I've got Covid.... The thread for your covid experiences

[Teacher Terry]

Breedlove, the first time I went to Europe after the pandemic I got it and missed half my tour. I was worried that it would happen again when I went in April but luckily it didn’t. It’s definitely disappointing to spend all that money on a trip just to get sick. Sorry that’s happened twice to you both.

 

[Ian S]

I think it is fine if people need Pavloxid, but I'm with you, the old style treatments are fine as long as you don't have any signs of distress.

Well, that's the conundrum: it usually takes time for the infection to display serious "signs of distress" and if you wait until then, you'll almost certainly be too late to utilize Paxlovid. At my age of 72, although generally healthy, I decided a priori that if I came down with Covid, I'd get on Paxlovid from the get-go and that's what I did when I tested positive in May. Now that I know Paxlovid seems to work for me, I'm even less hesitant to use it for future Covid infections assuming it continues to be effective.

 

[Breedlove]

Well the first time we got the Corona on a return trip from Europe it lasted three days . This time it lasted longer but the symptoms lasted longer. To us both times it was like a bad summer cold except this time we both got diarrhea . And finding a toilette in Europe at times can be hard. Right now we feel great . Just grateful we have a pharmacist who is really up on the Corona . She or her family have never got the Corona but she also knows a lot of doctors in Houston that specialize in treating it . The first thing she asked was fever and how long and any breathing problems . She knows I have one kidney that’s when she said use the Coriciden Night and Day .

 

[bmcgonig]

Well, that's the conundrum: it usually takes time for the infection to display serious "signs of distress" and if you wait until then, you'll almost certainly be too late to utilize Paxlovid. At my age of 72, although generally healthy, I decided a priori that if I came down with Covid, I'd get on Paxlovid from the get-go and that's what I did when I tested positive in May. Now that I know Paxlovid seems to work for me, I'm even less hesitant to use it for future Covid infections assuming it continues to be effective.

Agreed. If you listen to the TWIV podcast, that the advice there as well. You need Paxlovid as soon as possible. Definitely in the first 5 days. Waiting until you’re in distress might be too late.

 

[Janet H]

Round 2 for me just recently after having had serious covid in 2020. Now vaxxed, boosted and with more recent variant I was less sick. Allergy symptoms turned into fever and coughing. I took Paxlovid beginning on day 2 after a positive test in hopes of avoiding a replay of 2020 (extended serious illness, long covid, complications, etc) and felt noticeably better after 2 days of Paxlovid and tested negative on day 5. I will never know if the Paxlovid shortened/lessened illness this time but followed medical advice to hit the current infection with everything available. I did and improved. The driving reason for my pursuit of Paxlovid was to reduce the possibility of another round of long covid and the expanding possibilities of permanent brain changes as a result. Long covid after 2020 scuttled my life for months. I am a study participant looking at long covid survivor issues. The news about brain changes in this population is heart-stopping. 20 % of the participants in my study show dementia-like brain changes. To be avoided at all costs, imo.

Here's my Paxlovid tip: Paxlovid mouth is a real thing - the acrid taste after day 2 of Paxlovid is pretty horrible. Mints, hard candy, etc didn't touch it but these evil things did:

 

[11522914]

I finally caught COVID. I've been masking the whole time. Here is a breakdown on what I've been going through.

Day 1 - drove to Virginia Beach from Raleigh. Approximately 3 1/2 hour drive. Felt fine when we left around 9am Sunday for our vacation we planned months ago. Had lunch and arrived at the hotel around 1:30. I had a little cough but thought maybe allergies or something as it was very minor. By 5 pm starting coughing more and starting to feel lousy. Then fever and chills. Didn't have a COVID test or anything except ibuprofen. Too late to go to store. Felt lousy all night long with lots of coughing and fever. Didn't sleep at all. Ibuprofen helped me feel a little better.

Day 2 - wife walked to Walgreens which was right down the road. Bought a COVID test, thermometer and cough medicine. Took the COVID test, in less than 1 minute it showed I had COVID. Bright red line. Fever at 101.4. Cough medicine definitely helped. It's now around 11am. Told wife we need to head back home. She was upset but understood. Called the front desk and said we're leaving early as I just took a test and show I have COVID. We we're supposed to stay 4 nights. We finally got everything packed up and headed out around 1 pm. Normally I'm the driver but no way I could drive. That was the longest, miserable 3 1/2 drive I've ever had. When we were a 1/2 hour away from Raleigh I started getting real nauseous. I honestly didn't think I would make it without throwing up somewhere. It was not fun. Very weird but the cough was starting to get better. Still had fever and chills and continued to take ibuprofen. Didn't sleep much at all again.

Day 3 - this would actually be 48 hours of having COVID. Started to actually feel a little better. Did a video call with our doctor to see if I should get paxlovid. She said that she doesn't think I need paxlovid but we have up to 5 days if I'm not getting better. She would call me tomorrow to see how I'm doing. She said the current variants are much milder. Meanwhile, wife is now starting to cough a little just like I was on Sunday. Took a test and negative. As the evening progressed wife started going downhill. Amazing she was experiencing this exactly how I was going through it, right down to the exact same fever temperature and chills. My fever finally broke and I got a few hours of sleep.

