COVID-19 & Paxlovid: After Day 5

Today I took my last dose of paxlovid.

Symptoms

In theory, I have no symptoms. As in, direct temperature measurement shows no fever.

But in practice, I still have some sweats and chills that are my body telling me about a fever, measurable or no.

As Yogi Berra is alleged to have said:

In theory, theory and practice are the same. But in practice, they’re different.

Annoyingly so.

Time to test

At the risk of more theory vs practice arguments, it’s time for a COVID-19 test to see if I’ve cleared the infection or not.

• If so, I can go downstairs and take care of the Weekend Editrix, who is having some non-COVID-19 difficulties of her own.
• If not, then I have to continue to isolate. I note that Tony Fauci got himself a second course of paxlovid upon rebound/persistent infection ^[1], so maybe I wangle the same treatment out of my doc?

Experiamur! (As nobody ever says nowadays.)

After the usual uncomfortable nasal probe, resisting sneezing all over the whole mess, the RAT came out as you see above: nice strong “C” line (the test works) and no “T” line whatsoever (no detectable SARS-CoV2 virus).

That’s as clear a negative as this gets, short of a hospital-administered PCR test.

The Weekend Conclusion

In spite of some subjective symptoms, I appear to be objectively free of measurable amounts of SARS-CoV2, at least to the limit of detection of rapid antigen tests.

If I were to take a more sensitive PCR test, I bet I’d still be positive. PCR tests are just so ridiculously sensitive, they stay positive sometimes for weeks after the disease has run its course.

And, of course, I’ll test daily for the next several days before venturing out of the house, to guard against the dread paxlovid rebound.

But for now, I gather I have sufficient evidence to get the Weekend Editrix to permit me to descend the stairs to the first floor.

I hear that’s where the ‘fridge is, and I’ve lost a bit of weight. (About 8 lbs. I have no objections whatsoever to the weight loss, but serious complaints about the process that led to the loss. COVID-19, paxlovid or no, is not a weight loss diet strategy. Would not recommend.)

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Notes & References

1: A Mitropoulos, “Fauci says he’s taking 2nd course of Paxlovid after experiencing rebound with the antiviral treatment”, ABC News, 2022-Jun-29. ↩