 💯 percent masking at all times in the building since the first one. But all
Of the things you mention, I’ve thought and done. Hopefully the vaccine will help with the anxiety some. It definitely helped me. I still mask and obsessively wash my hands but I can’t risk brining it to my husband.

[nuxvomica]

14. I check my temp every day

And do an oximeter check and additional temp check when I feel a little sickish. And take a deep sniff of my coffee, too. I have a chart in the bathroom that compares symptoms between COVID, the flu, the common cold and allergies. When I go to the store, I don't remove my mask until after I've left the parking lot. Curious thing I read recently: in lab studies, the common cold's rhinovirus can keep the COVID-19 virus from getting a foothold so having a cold might be protective. Fortunately, I've been working from home since March of last year but still I worry. And I've been vaccinated so I will reach optimum immunity by this coming Tuesday.

One thing I've learned from frequent temp checks: my temp rises during the day and is usually below 98.0 unless I've had adequate sleep, in which case it can reach 98.6. Also, checking the oven when you are baking something can cause a false reading. It registered 99.0 one day and panicked till I remembered I had just checked a hot oven. For two days after my second Moderna shot my temp registered 100.2 frequently but it didn't worry me as context is everything.

[Shermann]

15. There was a DU discussion about whether the vaccine provides some degree of immediate protection

It appears that may be the case. One piece of evidence is that people rarely get a cold and the flu at the same time. The reason is that once your immune system is activated by the first stress, it can respond to a secondary stress immediately and more robustly.

[3catwoman3]

18. Our body temperature varies throughout...

...the day, depending on time of day, physical activity, metabolism and a host of other factors.

Usually lowest in the early morning, and highest in late afternoon, and early evening, unless you are a night shift person. One’s temp can vary up to a degree thru the day, so don’t let a half a degree freak you out.

Lots of good resources on line if you’d like to Google the topic.

[nuxvomica]

20. Though they suggest not to check after intense exercise, I did one day

And my temp actually went down. So the body is constantly adjusting and compensating.