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Tips from an ICU nurse to treat (mild) COVID at home: a thread.
First, purchase a pulse oximeter online or from your local drug store. There are several trustworthy brands for under $15 on Amazon. Monitor your oxygen saturations every few hours, and if they drop below 87% and stay there... it’s time to go to the hospital.
Sleep on your belly whenever you can. This provides more room for your lungs to expand without taking on fluid.
Get up and walk, even if you don’t feel like it. At least once an hour, walk up and down your steps, do a few laps around your living room, whatever you can manage. This prevents fluid from settling in your lungs.
Sleep as much as your body tells you to. But make sure you get up and move around as often as you can.
Eat when you can. High calorie, high protein. Stay away from dairy products like milk and ice cream. Drink fluids like gatorade that have electrolytes in them. With a fever, you can become dehydrated quickly and will feel worse.
Treat your symptoms!!! For fever, body aches and chills, alternate taking 200-800mg of ibuprofen and 500-1000mg of Tylenol (acetaminophen) every 6-8 hours. Cough medicine (without acetaminophen) for dry cough. Cough drops, hot tea, hot lemon water with honey for sore throat.
For example: 6AM- 600mg of ibuprofen with some mucinex.
12PM- 1000 mg of Tylenol.
6PM- 800mg ibuprofen, repeat dose of mucinex.
12PM- 1000 mg of Tylenol.
6PM- 800mg ibuprofen, repeat dose of mucinex.
You can disinfect your home with 1 cup of bleach to 1 gallon of water. Lysol, Clorox, etc. wash off frequently touched surfaces like fridge/microwave handles, faucets, doorknobs.
Don’t get retested!!! You can still test positive for months and you are no longer shedding. Consider yourself positive and contagious for 10-14 days after your first symptoms. If you still have any symptoms, after 10 days, consider yourself contagious.
Taste and smell may not come back for months. Contact your physician, local healthcare center or http://CDC.gov if you have ANY questions on whether you are safe to return to work or school.
A few points before I mute this:
1. Yes, I am an ACTUAL ICU nurse and recommending gatorade. Imagine being so elitist and thinking that everyone who needs to treat COVID at home can afford coconut water or electrolyte alternatives?
1. Yes, I am an ACTUAL ICU nurse and recommending gatorade. Imagine being so elitist and thinking that everyone who needs to treat COVID at home can afford coconut water or electrolyte alternatives?
2. I have neither seen nor heard any evidence that ibuprofen is harmful. If your doctor tells you don’t take it, don’t take it!
If you have any questions, concerns or are unsure if you should go to the hospital, just go :) we are happy to check you out and will tell you if you don’t need medical attention. It’s better to be safe than sorry. These tips (as I said in the beginning) are for MILD symptoms.
This tweet is also not affiliated with my employer, and does not replace directly tailored medical advice given to you by a provider. These are merely tips to help ease some discomfort while recovering at home. :) when in doubt, seek medical attention immediately.
