It finally got us...

[twowhat?]

DD2 tested positive yesterday. I'm not sad because I think I've been mentally preparing for this inevitable thing to happen eventually. It still sucks though because there's so much going on...I just got back from a work trip, DH is gone on a work trip, he has ANOTHER work trip (an important one) next week so we are having to do the isolation thing at home to try to prevent spread, one of our dogs is having health issues...etc...never a good time!

The weird thing is that she woke me up in the middle of the night with what looked like CROUP!!! She's a teen!! She had all the classic symptoms, said it felt like there was something blocking her throat and it was hard to breathe, barky cough...we went outside into the chilly air and that helped for only a couple of minutes, so then I moved her inside to the shower with hot water running and she sat in there for 15 min and felt better. CROUP?? Has anyone else's older kid had this with covid? It makes sense, with omicron infecting more of the upper airways vs deeper in the lungs. But it surprised me since DD isn't a little kid anymore...

And I'm feeling off today. Ugh.

[MSWR0319]

DD2 tested positive yesterday. I'm not sad because I think I've been mentally preparing for this inevitable thing to happen eventually. It still sucks though because there's so much going on...I just got back from a work trip, DH is gone on a work trip, he has ANOTHER work trip (an important one) next week so we are having to do the isolation thing at home to try to prevent spread, one of our dogs is having health issues...etc...never a good time!

The weird thing is that she woke me up in the middle of the night with what looked like CROUP!!! She's a teen!! She had all the classic symptoms, said it felt like there was something blocking her throat and it was hard to breathe, barky cough...we went outside into the chilly air and that helped for only a couple of minutes, so then I moved her inside to the shower with hot water running and she sat in there for 15 min and felt better. CROUP?? Has anyone else's older kid had this with covid? It makes sense, with omicron infecting more of the upper airways vs deeper in the lungs. But it surprised me since DD isn't a little kid anymore...

And I'm feeling off today. Ugh.

Oh no! I'm so sorry it hit, and especially at a busy time. I hope it remains mild for her and that no one else gets it.

[AnnieW625]

When Dd2 (12) had it in August it sounded a lot like croup. That was how I knew when she was sick in November and had a normal cough it wasn’t Covid (which it wasn’t). Hope she feels better soon.

Fwiw: when dd1 and I were positive at the same time neither of us had a cough. I had zero shortness of breath. Dd2’s best friend was over 2 days before she tested positive and they hung out in Dd2’s small room for hours and her BFF never tested positive.


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[crn]

When DS2 (9) had COVID at the end of October he had a croupy, barky cough on the first day he was sick. I was worried it would get worse that night/following night as it used to with actual croup, but that stage passed quickly and it settled down to be more like a regular cold.

[lizzywednesday]

...

The weird thing is that she woke me up in the middle of the night with what looked like CROUP!!! She's a teen!! She had all the classic symptoms, said it felt like there was something blocking her throat and it was hard to breathe, barky cough...we went outside into the chilly air and that helped for only a couple of minutes, so then I moved her inside to the shower with hot water running and she sat in there for 15 min and felt better. CROUP?? Has anyone else's older kid had this with covid? It makes sense, with omicron infecting more of the upper airways vs deeper in the lungs. But it surprised me since DD isn't a little kid anymore...

....

Yes.

DH & I tested positive on 1/13; DD had symptoms, so we assumed she was positive as well. We isolated through the weekend (all of our symptoms began 1/10 or 1/11) and DD had the croupy cough going on; cold air improved things a great deal, as did steam, so she took hot showers nightly.

We got her the CVS-version of Vick's Shower Steam tablets because she haaaates VapoRub and, once her cardiologist signed off on OTC cough/cold meds, generic NyQuil/DayQuil tablets. Lots of rest, water, nasal saline, and Mucinex. I would have given her TheraFlu (which is what I was using to manage my daytime symptoms, which were very mild, mostly like bad allergies) but the stuff still tastes so horrible that I wasn't going to waste any on "maybe."

As it is, she missed pretty much a week of school (sent her 3x and they kept sending her home; kept her home 2 days, so pretty much gone 5 days) and is now playing catch-up, which suuuuucks.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

Ack, so sorry! Hoping she got a mild case and no one else in the family gets it.

If it gives you any encouragement, I got it myself about three weeks ago, and luckily nobody else in my family got it. I got a very mild case - only had to miss 2 days of work. Worst was the headache , sinus pressure and the chills (though I never got a fever over 99). And you mentioned sounding like croup - interestingly, the first 1-2 days I had it, when i coughed I remember thinking I totally sounded like a seal! It was strange. Then i think a couple days later coughs became more productive. I actually ended up not coughing a ton (much less than when I had the flu several years ago).

For me it wasn’t that bad, likely because I had several doses of the vaccine. Maybe the paxlovid helped too. For me getting the flu back in 2009 was 10x worse. Though i admit the bad thing about COVID is the lingering effects that last a while (the brain fog is annoying, my dr says it should go away in several weeks)

[KpbS]

I’m sorry! How is she today? She may need to be seen and have some steroids.

[essnce629]

I’m sorry! How is she today? She may need to be seen and have some steroids.

TWIV talks about this every single week in the what not to do part of the Clinical Update. Steroids should never be given in the first week as it decreases the body's immune response and studies have shown it leads to increased rates of hospitalization and death. They should only be given in the 2nd week, in the inflammatory phase, and only if there's a decrease in oxygen saturation.

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[twowhat?]

I’m sorry! How is she today? She may need to be seen and have some steroids.

She's feeling better. She only had that single episode of croup, thankfully!

TWIV talks about this every single week in the what not to do part of the Clinical Update. Steroids should never be given in the first week as it decreases the body's immune response and studies have shown it leads to increased rates of hospitalization and death. They should only be given in the 2nd week, in the inflammatory phase, and only if there's a decrease in oxygen saturation.

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I fortunately have a pulse oximeter that I bought back in the original covid strain days in 2020 and had gotten baselines on everyone. Omicron is more upper airway vs deeper in the lungs and I was able to find a couple of studies showing a higher incidence of croup because of this (albeit in younger kids due to their smaller upper airways). So I was able to keep tabs on her SpO2 (totally normal the whole time), and called our pediatrician who said the same thing...manage at home but if she has more episodes, they would want to monitor her oxygen sats.

Paxlovid is an option if you have older kids (12+ AND at least 88 lbs) with high risk factors!! FYI for anyone wondering!

[carolinamama]

Hope she’s feeling better quickly! We’ve had 2 bouts with Covid in our house. Both times, 3 of us got it and 2 avoided. We isolated as soon as someone tested positive.