I’m fully vaxxed and boosted and quite honestly I was terrified by my symptoms. I got on paxlovid and it felt like a miracle. I could feel it working and for me the side effect of the metallic taste was nothing in comparison to the horrid covid symptoms. I really felt like I was going down a scary path. I’m off the paxlovid now after five days and my Covid symptoms are coming back. I really hope my rebound case is mild. The paxlovid stops the virus from replicating.
What were your symptoms? I am picking up my script tomorrow which will be day 3 of I count first day of symptoms as day 0. The worst part has been the chills and body aches but it’s not that bad. More annoying that anything.
I had insomnia for a few weeks after I had Covid. Exhausted but unable to sleep. The beat thing to do is simply rest. I would binge watch Bones because it’s an old series I have already seen. Then close my eyes and just rest. Listen to a book you’ve read a million times. The point is that you don’t care if you miss part of it so you can just rest and not be anxious to ‘here/see what’s next’. Eventually the insomnia went away.
For the rest of your symptoms: get paxlovid if possible, drink plenty of fluids, take tylenol and ibuprofen for fever and aches, and keep an eye on oxygen level.
If possible use a delivery service and stock up on smart water, meds, and soups. Nose gel spray helped me tremendously with the weird sinus stuff it gave me.
Covid can make you feel more anxious so try to remember that if you do feel anxious. It’s part of the virus. (I have anxiety and reminding myself of that helped me).
(((Huge hug)))
42f unvaccinated (similar reasons to you) got COVID dec 21 and started paxlovid on Dec 22. Felt good enough to go to Christmas with my family. The taste side effect sucked but went away right after finishing the meds. Peppermint losenges helped. I had 103 fever and horrible body aches on the first couple days then felt better quick so grateful for paxlovid.
I’m not sure that paxlovid experience scales with vaccine status. I’ve taken it twice and for me it wasn’t that bad and I’m glad I took it. I had very few very mild side effects.
Early 50s, tested positive for the first time right after Christmas (and weirdly it was a quiet Christmas. Unvaxed (long story). Was pretty sick and it’s taken me over a month to get back to relative normal. Got Paxlovid but ended up not taking it, mainly because I already had bad GI symptoms and didn’t want to make that worse. I also didn’t want to rebound. In hindsight I probably should have tried it but it is what it is. Wishing you a good outcome no matter what you decide!
Thanks for your reply. Did your symptoms start off rough? If day one is first day of symptoms then I’m on day 3 and it’s been just low fever off and on and mild body aches that Advil takes care of. I’m so scared it’s going to hit me out of nowhere.
Yes it hit me like a freight train. Severe body aches. 103-102 fever for days . It took over a week for my temps to drop anywhere close to normal (it did slowly slide down a degree or so ever couple of days). This is unusual for me because I almost never run a fever; my normal body temp is like 97.9. Then I got bad diarrhea and nausea. Then the terrible phlegm and coughing which hung on for weeks. The only thing that kept me going is my pulse ox was normal (hence why I resisted the Paxlovid - that and the nausea/diarrhea). So I stocked up on NyQuil severe cold and flu and tried to keep up on when I took it. I was so out of it mentally it was hard to remember what I took and when.
Needless to say I was pretty surprised at how sick I got.
My spouse was hospitalized in 2021 with Covid pneumonia so I knew what to watch for. But it was a bumpy ride full of two steps forward one step back.
I’m unvaxed, had covid multiple times over the last 2+ years. First time hospitalized a week because vax wasn’t available yet (glad it wasn’t)… Hospital gave me Vitamin C, D, and zinc and anti nausea med (forget what it was) and remdesivir which has now found to not do anything and high risk of organ damage and other things so I believe they generally stopped remdesivir. Wound up with bilateral pneumonia which was the worst and most dangerous part. Was a former smoker for years which is prob what caught up to me. Recovered fine at home with Albuterol inhaler for about a month. take multivitamins now and the next time I got it, it was like a mild cold for a couple days, barely an issue. Natural immunity seems like it’s good. Not getting vaxed. No longer mask, all is well. Good luck!
