Covid Bounce for Me, Negative Test for Hawk
After I came down with a mild case of Covid-19 about 10 days ago I was on the mend by Wednesday last week. Symptoms were getting milder day by day. By Friday afternoon and Saturday morning I thought I was over it. But then yesterday afternoon/evening a few symptoms came back. Since then I've had occasional nasal congestion and a persistent though infrequent cough again. I took a followup Covid test this morning, and it was positive.
Hawk, meanwhile, has had a better go of it. She got the virus later but is getting over it sooner. We both took followup tests this morning. Hers was negative while mine was positive. Her symptoms have basically cleared while mine disappeared but then bounced back up last night and today. What's the difference? Hawk went on Paxlovid for her symptoms while I didn't.
Why didn't I get on Paxlovid? Well, first I didn't know I had Covid until day 4-5 of symptoms. I took a test on Day 1 of symptoms, and it was negative. Three/four days later Hawk had symptoms and took a test. Hers was positive. So I tested again last Wednesday. That second test was positive. But I'd already been treating my illness like a cold for 4-5 days based on the earlier negative test. (It was a false negative.) The guidance on Paxlovid says to start it within 5 days of symptoms. I figured (a) since I was at the end of that window it wouldn't help as much. Plus (b) Hawk had a very bad experience with side effects when she used Paxlovid over a year ago. And (c) I had mild symptoms, on the level of a common cold, and was improving. I felt the risk of (b) given the minimal expected value due to (a) and (c) made it not worth going on Paxlovid.
Anyway, Hawk is now on Day 5-6 of symptoms and, thanks to Paxlovid, she's pretty much over it. She tested again this morning, on her Day 6, and came up negative. Meanwhile my symptoms dropped and bounced back up, and my test this morning- on my Day 10- was positive.
Hawk, meanwhile, has had a better go of it. She got the virus later but is getting over it sooner. We both took followup tests this morning. Hers was negative while mine was positive. Her symptoms have basically cleared while mine disappeared but then bounced back up last night and today. What's the difference? Hawk went on Paxlovid for her symptoms while I didn't.
Why didn't I get on Paxlovid? Well, first I didn't know I had Covid until day 4-5 of symptoms. I took a test on Day 1 of symptoms, and it was negative. Three/four days later Hawk had symptoms and took a test. Hers was positive. So I tested again last Wednesday. That second test was positive. But I'd already been treating my illness like a cold for 4-5 days based on the earlier negative test. (It was a false negative.) The guidance on Paxlovid says to start it within 5 days of symptoms. I figured (a) since I was at the end of that window it wouldn't help as much. Plus (b) Hawk had a very bad experience with side effects when she used Paxlovid over a year ago. And (c) I had mild symptoms, on the level of a common cold, and was improving. I felt the risk of (b) given the minimal expected value due to (a) and (c) made it not worth going on Paxlovid.
Anyway, Hawk is now on Day 5-6 of symptoms and, thanks to Paxlovid, she's pretty much over it. She tested again this morning, on her Day 6, and came up negative. Meanwhile my symptoms dropped and bounced back up, and my test this morning- on my Day 10- was positive.