rona moved in: ilx0rs with the bug report on their progress

You're not the first person to get a rebound case after Paxlovid. Best wishes!

they don't even give out paxlovid here unless you're in a high risk group

I tested negative this morning! I still cough occasionally but that's about it. got off pretty lightly again, didn't lose taste, never had a temperature

yeah a couple of my friends got covid around the same time and they're getting over rebounds now. not super worried about it except it pushed back my surgery revision date, no surgery within 7 weeks of having covid. i'm not really stressed about it tho, it's a pretty minor revision. i'm not even testing, i just don't get out much and don't like sticking shit up my nose (no wonder i never made it during the indie sleaze days). "high risk group" is loosely enough defined that i qualify... a combination of stress eating and getting shorter means i'm now obese again.

yeah just "obese" doesn't qualify in the UK, you have to have a serious medical condition - cancer, autoimmune diseases etc

Yeah in AU you have to be over 50+ have at least 2 risk factors in those kind of categories (heart problems/cancer/diabetes/obesity/asthma) or, be First Nations. I didnt even bother asking. I was too sick to go anywhere to have gotten it anyway?

Partner only got an antiviral cos he got hospitalised with his.

Finally caught a case this weekend at an extremely bad time - traveling with my whole extended family for a funeral. No way I was affording an extended hotel stay, so managed instead to rent a car and drive 9hrs home to isolate and quarantine. Made it back just in time for fever to knock me flat on my ass, where it still has me 2 days later, despite Paxlovid. I know it’ll pass but man, it’s got me like a motherfucker. But it seems that nobody else in my family got infected, so for that I’m thankful. (Also thankful for the blessing of having enough sick time.) Had grand hopes about ticking off the remaining unwatched discs in my Criterion Bergman box, but so far all I can do is watch crappy 90s cop movies. Tried watching some Sergio Leone at first but looking at all those tired, sweaty, smelly, unhealthy, overheated dudes hit a bit too close to home.

Well hell. After almost 2 1/2 years and an escalating amount of indisputably risky behavior (or what we in Tennessee call, "getting on with our lives") it done got me. Symptoms started yesterday, allergy-like. Negative rapid test last night, but temp started rising today so I went for a PCR. Then when I got home I did another rapid test and ZOING that line sure shows up bright when it shows. Hovering around 101 degree fever right now, not feeling great Bob. Biggest bummer is our final planned trip of the year was in two days, to NYC to see the Open and A Strange Loop and eat at delicious restaurants. All canceled now. (If anyone wants good tickets to A Strange Loop this Friday, give me a shout — I'll do an ILX discount for less than StubHub will give me.)

Fortunately we just dropped the kids at their mom's yesterday, so it's just me and my wife in the house. I'm isolating upstairs, she has no symptoms and is negative at the moment. As a bonus, my work partner ALSO tested today after I reported to him, because he was feeling kind of rundown, and he's positive too. We're only a two-man operation putting out a daily subscription email, so here's hoping we don't both get completely incapacitated. (I think our readers will understand if we have to skip a day tho.)

Anyway, I had a good run. (Without COVID I mean. I don't mean that in a fatalistic way.)

Sorry to hear it, tipsy. Hugs.

Thx. Also I'm open to persuading on whether I should get paxlovid. I'm 53 and have no serious health risks. The side effects of paxlovid seem kind of crummy, but otoh better safe than sorry? Has anyone here dug into that more than my cursory reading?

Depending on the seriousness of my case should I get infected, I may forego paxlovid too.

My doc's office is closed for the day anyway, so I guess I can just see how I feel in the morning. I'll still be within the antiviral window then.

Feel better, tipsy.

sorry to hear this tipsy. get better soon. i have no opinion on paxlovid but i have said many times that tylenol is your best friend. treat it as a golden gift.

Sorry Tipsy, get well soon!

Thanks all! And One Eye Open I hope you're on the mend.

Bummer, sorry to hear about the diagnosis

I had the Delta back in November, when they were still recommending a 10 day isolation period.. I was pretty good about it, but did go out for a walk at the Port of Oakland on a Sunday afternoon, when there's nobody around

Too bad about the cancelled trip, but hopefully you'll at least partially enjoy this little break from life.. I kinda did (somewhat)

tipsy, if your wife is looking after you make sure youre both masked up every single time you go near each other. I didnt with my othr half (I masked, he didnt) and eventually I caught it. Though whos to say if it was in the window before we knew he had it too I suppose...

Yep, we’re both masking any time she brings me food or drink, or when I have to enter the rest of the house. But she was definitely heavily exposed, since I already had some symptoms the last night we shared a bed. Fingers crossed! We have friends and family who have offered to help if we both end up sick.

Aaaand now my wife has a fever too. No positive test yet, but I imagine it will come tomorrow. Fun. At least we’ll be able to stop wearing masks in the house I guess.

Ugh, good luck, my friend.

Yeah its harder with no one to schlep for you :( my sympathies.

tips! how are you?

I don't even know what Paxlovid is.

I was looking for this thread the other day but couldn't find it for the life of me so I posted in the Outbreak! thread instead. My dose is still no worse than a nasty cold, not much fever, the sore throat has abated (thank God), still coughing quite a bit though and it's generally unpleasant but not horribly so.

One fairly comic incident. When you're off sick where I work you're supposed to phone in and leave a message on an answering machine. So I had a bit of a rough night on Tuesday with coughing fits and when I woke up in the morning and tried to leave a message to say I'd definitely tested positive for the rona all that came out was this croak like a cross between Dalek and coffin lid being opened. Still at least they'll know I'm not faking it!

Get well.