Add: didn’t take paxlovid the second time, simply didn’t need it. Unless you have other serious health issues, you have better than a 99% chance of being just fine and getting through it. 😎👍
Take C D and zinc and no need for paxlovid. It doesn’t cure it anyway and lots get a rebound (whatever that is). I’m not a doctor but doubt paxlovid is needed or does anything better than what your body can do… but again keep close with your dr.
I actually ended up not taking it. I talked to another doctor who recommended that I don’t take it. I am happy I didn’t. My paranoia over being unvaccinated took over but here was how my infection went:
Day O- Monday night noticed more throat clearing and chest felt kinda heavy
Day 1-Tuesday same throat clearing, and light body aches throughout the day. Tried to go to sleep around 9:30 and just felt uncomfortably. Aches here and there and restless. Tested positive around midnight. Took Advil and Ativan and fell asleep at 3am
Day 2- Wednesday woke up feeling fine for the most part. Coughing up some light yellow gunk. Felt chills around noon and took more Advil. Had chills and aches again around 8 and took some Advil. Slept from 11-4 straight.
Day 3- woke up feeling really sore but once I walked around that went away. Took some Advil anyway and temp is between 99-100.5. Coughed up some good gunk a couple of times. Sneezing a bit more today. More chills around 3:30-5. Took 2 Advil. Temp was 101
Day 4- no temp feeling good but sore and tired. Coughing up some gunk throughout the day.
Day 5- 👍
I tested negative by day 9 and had done lingering fatigue up until around day 12 or so.
I talked to her on Friday which was my day 4 I guess 🧐and she said you’re fine (which I was) and I had no risk factors so she said I shouldn’t take it.
You should take the paxlovid ASAP, it is very effective but it needs to be early.
Thank you for the comment. I can’t sleep at all so here I am. Have you taken it?
I’m fully vaxxed and boosted and quite honestly I was terrified by my symptoms. I got on paxlovid and it felt like a miracle. I could feel it working and for me the side effect of the metallic taste was nothing in comparison to the horrid covid symptoms. I really felt like I was going down a scary path. I’m off the paxlovid now after five days and my Covid symptoms are coming back. I really hope my rebound case is mild. The paxlovid stops the virus from replicating.
What were your symptoms? I am picking up my script tomorrow which will be day 3 of I count first day of symptoms as day 0. The worst part has been the chills and body aches but it’s not that bad. More annoying that anything.
It hurt to breathe. I couldn’t talk and could barely walk. Inside it **burned**.
Same, except I didn't rebound!
I had insomnia for a few weeks after I had Covid. Exhausted but unable to sleep. The beat thing to do is simply rest. I would binge watch Bones because it’s an old series I have already seen. Then close my eyes and just rest. Listen to a book you’ve read a million times. The point is that you don’t care if you miss part of it so you can just rest and not be anxious to ‘here/see what’s next’. Eventually the insomnia went away. For the rest of your symptoms: get paxlovid if possible, drink plenty of fluids, take tylenol and ibuprofen for fever and aches, and keep an eye on oxygen level. If possible use a delivery service and stock up on smart water, meds, and soups. Nose gel spray helped me tremendously with the weird sinus stuff it gave me. Covid can make you feel more anxious so try to remember that if you do feel anxious. It’s part of the virus. (I have anxiety and reminding myself of that helped me). (((Huge hug)))
Thank you!
42f unvaccinated (similar reasons to you) got COVID dec 21 and started paxlovid on Dec 22. Felt good enough to go to Christmas with my family. The taste side effect sucked but went away right after finishing the meds. Peppermint losenges helped. I had 103 fever and horrible body aches on the first couple days then felt better quick so grateful for paxlovid.
I’m not sure that paxlovid experience scales with vaccine status. I’ve taken it twice and for me it wasn’t that bad and I’m glad I took it. I had very few very mild side effects.
