COVID, Paxlovid & Rebound – Not So Perfect Together

First Things First

I am not a doctor. I don’t even play one on TV. What I have to say this time purely relates to my own experience with COVID, Paxlovid and its rebound effect. The following shouldn’t be taken as medical advice in any way. OK, now that the lawyers are happy, let’s get something straight: COVID is still with us people. I know we don’t want it to be, but it is. According to the World Health Organization, almost 7 million humans have died from COVID as of June 4, 2023. Over 1.1 million Americans are included in that number. I am fortunate that I am not one of them.

COVID & Paxlovid

Being a Type 1 Diabetic changes your life. One of those changes is that when you get sick, it’s a bigger deal. So when I recently contracted COVID (for the first time, I might add), I immediately called my doctor. Protocol for Type 1’s is a 5-day course of the anti-viral medication, Paxlovid. I thought, OK, I’m fine with that. Like I said, I don’t want to be in that number. I jumped aboard the Paxlovid train and within 12 hours was feeling a lot better than “The Walking Dead” Bruce had described me as the day before.

After my store was closed for 5 straight days, over the busy Memorial Day Weekend,I tested negative. I went back to work (masked of course) with the 4 other amazing ladies of Consignments Ltd. who had also become infected. I was good for 3 days.

COVID Part II

Four days after finishing the Paxlovid I started to drag. I thought, “Oh man, I’ve done too much. Must be that. Sure. That’s it. Super tired.” But it wasn’t that. COVID had actually reared it’s ugly head for a second, even more nasty time. What I was experiencing, I have come to find out from my awesome medical team, was Paxlovid Rebound. According to Scientific American, “The CDC defines Paxlovid rebound as when a patient who, after receiving a full five-day course of treatment, either has a reemergence of COVID symptoms or tests positive after a previous, negative test.”

The rebound hit me hard, harder in fact than the “walking dead” of the week before. I could barely get off the couch. I slept between coughing fits. My blood sugars soared. Even days later I had to rest after taking a shower. I was winded walking up the hill with my dog, Ellie. COVID sucked the first time, but even more in part two of this saga.

The doctor said that I had to go back to isolating at home, like I did at the beginning of the first bout. And then mask again for another 5 days after returning to work. It’s hard to say if I knew about this rebound, whether I would have taken the Paxlovid. It has been shown to decrease hospitalization significantly. And it has been shown to reduce the likelihood of long COVID. ABC News reports, however, that “the real estimate of Paxlovid rebound (is) anywhere from 10 percent to as much as 30 percent of cases.” That’s a lot of people basically getting COVID twice in a matter of weeks.

Grateful Despite COVID Paxlovid Rebound

Like I said at the beginning, I am glad to be in the number of those who have survived COVID. And I am especially glad that the ladies at the store have all made good recoveries. Live and learn. Accent on the LIVE! Another thing to be grateful for.

Have a lovely day, dear friends. Marianne

For more on gratitude, check out my previous blog: My Reasons To Be Grateful.

P.S. My staff and I got sick from a well-loved, long-time customer. She came to the store even though she wasn’t feeling well. She tested positive the next morning. Do yourself and your fellow humans the courtesy of staying home when not feeling up to snuff. Or, at the very least, test before being with others. We will all benefit from this cautionary behavior. Thank you, my friends.