Day 4 - I'm now about 72 hours with COVID. I'm feeling much better. Very minor cough and no fever. Not taking any medicines. Just exhausted. Still resting. Glad to be retired!!! Wife had a lousy night, just like my first night. She still feels lousy but not quite as bad. I'm keeping a close eye on things as I don't want COVID rebound but right now feel pretty much normal. Wife took another test and it was positive. She is basically progressing exactly how I did. Doctor is supposed to call later to see how I'm doing.

So although the first day and 1/2 were pretty rough I got better quickly.

Both of us had the first 2 shots and 2 boosters.

Final update on our COVID experience.

I'm now on day 17 and wife is on day 15. I tested positive on day 7 and 10 and finally tested negative on day 14. I still have a minor cough that just won't go away. Not bad or anything but still there.

My wife had quite a different experience than I had. By her day 4 she started to feel better and her fever was gone. By day 9 my wife had some serious diarrhea. Day 10 fever was back, not as bad the her previous fever but still around 100.8. Finally on day 13 her fever broke and her diarrhea was much better and is now gone. She is now feeling back to normal with the same minor cough I have. This morning she tested negative too.

I hope we are now done with this. We both feel back to normal except for our minor cough. I'm looking forward to start my walking routine but the pollen here has been terrible and I have some slight sensitivity to it so holding off for now.

 

[Another Reader]

Round 2 for me just recently after having had serious covid in 2020. Now vaxxed, boosted and with more recent variant I was less sick. Allergy symptoms turned into fever and coughing. I took Paxlovid beginning on day 2 after a positive test in hopes of avoiding a replay of 2020 (extended serious illness, long covid, complications, etc) and felt noticeably better after 2 days of Paxlovid. I will never know if the Paxlovid shortened/lessened illness this time but followed medical advice to hit the current infection with everything available. I did and improved. The driving reason for my pursuit of Paxlovid was to reduce the possibility of another round of long covid and the expanding possibilities of permanent brain changes as a result. Long covid after 2020 scuttled my life for months. I am a study participant looking at long covid survivor issues. The news about brain changes in this population is heart-stopping. 20 % of the participants in my study show dementia-like brain changes. To be avoided at all costs, imo.

Here's my Paxlovid tip: Paxlovid mouth is a real thing - the acrid taste after day 2 of Paxlovid is pretty horrible. Mints, hard candy, etc didn't touch it but these evil things did:

View attachment 47252

It's similar to AIDS dementia. Some people, including some younger people, have full blown senility.

A lot of people cannot take Paxlovid. One of the ingredients, Ritonavir, can damage organs. It's not a magic bullet.

 

[W2R]

It's similar to AIDS dementia. Some people, including some younger people, have full blown senility.

A lot of people cannot take Paxlovid. One of the ingredients, Ritonavir, can damage organs. It's not a magic bullet.

While Frank was driving me home from the hospital in Arkansas (after 3 weeks in the ICU with Covid pneumonia), he was talking about my house here in Louisiana. (As you all know, I love this house and call it my Dream Home.) But anyway, at the time he mentioned that it has not one but TWO bathrooms. I was ecstatic! Had no idea, and asked him where they were in the house (even though I had lived there for 6 years).

Luckily, that dementia/senility/whatever-it-was slowly wore off and I have no trouble finding the bathroom in my own house now.

 

[Janet H]

Luckily, that dementia/senility/whatever-it-was slowly wore off and I have no trouble finding the bathroom in my own house now.

Yes, very lucky BUT this means you are more likely to have this happen again with reinfection. With each instance, there is a higher risk of permanent changes.

 

[ivinsfan]

Yes, very lucky BUT this means you are more likely to have this happen again with reinfection. With each instance, there is a higher risk of permanent changes.

Do you have a link to verify this comment?

 

[harllee]

My 92 year old mother had Covid in 2020 and her memory declined almost over night. She was diagnosed with Covid induced dementia. She never recovered but continued to decline and now has been diagnosed with Alzheimers. Her neurologist says he has several patients who develop Alzheimers after getting long Covid.

 

[easysurfer]

Round 2 for me just recently after having had serious covid in 2020. Now vaxxed, boosted and with more recent variant I was less sick. Allergy symptoms turned into fever and coughing. I took Paxlovid beginning on day 2 after a positive test in hopes of avoiding a replay of 2020 (extended serious illness, long covid, complications, etc) and felt noticeably better after 2 days of Paxlovid and tested negative on day 5. I will never know if the Paxlovid shortened/lessened illness this time but followed medical advice to hit the current infection with everything available. I did and improved. The driving reason for my pursuit of Paxlovid was to reduce the possibility of another round of long covid and the expanding possibilities of permanent brain changes as a result. Long covid after 2020 scuttled my life for months. I am a study participant looking at long covid survivor issues. The news about brain changes in this population is heart-stopping. 20 % of the participants in my study show dementia-like brain changes. To be avoided at all costs, imo.

