Quarantine Life

mellowskipper said:I didn't underestimate it. I am fully aware that it's a neurological symptom. I actually mentioned this a few days ago—saying I plan to get a brain MRI in about two years—and some people actually mocked me for it.

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Well, there’s really no reason to laugh. If you ask me, medical imaging isn't harmful, so why wouldn't you do it? Who doesn't like peace of mind? Granted, it's always a bit of a toss-up what you'll actually find, but it could potentially catch an aneurysm or something similar. Might as well make it useful. As we age, we just collect more "wear and tear"—it's inevitable. You're bound to find something eventually. That's just life.

The whole concept of isolation feels like it’s defined in such a weird, fuzzy way... For me, personally, I started feeling those first symptoms last Saturday, and then on Monday, I finally got a hold of my doctor, who told me I needed to be isolating and that the clock actually starts counting from Saturday... So, basically, for those first two days, I didn't even realize I was technically supposed to be isolating, and I was just going about my business like nothing was wrong, popping down to the local CVS or hitting up the bakery nearby... It wasn't until Friday that I actually went to get tested, and then yesterday I found out the result was positive, but regardless of all that, my isolation period still officially wraps up ten days after those initial symptoms showed up.

I mean, isn't the definition kind of wonky? Like, sure, counting from when you first feel sick makes sense,
but let's be real—between long weekends and everything being slammed, someone could be stuck waiting days just to get tested or even get their results back.

That’s where the whole "personal responsibility" thing kicks in, right? 😉

Because during a pandemic, once you start feeling those first symptoms—and look, it might not even be COVID, it could just be a nasty sinus infection or a standard head cold, who knows?
—you're basically left hanging while you wait on testing or results, trying your best not to head out to Target, the local bakery, or just anywhere around people...

That was pretty much my experience too, where I spent several days just waiting on the results, and then once Monday rolled around and I found out I had to quarantine, I didn't really step foot outside at all, except for that one trip to get tested...

What even counts as "first symptoms"??? Am I supposed to just quarantine myself because I have diarrhea?

Yeah, so for a few months now, they’ve been counting isolation starting from the very first sign of symptoms, which—if you ask me—is fundamentally flawed logic... I’ve seen it firsthand with a buddy of mine. He started dealing with a runny nose after we hung out, and within three days, his nose was running constantly too, only to be hit by that total loss of taste and smell two days after that. In the end, he tested positive, and the health authorities made him start his isolation count from day one of those sniffles—even though that initial congestion might have just been some common cold I passed him. I still haven't even tested positive for antibodies myself, so it wasn't even the actual virus he caught from me, but it’s entirely plausible he just picked up my little bug, and then the actual virus took hold two days later...

The way I see it, his isolation should have officially kicked in only once he lost his sense of smell and taste, not two days earlier when he was just blowing his nose; it’s quite possible he caught a simple respiratory bug from me that had nothing to do with the actual virus. But no, they counted it from the moment he started sneezing, which meant he ended up finishing his quarantine two days sooner than he probably should have based on when he actually became contagious with the real thing...

Yeah, honestly? It’d be best if we had a lock with at least 25,327 possible combinations...

Look, I’m telling you, he was put on official quarantine from the very first sniffle—which, let’s be honest, he almost certainly caught from me—and if you ask me, he jumped back into the world two days too early. He should have stayed put until those actual COVID symptoms kicked in, not just because he had a minor nose issue that probably had nothing to do with the virus; I mean, I didn't even show anything for three days after my own exposure. My point is, we have people cutting their isolation periods short by the book, and that might actually be why this thing is spreading so relentlessly through the country, rather than people just ignoring the rules. Because, let's face it, 99.99% of folks have been following the guidelines to a tee for the last month.

Honestly, it’s just ridiculous. They ought to send a damn detective to check in on everyone—figure out exactly when and why the whole thing started spiraling—but nobody seems to give a single damn about those first couple of days. It’s like those forty-eight hours don't even exist. Besides, there are probably at least twenty thousand people walking around feeling absolutely terrible right now without having any clue why... it’s a mess. How old are you anyway?

