What If We Are Making It Worse?

Usually, at the first sign of catching a bug, we all have our "go to" remedies.  We know a scratchy throat can turn into more.  Those extra sneezes in the evening aren't welcome.  Fever and headaches are never received as a good sign, and everybody wants a cough to stop but . . . In following the science, which has been quite a notably detoured path this year, something has occurred to me.  Many of the individuals who test positive are not hospitalized but feel lousy for a few days, or even weeks.  In an attempt to be comfortable, eliminating as many symptoms as possible is usually the plan.  When it comes to CV-19, since taste and smell are affected, does comfort food bring any comfort?  Since I have the same medical degree as Bill Gates, I am going to offer my thoughts . . .  

Now that CV-19 is surging again, or so we are told; how many OTC (over the counter) products are used before people consider the possibility of CV-19?  Or perhaps, for some, CV-19 is the first thought and they endeavor to be tested.  In the meantime, treating symptoms as they wait on test results.  OTC products to self-medicate may not achieve the desired results.  OTC, as a rule, mask or suppress symptoms, but do not address the actual problem.

Some throat lozenges do contain Vitamin C and/or Zinc, while others are just expensive candy.  The key to Vitamin C and Zinc, however; for best results, take these supplements regularly, before you need it.

Tylenol or aspirin are usually efficient in reducing fever, but a fever is the body's weapon to fight germs, both bacterial, and viral.  Reducing the fever may actually give a virus "free range" in the body.  Many bacteria and viruses do not thrive in temperatures much above normal body temperature.  These two products may also ease the pain a person feels, but they do not actually address the problem causing the pain.    

Aleve and Ibuprofen are used to ease all sorts of pain, somewhat regularly by many Americans.  Most folks probably have one or the other in their medicine cabinet.  When it comes to CV-19, easing the pain may very well help as one struggles through the aches and pains, but the body is already under attack, and processing these chemical products may be a more daunting task than the liver and kidneys can manage.

Nobody likes to cough and cough and cough!  Cough syrups may suppress the cough, but coughing is one of the ways our bodies expel germs from the lungs.  At this point, much of society doesn't even want to see someone without a mask.  I cannot imagine the dagger stares one would receive for coughing in public.  All coughs are not CV-19!  My great concern with cough syrups and I guess it's more of a question . . . When coughing is chemically suppressed, is it possible that the lungs would become more congested? 

Antibiotics fight bacteria, not viruses; and antibiotics also attack the "good bacteria" in our system . . .

How long and how much self-medicating with OTC products while in isolation, are taken before someone is actually hospitalized?  By the time an individual is hospitalized is their body fighting the results of symptom suppression as well as CV-19?