I did not realize it was C until it was too late for treatment. It felt like a bad cold and the symptoms did not match what I saw online. It's only when I complained about being unusually exhausted for a cold that a friend encouraged me to test. So no Pax for me and it was fine. I would hesitate to take Paxlovid due to the rebound possibility.

I had Paxlovid. My only complaint was the metallic taste it left in my mouth and a very diminished sense of taste while I was taking it. No rebound.

I took Paxlovid. I felt much better within 12 hours of the first dose. No rebound.

The awful thing it did to my taste buds was my only complaint.

Judi and Maddie, are your taste buds okay now?

Super light case last fall, almost no symptoms, no paxlovid

Bunny, yes normal taste returned as soon as I stopped the Paxlovid or within a day after.

We took Molnupiravir.

Due to my meds, i can not take paxlovid so got Molnupiravir instead. I had no rebound at all.

My DH and sister both had bad cases of Covid. Paxlovid was a miracle drug for them, and neither had rebound. My friend had a bad case, took paxlovid, and had rebound. I had a super light case of Covid, and no need of paxlovid.

@Bunny, no lasting loss of taste.

Our son just tested positive after returning from a cruise last week. He tested negative the first 3 days of feeling bad. Woke up this morning very sick, went to the doctor who had no tests kits!?? DH delivered one of kits. Positive. Call in to hopefully get started on Paxlovid tonight.

I decided to get it. I'm not very sick (day 3) but I'm in the old age risk group so figured it would be better to take it now rather than get very sick later and have regrets. As far as I know I've never had c-virus before. The two superspreader events I attended last week may have had something to do with it. Now staying away from DH and hoping he doesn't get it - so far so good. We were scheduled to have our jabs on Wednesday. He can still get his as long as he's not sick and doesn't test positive. I'm supposed to wait 3 months according to CVS pharmacist.

DH and I are just getting over Covid. Maybe I should say coming out of 5 days of feeling horrible. It came on quick, hit hard and our fevers finally broke Saturday night. I took nothing. DH took one Tylenol. That's it. Right now we are weak. Had no appetite at all for 5 days with all the Covid symptoms. There was nothing mild about it. But no Paxlovid. Oh and no taste right now at all. Probably smell too.

arapaho - glad you are on the mend. I don’t feel horrible and never had a fever but I also have no appetite. Pretty much just coughing and tired though the fatigue doesn’t seem as bad today. I slept really well the last two nights which is never the case so I know I’m sick.

DH got sick over the weekend last January. Tested Monday prior to a MD appt and was postive. Had virtual appt and got Paxlovid. It was Wednesday before I was positive but still feeling fairly good. Call same MD office, had virtual call and I started Paxlovid also as I am high risk. I do not recall any side effects and I had minimal symptoms from Covid also.

I posted a comment that no longer appears here. DH and I both got C19, were both treated with Paxlovid and I got revound covid.

However, the most recent European research does not find a statistically significant difference in rebound covid between those treated with Paxlovid and those who were not. People in a high risk group due to age, co-mobidities or any other factors are advised to take Paxlovid if their physician recommends it.

I hope you get well soon! And the others who have it now. It keeps making the rounds. I've not taken paxlovid for the cases of C I've had, but the last bout from almost a year ago did result in what seems to be long covid for me, but not the other family members.

I’m sorry you’re ill. No experience with taking anything. My experience was back in the spring with a very mild case right after DH tested positive, He just thought he had a bad cold, so thoughts of taking Paxlovid never crossed our minds. Our PCP said he didn’t really recommend them at the time anyway.

I took Paxlovid and it was a game changer for me. No rebound.

DH and I took it for Covid and recovered quickly. Yes, we had the bad taste for a while.

Yes, I've taken it. Feel better soon!

I belileve you have to get Paxlovid within 72 hours of first symptoms. We recently went through an outbreak after the LA trip. Our DIL got sick first a couple days after they returned, then DS a couple days afetr that. DH was next and apparently the MIL and SIL also got sick in LA. DH went from apparentl allergy symptoms to clearly something more on Friday evening (of course) so he wasn't able to hear from his doctor until Monday. Doctor said if his symptoms were mild, there was no reason to use Paxlovid -- which can cause some problems itself. It's really dependent on the severity of symptoms early on and your risk factors. Hope you remain with mild symptoms and don't need it.

These newer Covid strains are not producing extreme illness in most people, especially if they have been vaccinated. Vaccination is still the key defense. I saw a panel of experts talking about flu and covid vaccine recs for this fall. They all said get the covid vaccine as soon as it is available to you and the flu vaccine by sometime in October.

If I get C again, I am getting Paxlovid.

@Kswl - that's what I've heard too - that rebound can occur with or without Paxlovid. Are you feeling back to normal now?

I am feeling better but still exhausted a lot of the time, thank you for asking. 🙂

Neither my husband or I have had Covid (I probably just jinxed us!). We got the new vaccine today. As of now, my feeling is that I do not want to take Paxlovid. When Covid first came around and the breathing issues were more of a problem, I might have done so. The current variant we are seeing in our area is somewhat mild. Lately, I have known quite a few people who have had it. Most are saying cold symptoms, sinus, and of course fatigue. I would rather deal with that than the chance of covid rebound. I've not looked up the possible side effects of Paxlovid. I mentioned in another thread that my MIL had Covid sometime last year and she was congested, some coughing, not alot and her dr. recomended she "tough it out" vs taking Paxlovid. She did give her medication for cough. My MIL is 86 years old and did fine. Unless something changes, that is my plan, no Paxlovid.

