I know lots of you suffer from anxiety related issues, and I do as well, and earlier tonight I gave myself one hell of an “OMG I GOT THE RONA” anxiety attack. The proximate cause of said attack was spring allergies causing drainage which has given me a little chest cold combined with an active imagination and a fear that I may have killed my parents by giving them the virus.
At any rate, after they are gone, you remember how bad they were, but boy howdy nothing prepares you for when you are in the midst of one. It just sucks.
So please, y’all, take care of yourselves.
Concerts Tonight: Jimmy Buffett (2015 from Key West) and Pete Kartsounes (Live Acoustic Grateful Dead)
chopper
had allergies the last week and i’ll tell you they ain’t welcome at all these days.
MazeDancer
Take your temp, John. No fever, no Rona.
Hard to remember in the grasp of anxiety.
It also has to be fever that doesn’t go away.
MomSense
Cold, allergies, and hot flashes just for added OMG I am burning up I have the Rona and I’ve killed my mom.
Trying not to think about the reduced work hours.
Nicole
My downstairs neighbor’s recent houseguest just tested positive (works for Sloan Kettering, which is how I think they wangled a test), and now my neighbor is sick with a cough and digestive issues. I thought, well, I haven’t seen them in 7 days so I’m past the median point of contagion, but just tonight I started running a 99.5 temperature and am now convinced I have it.
If I do have it, it sucks, but I swear, if I do, once it’s over I’M RUBBING MY EYES AGAIN, SUCKAS. AND PICKING MY NOSE. AND LICKING MY FINGERS. I’M DOING ALL OF IT.
dmsilev
When this is over, I vote that we as a country pick a day and TP every goddamned tree in the nation. Because we can.
Percysowner
@MazeDancer: I’m taking my temp once a day. I’m recovering from Influenza Type A and the cough is lasting forever. I also suffer from spring allergies, so again, coughing and red eyes (apparently another symptom of Covid-19) are par for the course this time of year. OTOH, I’m watching my granddaughter 5 days a week and since she’s not potty trained I get proof at least once a day that my olfactory sense is working fine (apparently another symptom is losing sense of smell).
The Dangerman
I’ve been there, too. I felt like shit warmed over yesterday and I thought, well, that’s it. I have it. I live in the hay fever capitol of the world; everyone is coughing and sneezing. I figured yesterday, well, fuck, that’s it. I have an underlying condition so I’m at some increased risk. And first thing I’m doing if I end up in the Hospital is completing a DNR.
Anyway, I slept yesterday and then I felt OK. Just stress. Everyone is stressed to their limits right now. Every single one of us. If anyone isn’t, they aren’t paying attention or they think Trump is a Miracle Worker or something. Is it wrong of me to hope these assholes that are running out for that uncontrolled drug regimen seize up like a Ford Pinto with a leaky engine?
I’ve had a shitload of death in my world lately; I’m sure as shit glad that my Parents, and all from their generation that was my Family, are all gone. I can’t even imagine anything as simple as visiting a Parent or Parents right now.
I saw a cool app (at least by the reviews) that has been made free right now for the virus that is breathing for anxiety. I’ll find it and link it later.
ETA: And I found out today that my Sister sat next to a confirmed positive for a couple hours recently; she is self quarantining, of course,
schrodingers_cat
Rona == crying in Hindi.
Karona = Requesting someone to do something
Brought to you by the Department of pedantry.
Be BernieAPOSTROPHEs Valentine
Let the rally assuage your fear.
schrodingers_cat
BTW did you see the news about Floyd Cardoz? He passed away due to complications due to Corona.
Yutsano
@dmsilev:
That’s a lotta trees.
chris
@schrodingers_cat: Huh, Rona is a building supply store here. There must be a lot of Canadians who laugh about that.
MomSense
@Nicole:
I’ll be thinking of you and going you and yours stay well!
Darkrose
I’m on week 2 of a nasty cold–seriously, why does one body need this much gunk!–and between the coughing and the hot flashes, I’ve been in a constant state of low-level panic. I’m also freaking out about non-corona stuff; last night I was having stomach pain and I immediately leapt to “Gall bladder attack! But they’ll just send me home if I go to Kaiser because it’s not corona!”
chris
The Dangerman
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/strategic-breathing/id1273620853
I thought it had a lot more reviews. Newer than I thought. Anyway, he made it free for now so not a lot of risk.
dmsilev
@Yutsano: Yes, well, we have been buying a lot of toilet paper.
