Effects of covid

[bluesky8_]

Hi all,

My mum unfortunately caught covid and is finally to come out of isolation tomorrow. She is an asthmatic and has been complaining of chest pain. She rang her asthma nurse who gave her advice to just keep an eye on it... my mum was still complaining of pain days later so called again. It is causing my mum pain to take her pump so the nurse said to use a chamber to help her take it. To be honest, the nurse has been no help as my mum still has that pain regardless.

Does anyone have advice??? I’m really quite worried as I know she is playing it down and takes a lot for her to complain.

[twinkly29]

It's very likely the chest pain is nothing to do with her asthma at all. Having been there myself, the asthma chest symptoms are incredibly different to covid chest symptoms - in the way they feel and the way they respond, including what they respond to. I'm getting a lot of shortness of breath and can feel my heart a lot - but it's definitely not asthma related. Using her ventolin will probably actually make it worse as that can increase heart rate anyway. That's not to say she shouldn't seek advice of course but assuming it's asthma may not be the right path. What does help for me are breathing exercises, relaxation and distraction. Plus pain relief if required. The asthma nurse herself probably can't actually help if it's not asthma so it might be worth your mum seeking advice from a GP instead. Or calling 111 re covid related chest pain. They might be able to advise more.

These exercises might be useful - I know the title says for anxiety but the idea of relaxed breathing is the same - so I'm not saying it's anxiety causing it but focusing on relaxed breathing might ease her pain....

healthline.com/health/breat...

[Poobah]

It's probably best to contact the 111 covid helpline in order to discuss the exact symptoms that your mum is experiencing. They can assess if a doctor or paramedic need to examine mum to rule out anything that may require further treatment. Even mild covid can affect a patient long term and early intervention is the best course of action. It's also now known that if patients take it easy in the first few weeks of covid, even mild covid, the less likely they are to suffer from rebound fatigue etc months down the line.

Hope your mum fully recovers very soon.