Paxlovid

Of course, always consult your doctor for medical advice, but be aware of the likelihood of 'rebound' Covid if you take the Covid antiviral 

Both my husband and I took Paxlovid after testing positive, and both of us got rebound cases of Covid after what felt like a fully recovery and numerous negative tests.  And while it's possible for people not taking Paxlovid to have the rebound, I suspect that it's more prevalent for those taking the antiviral. Some preliminary research is indicating  that a 5 day course of the antiviral is just not sufficient  and they might need to up it to 10 days, and it does seem to be effective in knocking out Long Covid, which is different than the rebound phenomenon. 

Anyway, Paxlovid seems to just prolong the misery, as more people who took the Paxlovid are reporting rebound cases  to health care providers. And while our  rebound cases weren't as debilitating as the initial infection  we both were testing positive, felt fatigued and had mild symptoms -  and  since we both were testing positive again needed to quarantine again. 

Our docs  told to not test using PCR lab test for 90 days but ok to use the at home antigen rapid test to know when we're negative and no longer contagious. The issue with that directive is that most people testing at home aren't reporting results which makes it much more difficult to get accurate stats on the number of Covid cases, and number of rebound cases that might be associated with the Paxlovid. 

Our docs said that everyone will get Covid, that it's unavoidable.
 

 There is evidence that the vaccines work to prevent severe illness and evidence that Paxlovid can prevent hospitalizations too. I suspect  the CDC  Will recommend adjusting  the dosage of the Paxlovid to 10 days  to prevent the rebound and to completely eliminate the virus.  It's possible  because there wasn't enough stock to make that recommendation, and  the directive  was to go with 5 days. Just basing this on the fact that there is already some research using the drug for 10 days and what our docs have told us recently. Reminds me a bit of the not so good advice about masking in the beginning of the pandemic when there was a shortage. But I'm just speculating..

The docs did warn us each about the rebound phenomenon, before it was being widely reported. Still seemed like a good idea to take the Paxlovid given our preexisting conditions, especially  since it was being promoted to  prevent serious infection/complications and shorten the duration of the infection. But in retrospect, I wish we had skipped it.