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On The Afternoon Of March 17th, I Came Down With
Question: On the afternoon of March 17th, I came down with body aches, a runny nose and sore throat. The following morning those symptoms continued, but I had a 101 fever, chills, migraine, stomach discomfort and soft stools. My fever went away very shortly after the thermometer registered it, and has not returned since that one day on March 18th. I emailed a doctor through this platform, and per his advice contacted my local doctor to discuss symptoms and see about Covid 19 testing.
My local doctor said I met 2/5 criteria for Covid 19 testing, but I needed to meet 3/5 or be a part of a high risk group to be tested, so I would not be tested. They said they could see me for an appointment though and scheduled one for the following day. The next day, I was feeling much better, even though I still had mildly soft stools, mild body aches and a smaller appetite. Since I was feeling better, I called my doctor before my appointment and explained my improvement and asked advice on if I should still come in because I've heard it's best not to go in so I don't spread it. She said I didn't need to, and when I asked about precautions, she said to stay away from young children and the elderly. I self-isolated, rested, took a lot of vitamin c and seemed to be mostly over whatever it was in a matter of four days. However, I was still feeling pretty tired and had very mild stomach aches for a couple of days.
Two days after seeming to improve, it seemed to come back hard again with a sore throat, body aches, tiredness and stomach aches. It has continued like this and seems to be off and on again every couple of days for the past 9-10 days, like I'm not back to 100% yet, but have been at 80% feeling like myself.
Over the last two days, I have developed a dry cough and a bit of tightness in my chest, just below my collar bones. I have been thinking the cough is allergy related. It feels like I'm just itching to cough. I experience allergy symptoms on a daily basis throughout the year, especially at this time of year.
Currently, my symptoms are sore throat, light/mild cough, mild weight in my chest (like I need to cough), frequently feeling tired, and very mild stomach upset - (which I thought could be stress related).
Do I need to go in for an appointment with my local doctor and do I need to see about Covid 19 testing? I have heard that if symptoms are mild, it is best to stay home. What would you suggest? Thank you!
My local doctor said I met 2/5 criteria for Covid 19 testing, but I needed to meet 3/5 or be a part of a high risk group to be tested, so I would not be tested. They said they could see me for an appointment though and scheduled one for the following day. The next day, I was feeling much better, even though I still had mildly soft stools, mild body aches and a smaller appetite. Since I was feeling better, I called my doctor before my appointment and explained my improvement and asked advice on if I should still come in because I've heard it's best not to go in so I don't spread it. She said I didn't need to, and when I asked about precautions, she said to stay away from young children and the elderly. I self-isolated, rested, took a lot of vitamin c and seemed to be mostly over whatever it was in a matter of four days. However, I was still feeling pretty tired and had very mild stomach aches for a couple of days.
Two days after seeming to improve, it seemed to come back hard again with a sore throat, body aches, tiredness and stomach aches. It has continued like this and seems to be off and on again every couple of days for the past 9-10 days, like I'm not back to 100% yet, but have been at 80% feeling like myself.
Over the last two days, I have developed a dry cough and a bit of tightness in my chest, just below my collar bones. I have been thinking the cough is allergy related. It feels like I'm just itching to cough. I experience allergy symptoms on a daily basis throughout the year, especially at this time of year.
Currently, my symptoms are sore throat, light/mild cough, mild weight in my chest (like I need to cough), frequently feeling tired, and very mild stomach upset - (which I thought could be stress related).
Do I need to go in for an appointment with my local doctor and do I need to see about Covid 19 testing? I have heard that if symptoms are mild, it is best to stay home. What would you suggest? Thank you!
Although I'm feeling much better than I did around March 17th, my main concern is that I have developed a mild, dry cough and a feeling of mild heaviness in my upper chest in addition to the still lingering symptoms of tiredness, mild stomach upset and sore throat. Is that something that should be looked at by a physician in person?
Brief Answer:
I would advise not seeing the physician in person
Detailed Answer:
Hello again, I'm Dr. Branch, thanks again for using 'Ask a Doctor'. I'm glad to hear that you are overall feeling better. The development of the cough does require attention, though your description of it does suggest allergies rather than a viral illness, and without a fever, I would still not be too concerned about COVID-19. The course of COVID-19 usually worsens within a week of the start of symptoms (and then improves), so your overall course is not consistent with COVID-19. It may be that you had one illness before, and now have caught another illness, which conceivably could be a mild COVID-19 infection, but it seems unlikely to me.
You could call your doctor to see about testing with these new symptoms; I suspect you still wouldn't qualify for high enough risk to be tested, but it wouldn't hurt to check. But in the meantime, unless the cough or shortness of breath worsen, or you develop fever, I would just stay at home and stay self-isolated until the symptoms completely resolve.
I hope that helps, please let me know if you have any other questions about that, and I would be glad to discuss it with you further.
I would advise not seeing the physician in person
Detailed Answer:
Hello again, I'm Dr. Branch, thanks again for using 'Ask a Doctor'. I'm glad to hear that you are overall feeling better. The development of the cough does require attention, though your description of it does suggest allergies rather than a viral illness, and without a fever, I would still not be too concerned about COVID-19. The course of COVID-19 usually worsens within a week of the start of symptoms (and then improves), so your overall course is not consistent with COVID-19. It may be that you had one illness before, and now have caught another illness, which conceivably could be a mild COVID-19 infection, but it seems unlikely to me.
You could call your doctor to see about testing with these new symptoms; I suspect you still wouldn't qualify for high enough risk to be tested, but it wouldn't hurt to check. But in the meantime, unless the cough or shortness of breath worsen, or you develop fever, I would just stay at home and stay self-isolated until the symptoms completely resolve.
I hope that helps, please let me know if you have any other questions about that, and I would be glad to discuss it with you further.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Vaishalee Punj
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