My Covid Experience - Lessons for others

My parents and I tested positive for nCovid-19 on 22nd October, 2020. Initially - before testing positive - we had taken things a bit lightly. My father first developed uneasiness on Saturday, 18 October. The next day he had fever. By Monday though the fever had subsided, and we were relieved. We hadn't opted for testing. But, by Wednesday morning, my mother had developed cough and fever. By the same evening, I too had developed cough, fever and bodyache.  The symptoms alarmed me enough and thanks to a colleague - who doesn't want to be named - we had the comfort of getting tested at home.  I am narrating this experience - of testing, symptoms, development of infection, its treatment, and post-covid - with the hope and view that it might help someone somewhere.  

(Once, we tested positive - we were administered just the Rapid Antigen test; the team said that would be enough because of our express symptoms - I wanted people who had come in contact with me too to get tested.  So, my domestic help and her family, my driver, some of the office staff that had come in my contact, my friend and his family, and some of our guesthouse staff, all got tested.  They all were administered the RTPCR and I learnt from the hospital that they all tested negative).

Different people develop different symptoms when infected by ncovid-19. And a sizeable chunk of infected persons also stay asymptomatic - many even recover without having known they were Covid positive! However, when symptoms appear, the most common ones are: 

- Fever. Usually hovers around 100 degrees F. Doesn’t go very high. And keeps coming back after the effect of paracetamol wears off (if you take meds) 

- Headache. Accompanies fever and doesn’t easily go away. Nor would it be very severe. 

- Cough. Stays dry. Rarely - if ever - will you have phlegm. 

- Body aches. Can be intense. Especially in legs and back. 

 Loss of smell and taste. 

 Loss of smell and taste during Covid is not an early symptom of the disease, but develop along the way. Loss of smell isn’t sudden but goes away gradually. The first smells to disappear from our noses are foul smells - like our body odour, morning breath, poop, or the trash can. But many of us may not notice not being able to smell these unwelcome odours. Slowly, in about two-three days, almost every smell is lost to the nose. Do not believe the myths that are going around - if you can’t smell mint and garlic, then it’s Covid. Or some other version.  

 I tried smelling Amrutanjan - a pain balm commonly preferred by South Indians - by putting my nose inside it - I couldn’t. Incidentally it was the smell of Amrutanjan that alerted me to loss of smell. My nose thought the smell of the balm had changed. It didn’t smell of menthol. Loss of smell leads to loss of taste and ingestion of food becomes difficult; nausea may also make its presence felt. 

Loss of smell coupled with loss of taste might be the indication that Covid infection has peaked. In some people there could be loose motions too. It happened with my mum and I. But my dad didn’t experience it. In fact, he didn’t have cough either. The loose motions may last for a few days. It’s best to treat oneself with lactobacillus; if it doesn’t stop, you may need a course or antibiotics. 

 It takes over a week for the smells to make a reappearance. Again, the odours that you’re able to smell finally are the foul ones. Initially, the strong and the pleasant smells would be detected by your nose. And, that possibly also is the indication that the infection is waning and you’re on your road to recovery. 

Treatment 

Doctors at the hospital treat a Covid patient based on symptoms and blood reports. A patient’s co-morbidities too make an impact on treatment. The first set of medicines include a course of Tamiflu, ivermectin, a strong antacid (pantocid 40mg), vitamins B, C, D, and zinc. If a patient has fever, Dolo -650 is administered. 

If the chest x-Ray indicates any occlusion in lungs HRCT is carried out. If lungs appear to be infected, immediately a course of remdesivir is administered intravenously. Patients with complications are also given a course of blood thinners (injections, generally on the abdomen. Blood thinners are given based on D-Diner counts in the blood. Covid infection results in higher D-Dimer count leading to thickening of blood. If the counts exceed certain level, it may lead to blood clots and seizures. Hence, blood thinners are given where the values are abnormally high. (The single biggest indicators of mortality among covid patients has been high D-Dimer counts; hence blood tests are done frequently while at the hospital). 

Other antibiotics may also be given depending on conditions.  As indicated by some studies, patients are also given a single, high dose of dexamethasone injection, which can help in combating wild spread of nCovid-19 infection.  Giving dexamethasone may result in shooting up of blood sugars in diabetics.  Monitoring would be necessary; insulin shots may be needed to bring sugars under control (if a patient is only on oral medication).  Also, patients may easily slip into hypoglycemia if not noticed because of these drugs.  

Everyday a patient’s oxygen saturation is monitored multiple times - ideally once in every two hours. If it dips below 92, it is expected that the patient may require oxygen support. Our oxygen levels had dipped below 90 at least once during hospitalisation, but we all recovered from low saturation soon.  Cough is treated with nebulisers, twice a day. If all these treatments work well, a patient may expect to get back home within a week or less. In some cases things may not improve so easily. 

Some things to remember: 

- Early discovery is extremely beneficial. Late discovery of infection leads to complications 

- Do not ignore/neglect any symptoms. Remember, it’s not just you but also your family and friends that will be at risk. 

- Ask the doctors any questions you have. Do not hesitate. It’s your right to know what’s being given and why. 

- Please be very clear about your medications, allergies, past medical history with the doctors if you’ve to be hospitalised. 

- If you’re healthy and you have no other health issues (called co-morbidity, like hypertension, diabetes, etc.), you can isolate yourself at home, provided you have access to a bathroom that is not shared. 

- If you have any other medical condition, your best bet is hospital treatment for safety.

- If any elders are declared Covid positive apart from you, please get yourself admitted along with them. They will need support. 

 The biggest asset during your fight against Covid is your courage and fortitude. Your worst enemy - fear. Do not neglect wearing mask and using sanitiser. They’re your best friends and lifesavers. Eat well, even when you can’t taste a thing. Drink as much fluids as you possibly can. Do those activities that you like (reading, in my case). Give a break to your social media and updates. But share important updates about your infection so people know. Identify everyone you might have come in contact with, and advise them to quarantine themselves and even get tested. 

Also, please do not rely on whatsapp forwards for your information and updates regarding Covid.  It's a new disease; information available is not much.  It is preferable to rely on government sources - not political pronouncements though.  Plasma therapy - which was vigorously advocated in the beginning - has now been proved to be ineffective.  If the doctors advice you to try it, please be aware that it might not give results.  Lastly, Indians are as susceptible to covid as anyone else around the globe.  We do not have special immunity because of either our genetic makeup or BCG vaccines.  

 All the best. Let’s fight this together. If you found this write-up useful, please share it with others too.