Corona Virus/covid 19

dreamdaisy
dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
edited 25. Mar 2020, 21:55 in Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Lucky ol' me had a rheumatology appointment this morning so thought it prudent to ask about the new scourge of the world. I was told what I expected to hear, viz increase hand hygeine, keep away from ANY poorly person, if I begin a temperature and a cough I am to to self-isolate, stop the meds and ring the department's Helpline. DD

Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
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Comments

  • Maturecheese
    Maturecheese Member Posts: 130

    Ditto I too saw the consultant last Tuesday and he said pretty much the same thing although he also thought it was shaping up into being a pandemic. He also said words to the effect of that as long as you are relatively healthy and fit you shouldn't have any major problems should you catch it.

  • BettyMac
    BettyMac Member Posts: 217

    ". . . . .as long as you are relatively healthy and fit you shouldn't have any major problems should you catch it."


    I'd like someone to define what that means.

    I feel I'm relatively fit - because of the immunosuppressants for the RA and the steroid inhalers for the asthma.

    I'm not panicking - but I am trying to be sensible by not putting myself in certain situations if I don't absolutely have to.

  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520

    I am not panicking either but I have definitely increased my hand hygeine, stopped kissing people hello or goodbye, will not shake hands and have little hand gels all round the house. Having said that, I had a visit from family eleven days ago who, despite all coughing and sneezing with gusto, assured me they were feeling better so were not infectious. Idiots. I am now definitely ill which makes a change from being merely diseased. 😉 DD

    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • stellabean
    stellabean Member Posts: 308

    My daughter got a virus mid December and by Christmas had managed to give it to me and OH we have been coughing ever since. Add to that I have had a sore throat since last September I am pretty fed up. GP told our daughter it is a virus give it 6 weeks ( she didn't see him this was over the phone) she had to call them again last week when she lost her voice and guess what "it is a virus give it time". Her cough has me worried at times as she has been unable to breath and has almost hooped ( she did have whooping cough as a child even though she was vaccinated). Her voice is a little better this week though she sounds as if she works on a certain type of phone line.

    Talking of panicking there was a man in our local chemists yesterday wanting to buy 6 hand gels he got one the last one!. We see very few people thankfully as it is so rural here we may wave to someone in the distance when we are out walking our dog is a right idiot he gets so excited and noisy people tend to keep their distance.

    DD I hope you get over your infection quickly and are feeling back on form.

  • Mike1
    Mike1 Member Posts: 1,992

    Not worried about catching it myself as being virtually housebound nowadays my Home Help comes once a week and my baby sister normally visits once a week, so unless my cat brings the virus home I should be OK.

  • YvonneH
    YvonneH Member Posts: 1,075

    Hi,

    We have information on our website regarding coronavirus

    https://www.versusarthritis.org/news/2020/march/coronavirus-covid-19-what-is-it-and-where-to-go-for-information/

    This is the specific information re immune suppressing drugs

    I take methotrexate / DMARDS/ other drugs that suppress my immune system. Should I stop taking it?  

    The current advice is that you should not stop taking your medications unless advised to do so by your rheumatologist or rheumatology nurse.

    By stopping your medication, you are more likely to have a ‘flare’, which could make you more likely to pick up an infection.

    If you have concerns about your medication, speak to a member of your healthcare team.

    It also provides links so you will get the latest updates on information as the situation in the UK changes

    Yvonne

  • Maturecheese
    Maturecheese Member Posts: 130

    The advice I had from my Rheumatologist was to stop the meds if you develop a temperature but ringing the helpline first would probably be a good idea.

  • mikeydarlo
    mikeydarlo Member Posts: 5
    Hi the problem I have with the advice of "come off your meds if you get a temperature" is that if you get an infusion once a month for your treatment and you get a temp say a week after receiving your infusion then you're pretty knackered. It's fine advice if your treatment is popping pills or injections once or twice a week but surely too late if your treatments carry you for a longer period than this
  • HelenP
    HelenP Member Posts: 22

    I read this with interest - I am housebound and don't see many people at all - that's fine (apart from being very lonely) - then my supermarket delivery man came this week boasting how he was 'in France and Zurich' last week but he wasn't worried...........well he might not be but I'm scared stiff since his visit.

