Not another Covid thread, just a PSA about Covid tests

[Calm]

No need to discuss. Would have put in Social except I know many don’t look in there. 

I am hearing of a number of people getting infected (just infected, some in comfortably ill, none hospitalized) recently or at least exposed including two nieces, one who got it at EFY.   For those of us who are high risk, tests can be helpful when it comes to family reunion times….we are also switching our visit with my nieces’ family who are out from Singapore for a few weeks to outside under the trees in the evening just in case.

I read this in my health newsletter today:

Quote

Don't Throw Out Expired COVID Tests 
The shelf-lives of many popular home COVID-19 tests have been extended by 3 to 7 months based on tests showing that they are still good past their printed expiration dates.
 

 

Edited July 5, 2022 by Calm

[Calm]

Might as well cover more details…

Test Info in general:  https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and-medical-devices/home-covid-19-diagnostic-tests-frequently-asked-questions

Expiration info for specific tests:

https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and-medical-devices/home-otc-covid-19-diagnostic-tests#list

Order for free from government:

https://www.covid.gov/tests

[rongo]

My wife was in the hospital for five days last week (massive intestinal bleeding). Of many miracles we experienced was that she got right into an ICU bed for a couple of days. The ER doctor told us that we must be living right, because it's taking around a week for an ICU opening to open up. I asked about Covid, and he said there are almost no hospitalizations from that. ERs, ICU, and hospitals are at capacity with non-Covid issues, by and large, he said. 

I think there is a big difference between positive tests / cases and hospitalizations and deaths. 

[CA Steve]

1 hour ago, rongo said:

My wife was in the hospital for five days last week (massive intestinal bleeding). Of many miracles we experienced was that she got right into an ICU bed for a couple of days. The ER doctor told us that we must be living right, because it's taking around a week for an ICU opening to open up. I asked about Covid, and he said there are almost no hospitalizations from that. ERs, ICU, and hospitals are at capacity with non-Covid issues, by and large, he said. 

I think there is a big difference between positive tests / cases and hospitalizations and deaths. 

I hope your wife is doing well.

[CV75]

5 hours ago, Calm said:

No need to discuss. Would have put in Social except I know many don’t look in there. 

I am hearing of a number of people getting infected recently or at least exposed including two nieces, one who got it at EFY.   For those of us who are high risk, tests can be helpful when it comes to family reunion times….we are also switching our visit with my nieces’ family who are out from Singapore for a few weeks to outside under the trees in the evening just in case.

I read this in my health newsletter today:

 

I share some good advice (I think), also not in the spirit of discussion  :

The rapid tests are less sensitive than the PCR (gold standard), so serial testing for several days can make up for that and rule our false negatives. PCR would pick up a positive result much sooner. https://www.npr.org/2022/04/25/1094680415/a-lead-covid-test-investigator-on-how-well-at-home-rapid-tests-work-for-ba-2

Because of this, as often the case on these board discussions, context is key! If you test negative but will still be around the immunocompromised, take the extra precautions. https://www.npr.org/2022/04/27/1094794460/rapid-covid-tests-ba-2-what-the-experts-say

[Calm]

Thank you, CV, for your very useful nondiscussion.  

[pogi]

4 hours ago, rongo said:

I asked about Covid, and he said there are almost no hospitalizations from that. ERs, ICU, and hospitals are at capacity with non-Covid issues, by and large, he said. 

I think there is a big difference between positive tests / cases and hospitalizations and deaths. 

Sorry to hear about your wife.

This is true just about anywhere right now.  If you would have asked pre-Omicron, you would have received a different answer.   There are currently only 28 people in all of Utah in ICU due to Covid.  That is remarkably low given the high case rates.   Hallelujah.

As a matter of general decency, I recommend the following guidance when it comes to infectious disease - "don't be a prick" (not saying you are).   It is still a good idea to test and isolate by avoiding social contacts if you have Covid...or any other transmissible disease.  While more rare now, there are still vulnerable people, and no one likes getting sick. 

Edited July 5, 2022 by pogi

[Calm]

4 hours ago, rongo said:

think there is a big difference between positive tests / cases and hospitalizations and deaths

Sorry to hear about your wife. Hope she is on the mend. 
 

I edited to make it clear I was only referring to infections and not implying hospitalization or death.

If I get sick, I will be surprised if I end up in the hospital. But at this point in my life, I don’t have to in order for a disorder to take the quality of my life down several notches as has happened already with Meniere’s two years ago that I am still struggling to figure out how to cope with it.  I don’t need long Covid added to the mix. 

[rongo]

6 hours ago, CA Steve said:

I hope your wife is doing well.

 

3 hours ago, pogi said:

Sorry to hear about your wife.

 

3 hours ago, Calm said:

Sorry to hear about your wife. Hope she is on the mend. 