(which means fewer trees….)
chris
I have mild allergies too. Every time I sneeze…
Also bought a thermometer last week. Never owned one before.
Gin & Tonic
@chris: DC “will close all non-essential businesses”? I hope this includes the one at 1600 Pennsylvania.
lgerard
nothing else needs to be said
Anne Laurie
From my (& others’) experience, surgery-worthy gallstones usually feel more like chest pain, actually. Not infrequently confused for a heart attack — it’s one of the first sorting checks for women-of-a-certain-age patients in the ER.
On the general topic… I’ve been reassuring myself for the last several weeks that I could be sure it wasn’t the ‘rona as long as my eyeballs were itching. Now they’re talking about red eyes & loss of one’s sense of smell as symptoms, dammit!
Kent
Has this been to BJ yet? Most dead-on Trump impersonation I have ever seen.
CaseyL
I’m dealing with all this pretty well, no doubt aided by the anti-depressants I’ve been taking for years and which have definitely “flattened the curve” of my emotional responses. I haven’t had any close or sustained in-person contact with another human being for over a week. My neighbors and I wave at each other from our porches.
The one thing that seems to be happening is I’m craving sweets. Which I just don’t do, normally. I almost put in another grocery order that would have been things like cherry pie, caramel popcorn, chocolate, and honey (almost being the operative word). So strange.
I wonder if I… I wonder if people generally… will have agoraphobia attacks when the lockdown ends and we can resume something like normal interactions again.
chris
@Gin & Tonic: Devoutly to be wished.
dexwood
@dmsilev: Sweet, but let’s start with the Whitehouse fence.
Suzanne
Oh my God. I have nasal congestion, and I had a small sore throat and very occasional cough last week, which I think was due to post-nasal drip. But HOT DAMN I am convinced that I have it. One of the Spawns and I also have some minor digestive stuff going on, but I have to remind myself that I am super-stressed out and that when I am stressed, I usually have digestive stuff. Ehhhhhh.
WaterGirl
@Kent: Oh my god. I wanted to, but I couldn’t look away. Damn, that’s spot on.
lgerard
@Kent:
I want THAT GUY to be president
he’s been a good god, he’s done some strong things
JoyceH
Seasonal allergies here plus a lifetime of smoking and a mild cat allergy and three cats. I had two cats and OTC stuff seemed to handle it, but I’ve inherited a cat and that seems to be one cat too many. I bought something called Allerpet. It’s a liquid that you rub onto the cat and it’s supposed to cut down on the dander. Hard to say if it’s helping because everything is blooming. Anyway I’m taking my temperature multiple times a day, sort of a talismanic thing.
FlyingToaster
Our entire household is sniffly from the goddam juniper. HerrDoktor suggest we get rid of ours, and I asked him how he was getting rid of the landscaping at [redacted] a block away. Crickets. Which honestly, was a better answer than “thermite”.
I’ve been checking my temperature a couple times a day, just in case, but it’s totally normal. The headaches are all sinus and stress.
Stress because even if he is a Republican, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker WAS BCBSMA’s CEO, and therefore he isn’t a complete fucking fool. So at 4 pip emma, he out-n-out defied Trump by extending our “close everything we safely can” until May 4!
5.5 more weeks on Zoom. Egads.
Today 9 more labs came on line, we tested 6,000 in one day; we need to be doing a lot more for the next 5 weeks to actually locate and quarantine — successfully — the cases and carriers, and let everyone else know if they’re immune or not.
This should put paid to WarriorGirl’s Spring Play (you can memorize lines over Zoom, but you can’t build sets and do the blocking unless you’re on the effing set). It’s now 30-70 whether the strings tour group will be allowed to perform in May, since they’ll get 1 live rehearsal.
catclub
I thought he was talking about killing his parents, just then.
Brachiator
I also get an attack of the spring allergies. It can make me pretty miserable, with swollen eyes, congestion, runny nose.
But I also have some health issues that probably put me somewhat at risk if I am hit with the corona virus.
I am happy that I live in California, where the governor is actually doing his best to fight this thing.
Mai naem mobile
@schrodingers_cat:
Marona = go die
catclub
one of our cats has runny eyes from allergies.
I have sneezed much more this year than previous years, but anything is better than sore throat/post nasal drip, for me. and so far, none of those.
