I'm not 100% sure because I've been unable to get tested, but I believe both of my parents – plus my sister and I – have all had Coronavirus. A couple weeks ago, my father had many of the symptoms - high fever, horrible cough, and he was struggling to breath. My mom also had a cough and lost her sense of smell and taste. My sister had similar symptoms. I myself had a light cough for about a week, and then suddenly I got a really high fever and horrible headache. This was about two weeks ago. After a few days, I started feeling worse. My entire body was starting to feel tingly, kind of like I had been holding my breath too long. No matter how many big breaths I took, I still felt lightheaded, almost like I was about to pass out. Honestly, it was terrifying. I remember deciding to lay down, hoping it would make me feel a bit better. After about ten minutes, I still felt the same. I had to use the restroom, and when I stood up, I suddenly felt extremely dizzy. It was like no matter how many breaths I took, I just couldn't get enough oxygen into my body. Suddenly, remembered something I had learned from a health book a while back – that fresh air is crucial to the body being able to heal itself from diseases (especially respiratory ones). Well, it was quite chilly that week, so instead of opening up a window, I decided to turn on some air filters I had in my apartment. I set them to HIGH, and after a few hours, I started feeling a little better. I called my parents and told them to try turning on their air filters as well. My sister helped bring the air filters into my parents' bedroom and, just as with me, within a few hours my dad's breathing started to return to normal and my mom's fever went down a bit. But as the day wore on and evening approached, all our symptoms just started getting worse again – especially the coughing and inability to get enough oxygen. I was really scared I might suffocate in my sleep, so I decided to try leaving my apartment windows open that night. Even though it was cold out, I didn't care – I left the heater on to keep my apartment warm since it was only 45 degrees outside. Well, within about 15 minutes of opening the windows, I started feeling a LOT better. The dizziness I was experiencing went away completely AND my coughing diminished a lot. I immediately called and told my parents to try opening their windows too. Well, by the next morning my fever was totally gone (my temperature showed as 97.3). That was the first night I was able to sleep through without waking up for coughing fits every few hours. My parents told me they slept better that night too. Over the course of the next few days, we all decided to keep the windows open for a few hours spread throughout the day to keep fresh air circulating. And all four of us – my parents, sister, and myself – finally started feeling good enough to do things again. My dad no longer had difficulties breathing, and I haven't felt dizzy or lightheaded since. I consider us all very lucky. I'm no doctor, but I figure it's my duty to write this blog to let you know how much of a difference fresh air has made for my family and me. If you or someone you know has COVID-19, it's worth trying to open a few windows to breath as much outside air as you can. I truly believe this virus hangs around the air and if you keep breathing it back in, it makes it really difficult to get better. Keep your heater on to stay warm. A few dollars a day for heating will wind up being much cheaper than if you have to be admitted to a hospital (and right now, people are saying you only have a 33% chance of surviving if you're put on a ventilator). Please share this information with a friend if you think it could help them. Also, I highly recommend reading Deanna's comment below, where she links to this extremely interesting article about the importance of fresh air with Coronavirus: https://medium.com/@ra.hobday/coronavirus-and-the-sun-a-lesson-from-the-1918-influenza-pandemic-509151dc8065 Finally, here are a few other things I've discovered during my experience with the virus in the past few weeks that have helped my family and me (be sure to consult with a licensed doctor for medical advice though):
Stay safe, and I hope these tips help you or someone you love! Remember – I am NOT a doctor, so please do not take this as medical advice. I am just sharing my experience. Only ask a licensed doctor for medical advice.
2 Comments
Deanna
4/7/2020 06:51:30 pm
I think there is definitely something to what you observed. This article about the 1918 pandemic asserts that patients treated in open air hospitals did better than patients in standard hospitals:
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Martin
4/8/2020 12:04:42 pm
Very interesting, Deanna! Thanks so much for your comment – people need to know about this.
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