  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 8. Mar 2020, 16:50

    I can understand your concern, HelenP: are you immuno-suppressed like many on here? If you are then increase your hygeine, clean any surface he touched, wash your hands thoroughly and often with soap and hot water, do all this even if you are not immuno-suppressed and I am sure you will be fine. I am doing all our surfaces with anti-bac spray, including our bedding as my husband finds the sheets useful recipients for coughs and sneezes.

    Hi, mikydarlo. If you know that your temperature spikes after your infusion then the advice is not that relevant, is it? If, however, a few days after you have seen someone with a cold and you begin a sore throat then it is time to monitor your temperature, and decide from there. I have let my hospital know I am off my meth and humira at the moment due to taking anti-bios for tonsillitis and I will let them know when I resume. Mine is a teaching hospital and that has always been their advice but I am also lucky with being in my 18th year of taking meds so feel confident in taking control. I have also had my flu jab which is certainly mitigating the tonsillitis.

    TBH I cannot understand why everyone is reacting as they are. I am doing nothing different this winter compared to other winters, I always do my best to avoid ill people but unfortunately met up with family members who had driven for over three hours to come to lunch and who arrived coughing and sneezing but declared that they felt fine so weren't infectious. Idiots - and I was a twerp for not turning them away. DD

    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • HelenP
    HelenP Member Posts: 22

    dream daisy - you're such a source of strength. i'm lucky I'm don't have a problem with immunity normally so I know I'm lucky and feel a bit guilty about stressing.........this website is full of wonderful people - I'm really thankful for it. love from Helen.

  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520

    Seeing as how I am currently weaker than a kitten thanks to nasty tonsils, to be a tower of strength is somewhat scary!

    Those of us with an auto-immune arthritis have our immune systems suppressed to reduce disease activity. Those with OA do not have this to worry about as that disease 'works' differently but a flu epidemic puts everyone at a similar level of risk. I think people are more concerned about this because of where it originated, how secretive that government is, how little is known about the behaviour of this new strain but hysteria is also easily whipped up by an excitable media. I read today that while the stoical Brits are panic-buying loo rolls the immature Yanks are doing the same with bullets.

    I am by nature relaxed in character, indolent, inclined to dream but balance that with a roll-my-sleeves-up-and-get-on-with-it approach to the nasties in life. Getting 'em over and done with sooner means I can drift back to my preferred chaise longue more quickly. DD

    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • HelenP
    HelenP Member Posts: 22

    Hello dream daisy - as always you are so positive. I had a flu-like virus a good month ago - choking cough, hot and cold - all the usual stuff but hoped it would go - which it did - I just wonder if in fact this virus has been around longer than we are told - as you say - secretive society over there. We don't hear much about whether it's reached Russia - and would we know if it had? Just rambling as usual I will stand up and be counted and say how much I admire our Queen for simply carrying on the way she does - plenty of world leaders would taken refuge somewhere. love Helen.

  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520

    Influenza is a lively entity, it continually mutates, develops new versions of itself and the medicos respond by creating a new vaccine: thus the world keeps turning. This new version appeared in one of the traditional (and by our standards) disgusting Chinese markets, surely all forms of life create the opportunity for illness. As I understand it it is the usual high-risk groups that are the most vulnerable so what is the difference? Common or garden flu is a killer for them, this is no different. For the those between the ages of, say, eighteen and sixty who are in good health, well it will make them feel pretty dreadful for a few days but their body will deal with it. I expect by the summer it will be as forgotten as the SARs outbreak. China is a major mover and shaker in the financial and political world, no wonder ripples are spreading.

    I am in the high risk group and care not. I have had my flu jab (my husband paid for his as he is active and in close contact with germs as well as me) and I am doing nothing differently apart from doing it more often: I currently have an infection courtesy of some relatives but I am dealing with it. The Queen is blessed wth excellent health (that's why she can believe in homeopathy) and I expect meeting the hoi polloi will take a back seat for a while.

