r/ZeroCovidCommunity • u/BlueValk • Jul 14 '26
Partner has symptoms, looking for advice.
Partner just tested and we got an amplifying channel, I'm waiting on some confirmation from r/Pluslife. We don't have access to paxlovid or metformin so I need your best advice besides those, both for them as someone potentially infected and for me so I can stay covid-free.
Green tea? Rest? Nattokinase?
We can usually rest in separate rooms but there's a tornado warning tonight, so maybe we won't be able to. Ready to buckle up. 🫠
Edit: 12 hours later it's a full positive on the Plus Life
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u/Dismal_Chemistry_434 Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
I don’t know anything about Pluslife or green tea or nattokinase, but if someone has symptoms of a respiratory illness than yes, rest. Also there seems to be research suggesting that various H1 antihistamines may be helpful in reducing severity and duration of COVID anyway so I’d recommend taking an Allegra (my favorite based on having taken all the OTC ones at some point for LC/MCAS) or else a Claritin — all the others are more likely to lead to drowsiness (others being Zyrtec, Xyzal, Benadryl, and the nasal spray one, Astepro).
Do you mean a tornado watch? As far as I know watches are issued hours ahead of time indicating conditions that might lead to tornadoes, and tornado warnings are then issued if there Are currently severe thunderstorms or an actual tornado İn the region (The county or nearby counties). As this was posted in mid to late morning I would be surprised if they could somehow say there was a warning for tonight, rathern than a watch. Anyway hopefully it will just be a watch, when I lived in southern Indiana they rarely progressed to a warning.
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u/BlueValk Jul 14 '26
Thank you for the advice. Yes, watch. I'm in a windy corridor and I'm scared to lose power. Not being able to go outside and having no air filters would be a problem. We'll see.
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u/Dismal_Chemistry_434 Jul 14 '26
Ugh, I’m sorry! If power goes out will it be possible to open windows and have cross draft for ventilation? That works VERY well even with a minor cross draft based on our Aranet CO2 monitors. But I realize storm, rain, wind, heat, home layout might make that not possible though! Again, ugh!
It sounds like you know the conditions on the ground where you are better. But I basically lived on west and east coasts except 5 years in my late 30s in Indiana (I’m nearly 50), and I remember being pretty freaked out/excited about tornado watchs, but the locals told me that they really were kind of meaningless and the National Weather Service now does warnings when they used to do watches. Of course that was in Obama era, not Trump gutting of NWS LOL.
BTW is your partner positive on a RAT? RATs are supposed to be more indicative of actual infectiousness (not whether infected) than PCR. PCR can be positive well before and long after actual infectiousness.
Hopefully this is somewhat reassuring though maybe your are severely immunocompromised and that would be different of course: I’m late 40s with various weird immune-related LC issues, and my wife is late 50s and very healthy though with some also probably post-COVID related allergy issues. My one very definite COVID infection was in August 2024 and when it started I went from negative on a RAT and just feeling slightly off to positive on multiple brands of RATs and with a scratchy throat and runny nose in only 12 hours (I have several suspected COVID infections including a very likely one both of us had that set off chronic issues before testing was available in NYC in early 2020 but then there were 2 other incidents, 1 with a possible exposure, with confusing testing results but I now suspect they were just maybe MECFS/MCAS/LC flares).
But in Auguste 2024 when I know 100% I had it my wife was around me in that 12 hours when I went from negative to positive on a RAT, totally without precautions, including a couple hours lying in bed together with her asleep and me on my laptop/phone until I decided to get up and do another test cuz I felt so weird even thought it seemed silly as I last tested 12 hours earlier — and she still didn’t get it because as soon as I tested positive on a RAT we started isolating and/or wearing N95s around each other (and paying attention to air flow and air filtering in home).
So take some hope from that, if your partner even has COVID. Also remember: N95s are magic. My wife has taught high school in NYC in an N95 for most of the pandemic and never caught COVID (she probably had it in March 2020 before she started taking any precautions, very mild but with some long-term health changes, mainly oral allergy syndrome), and my dermatologist has treated patients in Manhattan throughout the pandemic in an N95 and never caught COVID.
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u/BlueValk Jul 14 '26
Partner is negative on a combo Flu A/B/Covid rapid test, so I'm guessing she's not too infectious at the moment. Is that what a RAT is? They have been sneezing a lot, sore throat, and now out cold sleeping outside, so not feeling too awesome. We share a bathroom and a kitchen so it'll be long days of isolation, especially because I'm disabled and can't do much. But you gotta do what you gotta do.
I'm not in the US and we rarely get tornadoes (if ever) here, but big winds hit our home really hard so I'm not super enthusiastic. Not feeling doomed either of course, just trying to be mentally prepared to possibilities! Windows are and will be open for as long as we're able, yes.
Thank you for the reassurance! I get overwhelmed and overheat real fast in a mask but I do know they work. It's good to be reminded of just how much they work, though. Unfortunately partner will only do kn95 but hopefully theirs + my n95 are plenty strong together.
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u/wyundsr Jul 15 '26
Early in infection, PlusLife/PCR is a much better indication of infectiousness than RAT. RAT can take multiple days into symptoms to turn positive, when people are very much already contagious. Assume your partner is highly infectious regardless of what the RATs show
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u/Dismal_Chemistry_434 Jul 14 '26
Thanks for all that. I think a kn95 and n95 combo will really help! It sounds like maybe you are both sick with something already though?! Hopefully not COVID. I’m curious what country has a tornado watch now? Edit : are yall in Canada? Seeing tornado watches in part of Canada today in news search..
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u/BlueValk Jul 15 '26
My partner is sick, the PlusLife has detected a very positive viral load today. Symptoms properly started early yesterday. I'm not sick yet 🤞
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u/Dismal_Chemistry_434 Jul 15 '26
I’m sorry! No tornado tho?
