Welp, Rebound Covid is a thing.

After feeling pretty good through the end of last week, I came home from the HS football game friday night and sneezed about 800 times then got very congested. I figured it was mostly likely just allergies from sitting outside for 3 hours -- sneezing wasn't even a symptom when I first had it. No such luck - Saturday morning, I was back to extreme fatigue - I'd stand up and do something for 15 minutes then have to lay down for an hour. But no fever, no brain fog. Just very mild cold symptoms - a sniffly nose, an occasional sneeze, a dry cough. And the fact that the slightest exertion would make me short of breath and exhausted. I was supposed to go visit my mom on Sunday and figured I'd test beforehand just to be safe and it was very very positive. So I've been chilling all weekend ignoring my lengthy to-do list, which has been kind of nice. Other than the tiredness and sniffles, I feel ok and it is already much improved over Saturday. So I'd still take this over whatever my initial bout of covid was shaping up to be before the paxlovid.

Co-worker's wife, who has been following pretty much my exact trajectory and also took the full course of paxlovid, also came down with rebound symptoms this weekend. Seems like rebounding is a lot more common than the press makes it out to be, but it also seems a lot less severe than the initial symptoms were for both of us so I guess that's good.

Anyhow, I said I'd keep you posted so there you go.

Wow, I'm so sorry to hear this!!!

And what to make of it? No idea! I have read about this phenomenon a little bit but I don't recall anyone arguing that it's a reason not to take paxlovid. But again, no idea!

Anyway, I hope you're all better -- better-for-real -- soon!!!

Oh, no!
At least, though, it's not as bad as the first time around. I wonder if it's especially likely with the latest strain of COVID. And if it's a known, common trajectory (thinking of your friend who is going through the same thing).

Wish "they" understood more about the pros and cons of Paxlovid.

Anxious too to learn what is going to be the trajectory of the new double vax coming up. It does seem they are rushing things through on an emergency basis, such that we are far more in the dark with new treatments/vaxes etc.

As long as the benefits leave us significantly better with (incompletely vetted) new treatments than without. Does leave one (me, anyhow) not wanting to be on the vanguard of them.

And yes, Lisa, you're very right that "they" don't seem to be publicizing trends such as you're experiencing. Wonder how widespread they are.

Glad you're better off than with the first go-round. I know you know what to do to care for yourself, at least (except not what to do with Palovid!).

It certainly would be reassuring if more were known about the cause and effect of Paxlovid. No way of knowing what virus strain you and your friend contracted is there? Wouldn't it be weird if you actually had some mutant that the Paxlovid unleashed (all those sneezes! Come to think of it, I was constantly sneezing last week. Not something I'm prone to) - but that was all.

I appreciate your keeping us in the loop. Such info is the only news we can really be sure of. (Any other co-infected comrades you're heard of besides that one?)

Mend! Lots of rest and guilt-free entertainment!

I’m sorry to hear about the relapse. Hope things turn around for you soon.




And many thanks for continuing to post updates.

Wow - that's awful. I'm so sorry.

Actually, everyone I know who took Paxlovid had a similar experience. So I think you are right - it is much more common than reported.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
Sharon just tested positive for Covid. I suspect I’m next.

How are the Millers doing these days?

BTW, this is one of the reasons my doc probably didn't recommend Paxlovid for me. The symptoms I described didn't distress him enough to recommend it.

I'm so sorry, Lisa.

Lisa, how are you doing now?

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
Sharon just tested positive for Covid. I suspect I’m next.

How are the Millers doing these days?

We’re fine, thanks. Sharon is over a mild case and I never got it.

Sorry this is happening to you, Lisa.

I think I am mostly better. Still think I am a little more tired and snotty than usual but it's getting harder to distinguish from my baseline level of old-age tired and fall-allergies snottiness.

On the other hand, one of my fellow infectees is still hacking pretty good with pneumonia/bronchitis and another now has blood clots that they think were caused by covid. So my PSA for the day is to stay safe and get those boosters - Omicron is not a "mild cold" for everyone.

quote:

one of my fellow infectees is still hacking pretty good with pneumonia/bronchitis and another now has blood clots that they think were caused by covid.

Oh dear, how awful!

Do you happen to know whether they took paxlovid?

Did you write earlier that even with the rebound issue, you think you're better off for having taken it?

Lisa, you're in my thoughts.

Thanks Daniel (and everyone who commented!)

SK - pneumonia person did not take paxlovid. They said she was too young for it (she's in her mid 20s) but she could have qualified for other reasons so I'm not sure why they didn't give it to her. I feel like she'd probably be doing better if she had taken it but who knows.

Blood clot person did take the full course of paxlovid - in fact, she is the person who rebounded with me the same weekend. Her docs think the clots are the result of the perfect storm of covid + genetic factors (her dad died of a blood clot) + being on the birth control pill - they don't think it has anything to do with the paxlovid. They are now doing a bunch of genetic tests to explore that angle and see if she needs to come off her birth control.

I definitely do think that I'm better off for having taken it. It's hard to explain, but when I was first starting to feel ill, I had a scratchy throat and a dry cough and it kinda just felt I was maybe going to be in for a bad cold. I tested negative several times through that period and I believed the tests, figured maybe it was just bad allergies, powered through, and went to work. But that night when I ran the fever and then the whole next day when I went to the minute clinic was something different altogether. I was so very very tired. And my brain felt....I dunno....different. There was pressure in my head, but not like normal sinus pressure because it was everywhere. It felt like my brain was too big for my skull, almost, and I had a splitting headache and I couldn't stay awake or even put much of a coherent thought together. I was pretty sure I had covid by then, home tests be damned, but it was that feeling in my head that made me go to the minute clinic and ask for paxlovid - I had never felt anything quite like it and I wanted it to stop.

I have struggled a bit with brain fog due to thyroid/menopause/fibromyalgia issues over the past several years so I was always kinda worried about that part of covid but I didn't have a plan that I was going to run for the antivirals or anything and honestly, after 2 years of dodging covid and watching everyone around me act like omicron was no big deal, I was honestly expecting nothing more than the sniffles. So when my brain and head just felt so bizarre and I was having so much trouble staying awake I figured I'd better go to the doctor. She recommended Paxlovid and assured me rebounding was really rare and even then I wasn't sure I would take it....it took til after dinner that night before I worked up the courage to take the first dose and then it was because my head was feeling even worse and I talked to coworker who had been on it for a few days and told me nothing horrible had happened yet. Within a few hours of the first dose, I could feel the pressure from my head lift a little and my thinking clear a bit and each subsequent dose cleared it a bit more. That alone I think was worth taking the meds. I have no idea what was actually going on in my head that was causing that feeling but my gut tells me that it probably wasn't something that would be good to experience for an extended period of time and who knows if I would have had lasting cognitive issues if I had let it run its course naturally.

When the symptoms rebounded, it was more like what I expected the first time around -- the minor cold type sniffles and cough along with some fatigue -- but there was none of that weird about-to-explode head feeling and horrible headache and unclear brain -- and my thinking seems pretty much back to baseline now for which I am very very grateful. So yes, the short answer is that I am glad I took it.

Lisa, thank you for sharing your experience. It’s good data for us!