[evnc]

Always enjoy Derek Lowe's writing.

n=1 here, though I've heard others say the same -- but I (fairly healthy 30s male, vaccinated) found Paxlovid massively reduced symptom intensity for me. Within a day my symptoms went from "top 5 fevers I've ever experienced, normal function significantly impaired" to "feels like a cold; can reasonably handle myself around the house and even take a software engineering interview".

I most likely would not have got a severe infection and probably would not have got Long Covid, given my age / health / vaccine status, even if I hadn't taken it; but nonetheless I'm glad I was able to get it. Definitely worth it for the weird taste (hard candy helps).

[sterlind]

How do you know that it was Paxlovid that made you better, rather than coincidentally convalescing? There's a tendency for fevers to break as the body gets the upper hand on an infection, so if you started taking Paxlovid during a high fever your body might have been nearly done mopping up.

I'm not saying Paxlovid didn't help you, just that it's tricky to distinguish from placebo without a study.

[dahdum]

It worked extremely fast for me, I took it within 16 hours of symptoms that were increasing rapidly. Within 6-8 hours I started feeling much better, instead just dealing with the Paxlovid side effects. I don’t think my body fought off Covid that fast. Anecdotal of course, but I’d take it again in a heartbeat. I did get a rebound infection the next week but I couldn’t feel it, just tested positive for a couple days.

[BugsJustFindMe]

> I took it within 16 hours of symptoms that were increasing rapidly. Within 6-8 hours I started feeling much better

So about 24 hours? I took nothing when I got COVID, and the major fever and body/head aches only lasted about that long. One day I started feeling absolutely awful, and I woke up the next day feeling substantially better but unable to smell anything but smoke for the next week.

It is possible that the paxlovid helped you, but given the few details you've shared so far it's also possible that it didn't do much that wasn't already going to happen.

[dahdum]

It was dramatic and started just a few hours after the first dose. I was worsening all morning and by mid afternoon a reversal, coinciding with the Paxlovid side effects. It wasn’t an overnight thing where rest was a factor, I was awake and bedridden. So I’m pretty convinced, enough to drop $1,500 retail if need be in the future for it.

[yumraj]

Interestingly I had the weird side effect of going from COVID fever to low body temperature by my 2nd-3rd day of Paxlovid. If I remember correctly, it was in 95F-96F range.

My doc advised to stop taking it, but after reading on Reddit that a few others had had similar experience, decided to finish the entire treatment.

[BugsJustFindMe]

What did having low body temperature feel like?

[x3sphere]

Same here. I got really sick the second time I had Covid (despite it being a more “mild” strain - Omicron I believe). Was bedridden for almost two weeks and had a rebound fever. With Paxlovid however, most of my symptoms subsided after a few days of taking it and I didn’t have a fever. This was the third time I got Covid.

Obviously I don’t know for sure how much I can attribute to the medication, but I will be taking it again if I catch Covid.

[iamben]

Both times I had COVID I went from "worst fever ever / my body feels like I've been hit my a bus" to "I have a pretty average cold" in less than 36 hours. Utterly bizarre. (Vaccinated, good health, 40s male)

Edit to clarify: I didn't take anything other than paracetamol and ibuprofen.

[freehorse]

I did not take anything special either, vaccinated, and have had more or less the same experience. I got from not being able to even sleep the night due to the pain, to feeling great the very following afternoon. Completely bizarre. None of the people I know experienced it like this, though.

This is why properly controlled trials are needed for stuff like that. It is easy to attribute the change to whatever random thing I tried at that point out of desperation.

[BugsJustFindMe]

Yeah, that's what happened to me too. I felt substantially better the next morning.

[trillic]

n=2, same, generally healthy 28yo male, basically identical anecdote.

maybe technically n=3 since I've taken it twice!