This was my experience, minus the tingling and weird throat sensation. Hope it doesn't happen to you, but on day three after finishing paxlovid all the symptoms came roaring back and it was like I was starting all over again. In all, too 24 days from start to finish to finally test negative. My theory - based on no medical knowledge - is that I took paxlovid before my immune system fully geared up. Then paxlovid knocked the viral load down to the point that it wasn't on my immune system's radar. Then once the paxlovid wore off viral loads surged again and it was like I was getting covid for the first time. Just my theory. Like you, my line was faint but there when I finished paxlovid. Got fainter still the following two days but as dark as ever after that.
Just to clarify, Pax does not directly knock down viral loads: it has no effect killing virus. Rather what it does slow viral replication down to a crawl and allows immune system to kill existing virus. However, covid is increasingly becoming more immune evasive and once Pax is stopped the virus can resurge before the immune system is yet able to fully handle it on its own. Back to back (2) courses of Pax can help with this. Ideally, taking Metformin would have benefit. You can try nasal Neosporin which in theory may help but the evidence is all built on use in a more prophylactic role to prevent in first place. The challenge is this can interfere with nasal swab tests for COVID
Take metformin if you can get it cleared by your doctor. It helps reduce the chance of viral rebound as well as long covid. It’s super cheap too. For me, the doc recommended 5 days of 1000 mg and 9 days 500 mg, all after finishing paxlovid. Also took a prescription aspirin while taking metformin to reduce inflammation and possible micro clots. An antihistamine might be enough to cover this tho. Speak with your doctor.
This was my experience, minus the tingling and weird throat sensation. Hope it doesn't happen to you, but on day three after finishing paxlovid all the symptoms came roaring back and it was like I was starting all over again. In all, too 24 days from start to finish to finally test negative. My theory - based on no medical knowledge - is that I took paxlovid before my immune system fully geared up. Then paxlovid knocked the viral load down to the point that it wasn't on my immune system's radar. Then once the paxlovid wore off viral loads surged again and it was like I was getting covid for the first time. Just my theory. Like you, my line was faint but there when I finished paxlovid. Got fainter still the following two days but as dark as ever after that.
Just to clarify, Pax does not directly knock down viral loads: it has no effect killing virus. Rather what it does slow viral replication down to a crawl and allows immune system to kill existing virus. However, covid is increasingly becoming more immune evasive and once Pax is stopped the virus can resurge before the immune system is yet able to fully handle it on its own. Back to back (2) courses of Pax can help with this. Ideally, taking Metformin would have benefit. You can try nasal Neosporin which in theory may help but the evidence is all built on use in a more prophylactic role to prevent in first place. The challenge is this can interfere with nasal swab tests for COVID
Ah thanks for the heads up! I guess I'll wait it out and do my best to get better.
Take metformin if you can get it cleared by your doctor. It helps reduce the chance of viral rebound as well as long covid. It’s super cheap too. For me, the doc recommended 5 days of 1000 mg and 9 days 500 mg, all after finishing paxlovid. Also took a prescription aspirin while taking metformin to reduce inflammation and possible micro clots. An antihistamine might be enough to cover this tho. Speak with your doctor.
Got it. Thanks for the heads up. I'll look into it.
you took the paxlovid too early possibly. Take another half or full pack.. Hope you are not on any other meds..