Fair Economist
I get extended coughs after most winter respiratory infections, and I have one now from a very mild flu-ish/chest cold I got in mid-February. Like all the other hypochondriacs here, I worry. I’m 99% sure it wasn’t and isn’t COVID, but man, sweating that 1% is …
Everybody in my family is being very sensible about this now and I’m thankful for that. Just was giving my invalid mother tips for dealing with shortages of disinfectant wipes and gloves (my suggestions: diluted peroxide or detergent for cleaning and washable cloth gloves).
catclub
@Mai naem mobile: maroona
Bugs Bunny name for idiot bull with fever.
Mai naem mobile
I think my sister had it mid January. She had a really bad upper respiratory infection which started with a dry cough and sore throat. She was wiped out from it. I haven’t talked to her about it today but I read today that both eyes being red is part of it and I could swear she had that as well. I’ve had a couple of mild upper respiratory infections in Jan/mid Feb but one felt more like a sinus infection than a true lung related infection. The other one I was just a little stuffy and tired with a dry cough.
Mai naem mobile
@catclub: Darona = don’t be afraid
BeautifulPlumage
@Kent: I saw that earlier today and went to his twitter feed. He’s got a lot more, but this script is perfect, except too coherent for reality.
LeftCoastYankee
Allergies and Covid symptoms are so different.
Deep dry cough feels nothing like the yearly sinus meltdown with post-nasal drip.
With one you want to cough to clear up your breathing, with the other you want to stop coughing so you can breath.
BeautifulPlumage
@catclub: Yeah, the phrasing caught me, too.
cain
@lgerard:
Just ignore the U.S. and do your own joint report. It’s time you start ignoring us.
L85NJGT
I ran into a big box for charcoal. Why were there no dishwasher pods? There are 40 in the Cascade small size. That’s more than a month at one load a day. Can people just not count? How many times a day are they washing dishes??
NotMax
@L85NJGT
Could certainly conceive of panicky people running a load through twice. Or three times.
Also, an entire family being home for three meals each day does generate more dishes, cutlery and pots ‘n’ pans in need of cleaning.
Michael Cain
@LeftCoastYankee: Starting back on Jan 10 I developed a horrendous cough — never had anything like it before. A week later I developed very painful back spasms — also something completely new to me. Never had a fever, lungs stayed completely clear (verified by chest x-ray). At the time, Kaiser sent me home with, “Yeah, the winter crud going around is worse than usual this year.” After four weeks it was pretty well cleared up. At this point I assume that if I presented with the same symptoms, I’d go in the “presumptive positive” group.
ziggy
I’m not naturally an anxious person, but there’s so much going haywire that anybody has reason to be anxious. What seems to really help me is developing routines for how I do things–such as how I wash hands and deal with the door when I pick up lunch. Or how I “decontaminate” after coming in the house. Just gassed up for the first time in a while, and that was a mess, going to have to figure out how to make that work. If I go to the same places (stores, suppliers), ones that I feel are trying their best, I also feel more comfortable.
206inKY
I didn’t realize we are such a hotbed of hypochondria! I have it bad. Everything I’ve learned from CBT therapy to manage my anxiety feels like it has been short-circuited, and I’m compulsively checking my temp multiple times a day, terrified that I have it (despite no real symptoms), and as a result I’m totally failing at being a parent, partner, son, and at doing my job well. My mom has cancer across the country and I’m too scared to fly there despite her deterioration. It’s a bad scene. I think there’s a shadow mental health pandemic hiding just behind the viral one. In all my years of anxiety I’ve never felt quite this compulsive and paralyzed.
HeartlandLiberal
Same here. I was coughing, but I had to force myself last night NOT to freak out in panic, and to note the post nasal drip, which I suffer from, it was not a dry cough. I took my every 24 shot of fluticasone up each nostril, and a few hours later it was easing off. My doctor says to use the fluticasone every day, it is safe, has no rebound effect. It is steroidal, but let me tell you, my back decided to go out two days ago, I could not even stand up, so thank $DEITY for six day Zpaks of steroids. 36 hours after starting, I can walk again.
We are afraid of this virus, not just for ourselves, but for our son. He almost died of necrotizing pneumonia three years ago; has COPD and emphysema. He would not survive this. We are taking care of him here with us. And trying NOT to go out at all now except for prescriptions pickup.
Hope all of you are staying safe. This is real. Never thought I would live through one of those cheap horror movies, but here we are. The main horror of course being the blood gargling psychopath at the top of the federal government.
J R in WV
@HeartlandLiberal:
Nothing and no one can keep me from calling this the Trump Plague, now and forever. It should be hung around his neck like his impeachment.
One and only President Impeached AND caused a plague, Biblical shame upon his head, and a donkey on his back.