Thank you, all. She is doing much better. She's been hospitalized five times in the last fifteen years with complications from a clotting/bleeding disorder. Usually, we have some notice (bleeding, cognitive problems, weakness, etc.) over days or weeks, but this came out of nowhere and she was critical in a couple of hours. She's hard for the hospital staff, because she violates a lot of benchmarks and protocols. Her INR is usually only 1.9, despite being on 10 mg of warfarin (without the warfarin, she clots in her organs, and she had an ileoectomy and colectomy 15 years ago from that). But, her INR can spike to above 7 on short notice (dangerously thin blood). She's always been a medical marvel, and this time, her blood pressure at the ER fell to 50/40, but with hemoglobin level of 9 and O2 saturation of 100% the ten hours she was in the ER. This is while she continued to lose **vast** amounts of blood in front of them in real time. The ER doctor said that usually when people's blood pressure is so low, their heart races furiously as it tries to keep blood circulating, but her heart rate and pulse were very normal the whole time. Her "normal" hemoglobin led to fights over protocol, because that is too high for transfusions, but she obviously needed blood (three units). 

We both are grateful and appreciate every minute, because by rights she should not be here. It's not her time to die, and God has preserved her life and given her a good quality of life. She is **much** better now than she was last week. 

[LoudmouthMormon]

8 hours ago, rongo said:

I think there is a big difference between positive tests / cases and hospitalizations and deaths. 

Of course there is.  Covid is doing what we expect any horrible new virus to do - mutate into less-dangerous and more-transmissible versions of itself.

[Harry T. Clark]

Isn't the ifr of covid-19 similar to the flu now?  And treatments, are similar to the flu, based on symptoms, so what benefit is there to testing and knowing if it is the flu or covid-19?  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/treatments-for-severe-illness.html  Whether you have the flu or covid-19 or any other respiratory illness, treatments depend on the symptoms.

Quote

Managing COVID-19 symptoms

Most people with COVID-19 have mild illness and can recover at home. You can treat symptoms with over-the-counter medicines, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil), to help you feel better.

Learn more about what to do if you are sick.

 

[ksfisher]

9 minutes ago, Harry T. Clark said:

Isn't the ifr of covid-19 similar to the flu now? 

What's an "ifr"?

Edited July 6, 2022 by ksfisher

[pogi]

4 hours ago, Harry T. Clark said:

Isn't the ifr of covid-19 similar to the flu now?  And treatments, are similar to the flu, based on symptoms, so what benefit is there to testing and knowing if it is the flu or covid-19?  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/treatments-for-severe-illness.html  Whether you have the flu or covid-19 or any other respiratory illness, treatments depend on the symptoms.

 

Treatment is not just based on symptoms, but on the type of infection.  Symptoms can look identical, but Tamiflu is not effective for Covid, and remdesivir is not effective for flu, for example.  Doctors will always test before prescribing a treatment. 

Also, testing can help you understand if you just have allergies (non communicable) or Covid/flu (communicable), helping one decide if they should go socialize or isolate.   I can't tell you how many times I have heard people tell me that they thought they just had allergies when in fact it was actually Covid, and ended up infecting tons of other contacts.  

Edited July 6, 2022 by pogi

[Calm]

And for those of us who are high risk hearing “just the flu” is not reassuring. As Pogi pointed out, it is very useful to know if allergies, flu, or Covid for many of us. 

And the common American attitude of going places while sick as if all is normal as long as you personally aren’t too uncomfortable is extremely self centered, imo.  I was hoping the habit of wearing a mask when I’ll or possibly contagious would become a habit due to Covid. Unfortunately I see it as likely the opposite case at this point. 
 

My daughter and I will be getting our booster shots as we just asked our specialist.  He had Covid himself 3 weeks ago and said the fatigue is what is typically the worst with this version. He barely managed 100 steps the first day of coming out of it and it has the tendency to linger for weeks.  And he is in his 40’s I am guessing. 

Edited July 7, 2022 by Calm

[Tacenda]

My friend's family recently came back from an Alaskan cruise. Little did anyone know, that their sister and family probably had covid. She's in the medical field and was able to mask covid by using a little trick with alcohol in the nose before taking the test. She thought they all had colds and really, really didn't want to miss the trip with her family. The parents paid for the cruise for the whole family. Well, when my friend came back the whole family, extended and parents, had covid. I know my friend's sister feels terrible for doing what she did most likely. And I'm betting that a lot of people on the cruise may have been infected as well.

 

[Harry T. Clark]

11 hours ago, Calm said:

And for those of us who are high risk hearing “just the flu” is not reassuring. As Pogi pointed out, it is very useful to know if allergies, flu, or Covid for many of us. 

