I feel overly anxious.

[Ash1818]

I (26F) and my daughter had both tested positive for COVID last month. It has been almost six weeks since I tested positive for COVID. It has been three weeks since my daughter tested positive for COVID. I tested positive for COVID with both a home test and a PCR test before I really noticed symptoms. My daughter tested negative at first, and then positive later. I tested negative on a home test a little over three weeks after I first tested positive. My daughter tested negative on a home test a few days after I tested negative on the home test. We both went to the doctor two days ago, and they tested both of us using a PCR COVID test, and we were negative. They also tested her for a lot of other viruses, and they detected rhinovirus, adenovirus, and human metapneumovirus. We went back yesterday, because my daughter was throwing up. She gets ear infections frequently, so I was worried she had one. They didn't check her ears at the first appointment. They did find that she had an ear infection at the appointment we went to yesterday. They put her on an antibiotic. I am really worried about my child. I am also worried about what I am going through. Even before COVID, I suffered from frequent sinus issues (headaches, pressure, post nasal drip), GERD, pleurisy, muscle and joint pain, etc. I am currently experiencing pain in my legs, fingers, ankles, wrists, arms, and all of my head. I have pressure in my face. I can feel the mucus in my throat. I have a sour taste in my throat. My chest is heavy. It feels like someone has their hand over my mouth and nose. I have pressure and pain in my abdomen and back (I also experienced this before COVID). I am really scared. Do you all think that the tests were accurate? I just hope that we both truly are negative for COVID now.

[Paxiled]

If you had all this before covid it isn't covid, so you can relax about that part of it.  It would only covid related if it started only while you had covid or soon after.  The fact your daughter tested positive for those other viruses doesn't actually mean any of them are serious.  Kids are incubators of viruses and also get ear infections a lot.  Assuming your daughter is very young, kids don't have a fully developed immune system yet and so they get sick easily but usually not severely these days.  Generally, ear infections aren't treated with antibiotics anymore, as they clear up on their own and taking antibiotics further compromises the immune system, that's how not serious they are.  It sounds like you both have some allergy problems and possibly are not eating in a way that is good for the immune system.  If you didn't breastfeed, that also can lead to a weakened immune system in children.  It sounds to me like you both had a relatively mild case of covid and recovered, again based on you stating all the things you are experiencing you were already experiencing before getting it.  If I have that wrong, then that might be different.  I'd say you need to look really closely at your lifestyle, especially your diet and what you're feeding your child, and also at whether there are things around the house that might be compromising your health this way, such as mold, pollutants, and the like.  You might consider having someone come in and inspect the house.  Because of the antibiotics your daughter will be more susceptible to getting sick, especially more ear infections, so be ready for that.  If you have a good health food store near you, go and buy the best multi-spectrum probiotic from the refrigerated section of the supplement department and both you and your daughter should take it for awhile.  If you can find fermented and cultured foods you both enjoy, that will also feed the beneficial organisms antibiotics kill off.  Basically, for now, do the very best you can with what you put inside your body and in your immediate environment until some of this stuff calms down.  The rest sounds like you are under a lot of stress from all of this and maybe would benefit from talking to a therapist and find ways to calm down, such as exercise, breathing exercises, and meditation if you can find the time top do that.  Just take really good care of both of you, and get vaccinated, then get boosted if you haven't already done so.  Peace.

[AnxiousNoMore]

AnnieBrooke I switched dentists 3 months ago because he has a beard and likes loose straps I guess, because to stay in place it seemed to depend on being perched on his nose - It flopped down lots of times when he started talking or bent forward and I had to keep telling him it had fallen off. He was a great dentist who spent 3 hours - it was scheduled for 1.5 hours - cleaning out my old root canal because he had to do lots of fishing around to retrieve a file after he discovered that the previous guy had left it in there. The beard must have been most important  because I emailed his wife who works there about the floppy mask but she didn't reply so I moved on.

[specialmom]

So, this is a debate with a friend of mine and I.  Well, not a debate . . . something we just wonder about.  She and her husband are fully vaccinated complete with booster.  They got colds.  They keep getting positive covid tests with the home test.  They DID previously have covid. Because they wanted to go back to work, they went to a lab and got tested (all previous were the home tests). They were both negative.  They took another home test and were positive.  I have to wonder if those tests aren't showing up some false positives (the home test).  I don't know.  I think I'd go with lab results if you are wondering.  The virus would be long gone though based on your time frame.  

[Paxiled]

The home tests have a lot of false positives and a lot of false negatives compared to the PCR tests.  There's also some chance they can be affected by having had vaccines and covid.  I watched an interview with an emergency room doc several months back during a very bad time with covid and he said that even with the PCR tests he didn't settle on a result until there were 4 tests.  Everyone wants to rely on the quick tests because what they really want, and for very good reasons, is to get people out and about again.  It's been too long to stay locked down.  Mom, you said on here that you think that at this point we're all going to get covid.  I'm hearing the experts on TV I've been watching all through this and they've thrown up their hands at the horrifically bad way this whole thing has been handled by us humans and they now believe that with omicron it's just a matter of time before most humans have had it.  I've got a dental cleaning on Monday and I firmly believe I will be coming home with covid because the staff will have all been exposed during Christmas and New Years.  But when would I go?  I have bad teeth and a lot of problems there so cleanings are also important.  And omicron is everywhere.  We did this to ourselves by listening to evil people and now we're just stuck.  And part of what we're stuck with is the quick tests that have never worked very well but are good enough to keep society moving.  It's all economics now, it's no longer about disease.  It's all getting kids out of the house now, not about disease.  We blew it and we can't unblow it, we can just do the best we can now and study what happened and hope we don't do it again the next time.  Peace.