Look, you clearly aren't grasping the gravity of this, but I suppose there’s no point in beating my head against a brick wall. If you can't see where the cracks are forming—and frankly, if you don't realize this is a primary reason why our performance on the global stage is such a disaster compared to everyone else—then there isn't much I can do to help you see sense.

Megan Thomas5 said:What even counts as "first symptoms"??? Am I supposed to just quarantine myself because I have diarrhea?

Exactly. Better to stay put, because who knows when or where you'll get hit, and whether you'll actually make it to the bathroom in time.☕

But seriously, diarrhea alone isn't really a symptom. A fever, a dry cough, or shortness of breath—those are the red flags. You shouldn't mess around with those.

I clocked a 99°F on Wednesday and immediately figured I was catching something. Decided to play it safe and stay home, then called my doctor, who told me to go grab a rapid test. The low-grade fever hung around through Thursday, but it's gone now. No other symptoms showed up, but the rapid test came back positive on Saturday. I haven't called the doctor back yet to see what the next move is since I completely lost track of the days and missed my window to call today. That's on hold until tomorrow afternoon. Either way, I'm counting myself as quarantined (I haven't left the house since Wednesday, aside from walking a few minutes to the testing site) through Saturday, but I’m planning on staying isolated for a couple extra days just to be safe.

The rule for our household is 10 days from when the sick person shows symptoms, plus an additional 10 days after the last symptom, since you can still be contagious on that final day. That’s what the public health official told my wife when she called about his positive result, and it makes sense to me.

We called our doctor this morning—it's day 12: he's still running a low fever, hovering around 99-99.5°F for the last six days without any Tylenol. And there's the cough.
He works from home so he doesn't need sick leave, but if he did, he'd need more time because he's clearly not recovered yet.

As for official quarantine—his movement restrictions have technically expired, but mine are logged until December 15th. The system automatically set that date after the testing, and even though my doctor wasn't sure whether to change it today, she left it as is until he's symptom-free.
My daughter and I both tested negative; she’s asymptomatic and mostly stays in her own space with her own bathroom. We haven't been isolating ourselves. I had a bit of a headache for a couple of days at the start and one night felt some chest tightness, almost like a panic attack and shallow breathing, but no fever and no cough. My sense of smell is fine.
I asked about re-testing, but a rapid test probably won't do much now, and for a PCR, the doctor said she has a limited number of referrals she can issue—since I work from home and have no symptoms, I'm not exactly a priority.

I forgot to ask the doctor, but I see you went in... how many days after contact should pass before someone who is asymptomatic can take an antibody test here?

mellowskipper said:Wait, why an extra 10 days? Did you actually start showing symptoms or something? Usually, the CDC guidelines say it's 10 days starting from when you were in contact with the infected person—which, in this specific case, would be the day your husband first showed signs.

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nimbleranger17 said:Look, you clearly aren't grasping the gravity of this, but I suppose there’s no point in beating my head against a brick wall. If you can't see where the cracks are forming—and frankly, if you don't realize this is a primary reason why our performance on the global stage is such a disaster compared to everyone else—then there isn't much I can do to help you see sense.

The reason we're falling behind globally is because we're doing the least amount of actual testing. If the UN mandated testing standards similar to what they have in the USA, South Korea, or China, we’d be seeing millions upon millions of positive cases. Here, the numbers are likely ten times lower than the reality. Personally, I've been running a fever between 99.5 and 100.7 since Friday. I'm not exactly rushing out to get tested right now unless my insurance covers it, but if things take a turn for the worse, I will. For now, I'm just hunkered down alone in my apartment until at least Friday.

wearytrucker22 said:The reason we're falling behind globally is because we're doing the least amount of actual testing. If the UN mandated testing standards similar to what they have in the USA, South Korea, or China, we’d be seeing millions upon millions of positive cases. Here, the numbers are likely ten times lower than the reality. Personally, I've been running a fever between 99.5 and 100.7 since Friday. I'm not exactly rushing out to get tested right now unless my insurance covers it, but if things take a turn for the worse, I will. For now, I'm just hunkered down alone in my apartment until at least Friday.