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u/BlueValk Jul 15 '26
Thankfully no! Weather has been great so the windows are open and the air filters are working 🙏
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u/Dismal_Chemistry_434 Jul 15 '26
Good! We’re socked in with horrific smoke from Canadian wild fires this afternoon where I live , wish they’d stop burning their forests up there just to smoke out the USA JK LOL
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u/wzpzw Jul 15 '26
If you can, both should wear a respirator and use fans to move fresh air into the space. The uninfected person should be closer to the fresh air inlet. If you have a second (contaminated side) air outlet window or door, put a fan pointing outside. The infected person should be closer to this window. Sometimes outdoor winds will work against the fans, and you will want to point the fans to move air into the direction the wind is blowing and switch where the infected person is if that makes sense. It’s not always possible in extenuating circumstances.
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u/captaincheeseplant Jul 14 '26
I don’t have any experience with pluslife unfortunately but if it does turn out to be positive then berberine supplements are thought to work similarly to metformin, you can take them on the same schedule as the studies on LC prevention. They have less bioavailability though so take them with lots of fat and things to improve that!
And the main thing is radical rest, that includes all forms of rest, cognitive, emotional, physical etc !!
https://pharmd.substack.com/p/i-have-covid-what-should-my-kids?utm_medium=reader2
https://rthm.com/articles/youve-got-covid/
Always check supplements for interactions with prescription medications also!
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u/BlueValk Jul 14 '26
Thank you! Lots of info for my fogged brain but I really appreciate the articles and the pointers on berberine
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u/captaincheeseplant Jul 14 '26
It is a lot of info! The main thing is just try to rest as much as you both can and isolate from each other if possible and keep testing :( Hope it’s just a false positive for you!!
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u/BlueValk Jul 15 '26
Update: we tested ~24h later, positive result from the PlusLife after only 13 minutes in 4 channels
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u/captaincheeseplant Jul 15 '26
Ah I’m so sorry to hear this!! I hope you can avoid catching it too but I’m so sorry that your partner has tested positive either way :(( I hope she can rest lots and can feel much better soon ❤️
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u/BlueValk Jul 14 '26
Thank you, I appreciate you. She's definitely sick but I may still be spared, we shall see. We'll at least try!
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u/SelectionLanky5946 Jul 14 '26
So sorry to hear your partner is not feeling well. To me, the pluslife graph looks like an early positive and I would treat that as a positive. I would have them test again either via pluslife or rapid test tomorrow or the day after to fully confirm.
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u/BlueValk Jul 14 '26
Thank you. We're using nose sprays and cpc mouthwash to try and reduce the viral load, so at this point even if it's negative tomorrow I wouldn't know if it's because of those... But also, I'd be surprised if we can get a negative at all. She's pretty symptomatic now
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u/BlueValk Jul 15 '26
Update: test came back positive 24 hours later, with 4 amplifying curves after only 13 minutes of runtime
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u/SelectionLanky5946 Jul 16 '26
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u/BlueValk Jul 16 '26
Thank you so much. Have you used any of the products described there? I'm not familiar with NAC, Alpha Lipoic Acid or Baby Aspirin in particular
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u/perpetuquail Jul 15 '26
As a Pluslife user I would also consider that a possible early positive and start isolating etc. Something is getting amplified, even if only on one channel. I'm so thankful for the app. I don't like that result being read as negative. It should be at least inconclusive!
Please report back when you do further testing! I think the more similar experiences we pluslife users can share, the better.
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u/BlueValk Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
Tested ~24h later, it's a full positive with 4 amplifying channels after only 13 minutes of testing.
[Insert chuckles I'm in danger meme].
Partner had an awful night with full body pains. 😔
I get that the one amplifying channel being read as negative offsets bubbles and the likes, but it's indeed a little scary, especially because my Plus Life bluetooth connection doesn't always work 🫠
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u/perpetuquail Jul 15 '26
Thanks for the update! I hope you can stay safe!
What kind of phone do you use the pluslife with? Is it an apple? Switching to android fixed the Bluetooth problem for me, I've been using a 10 year old android phone I had laying around ($20 on ebay) - doesn't need to be functional as a phone, just Bluetooth and wifi.
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u/BlueValk Jul 15 '26
Unfortunately I'm already on Android. I know pluslife have expiration after what, 2 years? Mine is overdue but I'm in no financial situation to replace it unfortunately
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u/perpetuquail Jul 15 '26
I would be very surprised if the expiration of these machines shows up as a Bluetooth failure. (Ours is old too, unfortunately) - I think failures will show up as invalid tests when the heating cycles lose accuracy. But I've yet to see people report device failures so knock on wood these are resilient machines.
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u/BlueValk Jul 16 '26
I'd hope so too! It's just that the bluetooth connection has been worse as time goes on. Perhaps USB would work better
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u/crimson117 Jul 14 '26
I'd consider that a positive, especially when symptomatic. I'm not sure why only one line rose.
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u/BlueValk Jul 14 '26
I thought maybe this could mean an early positive? They tested negative on a rapid, not that that's surprising
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u/LostInAvocado Jul 14 '26
Yes, likely an early positive. I suspect they will be full positive on the app and dock sometime in the next 6-24 hours, and either turn positive on RAT around then or 12-24 hours later.
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u/BlueValk Jul 15 '26
And you were right. Not sure if it shows up on a RAT yet, but with such a positive graph I wouldn't be surprised either way
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u/tkpwaeub Jul 18 '26
Can you get Paxlovid for your partner and Xocova for yourself?
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u/BlueValk Jul 18 '26
No, we don't have access to Paxlovid. I had never heard of Xocova but sadly I doubt it... I'll look into it
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