And the common American attitude of going places while sick as if all is normal as long as you personally aren’t too uncomfortable is extremely self centered, imo.  I was hoping the habit of wearing a mask when I’ll or possibly contagious would become a habit due to Covid. Unfortunately I see it as likely the opposite case at this point. 
 

My daughter and I will be getting our booster shots as we just asked our specialist.  He had Covid himself 3 weeks ago and said the fatigue is what is typically the worst with this version. He barely managed 100 steps the first day of coming out of it and it has the tendency to linger for weeks.  And he is in his 40’s I am guessing. 

I know you probably don't consider this, but, your specialist is probably vaxed and boosted, yet still contracted covid, still had to suffer through the fatigue. 

[Calm]

10 hours ago, Harry T. Clark said:

I know you probably don't consider this, but, your specialist is probably vaxed and boosted, yet still contracted covid, still had to suffer through the fatigue. 

Like duh….

[Harry T. Clark]

2 hours ago, Calm said:

Like duh….

I'm trying to be diplomatic as you are still very afraid of this, even though it isn't necessary.  It has mutated to be pretty benign.  I recently had it too and was out for a few days but recovered pretty quickly, just like I have when I have had the flu in the past.  However, good for you that you are getting the booster, I guess. 

[Calm]

32 minutes ago, Harry T. Clark said:

I'm trying to be diplomatic as you are still very afraid of this, even though it isn't necessary. 

I am sure you could be more condescending if you tried…put more effort into it!

Are you immunocompromised, by any chance?  Have multiple disorders creating an excessively complicated picture of potential vs excluded treatments?

Why do you think caution means fear?  Being aware, due to vast experience and not guessing, that many things can screw up my body and taking informed measures to avoid them when I can without a significant cost because I need to keep functioning at a minimal level in order to care for my daughter and myself is wisdom, not fear.  There are several things that could be beneficial available this summer and I don’t want to lose the momentum that could lead to a very positive change because one of the legs of my support system gets out of whack. 
 

There is a good chance I have already had it myself. If so, I know how I will react.  A booster is still wise in that case. 
 

The only thing that scares me about my health is if the Meniere’s gets worse and I start dropping and cracking my head on something on the way down or otherwise ending up in the ER like too many sufferers report…and given the trajectory of the disorder so far, I think I will be able to avoid that severe of a case if I keep myself generally healthy and low stressed. 

Edited July 8, 2022 by Calm

[Harry T. Clark]

1 hour ago, Calm said:

I am sure you could be more condescending if you tried…put more effort into it!

Are you immunocompromised, by any chance?  Have multiple disorders creating an excessively complicated picture of potential vs excluded treatments?

Why do you think caution means fear?  Being aware, due to vast experience and not guessing, that many things can screw up my body and taking informed measures to avoid them when I can without a significant cost because I need to keep functioning at a minimal level in order to care for my daughter and myself is wisdom, not fear.  There are several things that could be beneficial available this summer and I don’t want to lose the momentum that could lead to a very positive change because one of the legs of my support system gets out of whack. 
 

There is a good chance I have already had it myself. If so, I know how I will react.  A booster is still wise in that case. 
 

The only thing that scares me about my health is if the Meniere’s gets worse and I start dropping and cracking my head on something on the way down or otherwise ending up in the ER like too many sufferers report…and given the trajectory of the disorder so far, I think I will be able to avoid that severe of a case if I keep myself generally healthy and low stressed. 

To be honest, I have a problem with the booster declaration by you.  If you weren't so fearful, perhaps there wouldn't be the need to declare your position?  It seems an attempt to validate your decision and nothing more. Why tell us in the first place?  Who cares? Just get the booster if you want.  Why the need to publicly declare this?  Does it matter if we get the vax when it obviously doesn't stop the spread?  I get that you have a condition that warrants caution, but why include the rest of us?

Unfortunately, the covid vax doesn't work, hence the forever booster regimen being pushed.  The data is out there if you care to look.  Natural immunity does better.  The virus is forever mutating and evading the latest vaccine offerings, just like flu evades the flu vaccine.  Seems like we are going down the wrong road here, for pharma profits.  Further, Pfizer attempted to hide the vaccine data for 75 years.  Does that say something, cause one to perhaps pause? 

[Calm]

“It seems an attempt to validate your decision and nothing more. Why tell us in the first place? “
 

And this is why I went for no discussion first, that I let myself get sucked in.

Lol, if I was looking for validation on a health decision, I would be going to my health group, not my religious one.   I am taking my doctor’s advice after researching it, I don’t need anyone else’s opinion. 
 

Because I am housebound most days, this board is my social life.  I share way too much info just because I like to chat and have little going on in my life besides my health stuff (not complaining, just being open about my blah life, lol), but also there are people who write me privately about health stuff when they find they share common ills and we share info.  I have just gotten into the habit. 

Edited July 8, 2022 by Calm