Advice From RT

This is advice from a Respiratory Therapist if you become symptomatic:

Good information from a respiratory therapist ( Copied / Shared ):

CORONA Common Sense....Since they are calling on Respiratory Therapist to help fight the Coronavirus, and I am a retired one, too old to work in a hospital setting, I'm going to share some common sense wisdom with those that have the virus and are trying to stay home. If my advice is followed as given, you will improve your chances of not ending up in the hospital on a ventilator. This applies to the otherwise generally healthy population, so use discretion.

1. Only high temperatures kill a virus, so let your fever run high. Tylenol will bring your fever down allowing the virus to live longer. They are saying that Ibuprofen, Advil, Aleve, Motrin, etc. will actually exacerbate the virus. Use common sense and don't let a fever go over 103 or 104, if you got the guts. If it gets higher than that, take your Tylenol, not Ibuprofen or Advil ( or any type of anti-inflammatory drugs ) to keep it regulated. It helps to keep your house warm and cover up with blankets so your body does not have to work so hard to generate the heat. It usually takes about 3 days of this to break the fever.

2. The body is going to dehydrate with the elevated temperature, so you must rehydrate yourself regulaly, whether you like it or not. Gatorade with real sugar, or pedialyte with real sugar for kids works well. Why the sugar? Sugar will give your body back the energy it is using up to create the fever. The electrolytes and fluid you are losing will also be replenished by the Gatorade. If you don't do this and end up in the hospital they will start an IV and give you D5W ( sugar water ) and normal saline to replenish electrolytes. Gatorade is much cheaper, pain free, and comes in an assortment of flavors.

3. You must keep your lungs moist. This is best done by taking long steamy showers on a regular basis. If you're wheezing or congested, use a real minty toothpaste and brush your teeth while taking the steamy shower and deep breaths through your mouth. This will provide some bronchial dialation and help loosen the phlegm. Force yourself to cough into a wet wash cloth pressed firmly over your mouth and nose, which will cause greater pressure in your lungs forcing them to expand more and break loose more of the congestion.

4. Eat healthy and regularly. You've got to keep your strength up.

5. Once the fever breaks, start moving around to get the body back in shape and blood circulating.

6. Deep breathe on a regular basis, even when it hurts. If you don't, it becomes easy to develope pneumonia. Pursed lip breathing really helps. That's breathing in deep and slow, then exhaling through tight lips as if you're blowing out a candle. Blow until you have completely emptied your lungs and you will be able to breathe in an even deeper breath. This helps keep lungs expanded as well as increase your oxygen level.

7. Remember that every medication you take is merely relieving the symptoms, not making you well.

8. If you're still not improving, then go to the ER.

I've been doing these things for myself and my family for over 40 years and it has kept us out of the hospital. All are healthy and still living today.

Thank you for sharing this information. We have got to help one another right now.

Copy and paste.

Great advice. They say that those that need to go on a ventilator only 20% survive. Not good odds.

TR: My doctor prescribed the daily use of a nebulizer for my condition. It this helpful re the virus along with your other suggestions?

Right. And for many of us, we will be triaged out due to age. We have very limited medical resources here the more you can do for yourself the better. We may have to save our own lives.

Gringal, you must ask your doc that. I do not know your medical history or medications but will go out on a limb to say if you have COPD and your inhaler is to dispense a bronchodilator - don't stop using it. But ask your doc your questions. Suerte.

TR: I have a 73 yr old heart, had 4 heart attacks, 4 stents, 1 4X bypass, diabetes, premature balding (which pissed me off) and now COAV plus a variety of less appreciated conditions. As a ventilator is out of the question so is everything else. My question is; If I present thusly might I be prescribed a 'Black Pill' to dodge the suffocation and slip comfortably to the other side? If not I'm jumpin'. TIA

Hahahaha
See if you can find a 2 for 1 offer on that black pill of death, please. Or. . . I'm jumping with you. Might be a crowd . . .

What is COAV?

What is COAV? Humm, no clue. How about COPD? Doc seemed confident I was 'a dead mo-fo walking'. Humm, death pill or the big jump? The jump would be a real happening and the pill would smack of a Heaven's Gate thing. I B jumpin', a half gainer sounds like more fun anyway.

This is all well and good but it took exactly 6 hours for my brother to pass out after his congestion started so it can happen very quickly it is not like a cold of the flu. I should say for some people .
I know personally of 3 cases and all 3 are different.. The young woman wo caight it has flu symptoms , does not feell weel and it goes on and on.. she passed it on to her husband who is also young., he got 104 for 3 days and the fever dropped and he is fine.. so 3 people 3 totally differnt cases and outcome althought the symptoms are basically the same .

I used to do full gainers. I will try my best! It has been a few years. :)

Yes I definitively think you should jump. My neighbors jumps on her trampoline for about an hour every day and she is now super fit. Make sure you get the music that fits your "jump"

Theme song from M. A. S. H?

Are we going to line up to jump or will we all hold hands and jump together? Or the 1812 Overture for music.

So many good ideas, now I want to jump twice. Could make some memorable selfies too.

I believe that you will do as you say, since I know you as "Roof Bob", from way back when......
Perhaps you could arrange diving boards, and a bell for the announcements.
Wish I were still there; but I am some 9 years ahead of you with the same basket of conditions, so there is hope......more for you than for me.
"Air Force Bob"

Yeah, we wish you two were still here. You and Louise continue to be missed.

Diving boards and a big bell and make it a fundraiser. You know, have a few celebrity judges, warm-up band, Katrinas, balloons, prizes for costumes and diving judges. With all the whacked-out baby boomers this could be the beginning of something grande.