Well, 24 hours on the Paxlovid and I'm feeling considerably better. Today is day four from start of symptoms - maybe I would have felt better anyway - who knows. Hacking cough is subsiding somewhat and I feel like doing something other than laying around and sleeping. Did a couple loads of laundry tonight. DH quickly assessed that I must be feeling better. He is still feeling fine and getting his booster tomorrow. Just found out my 74 year old neighbor also has it. He isn't in the greatest health and i hope he comes out of it okay. It's definitely in the air - lots of people getting sick again.

I had to do a virtual urgent care visit to get the script for Paxlovid. I thought I could just send a mychart message to my doctor but nothing doing on that. I called and someone told me I had to GO TO urgent care but I figured out how to do virtual - waiting in queue 30 mins and then had a 10 minute review of my meds and previous lab results with an NP. Apparently if I hadn't had a recent creatinine I would have had to have that tested. I was surprised how many meds you cannot take with Paxlovid - have to drop a couple for 8 days. The virtual thing was interesting - very efficient.

I have Covid right now. Very mild symptoms -- like allergies. I had chills on Monday and took a test just to see and it was positive. I wouldn't know I have Covid otherwise.

I've had friends that took Paxlovid and rebounded so I didn't even look into it and I haven't been sick enough anyway.

Kswl and others — I’m glad you’re feeling better.

Do any of you know if you contracted the newest version of Covid?

Please let me know how you can tell that you have gotten a rebound. Do you suddenly feel more intensely symptomatic? Or as though you have gone backwards in type and the clock reset? That sounds discouraging.

I already struggle with fatigue and it I go into public places, wear an N95. DH wears an N95 when out and about (shopping, errands, bank, and so on. Neither of us have gotten Covid, but we don’t have need or occasion to mingle much.

We should probably get the new covid vaxine along with the flu shot and RSV vaccination.

3katz4me and kirchenwitch, I’m gald to hear your feeling better and doing well.

@petalique - no way to tell what variant I have. My understanding of rebound is you feel "well" and then you don't. I feel great today - pretty much back to normal - hopefully it will stay that way. I readily admit I don't wear a mask and go about my life as normal including attending two superspreader events the week before I got sick. I decided I never wore a mask or took precautions to avoid a cold or the flu so I'm not going to do so to avoid Covid as long as it continues to be relatively mild in the majority of cases. I'll get all the vaccinations and whatever treatment is available to reduce the risk of serious illness/death . So far I'm happy I got Paxlovid - no side effects other than the metallic taste which is fleeting shortly after you take the medication - at least that is the case for me. Presumably it has helped limit the worst coughing and fatigue to two days.

Thanks 3katz.

Kswl — I hope the fatigue leaves you soon.

My rebound experience was similar to 3katz; I was feeling better and by day 9 or so my “positive test line” was extremely faint- if I hadn’t had Covid I might have read it as negative. Then my symptoms returned, but much milder, and the next test was strongly positive/ read darker. After about three days I felt better, though still fatigued easily. I continued to test positive for 23 days.
Now I’m a month out from my first positive test and have regained my energy. I’d definitely choose to take Paxlovid again if it helps me to avoid Long Covid; research indicates it may. Having the rebound was a drag, but preferable to Long Covid or a longer course of feeling terrible, IMO. I’m sure by the next time I get Covid, more research will have been completed and more information will be available.

Sympathy sent to all who are sick! DH and I just attended a Final Affairs class put on by our County's Aging and Disability Resource Center. There were about 20 oldy folkies and another dozen a bit younger. None of us wore masks. It didn't even occur to me.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/20/us-will-again-offer-free-at-home-covid-tests-starting-monday.html

Beginning September 25, every U.S. household can again place an order to receive four more free COVID-19 rapid tests delivered directly to their home.

https://www.covid.gov/tests

Before You Throw Out "Expired" Tests: Check to see if your COVID-19 tests' expiration dates have been extended.

A friend mentioned the additional taxpayer funded Covid tests (no such thing as free). It made me wonder how many millions of $ were spent on tests people got because they were "free" and then they expired and were wasted. I know I had a few that expIred (even with the extension) and were thrown away. I did have a couple left that I used this time around though which was convenient as I wasn't looking forward to going to the store to buy one.

Petalique, I am feeling much, much better, thank you. Today I worked in my flower bed, trimming and weeding, for about two hours before the gardener came to trim all our hedges and weed the hill behind us. I took a rest after that but was still able to go to sip and seek at our church tonight to hear all about the experiences of our parishioners who went to South Africa last month. It was just from 6 to 8 pm but by the end I was very tired. Came home and took the dogs on a final walk and then literally crawled into bed. I am so grateful to be well again!

Kitchenwitch, hope youre feeling better! Kswl, you too.

My case of Covid was mild thanks to previous vaccinations. Never needed paxlovidClovis.

I remember about a year or so ago the state of California health department said that so long as the control line shows up on a test it is still good, even if it has "expired."

Do any of your follow epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina?

She has a handy dandy chart.