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You're a very thoughtful guy, John.
I tested positive for COVID on Wednesday.
I started Paxlovid this morning. Got my Evansville doctor to call it in to a local CVS.
Just mild symptoms so far...........the last 2 days.
Headache, low fever, sore throat, congestion/cough, super sensitive skin.
I would be interested in also taking Ivermectin as an anti viral to help a bit but didn't bring that with me.
I did pack all my supplements and have boosted them.
I take prednisone for Ehlers Danlos syndrome and osteoarthritis and it suppresses the immune system, which elevates the risk.
However, I almost never get sick because of a powerful immune system and good exercise/diet and feel confident that this will just be a mild bout of COVID.
I have had symptoms twice and no lasting problems
Hoarse voice is the worst I had
Tested positive once, did not test the second time.
Warned people about my symptoms and nobody cared that I remember
I did isolate and warned visitors
It seems the CDC relaxed some of it's recommendations about isolation etc. They say that covid should no longer affect our normal life style
They do recommend wearing a high quality mask and testing
However, this excessive fear about covid seems to be in the past
Different people will take different measures of safety, but I for one think covid is nothing to worry about
I would worry more about drunk drivers or pedestrian crossing, bike riders, pedestrians with their head buried in there cell phone etc than covid There are more high risk things than covid in today's world but if it makes a person feel good, to do all sorts of stuff that is possibly doing no good, why worry about those who worry. A state of mind can make you sick, so lots of things, in large quantities for different people, if it makes you feel better
I did nothing and survived. I am in the high risk
Thanks Wayne,
"I would worry more about drunk drivers or pedestrian crossing, bike riders, pedestrians with their head buried in there cell phone etc than covid There are more high risk things than covid in today's world but if it makes a person feel good, to do all sorts of stuff that is possibly doing no good, why worry about those who worry. A state of mind can make you sick, so lots of things, in large quantities for different people, if it makes you feel better
I did nothing and survived. I am in the high risk"
I'm very glad that you fared so well with COVID, especially having your bad diabetes and being high risk.
Families of the 1 million+ people that were killed by COVID the last 2+ years will strongly disagree with those statements...........as will people following science, medicine and data.
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Let's see what the facts/evidence shows:
Since March 1, 2020 there have been 1.04 million cumulative deaths from COVID in the United States.
https://ourworldindata.org/covid-deaths
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https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/drunk-driving
About 30% of all traffic crash fatalities in the United States involve drunk drivers (with BACs of .08 g/dL or higher). In 2020, there were 11,654 people killed in these preventable crashes. In fact, on average over the 10-year period from 2011-2020, about 10,500 people died every year in drunk-driving crashes.
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metmike: So for a 2.5 year period, that would mean 2.5 X 10,500 = 26,250 people killed from drunk-driving crashes.
During that same period, 1.04 million people were killed by COVID. This is the same number as 1,040,000 people killed by COVID. Divide that by drunk driving deaths of 26,250 during the same period and we get a rate of 39.6 times more COVID deaths than drunk driving deaths. Basically 40 times more COVID deaths.
The drunk driving deaths are still significant but to avoid them, we basically have 2 choices.
1. Don't drink ourselves, which we can control or
2. Don't get into a car............which would be silly.
So we can't control all the drunk drivers out there and take that chance anytime we're in a car.
What about COVID?
We can Greatly control our risks of severe sickness or death (if we want to) if we're high risk by doing some of these things.
1.etting vaccinated. This does not stop us from being infected but it does teach our immune systems to immediately recognize COVID and gush out a powerful attack on it with COVID antibodies quickly.
2. Wear an N95 mask in crowded places. The 95 is for these masks filtering out 95% of the virus particles the size of COVID.
3. If infected, have a doctor prescribe Paxlovid. Paxlovid is 2 meds combined. 1 stops the COVID from replicating. Normally a virus can progenate 700 new copies of itself in 7 hours. This means that after 14 hours we get 700 X 700 = 490,000 viral units. After 21 hours, that means 490,000 X700 = 343,000,000 million. The numbers become enormous in just a few days, jumping to the billions next, then trillions, zillions and so on after each 7 hour period.
The 2nd drug blocks an enzyme in the liver that metabolizes the 1st one (causes the 1st one to last much longer).
Paxlovid is a miracle drug!
4. There are other supplements/treatments that can help to support your body and help it to fight off COVID.
Ivermectin/COVID treatments https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/80692/
5. Most people that get COVID, even most old people with compromised immune systems and/or pre existing conditions(like you Wayne) don't die when they get COVID.
However, NOT doing anything and living thru COVID, doesn't mean other people should also NOT do anything and just hope they get lucky, like you did because there are many things that a person can do to greatly increase the likelyhood of NOT getting severe sickness or dying from COVID. You are right on about excessive worrying. This is counterproductive. Having a positive attitude, however contributes to a beneficial/healthy mind/body connection.
Hoping your symptoms stay mild!
Thanks Larry!
Looks like the COVID is getting close to running it's course. Mainly just a wicked sore throat since Friday that's been diminishing.
The Paxlovid on Friday morning caused my kidneys to shut down urine production for the first 4 hours of the day, so I cut back to a half dose on Saturday and am thru taking it.
There are 10 doses in the prescription. 2/day X 5 days and I took a total of 4 doses. I've been taking a huge amount of NSAIDS the past 35 years(double the FDA limit for a couple of decades) which are very hard on the kidneys and my kidneys do have some damage, so I only took as much as I thought needed to put the final nails in the COVID coffin.
Since your brother had a kidney transplant, Larry I'm sure that you will relate to all this. He could never get Paxlovid because of this too but the infusions are almost as good.
Related to this and sort of good news. I have other issues, including adrenal gland insufficiency for which I've taken prednisone every day since 1994 that has saved my life and helped my kidneys.
I try to get by with the least amount of prednisone needed because of side effects/potential damage. But this means symptoms that are not completely resolved. One of them is LOW blood pressure that includes getting very dizzy if I'm too low. Before going to Detroit, I had a bad episode of that with BP readings of 90/58....boosted the prednisone and felt great.
However, LOW blood pressure is your kidneys best friend! With high blood pressure, I would have obliterated my kidneys by now.
I drove back to Detroit a day earlier than expected, on Friday. The main reason to stay the last 2 days was to get some work down around my Dad's house.
The worst news of all is that I gave my Dad COVID. He got an infusion yesterday and is doing ok.
I got COVID at a K-12 reunion mass at the church I attended growing up because the school is going to be demolished.
There were over 500 people there. Since I shot video, I went back to count that 11 were wearing masks. Their Facebook page has reported numerous people at the mass have come down with COVID. Incredible that 2 days later, I was already having some early symptoms and 3 days later, pretty sick.
The last visit to my Dad was 2 days after the mass, so that day, I clearly gave him COVID.
When I tested positive with a home test on the 3rd day after exposure, I called the assisted living facility to let them know. When I'm there (American House) I love interacting with and entertaining the other residents. I asked AH to call me if anybody else has symptoms so that I could confirm whether I interacted with that person the day that I was contagious. They never called.
However, my sister living in Detroit says that they are trying to cover it up instead of telling people. She told them that my Dad had COVID yesterday morning and they were not telling anybody and nobody was wearing the almost worthless cloth masks but I think the staff is.
https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20211229/cloth-masks-vs-surgical-n95-what-to-know
I hope your dad's COVID stays mild and am glad you've done ok.