Here's my Paxlovid tip: Paxlovid mouth is a real thing - the acrid taste after day 2 of Paxlovid is pretty horrible. Mints, hard candy, etc didn't touch it but these evil things did:

View attachment 47252

I had covid recently and took Paxlovid. I did experience the Paxlovid mouth. That horrible bitter taste was most noticeable after about 2-5 hours after taking. Even worst if you took the Paxlovid, then went to bed.

After realizing that brushing my teeth and sucking on candy barely helped, I did notice that while eating the taste temporarily went away or was diminished depending on what I ate. My strategy was to get light snacks burn out the clock for about 2-5 hours by getting light snacks til that Paxlovid mouth taste subsided. For example, I'd make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and cut into 4 small squares. One square would give me relief of the bad taste for about 15 minutes. By pacing things out, a sandwich would give me about an hour of relief. Had to think creatively. Not like I had anything else better to do anyway to kill time and wait for the 5 days of Paxlovid to end .

 

[pacergal]

My young (early 20's) nephew is currently in the hospital with serious covid. Diagnosed covid at urgent care, did not get better and went to ER, first they thought gallbladder, now considering meninigitis or some other covid complication.
He was one who put off getting vaxxed, I think he finally did maybe a year ago, but not sure which one or how many. He is, in general, a very healthy young man.
I am praying he gets better and does not develop long covid.

 

[Ian S]

Do you have a link to verify this comment?

There are many but here's one: https://medicine.wustl.edu/news/repeat-covid-19-infections-increase-risk-of-organ-failure-death/

 

[ivinsfan]

There are many but here's one: https://medicine.wustl.edu/news/repeat-covid-19-infections-increase-risk-of-organ-failure-death/

this is somewhat flawed IMO in that they only looked at if they had covid and the sample of covid repeaters was pretty small...also they don't show an age differential. For example the VA population skews pretty old.



More details would have been helpful. It's a little OT but I was curious about the research.

 

[braumeister]

Let's stick to the thread topic, please.

 

[MRG]

So you’ve had no smell for over three years?!?

Yes, I have not smelled anything for that period! I was walking through the grocery store and the coffee! What a first renewed smell.

I have a few few things I have not been able to smell for decades, black walnut from my sawmill days, and for whatever reason, the stuff in natural gas/propane also doesn't register. Covid made my world of smell into a plain boring place to be.

I don't like covid, and I wish it were not part of our lives.

 

[rodi]

Yes, I have not smelled anything for that period! I was walking through the grocery store and the coffee! What a first renewed smell.

I have a few few things I have not been able to smell for decades, black walnut from my sawmill days, and for whatever reason, the stuff in natural gas/propane also doesn't register. Covid made my world of smell into a plain boring place to be.

I don't like covid, and I wish it were not part of our lives.

A friend got covid in the late summer of 2020... still has no smell. She no longer enjoys (or tastes) the food as much and has to force herself to eat because it's no longer pleasurable.

 

[homestead]

I caught covid this summer. I think I got it on family camping trip. I've had 2 shots and 2 boosters with the last one about a year ago. I felt bad for 3 days and then started slowly getting better. Tested positive a couple days after getting better. Lost sense of smell but it came back after about 4 weeks. Took no medications since I didn't know I had it until I was getting better. Not as bad as the flu but worse than a bad cold.

 

[easysurfer]

I am happy to say that for me the Paxlovid rebound I was worrying about never happened.

 

[MichaelB]

I am happy to say that for me the Paxlovid rebound I was worrying about never happened.

Good to hear

 

[easysurfer]

Good to hear

.

For me, the Paxlovid did help. That Paxlovid mouth taste was terrible. But I started taking my round of Paxlovid about on the 2nd day of covid symptoms. With the pills, I could feel them quickly stopping a lingering fever, chills and growing chest congestion.

 

[JoeWras]

.

For me, the Paxlovid did help. That Paxlovid mouth taste was terrible. But I started taking my round of Paxlovid about on the 2nd day of covid symptoms. With the pills, I could feel them quickly stopping a lingering fever, chills and growing chest congestion.

If it stops the virus enough that you don't get the lack of taste symptom, then you'll appreciate the bad taste instead.

Eating without tasting borders on bizarre, possibly dangerous. It was not a fun few weeks.

 

[statsman]

Eating without tasting borders on bizarre, possibly dangerous. It was not a fun few weeks.

My DW had the lack of taste right near the end of 2019. It lasted for almost three weeks. For someone who enjoyed food, DW was rather depressed during that period of time.

 

[skyking1]

I dillydallied and did not get the latest booster and paid the price for it. I have had symptoms since Friday and tested positive a few hours ago. DW is also positive now.
It is kicking my butt.