Suspected COVID 19

Saw my GI today. Told him at the onset of my appointment that I have slight fever, only half a degree high, diarrhea and abdominal cramps. I mentioned that this is my norm. He said no even half a degree makes you a suspect of COVID 19. He refused to address any of my issues like the severe joint pain or abdominal cramps or prescribe any new meds. He said that I should not make any changes to my medications. I have to monitor my fever for the coming two days, measure my temperature every 6 hours and take paracetamol. If fever persists, he wrote a list of tests that have to be done. I self-isolated myself once I returned home. I'm afraid that someone else of my family might have caught it. It's a very weird feeling to be a suspect of such a dreading disease.

Not a single day went by that I do not worry about Covid. When I went to a store, I wore two face masks (hard to breath), gloves, bring hand sanitizer and avoid busy days as much as possible. The Covid cases are rising fast in my state and many other states. Having Covid on top of Chron's Disease is going to make life much miserable.

If you experience Covid symptoms, your insurance should cover the cost of the test. Many places offer drive-through PCR test, which would give you a peace of mind. I have not had a test as yet. Even if you have to pay out of pocket, it will only cost you a couple of hundred dollars.

I had to have a Covid-19 test for my recent colonoscopy (but not my MRI scan, which I found weird). That was negative, thank god, as the last thing I wanted to do was isolate for 14 days. I don't want to get Covid, as I do think with my history of autoimmune disease, I'd have a rough ride with it. On the other hand, I'm so tired and bored of the whole thing, I find it hard to be that scared of it anymore. To be honest, I'm more scared of food and medicine shortages in my country come January. The government can't handle Covid; it sure as heck won't handle another major crisis on top of that one.

Anyway, Paul listed all the main symptoms of Covid. The most common two are a fever (38C or higher) and a dry cough. GI symptoms are possible but rare - the virus has to enter the GI tract which it mostly doesn't do.

Really hoping it's not Covid, but keep us posted as soon as your hear of your results. If positive, hopefully you'll get through it without issue.

Well at least you have the good news that it's not Covid. Hopefully, they get to the bottom of things sooner than later. Once again, keep us posted.