Just before Christmas, Juliana Shain of Simi Valley, 43, tested positive for COVID-19. Five days later, the same would happen with your fiancé.
“I felt like I got beaten up. I felt a big hangover,” she said. “We feel aches and pains, then we cough and then we sneeze. In fact, in the end, we had difficulty breathing.”
The fear of being hospitalized soon settled. Internal medicine specialist Dr. Aamir Iqbal of Agoura Family Practice says he has received several calls a day from frantic patients.
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“When you tested positive, it’s a great time. Many people are very scared and nervous about what is going to happen,” he said. “What do I do? Either my husband was positive or my spouse was positive or my son was positive and now I live with them.”
Iqbal’s first suggestion is to buy an over-the-counter pulse oximeter.
“It’s a small device that plugs into your finger and has a percentage right at the top of the screen,” he said. “When you fall below 94%, it starts to raise some flags. And any number below 90% is a big red flag.”
He suggests moisturizing with drinks like Pedialyte or Gatorade. Shain’s doctor told her to take a cocktail of supplements.
“The doctor gave us a lot of vitamins,” she said. Shain started taking vitamin C, B12, D3 and zinc.
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“Some of these home remedies can really help. We know they can’t hurt you,” said Iqbal.
He also suggested over-the-counter medications such as acetaminophen, mucus thinners and a baby aspirin to prevent blood clots.
“Although infant aspirin is not equivalent to a blood thinner, it can give you some protection,” said Iqbal.
Studies show that sleeping on your stomach helps deliver more oxygen to your lungs. Iqbal said that if it is comfortable, try it, but he tells his patients that it is not mandatory.
Some online advice includes waking up every two hours to circulate blood. For that, Iqbal said that quality sleep is much more important. As for eating more bananas, avocados or asparagus, he said that good nutrition is important, but food alone cannot prevent symptoms from worsening.
A month after the infection, Shain is back at work
“I feel exhausted and I still have some brain fog,” she said.
She did not gather enough energy to remove the Christmas decorations and Shain had to postpone the wedding day. But she is grateful to be recovering.
“Just be kind to yourself. Do it one day at a time and you’ll get over it,” she said.
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