So, you're stuck in your apartment (not going out?), yet you aren't thinking about getting tested just so you can avoid being forced into isolation? What's the actual difference?

If he isn't living right next to one of those drive-in testing sites,
maybe he saw those insane videos of the absolute chaos and the massive lines at the clinics 🙂
where people are just standing around in the freezing cold totally ignoring all the safety rules,
so now he’s paranoid that even if he doesn't catch COVID, he'll just pick up some nasty lung infection from standing out in the snow with a fever

so instead, he just decided to lock himself in his house for ten days on his own accord, without anyone even telling him to 🍿

casualskipper65 said:So, you're stuck in your apartment (not going out?), yet you aren't thinking about getting tested just so you can avoid being forced into isolation? What's the actual difference?

It’s not like I’m going to have fiber optic internet forever. In ten days, I’ll just pay for an IgG test myself so I actually know where I stand. Right now, I don't have COVID; I just have a fever. Since my temperature hasn't stayed above 100.4°F for long and I don't have swollen lymph nodes, I haven't picked up a bacterial infection. My health status is my business, not the government's. I'm heading out to grab some warm bread—mask on, staying totally legal, straight to the bakery.

Keith Barrett2 said:If he isn't living right next to one of those drive-in testing sites,
maybe he saw those insane videos of the absolute chaos and the massive lines at the clinics 🙂
where people are just standing around in the freezing cold totally ignoring all the safety rules,
so now he’s paranoid that even if he doesn't catch COVID, he'll just pick up some nasty lung infection from standing out in the snow with a fever

so instead, he just decided to lock himself in his house for ten days on his own accord, without anyone even telling him to 🍿

Me? I just walked up while everyone else was stuck idling in their cars. "Hey, I'm here, do I wait here?" "Yeah, what's your name?" "John Doe." "Take a seat." A few minutes later: "We'll email you the results." "Thanks, see ya."

And then you look at the news and it’s just more total garbage—nothing but clickbait and straight-up lies that completely miss what's actually happening on the ground.

wearytrucker22 said:It’s not like I’m going to have fiber optic internet forever. In ten days, I’ll just pay for an IgG test myself so I actually know where I stand. Right now, I don't have COVID; I just have a fever. Since my temperature hasn't stayed above 100.4°F for long and I don't have swollen lymph nodes, I haven't picked up a bacterial infection. My health status is my business, not the government's. I'm heading out to grab some warm bread—mask on, staying totally legal, straight to the bakery.

It’s people like you who are the reason we have these infection numbers and why the hospitals are completely overwhelmed.😠

wearytrucker22 said:It’s not like I’m going to have fiber optic internet forever. In ten days, I’ll just pay for an IgG test myself so I actually know where I stand. Right now, I don't have COVID; I just have a fever. Since my temperature hasn't stayed above 100.4°F for long and I don't have swollen lymph nodes, I haven't picked up a bacterial infection. My health status is my business, not the government's. I'm heading out to grab some warm bread—mask on, staying totally legal, straight to the bakery.

See? This is why we’re the worst in Europe. Because apparently, your health is strictly your own problem and not a public one, so you just decide for yourself that it's "just a fever" and definitely not COVID.

What does it matter if it wasn't over 100.4°F for long? I never even hit that mark—mine sat between 98.8°F and 99.1°F for a day and a half on Wednesday and Thursday. I booked my test on Wednesday, got tested Saturday, and popped up positive. I didn't have any other symptoms besides that slight fever, and I still don't, but that doesn't change the facts. I can't remember the last time I had a fever at all, so that was an immediate red flag for me. I reacted right away. Even if having a fever isn't unusual for me, I’d react the exact same way because this isn't something to mess around with—not just for my own sake, but for everyone around me.

I don't know if you think running a fever for four days is normal, but I do know it's not exactly standard behavior to act like it’s nothing during a time like this.