Seconded.

hang in there you auld bawbag

I did all the right things (social distance, mask, vax, boost, latherrinserepeat) and none of the wrong things (attend indoor megachurch services, etc). And for two and a half years, it worked!

And then, five days before I am to get on a plane for a long-anticipated trip to Iran, it fucking happens.

Need I mention how challenging it was for an American to get a visa for Iran?

So now I am sick as a dog and not going on a dream vacation, which was particularly for me after the summer where I HAD FUCKING CANCER AND MY BREASTS WERE CUT OFF and also MY BELOVED CAT DIED, FROM CANCER.

Fuck u COVID.

Also: Paxlovid mouth is real. All I can taste is burnt grapefruit pith sauced with tin.

aw quincie :( i'm so sorry

Thanks Neander. I'm being indulgent with the the First World Problem self-pity, but jesus christ what bad luck.

And of course I am out of sick leave because, well, this summer's CANCER.

Get well soon Tom and Quincie

Aw jeez quincie, so sorry. That makes my canceled NYC trip seem paltry by comparison. I hope you recover quickly and can reschedule that trip, sounds amazing.

I'm basically recovered I guess, it's always a little hard to say when you're actually over something. I don't have any lingering symptoms, but I feel kind of fragile — like anything strenuous would wear me out fast. My wife has had essentially the same experience as me, at this point we're just both working from home and chilling out as much as possible, waiting to feel like actually doing anything. Which we won't do anyway until we have negative tests, of course. She was still showing strongly positive yesterday, and I had a very faint positive line — mine may just be picking up dead virus at this point, but I don't want to go wandering around and inadvertently expose anyone. We'll test again tomorrow and see where we're at.

Overall I'd just classify the experience as "being sick." A few days of fever, several days of feeling pretty bad and rundown, several days of steady improvement. If I had to estimate I'd say I'm at about 85-90 percent right now — but that last 10 percent is the difference in, you know, feeling like vigorous exercise or whatever.

Not something I'd be in a hurry to repeat. Definitely as I've gotten older I just resent the hell out of being sick with anything, it's not like I have an infinite number of weeks left on the planet and the fewer of them I spend feeling lousy the better. And of course I've been reading about all the heightened risk factors for people who have had it — gray matter shrinkage, increased risk of heart disease and stroke etc — which seem bad but there's nothing much one can do about it.

Best wishes to all currently suffering!

dear universe, please stop shitting on quincie asap

<3

I am feeling better today, which makes it easier to not be so sad. Spouse and I are starting to laugh about it. And the bright side is that it won’t be so fucking hot in Iran if we successfully get visas for November!

Also I basically just had the best booster ever so DONE WITH YOU covid for ever and ever or at least this particular go-round

Feels like little more than a mild cold now but I'm still testing postive. Another week off work then.

quincie, so sorry your trip got ruined. Hope your case is mild and you get an even better trip this fall.

(xp) Apparently not. Government advice is, after 10 days, even if you're still testing postive - and provided you're not very ill - it's fine to go back to work.

testing positive is not an indicator of contagiousness iirc

So I believe.

Or so Her His Majesty's Government tells me.

Having both officially had it in January, it looks almost certain that we had it again about 6-8 weeks ago, despite testing negative. As mild as it was, we're both still experiencing pronounced and prolonged fatigue. In my case, this actually got worse last week; I couldn't complete a shift at the pub, and I've since resigned completely. I now spend 1.5 to 2 hours in bed every afternoon. The brain fog is generally very mild, but working at the pub most definitely brought it out. I'm still DJ-ing, and I'm absolutely fine during the sets when the adrenalin kicks in, but there's a price to pay the following day. I've been told numerous times to "listen to your body", which is good advice, as the body can sometimes contradict the brain, and the brain is not always to be trusted. Having shielded my sister for 10 months during the pandemic, who has ME/CFS, the parallels are very clear, and the knowledge gained then has proved useful. So, this is long COVID then. I'm just leaning into it and not stressing about it, as that would be pointless.

Feel better, everyone!

I think the "listen to your body" thing is real (and logical). The few folks I know who had more than just mild cold symptoms made the mistake of going out and goofing around the first day after five they tested negative, and they seem to have struggled more with after effects. That's not exactly hard data, though, since most people I know who caught covid had lingering fatigue. It's rough on you, even at its most mild, and certainly disruptive. That's why I've always been a flu shot proselytizer. I can't remember the last time I had the flu, and no one in my family has had it in recent memory, either. But those who do catch the flu are suddenly reminded of how much it sucks, and how much it just sticks around. People I know that never used to get the flu vax and eventually caught the flu are some of the loudest pro-vax people I know.

Sorry you’ve been saddled with this, Mike t-d

yeah Mikle t-d sorry to hear that, hang in there.

coming up for air now after getting absolutely wrecked by this. line on the tests didnt start fading until 2 weeks in, didnt test negative until nearly 3. paxlovid seemed to keep the fever down after the first couple days, but was just hammered by severe fatigue & joint pain until about day 10, was all i could do to shuffle to the kitchen a couple times a day and then get back into bed. after that it turned into a more familiar flu type thing which gradually let up over the following week. symptoms are mostly gone now except for brain fog, feel like my brain is only working at abt 80% capacity, short term memory is rough and noticing blank spaces in my vocabulary, trouble pulling words out in conversation. which is a bit alarming but hoping i'll see it gradually fade. not the brightest bulb to begin with so i need every scrap of grey matter i can muster.

mom and best friend both hit at the same time (total coincidence, though mom is in tennessee in the middle of a bubble and best friend got it at burning man). Both are doing fine after an initial flu like period of a week and a half but still testing positive.

A close friend caught it at Burning Man too. A mild case, he says: runny nose and on the first day a sore throat.

yeah that was her experience too.