Advice for helping someone with Covid??

My wife has covid.  She woke up yesterday with a slight cough, took a test and got a positive.  This morning she was running a low fever.  Oxygenation is good and she has the top floor of the house to herself but she is very fatigued and kind of miserable.

Do people have any advice on how to help her get better and how to avoid getting sick ourselves?  I am masking when I bring her food, I have a HEPA filter in her room and a couple more around the house.  What else should I be thinking about?

She is triple vaxed which is the gold standard here in Canada.

This is the first time anyone in our immediate family has had it (to our knowledge).

Hey @GoSlugs,

Sorry to hear about your wife. My good news for you is that we just went through this, with my husband being sick, but I never got it, despite clearly being exposed (we had lunch together an hour before he tested positive as well as sleeping in the same room overnight the night before). My booster was in November, as was his - so both triple vaxed. Also first time to have someone in our home test postivie.

He isolated in our master bedroom/bath. There is a bit of a gap under our door, so I asked him to put a towel under it to kind of block the air flow. No idea if that helped. No hepa filter, but he did open the windows from time to time. I left food at his door and then at the end of the day he left the dirty dishes and I picked them up with my dish gloves on and cleaned up careful not to touch my face. Edited to say that he would wear an N95 when he opened the door to pick up food/put out dirty dishes, but otherwise wasn't masked in the room.

I aired out the house for the first day after he tested positive (again, after he had isolated). I also wore a mask in the house for much of that day because we had another family member there and we were protecting ourselves from each other - assuming I would be most likely to get it and pass it on. I didn't mask after that (when our guest left). 

He tested out of isolation, the preferred method buried in the US CDC guidance, and didn't just stop on day 5. It took 11 days. He didn't test on day 10, but was still clearly positive on day 9. 

He was pretty miserable for the better part of a week - high fever, horrible sore throat, headache, exhausted. This was about a month ago. He's just about back to normal now but it took him a while. 

He had the ice bucket in the room and I would bring bowls of ice for the day. A few thermoses of hot tea in the morning. Lots of soup. A case of seltzer. Some throat lozenges that numb your throat (that was his biggest complaint even though he had 101F fever. All the comfort stuff you'd want when you are sick. 

I tested (rapid) about 7 times in 8 days, and then did a PCR and all were negative. Except for the first day, I did not wear a mask as our guest left. 

Once he tested out, I let the room air out for 24 hours and get a deep clean before moving back in.

Around day 6 he masked up and went quickly through the house (I opened the windows) to take a walk and go for a PCR to get counted and get in the system. One small block was all he wanted to walk. Very low on energy. But he just went for a 23 mile bike ride and seems to have plenty of energy now. 

He's not that far off from 65, and has asthma, but never had trouble breathing. Had some chest congestion and a cough, but no asthma symptoms, surprisingly. Doctor didn't think he needed paxlovid and he never took it.

She should rest as much as she can. Just a LOT of rest and fluids.

Hope she feels better soon and that you continue to stay negative!

No great advice, but we have our first case in the house too (my blonder twin, who is not as good about staying completely away from everyone, but is trying). All triple vaccinated here too, and Stull waiting for his confirming PCR, as well as everyone else’s. Wishing her an easy recovery. 

My son had Covid for about a week. He’s 26, he had the headaches, the congestion the fever, really beat him up. He stayed in the basement, I made him lots of soups. It was all he had an appetite for.

For treatment he was taking like emergen C twice a day, and about a dozen garlic pills daily. 

And Tylenol for headache & sinus. 

I'm sorry to hear this. These answers have already given good tips for isolating and supportive nourishment. I would say to be careful adding anything new to their diet. There can be taste and smell distortions, yes, but why add something that could annoy them? Good luck and I wish her a speedy recovery. Message me if you want.

I was surprised to read that SZM's husband was not deemed worthy of using Paxlovid. 

Can you get the anti-Covid medication I don't recall the name of it.

Formerlyjerseyjack said:

Can you get the anti-Covid medication I don't recall the name of it.

I was just about to ask the same question. Apparently it's a bit hard to get in the states. Don't know about Canada.

ETA: Paxlovid

drummerboy said:

Formerlyjerseyjack said:

Can you get the anti-Covid medication I don't recall the name of it.

I was just about to ask the same question. Apparently it's a bit hard to get in the states. Don't know about Canada.

ETA: Paxlovid

We know two people locally who got Paxlovid.  One of them said it acted almost immediately. 

drummerboy said:

I was just about to ask the same question. Apparently it's a bit hard to get in the states. Don't know about Canada.

ETA: Paxlovid

Here, it is only available to senior citizens and people in special risk categories.  That might change if her situation were to deteriorate but, if I am thinking of the same med, it is mainly effective in the early stages.

Her fever broke last night.  I haven't had a chance yet to read up on that, I don't know whether it will come back.

It is my understanding that many doctors will prescribe paxlovid if they think a person "may" be at high risk for advancing from mild to severe covid, in the first 5 days of illness. In other words, if you really want it with a flexible doctor, you can probably get a prescription. It used to be hard to locate, but now is just sitting on shelves waiting to be utilized in many nj pharmacies. You can't use it until you stop taking cholesterol meds for a day or so. 

While it appears to be highly effective, at least 3 percent of patients get a rebound positive test again after the meds wear off, and perhaps prescriptions eventually will be for 10 days, although most doctors think it's worth the risk.  

