Anyone have covid?

[yogabonnie]

I wonder if there is anyone of us in the PMR group who have been tested and know for certain, not just anecdotally, that he or she has had Covid-19. Antibody test or covid-19 test. Thanks all. Wear a mask!

[SheffieldJane]

No. I’ve wondered that too. I am not sure that we would get a test unless hospitalised with a very severe form of Covid 19.

[yogabonnie in reply to SheffieldJane]

anyone here in Minnesota can get a test if they have any symptoms at all. Also if you are going to have elective surgery they give you a test. BUT you have to pay for an antibody test and it is as are so many things, unreliable.! If I were to get a sniffle I would have a test and let everyone know the outcome! (although I had a nasal swab for H1N1 last year and it was AWFUL!

[SheffieldJane in reply to yogabonnie]

Oh don’t! I knew it would be, children don’t lie ouch!

[Amkoffee in reply to yogabonnie]

I too am in the US and I have heard a lot of things about the antibody test. I think the problem is not that it's unreliable but that we don't know how long the antibodies last or how many antibodies we need to fight another exposure. For example with other diseases that we now have vaccines for the vaccine itself can last as short as two weeks or as long as10 years depending on the disease it covers. Think chicken pox. We used to always expose our child to chicken pox so they could get it get over it and never have to worry about it again. We don't yet know how antibodies work with covid-19. We simply don't know enough about the antibodies to know what our resistance will be from exposure. It could 6 months or two years or a day. Time will tell.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Amkoffee]

I don't see that as a problem in its use to identify who has been exposed to the virus - but people who didn't have it badly may not have produced any antibodies. Having antibodies isn't the same as being immune ...

[Amkoffee in reply to PMRpro]

I agree but I hear from people who are wanting to catch it thinking that they will become immune and scientists have not been able to confirm how long the antibodies last or like you said if they have a mild case.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Amkoffee]

What I also meant was that since not all cases develop antibodies it will never be known exactly how many people did catch it - whether one is immune afterwards or not. And that is also important because even mild cases may be passing it on to someone for whom it is NOT mild and harmless.

[Slowdown]

I was hospitalised for 8 days very recently with suspected stroke and have been told I was tested for Covid before admittance although I have no memory of it. I lost the ability to speak comprehensiby for a day which was extremely frightening - the MRI and CTscans didn't show conclusive evidence of stroke, they were very thorough and wore masks, face shields and gloves but covid was an ever-present worry. I'm left wondering what happened and whether it will happen again despite the slew of pills they've given me - I'm having another blood test today, but not a post-hospital covid test apparently, that has to be done at a designated site. We really haven't got it right here yet.

[SheffieldJane in reply to Slowdown]

That does sound frightening and unresolved. Your doctor may have more information than has been shared with you. Do ask! Take great care!

🌼

[Slowdown in reply to SheffieldJane]

Thank you, Jane. Bit of a roller-coaster at the moment, as you are also experiencing but I'm getting very hands-on information from hospital, my doctor and the Stroke Nurse trying to piece together all the threads. Very peculiar 'visions' for a couple of days which were unusual according to neurologist - I'd rather be normal! Take good care of yourself, too.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Slowdown]

Sorry to hear that - and yes, scary.

The speech problem resolved in about 24 hours? Completely?

If so it will be classed a TIA, transient ischaemic attack, if they found no signs on the scans of damaged tissue as you find in a stroke. That plus resolution of symptoms in a relatively short time are criteria. It is due to a short lived fall in oxygen supply to the area of brain affected - much like the visual symptoms you may have with GCA. The reasons for the lack of oxygen vary but are usually something like a small clot that has broken loose from somewhere ekse gets stuck in a narrow bit of artery for a time before moving and allowing the blood to flow normally. In a stroke the clot would be permanently stuck.

I had a TGA, transient global amnesia, which initially can be very similar to a stroke/TIA, causing total retrograde memory loss, I had a memory span of about 3 minutes and repeated a selection of phrases which is typical and the A&E doctor recognised it straight away. The medical on-call chap didn't - insisted it was a stroke despite there being no evidence for that at all! I was referred to the stroke clinic - but really got no information from them either.

Do your tablets include an anticoagulant? And medication for high BP?

[Slowdown in reply to PMRpro]

Thank you for that explanation, the only evidence was faint scarring in a small vessel in my head and my speech has returned almost perfectly, I sometimes have to search for a word but rarely. I had visual symptoms for 3 days after regaining speech, very vivid such as entire landscapes (with closed eyes) filling with changing colours and scarlet writing. I described these to the neurologist who found them 'unusual' and asked whether I was an artist.... also had nystagmus but it had resolved when I left hospital.

My meds include Atorvastatin 40mg. for high cholesterol and Amlodipine 5mg as BP was high (204) at times and they increased pred to 15mg so am reducing 1mg per week.

The wonderfully named Clopidogrel 75mg plus Famotidine 20mg to protect stomach - I've entered unknown territory and feel pretty vulnerable so your explanations are so welcome.

I think I must have had a TGA since a couple of days are missing - I need to have an in depth talk with my doctor who will now have all my notes and I have more energy to take it on board.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Slowdown]

Can't help with any of that medication I'm afraid - never taken any of them. Yes, clopidogrel always makes me laugh! No idea how you pronounce it either. And amlodipine has a reputation that goes before it - very commonly causes swelling of feet and ankles so watch out for that. I never quite get why it is used so much in the UK, anyone would think it was the only BP medication available. Must have messed up a purchase order and got 100 times as many as they meant to ...

[Amkoffee in reply to Slowdown]

I had a TIA once where I lost the ability to speak or use my right arm. I agree with you that that is very frightening. Fortunately for me I got better after just a few hours. But it is scary.

[Slowdown in reply to Amkoffee]

Thank you for the shared experience, it's always a comfort to know others have come through it safely. How things can change in an instant.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Slowdown]

It is the reason why it is so important not to ignore anything that could be a TIA/stroke. In a TIA it resolves on its own because it is just a very short shower (so to speak) but a stroke is more like a thunderstorm. If you get to hospital treatment inside 4 hours three is the potential to turn a stroke back to a TIA - but every second counts.