The "Do I have COVID-19?" thread

[purple_dress]

Oh! My skin is sensitive too

[emma_p]

Yes actually Liv and George have been saying their skin is itchy. George has an ulcer too, which I think someone else mentioned.

[Luce]

Yes, itchy sensitive skin here too. Or it was last week. I think it just be linked to the mouth ulcers that me and both boys had.

[purple_dress]

Yes, itchy. Interesting.

My husband and J both had ulcers before I got sick, as well as coughs. This was before any of the 'stay at home if you have a cough'. They are both prone to ulcers though.

[Pippedydeadeye]

Last weekend I kind of lost my sense of smell but thought it was allergy/antihistamine related. I’ve noticed a few things about losing your sense of smell though lately.

[Figaro]

Viggy, during the 14 day self isolation period you are self isolating to wait and see if you develop symptoms as the incubation period of the virus is up to 14 days. If you develop symptoms within that 14 days then it changes and you have to self isolate for 7 days from whenever you develop them. So if you get symptoms on day 3 you only have to self isolate until day 10 and if you develop symptoms on day 13 then you are stuck inside until day 20.

The BBC chart is helpful

[Figaro]

As for walking, I think if you can walk from your house without passing other people then it’s ok. I personally wouldn’t whilst symptomatic, because coughing and spluttering down the street is not going to make anyone feel comfortable, and there seems to be some evidence the virus can live on certain surfaces for a period of time. The issue is all the people driving to car parks and going for a walk there, and all the idiots who don’t understand they can’t go out in groups, and that stopping to chat in the park or sunbathing etc isn’t exercise.

[viggy]

Viggy, during the 14 day self isolation period you are self isolating to wait and see if you develop symptoms as the incubation period of the virus is up to 14 days. If you develop symptoms within that 14 days then it changes and you have to self isolate for 7 days from whenever you develop them.

The BBC chart is helpful

I started self isolating because I was coughing and wheezing ten days before the fever started though - I wasn't waiting to see if symptoms developed, I already had one.

ETA If I re-start the 7 day period it's only two more days from my original 14 day count for me and BM isolating. More confusing is whether her 14 days should re-start. Maybe not, since she'll have been in for 14 days by that point anyway? Fuck it, it's not like we have anywhere we need to be.

[Jet]

I am conscious of sharing advice from here as each country is doing things a little differently but the advice for coming from the CDC here around discontinuing self isolation (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nc ... -sick.html) is (assuming you aren't being tested) you can stop after three things: no fever for at least 72 hours, other symptoms have improved and at least 7 days has passed since your symptoms first appeared.

[Figaro]

Ours is the same as that except I think we say 48 hours for fever.

If it’s all one long illness viggy then I don’t think you would need to restart, it is quite common in covid for people to be unwell for 2 weeks or even more, and the cough can continue for weeks. If you are still having fevers you can’t de-isolate though.

[viggy]

Thanks Fig. I think I'm so confused because BM has had a non COVID-19 cough for four weeks now, so I assumed that's what I had at the start (except with me it annoyed my asthma), so the fever threw me. It doesn't "feel" like a new illness though, no change in cough etc.

Ach, anyway, at the moment I get exhausted if I'm on my feet for any length of time or have to climb the stairs, so I'm in no rush to go anywhere. BM's quarantine affects when she'll be able to see her Dad, but since I'm not well enough to drive an hour's round trip to drop her off right now, that's a moot point too.

[Luce]

Fig, may I ask if I should still be doing quarantine? Ours started Friday 13th so ended a couple of days ago. But, I'm still not going anywhere because luckily I don't have to but also, I'm still getting moments of feeling ropey in the evenings. Not every night and no temperature, just a bit shivery. How long do I need to isolation for? I've technically got to go and get food via click and collect on Monday and wondering if I'm infectious to other people.

[purple_dress]

Lucy - can I just ask because I want to compare how you are and how I am: when you say you don't have any temperature but are shivery, are you taking your temperature and it's entirely normal?

[Figaro]

Yes if you’ve checked your temp during the shivery episodes and it’s normal then you can end your quarantine as long as it’s been normal for 48h and you’ve done your 7 days (I’m not sure when since the 13th your own symptoms started but it’s 7 days from that day and then you also need to have had no fever for 48h).

If you dont have a thermometer (unfortunately it’s more or less impossible to get one at the moment) then you need to assume the shivery episodes are fever unfortunately and wait for them to have stopped for 48h.

[kiwi]

Still coughing today. Not in fits at all, just a couple of pathetic coughs every few minutes. Still no fever, although thinking about in the week I was sitting in the kitchen with my scarf on feeling cold, and the next day feeling super warm for a bit. I put it down to menopause stuff at the time. My heart rate was really high too, although no real breathlessness, again I put that down to other stuff. I guess I have to err on the side of caution though?

Does he think if you're not on a ventilator it doesn't count??

This seems to be my husband's attitude this morning so I might have to kill him for the good of the common man. He's doing all the right things regarding social distancing etc but doesn't think my symptoms amount to much. Well, no they don't, but the point is we don't know what all the symptoms are do we.

[Luce]

Yes, luckily I have many thermometers since I'm usually quite paranoid about the kids anyway. Sorry Fig, meant to say that my symptoms (really, hardly anything but lots of very mild things) started over 7 days ago. I took my temperature using the forehead scanning one during the shivering and it was 36.7 so well within normal (I'm usually 36.5). I've not had a temperature at all, during all this, just bouts of not being able to get warm at all. I've had no headaches, no sore throat. The very mild breathlessness was last week too, so were the mouth ulcers.

I'm just really worried that I'm going to collect food when I'm not feeling quite right but it's only the evenings that I ever feel that way.

[Figaro]

I think that according to the guidelines you are definitely ok to go out. Even for people with confirmed covid they are still being told they can de-isolate after 7 days assuming they’ve not had a temp for 48h at that point. Many of them are actually having a fever for well over 7 days but those who aren’t in that situation can go. The amounts of infectious virus being coughed out reduce dramatically after a few days and are considered 0 by day 8. So I’d go and get food if you need it!

[Luce]

Phew 'cause I had no one else to help! T has had zero symptoms (we cannot workout why he's the chosen one!) but he has asthma so I didn't want to send him out!

[maya]

I think that according to the guidelines you are definitely ok to go out. Even for people with confirmed covid they are still being told they can de-isolate after 7 days assuming they’ve not had a temp for 48h at that point. Many of them are actually having a fever for well over 7 days but those who aren’t in that situation can go. The amounts of infectious virus being coughed out reduce dramatically after a few days and are considered 0 by day 8. So I’d go and get food if you need it!

Sorry for more questions but am wondering about my own isolation...my symptoms started in the middle of the night last Tuesday (shivering) and over the past almost week the fever seems to have come and gone but I still feel completely wiped out and weak, woolly headed and generally strange. This morning I appear to have lost my sense of smell and taste but I thought that was meant to be an ‘early’ symptom so I’m confused, and also wondering whether in the absence of fever since Saturday can I be released into the world (ie. take my kids out for a walk) or do I need to continue isolating since I feel crap and am getting new symptoms?! Thanks in advance...

[Figaro]

Hi maya, sorry I’ve only just seen this - the advice would still be that you can de-isolate if you need to - the smell/taste thing can come at any point and feeling weak and woolly can last a while unfortunately, as can a cough. You don’t sound like you feel well though so I would probably stay at home if you can!