PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — As mask mandates shift, the omicron surge begins to decline and lockdowns appear to be in the rearview mirror, data from the Washington Department of Health shows the COVID-19 transmission rate is much higher now than it was this time last year.

As Oregon and Washington residents adjust to life amidst the pandemic, Dr. Nikki Gentile, a physician at UW Medicine Primary Care at Northgate explained in a recent interview that many at-home remedies and drugstore products could help relieve mild symptoms of COVID-19 and other common respiratory illnesses which tend to peak during February.

“We’re really just targeting symptom management, which can be done with over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications or NSAIDs, Tylenol,” Gentile explained. “In some cases, some patients have pretty bad reflux and problems with COVID, so something like famotidine or pepsin can be useful. So, depending on the symptoms that patients are experiencing, there’s often an over-the-counter option that can be helpful.”

As a health professional who also tends to patients at the Post-COVID-19 Rehabilitation and Recovery Clinic, Gentile warned the public that even a minor case of COVID-19 can cause lasting symptoms.

“I do think it’s really important to recognize that it’s not just the acute infection. You get infected and that’s it, right? It is possible that you can develop symptoms a few weeks out that you’ve never experienced before,” Gentile stated. “That impacts your gastrointestinal system, so your stomach and your bowel, your brain – brain fog, focus, fatigue, just really feeling exhausted, pain. These very vague, often difficult to describe symptoms that are just coming out of nowhere.”

In a University of Washington interview, Gentile suggested having anti-inflammatory medications on hand, such as aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen to help battle symptoms of respiratory illness.

Additionally, Gentile recommended drinking plenty of water or Gatorade to stay hydrated when sick, along with using a battery-powered pulse oximeter to measure blood-oxygen saturation, if possible.

Dr. Nikki Gentile’s full interview on at-home remedies for COVID-like illness can be viewed here.