COVID update

[dreamshark]

Harris, the toddler that was really sick yesterday, is better today. He's still a little droopy but his fever is down to 100.4, he is asking for food and liquids, and even cooperating when his parents want to take his temperature. Leo clearly has it too, but it doesn't seem to be bothering him much. His temperature this morning was 101 (still in the "low-grade" category) and he has a little cough. 

And I tested positive this morning. I felt it coming on last night, and this morning I felt like I was definitely getting a cold. Slightly running nose, more of a cough than I usually have, slight sore throat, and a weird faintly dizzy feeling sometimes when I turn my head. The pink line on the antigen test lit up almost instantly, brighter than the comparison line. 

I immediately set my plan in motion to get Paxlovid. First step is to schedule a PCR test at Health Partners. Okay, easy enough to do that online. Except... something was wrong with the website this morning and it kept timing out with random error messages. It took me about 15 minutes of constant retrying to force my way through, but I got an appointment for 12:30 in St Louis Park. Presumably, the results will be forwarded to HP's COVID Response Team which will immediately get back to me with treatment options. I figure there is maybe a 50% chance of that actually happening? 

Have any of you successfully gotten a Paxlovid prescription, or known anyone that has? I know 3 people who did and they all say that they felt better within hours of starting it. So I hope this works. 

Comments

[pameladean]

I hope it works too! They should at least have had a fair amount of practice by now.

I'm glad Harris is less droopy, and hope Leo's case remains unbothersome. What a party you're having.

P.

[davidwilford]

Am hoping you will get a course of Paxlovid ASAP as you're certainly in the group that should get it.

[guppiecat]

I have.

Go to Target MinuteClinic. Start here: https://www.cvs.com/minuteclinic/covid-19-testing/

When making the appointment, be sure to pick "Rapid test with provider visit", because that gets you a doctor or NP. They can prescribe after their rapid test. Then, if they're in stock, you can walk over to the pharmacy, pick up the Paxlovid, and get home.

You might need to rotate through different locations to find one that's open.

Expect your mouth to taste *terrible* for the duration, but it's a good tradeoff.

[dreamshark]

Good tip. I didn't know Target even had a mini-clinic. As it happens, I did manage to get hold of my Health Partners care provider and got a prescription yesterday. And you're right - my mouth DOES taste terrible this morning. I was wondering if I got a pill caught in the corner of my jaw or something. Yuck. Ironically, all the side effects from this drug are also COVID symptoms, so it's a little hard to know what's what.

[carbonel]

I have it, too. I was okay when I left Istanbul and arrived in London. I didn't feel great at that point, but it was hot and there were long lines everywhere and I was travel-stressed. By the time I was back in the US, I was pretty sure it wasn't just jetlag, so I tested as soon as I got home.

My pink line lit up very quickly, and I had a slight fever (100.2). After a couple of ibuprofen and being in a place with air conditioning, I felt much better. I didn't sleep very well last night, but that's probably jet lag.

Today, I feel almost well (and spent the day working, in fact). My nose is dripping a bit, my throat is somewhat scratchy, and my temp is slightly elevated (99.2), but I feel as if I'm in the recovery phase of a cold. So I decided to skip Paxlovid, because the side effects sound fairly nasty. I hope I don't regret that.

(I keep sniffing a bit of chocolate just to make sure my sense of smell is still working. That's one of the nonlethal symptoms that scares me the most.)

ETA: Just took note that this was a week and a half ago for you. I hope you're completely recovered by now.

[dreamshark]

I tested negative 3 days ago, but today is the first day that I feel back to normal. Notably, this is the first day that I didn't have a severe drop in energy (or even lightheadedness) in late afternoon. Still coughing and blowing my nose, but that's a chronic condition for me.

I'm not quite clear on your timeline, but it sounds like you are doing well. I think that Day 2 or 3 is usually the worst, at least for people with mild symptoms and the most recent variant. That was the case for me, despite the fact that I was already taking Paxlovid by then. The medication did not make me feel any better, but may have kept me from feeling a lot worse. I was surprised that even with starting the antiviral on the first day, the sore throat persisted for 5 days. Other than that, and relatively minor waves of tiredness, it was indistinguishable from a cold. I never had a fever, but then I rarely do.

Amber was the sickest of us all, despite being the youngest and healthiest adult in our crowd. She's the only one that lost her sense of smell (partially). Try sniffing ground cumin for your test case - Amber could not smell that at all, despite it being the strongest smelling bottle in the spice rack.

[carbonel]

I'm not quite clear on my timeline, either. I'd had a very mild sore throat for a couple of weeks, but I attributed it to not being able to get distilled water while I was traveling (it was a 19-day trip for work, fun, and my nephew's wedding) and using bottled water instead. I'd run low on tests, but honestly I wasn't even thinking about COVID when the scratchy throat was the only symptom.

I feel fine other than the mild physical symptoms at this point. No lightheadedness or fatigue, thankfully. However, I seem to have a dry mouth most of the time, which might be a symptom. If so, it's the first one I'm having that differs from having a cold.

I'm glad you're recovering.

[dreamshark]

And I'm glad that you aren't very sick.