We’re all destined to cross paths with Covid-19. Several Australian Blogs subscribers submitted what has worked for them to cope with the symptoms as best they can. These recommendations are only for your educational purposes and not health-related advice. Please refer to your trusted health care professional for your healthcare and wellbeing needs.
- Exercise:
- I went for a fast walk every day as I found it helped sweat the fever out, cleared my lungs out and kept my respiratory system going. I suggest avoiding high intensity exercise, but definitely walking and light running worked for me.
- We went for early morning and/or late night walks each day. Nothing too strenuous, but good to get fresh air and to prevent cabin fever. We were out of breath quite easily walking up small inclines even though we’re both athletically fit.
- I found spending as much time outside in the fresh air as possible was best, it gave me more energy and helped clear out my sinuses.
- Medicine:
- I could only take Panadol because I was heavily pregnant, but my husband found Maxigesic to work for him. They each helped with the fever, body aches and general discomfort.
- We used Panadol and to deal with the fever and body aches.
- Make sure you have Strepsils (throat lozenges) on hand because the sore throat is like a razor blade in your throat and you will want to alleviate the pain. Lemon Callipos (ice blocks) were also great to soothe the pain.
- The cough lingers the longest of all the symptoms so stock up on your favourite lozenges.
- Difflam Forte throat spray numbs your throat – this is an effective solution for temporary relief of a sore throat.
- Make sure you have lots of boxes of tissues on hand. I had a very runny nose. Over 7 days of isolation, I went through 3-4 boxes of tissues. Also, Vaseline, Pawpaw/ Bepanthen cream is good to soothe a dry, sore nose.
- Food and Vitamins:
- I took Echinacea, vitamin C and ArmaForce which help boost the immune system.
- Pumpkin and chicken soup with noodles were easy to eat with a sore throat.
- I found Crumpets easy to eat in the morning with some honey.
- Pre-prepared frozen meals were handy while we were both sick and no one had energy to cook.
- Where possible, have one healthy person prepare as much food as possible.
- We wore rubber gloves and masks when food prepping/cleaning in the kitchen.
- Uber eats was also used out of convenience. Depending on where you live and time of day, allow 1 hour waiting time for delivery.
- Hydration:
- Even though it hurts to swallow, I found staying hydrated with water, apple and orange juice were the best choices. Because you lose your sense of appetite, taste and smell the juice is good for energy and it’s refreshing.
- Staying hydrated also helped reduce the intensity of the cough.
- Hydralyte helped stay on top of hydration, which was important to help flush the virus out of my system as quickly as possible.
- We drank 4-6 cups of of honey, lemon, ginger tea per day.
- General Tips:
- Showers helped with my body aches and fevers.
- We had showers at the start and end of the day to try to keep a routine, stay fresh, clear the system and stay feeling human. Sometimes 3-4 showers a day were needed when sweating during fevers.
- Get as much sleep as you can. I slept 20-30% more than normal when I had Covid-19 and each time I woke up, I felt better for at least a few hours.
- For the first few days, put a towel down in your bed when sleeping or be prepared to change your sheets every morning due to the night sweats you’ll probably get.
- Manage your expectations and don’t expect to recover within a few days. For me it was 2 weeks of feeling really off and only in the 3rd week did I start to feel like myself again.
- Change bins every day to clear the room of germs and snotty tissues.
- Have all basic cleaning materials on hand (disinfectant wipes, hand sanitiser, hand wash, gloves, eucalyptus spray etc)
- Disinfect kitchen, bedrooms and bathroom with sprays (easier than sponge and water bucket) to minimise the germs in your living area.
- Where possible, isolate the sick person to one separate bedroom and one separate bathroom. We had family drop off a blow-up air mattress so one of us slept in the living room to isolate from the other in the main bedroom. We only have one bathroom so had to disinfect shared spaces quite regularly.
- Having a spare computer monitor and small table was handy to set up a portable workspace in the main bedroom for the sick person to complete work in isolation.