Do mere symptoms like cough and chest tightness indicate COVID-19 infection?

Patient's Query

Hello doctor,

I am a 22-year-old obese male. I am scared of my symptoms and want to know about them. Due to the pandemic, I do not want to go to the doctor for something that might not be COVID-19, but my symptoms from when I first started feeling unwell up to now scares me.

Day 1 - I felt malaise, along with sore throat, coughing, runny nose, and loss of taste and smell.

Day 3 - Taste and smell are starting to come back. The sore throat has disappeared at this point.

Day 7 - Energy is finally back, and I can start doing stuff without feeling unwell. Taste and smell are now 100% back, my runny nose is gone, and I do not feel congested. The only issue is a cough.

Day 19 - After taking cough medicine prescribed by a family doctor (Butamirate Citrate), my cough is virtually non-existent. However, I am starting to feel some slight pressure on my chest when lying down in bed.

Day 21 - All I get now is a pressure feeling in my chest when lying down in bed, although not to the point of not being able to sleep. There are no issues with my breathing as I can still breathe normally, and at least I am not gasping for air when doing stuff, as I can still exercise on my stationary bike.

The pressure in my chest has been scaring me recently, and it does not help that I live alone. I get anxious and scared because if anything happens to me, no one would know. I have emergency contacts, but the thought of this whole thing has taken a huge mental toll on my health. Please help.

Answered by Dr. S D Sinha

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

Two things you could do, stop worrying too much and continue to take precautions. To avoid worrying, get done a few blood tests. A bit of treatment with medicines and supplements would be helpful.

1. Blood tests- CBC (complete blood count), ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate), LFT (liver function test), RFT (renal function test), CRP (C-reactive protein), LDH (lactase dehydrogenase), Serum ferritin, Anti-COVID antibodies (IgM and IgG). Ensure blood collection from home by NABL accredited pathological laboratories.

2. CT scan chest or at least x-ray chest (not mandatory but preferable, could be delayed after blood test reports).

3. SPO2 measurements twice daily for five days.

Precautions:-

1. Steam inhalation twice daily for seven days.

2. Warm saline water gargles twice daily for seven days.

3. Drink hot water throughout the day.

4. Eat a balanced diet with high protein, citrus, vitamin, and mineral content.

5. Sleep eight hours a day.

6. Exercise daily (aerobic).

Treatment:

1. Tablet Limcee (Vitamin C 500 mg) one tablet twice daily for 15 days.

2. Capsule Vitamin D3 60000 IU once weekly for six weeks.

3. Tablet Zinconia (Zinc acetate 50 mg) one tablet twice daily for 15 days.

4. Capsule Relent OD (Levocetirizine 5 mg+ Ambrixol 75 mg SR) one capsule once daily for seven days.

5. Tablet Azithromycin 500 mg one tablet once daily for five days.

6. Capsule Econorm (Saccharomyces Boulardi 250 mg) one capsule twice daily for seven days (gap of atleast two hours with Doxycycline and Azithromycin).

7. Tablet Ivermectol (Ivermectin 12 mg) one tablet once daily for three days.

8. Tablet Famocid (Famotidine 40 mg) one tablet twice daily for 15 days.

9. Tab Mucinac (N-acetylcysteine 600 mg) one tablet twice daily for five days.

Revert as soon as possible after tests or fever or /and breathlessness or SPO2 <94.

Differential diagnosis:

Viral Upper respiratory tract infection (URTI). Bacterial URTIs.

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Q. I have severe cough and slight pressure in the chest. Are these signs of COVID-19?

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