GoSlugs said:

Here, it is only available to senior citizens and people in special risk categories.  That might change if her situation were to deteriorate but, if I am thinking of the same med, it is mainly effective in the early stages.

To clarify, I live in Canada now.  Sadly, I don't think paxlovid is an option.

Alberta Health Services Criteria for Paxlovid

susan1014 said:

No great advice, but we have our first case in the house too (my blonder twin, who is not as good about staying completely away from everyone, but is trying). All triple vaccinated here too, and Stull waiting for his confirming PCR, as well as everyone else’s. Wishing her an easy recovery. 

Susan, I hope your son is feeling better.  My families thoughts are with you.

PeterWick said:

I was surprised to read that SZM's husband was not deemed worthy of using Paxlovid. 

I was, too. But our internist said as long as he wasn't having breathing problems, he didn't need it. Doesn't take any medications on a regular basis, so that wasn't the issue. 

SZM said:

I was, too. But our internist said as long as he wasn't having breathing problems, he didn't need it. Doesn't take any medications on a regular basis, so that wasn't the issue. 

That doc was wrong. Two definite risk factors and a demonstrated extended acute course.

PeterWick said:

That doc was wrong. Two definite risk factors and a demonstrated extended acute course.

As I said, I was surprised. He's been a very, very good doctor for us for two decades. But doesn't an extended acute course also kind of take you out of the running for Paxlovid? I thought you had to take it in the first 5 days of symptoms? We didn't ask a second time, as his symptoms never progressed to difficulty breathing. But yeah, two risk factors and nearly 65. 

why so stingy with Paxlovid anyway? Is it in that short supply?

ridiculous that the government didn't remove patent protection from all COVID drugs so that production could be maximized.

SZM said:

As I said, I was surprised. He's been a very, very good doctor for us for two decades. But doesn't an extended acute course also kind of take you out of the running for Paxlovid? I thought you had to take it in the first 5 days of symptoms? We didn't ask a second time, as his symptoms never progressed to difficulty breathing. But yeah, two risk factors and nearly 65. 

The rebound effect for antibiotics has been documented pretty well. Those short courses of Paxlovid sound very similar, almost stupidly exactly the same as what happens when a person is given a 10-day supply of antibiotics for strep throat. They feel better pretty quickly and after 5-6 days they think they're fine. This stuff was great. I'm gonna save this extra in case I get sick again... They get sick alright because all the bugs weren't gone yet... Plus, that is also one of the factors in the rise of antibiotic-resistance.

They haven't proven the viral resistance yet, but they are thinking that a 5-day course of Paxlovid is not enough. Maybe 10 days is better.

What does that have to do with his case?

An extended acute course means the virus is still fuc king with him. Keeping symptoms from progressing to serious illness is the whole fuc king point of Paxlovid.

ETA: This I *do* say with my PhD and teaching experience in pharmacology.

GoSlugs said:

susan1014 said:

No great advice, but we have our first case in the house too (my blonder twin, who is not as good about staying completely away from everyone, but is trying). All triple vaccinated here too, and Stull waiting for his confirming PCR, as well as everyone else’s. Wishing her an easy recovery. 

Susan, I hope your son is feeling better.  My families thoughts are with you.

Yes, he is feeling much better (as the rest of us are testing positive, one by one), and hoping that today is his last day of school-from-home.  The CDC and district rules say that as long as he is fever-free without medicines, he is eligible to be back fully-masked on Day 6.  I'm not sure I agree with the rules, but he is falling behind, and not being allowed to take tests while on virtual school.  I'm not sure it is fair to try to hold him to a higher standard that the District and CDC rules... 

GoSlugs said:

To clarify, I live in Canada now.  Sadly, I don't think paxlovid is an option.

Alberta Health Services Criteria for Paxlovid

Disappointing to see your province hoarding Paxlovid rather than prescribing it.  Here it is fairly easy to get if you are over 55 and have risk factors.

susan1014 said:

Disappointing to see your province hoarding Paxlovid rather than prescribing it.  Here it is fairly easy to get if you are over 55 and have risk factors.

Yeah, it is kind of crazy.  Supposedly they have 30,000 full course doses on hand and they have only given out 2,000 since January (with a total population for the province of 4 million).  Our conservative government is not exactly a brain trust, perhaps they think the remaining doses are earning interest. /s

I know of several doctors who are being much too rigid in prescribing paxlovid for some reason, including mine who initially said I shouldn't take it because of a low dose of cholesterol meds, but all I'd have to do would be to go off them for 24 hours first, and resume them afterwards.  Turns out she hadn't reviewed the prescribing details that carefully, but there are numerous other meds that interact with it as well.  

Secondly, I believe that when it was more difficult to find, doctors didn't like getting involved in hunting down available supplies to send a prescription to a pharmacy.  Third, with potential side effects, rebounds, and interactions, plus ignorance and newness, some doctors might just feel it is too new, and too much of a hassle to recommend when most people do fine without it.  

Jasmo said:

Third, with potential side effects, rebounds, and interactions, plus ignorance and newness, some doctors might just feel it is too new, and too much of a hassle to recommend when most people do fine without it.  

Except that "most people" means 70-90% will do just fine and not be left with debilitating illness if they do survive.

PeterWick said:

ETA: This I *do* say with my PhD and teaching experience in pharmacology.

I believe every word you say