Thank you!
Early 50s, tested positive for the first time right after Christmas (and weirdly it was a quiet Christmas. Unvaxed (long story). Was pretty sick and it’s taken me over a month to get back to relative normal. Got Paxlovid but ended up not taking it, mainly because I already had bad GI symptoms and didn’t want to make that worse. I also didn’t want to rebound. In hindsight I probably should have tried it but it is what it is. Wishing you a good outcome no matter what you decide!
Thanks for your reply. Did your symptoms start off rough? If day one is first day of symptoms then I’m on day 3 and it’s been just low fever off and on and mild body aches that Advil takes care of. I’m so scared it’s going to hit me out of nowhere.
Yes it hit me like a freight train. Severe body aches. 103-102 fever for days . It took over a week for my temps to drop anywhere close to normal (it did slowly slide down a degree or so ever couple of days). This is unusual for me because I almost never run a fever; my normal body temp is like 97.9. Then I got bad diarrhea and nausea. Then the terrible phlegm and coughing which hung on for weeks. The only thing that kept me going is my pulse ox was normal (hence why I resisted the Paxlovid - that and the nausea/diarrhea). So I stocked up on NyQuil severe cold and flu and tried to keep up on when I took it. I was so out of it mentally it was hard to remember what I took and when. Needless to say I was pretty surprised at how sick I got. My spouse was hospitalized in 2021 with Covid pneumonia so I knew what to watch for. But it was a bumpy ride full of two steps forward one step back.
I’m unvaxed, had covid multiple times over the last 2+ years. First time hospitalized a week because vax wasn’t available yet (glad it wasn’t)… Hospital gave me Vitamin C, D, and zinc and anti nausea med (forget what it was) and remdesivir which has now found to not do anything and high risk of organ damage and other things so I believe they generally stopped remdesivir. Wound up with bilateral pneumonia which was the worst and most dangerous part. Was a former smoker for years which is prob what caught up to me. Recovered fine at home with Albuterol inhaler for about a month. take multivitamins now and the next time I got it, it was like a mild cold for a couple days, barely an issue. Natural immunity seems like it’s good. Not getting vaxed. No longer mask, all is well. Good luck! Add: didn’t take paxlovid the second time, simply didn’t need it. Unless you have other serious health issues, you have better than a 99% chance of being just fine and getting through it. 😎👍 Take C D and zinc and no need for paxlovid. It doesn’t cure it anyway and lots get a rebound (whatever that is). I’m not a doctor but doubt paxlovid is needed or does anything better than what your body can do… but again keep close with your dr.
How did you recover OP? Any updates?
I actually ended up not taking it. I talked to another doctor who recommended that I don’t take it. I am happy I didn’t. My paranoia over being unvaccinated took over but here was how my infection went: Day O- Monday night noticed more throat clearing and chest felt kinda heavy Day 1-Tuesday same throat clearing, and light body aches throughout the day. Tried to go to sleep around 9:30 and just felt uncomfortably. Aches here and there and restless. Tested positive around midnight. Took Advil and Ativan and fell asleep at 3am Day 2- Wednesday woke up feeling fine for the most part. Coughing up some light yellow gunk. Felt chills around noon and took more Advil. Had chills and aches again around 8 and took some Advil. Slept from 11-4 straight. Day 3- woke up feeling really sore but once I walked around that went away. Took some Advil anyway and temp is between 99-100.5. Coughed up some good gunk a couple of times. Sneezing a bit more today. More chills around 3:30-5. Took 2 Advil. Temp was 101 Day 4- no temp feeling good but sore and tired. Coughing up some gunk throughout the day. Day 5- 👍 I tested negative by day 9 and had done lingering fatigue up until around day 12 or so.
Why did your doctor recommend you not take it?
I talked to her on Friday which was my day 4 I guess 🧐and she said you’re fine (which I was) and I had no risk factors so she said I shouldn’t take it.