[Paxiled]

Well, I mean, if we're vaccinated and boosted or even better folks like you who are vaccinated and have had covid.  Most of us won't die of it.  It won't be pleasant, but we will most likely not have a terrible time of it.  Not a risk I thought we'd have to take, but there it is.

[Paxiled]

So now my wife changed her mind and told me to cancel the appointment, which will be hard as the office is closed.  What do you folks think if you're reading this?  Go on Monday or cancel?  I've kind of cancelled already but since they're not there they don't know it.  

[specialmom]

I would go, paxiled.  They will have on masks, the instruments are sterile and they screen you before the appointment.  Both of my son's had cleanings the week before Christmas.  They go to different offices and it is a different office than I go to. All have protocol.  You can wait in your car until they call you back if you don't want to be in a waiting room. I have had some pretty significant dental work done throughout covid.  Including a root canal.  It doesn't take long for a dental issue to crop up.  My sons have never had cavities ever (amazing!  They got their dad's teeth and hair, lucky kids!). But one son had a painful cleaning and tartar was building under his gums. We can't get that out.That's how our gums will recede and that's even more important as we get older. I'm sure you brush well, use the brush on your gums and floss.  But still . . .   it's hard for us to really get in there and if there has been a big lapse in professional cleaning, it can build up.  So, I'd personally go.  If you choose not to, my dentist told me while I was pregnant that using mouth wash daily really helps.  The kind that cleans the mouth, I mean, not just breath.  When I'm pregnant for some reason, every time they'd start to clean, I'd gag and throw up. So, the dentist was like . . . wait until you have that baby, use mouth wash (with both babies I had).  Those are my thoughts.  Get em cleaned.

[Paxiled]

I have really bad teeth, Mom.  Missing some, always have problems, and ironically, I just rescheduled the appointment because I couldn't make the one I had.  They had a cancellation for Monday and I took it.  But then omicron hit and the cases are rising astronomically.  I have also kept my dental appointments and others too during covid, but the thing is, at the dentist hygienist and the dentist are wearing surgical masks, which aren't all that good against Covid but I'm not wearing my mask obviously, which is a very thick cotton mask.  And they've all just had a lot of time off for Christmas and New Years and you know they weren't alone.  They were with all sorts of people.  It's not just me, if I bring it home it's also my wife.  She and I had decided I would just go but then the numbers started rising exponentially and they're even surging here, which they haven't done this whole time.  I haven't been one to stay home because of it but I have avoided indoors where people are unmasked a lot.  I've done my weekly shopping no problem.  So I haven't been one of those who cocooned.  I've never worn a mask outdoors.  But man, look at those numbers!  So my wife, who is usually completely going to do what she's going to do no matter what, told me to cancel.  So I did but they were off already for another holiday.  They always take precautions, there is never a crowded waiting room, so that's not my issue, it's solely that period of time when they're bending over me with that thin mask and I'm not wearing one and they've just been partying for a week with who knows who.  I haven't been.  I've just been with my wife or shopping in stores that aren't crowded.  Just don't know what to do as I just got this appointment after trying to get a different one for weeks.  What a dilemma, don't want to infect my wife, don't want to infect my 68 and a half year old self either.  But seriously, over 300,000 cases a day?  Will this never end!

[specialmom]

Well, in that regard, if you are up to date and this is prolonging for a brief period, then go ahead.  Maybe in a month, the new strain will be on the downturn and you'll feel more comfortable. I would think you could email the office and leave a message with their answering service or voicemail to cancel that they'd receive with the 24 hour notice usually required.  If it is peace of mind, then it can be worth it as it doesn't sound like it will impact your dental health to wait a month. I am very much hoping covid ends soon. I am so tired of being worried and encumbered by it.  I'm a homebody and that doesn't bother me but if I 'have' to go do something, I want to do it.  My kids don't have boosters and I worry about them. Their doctor is not really saying to boost them. (teenagers). I may call the health department for guidance.

[AnnieBrooke]

Pax, I'd put it off a month or two also. If you were saying you had something aching in your mouth and could smell a bacterial smell from a tooth, then yeah, go to the dentist now. But if it's just a scheduled whatever, go with mouth rinses for now and take a bye until Omicron dies down.

Not only has everyone just seen their families over the holidays so who knows what is secretly breeding in the population right now, but in South Africa, they think they are seeing that while Omicron spreads fast through a population, it gets done faster too. It's a tough interim but apparently a steep drop in cases once it flies through. It seems like in a relatively short time it might be a lot safer to do dental work.

I've been impressed with how careful my dentist's office has been, they don't let you come into their building until it's your turn (you wait in your car and they phone you), they have improved their ventilation, they have you come in the front door and go out the back door, and they take a lot of other precautions. Yet I wouldn't bet on all of that vs. Omicron. (And what is with the surgical masks? Everyone is supposed to be wearing N95s now, and you'd think a dentist would be first in line to do it.) I'd wait.  

[Paxiled]

Thanks for the feedback.  It's a hard decision for me because I have been doing the things I have to do.  But I do worry about the timing, as yeah, everyone has just been with family and friends and who knows who has what.  Of course, I could get omicron anywhere it's so contagious.  My dentist has been very careful but you do have to be maskless when they work on you.  I also agree, why aren't dentists using the N95 masks?  By now you'd think they have them for their own protection.  This whole thing has been puzzling.  I still just can't believe we're still in this as we could  be past it by and large if we had just done a couple of pretty painless things, masking, distancing, and getting the vaccines when they arrived.  Sigh.