    Keep washing your hands, insist any visitors do the same, keep your food surfaces clean, it's basically how life should always be but it is so easy to become complacent in such matters. When out and about I never eat free sample food or bar peanuts etc., I have no idea what or who last landed on or touched it. DD

    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • Airwave!
    Airwave! Member Posts: 2,471

    Never mind about medicines, we couldn’t buy any toilet rolls today, what’s the world coming to! We have one roll left, this may become a ‘who gets there first case’! Helllpppp...........


    p.s. no we don’t have newspapers these days..........

  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520

    I reckon I will feel a vague sense of alarm when I see shoppers struggling out of Waitrose, M&S or Booths, weighed down with toilet rolls. We get the weekend papers so we're alright, Jack. We also posess flannels. 😷 DD

    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • Megrose489
    Megrose489 Member Posts: 782

    A friend and I were supposed to go the Tutankhamun Exhibition in London last weekend. It would have meant travelling by train into London and then crossing the city by tube. As I'm in my seventies and she's in her sixties, we decided to cancel. Still waiting to see if we will get a refund, but fingers crossed. My son calls London a 'petrie dish'! Can't understand why there's panic buying of toilet rolls. Why? Why?

  • silverfoxxxx
    silverfoxxxx Member Posts: 131
    Well I’m now sat here at work playing a waiting game as one of my colleagues daughter has been ill for the past few days after coming into prolonged contact with someone who came back from Italy, they didn’t tell her until afterwards 😬. Both mother and daughter are awaiting results, fingers crossed they are negative as being immunosuppressed I’m slightly worried.
  • HelenP
    HelenP Member Posts: 22

    hello silver fox - I think a lot of us are living in fear at the moment - it shouldn't be like this. We need some reassurance from the powers that be but like everything else folk are scared of having to be accountable for whatever they say.

    Surely it's not so wrong to express a considered opinion to calm things down? Every good wish silver fox., Helen.

  • Airwave!
    Airwave! Member Posts: 2,471

    I wonder if anyone will take China to task for their lack of civilian administration in allowing wild protected animals to be sold in their ‘wet’ markets.


    ’Bush meat’ in Africa has brought us AIDS, Ebola and other viruses from around the world, bird flu, SARS have endangered the world, will the WHO get on top of this?

  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 13. Mar 2020, 17:26

    I think we did our bit with mad cow?

    Mr DD has self-isolated in the first bedroom. His cough has worsened, his throat is very sore but he does not have a temperature. As a result Mrs DD is sleeping like a log and thoroughly enjoying the peace and quiet away from the Spluttering Spouse. 😀 She is also relishing the fact that laundering bed linen is easier as that bed is smaller. DD

    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • Bluebell7
    Bluebell7 Member Posts: 41

    Worried I have the virus, temp 38.8 c taken paracetamol

    cough, sore throat, more aches and pains,

    self-isolating until better consulted 111 online assessment.

  • Tracie
    Tracie Member Posts: 57
    Keep drinking water washing our hands. Most of us will get some symptoms but only mild we hope. My friend is a paramedic she said lots of normal cold s n flu about too. Not necessarily the virus.
    Keep safe everyone take care
    Tracie xx
  • silverfoxxxx
    silverfoxxxx Member Posts: 131
    Are those with arthritis and currently taking DMARDs or biologicals classed as vulnerable and at risk? I’ve not seen much of a definition for the at risk part of the next phase of quarantine and wonder if I should start preparing for the long haul at home.
  • Luigi
    Luigi Member Posts: 2
    edited 16. Mar 2020, 15:51
    Hello everyone, As this covid 19 virus is starting to take hold of much of the UK, does anyone think that we should self isolate if we are on Methotrexate and Baricitinib? I'm a little bit worried as I am on both, which I'm sure most of you are too. I inject Methotrexate weekly and was told I was more susceptible to catch more viruses. What do you think I or we should do?

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