Covid on a not-recent vaccination
November 25, 2023 10:39 AM Subscribe
If you've gotten Covid recently and haven't been vaccinated since last fall (but had otherwise followed all recommended Covid series + boosters), how did it go for you?
Oh the other thing: I had a borderline case in 2022 where I never tested positive on a home test and got an inconclusive PCR result. Which made me foolishly think I was essentially immune. Well, this time that line on my home test was bright, screaming, Barbie pink, and it was IMMEDIATE.
posted by lunasol at 10:50 AM on November 25, 2023
posted by lunasol at 10:50 AM on November 25, 2023
I got Covid (for the first time, and thanks to a coworker who brought it back from a Vegas vacation and came to an in-person event despite not feeling well) over the summer, and had last been vaccinated last fall.
I had high fever, intense fatigue, chest congestion, and after a.few days, the worst coughing I've maybe ever experienced. I'm 60 and have high bp, so was prescribed Paxlovid, which I'm told may have kept me out of the hospital. I also had a rebound case 4-5 days after it felt like I was getting over it, which was not as severe but still sucked. My poor partner had a similar case trailing me by several days.
You may not be surprised that I got the new Moderna spikevax this fall as soon as it was available. And that I have a least favorite co-worker.
posted by aught at 10:54 AM on November 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
I had high fever, intense fatigue, chest congestion, and after a.few days, the worst coughing I've maybe ever experienced. I'm 60 and have high bp, so was prescribed Paxlovid, which I'm told may have kept me out of the hospital. I also had a rebound case 4-5 days after it felt like I was getting over it, which was not as severe but still sucked. My poor partner had a similar case trailing me by several days.
You may not be surprised that I got the new Moderna spikevax this fall as soon as it was available. And that I have a least favorite co-worker.
posted by aught at 10:54 AM on November 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
That's me... I'm 75 and a caretaker for brother with ALS...At first a sore throat...really sore...no cough at first. Then lots of flemgh in lungs...Went to clinic that sees walk-ins...Doc said I need to be on hospital. I explained I need to be at home as caretaker...He begrudgingly said ok...Then he called in a favor and got me portable oxygen tanks to take home...helped keep my oxy levels up. I believe I had long COVID. I was sick for 2 and a half weeks...really sick. Vertigo, huge loss of appetite, all food and drink tasted super sweet. ..horribly sweet. I lost 13 pounds in that time...I had to force myself to eat...Ginger ale and saltines and popsicles got me thru... I am fine now..Appetite back.
posted by Czjewel at 11:03 AM on November 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Czjewel at 11:03 AM on November 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
I got the 2022 updated booster in October 2022, then caught COVID this July. I never had it sequenced, but based on the data I've seen about what was circulating at the time, it was very likely one of the recent XBB variants. I'm mid-30s and otherwise healthy. I did not take Paxlovid. I had a prior case in December 2020, most likely the original variant, before the vaccines were available; since then, I had the standard 2-dose sequence and one non-updated booster before the 2022 bivalent shot.
For me, it felt very much like a weaker version of the symptoms I had when I got the original flavor. That means: a lot of nasal congestion; fever; fatigue; cough. The big differences were that the fever never got as high as it did the first time, and everything resolved much faster. Pre-vaccine, the primary symptoms resolved in about 2 weeks (fever lasted about 5 days), with a cough that lingered a couple weeks longer, and loss of sense of smell that gradually recovered over about 2 months. This time, all symptoms were gone in about 4 days and I was testing negative by day 5. I had a brief (12 hours?) hit to my sense of smell.
The first was the sickest I'd been in years; the second was a mild inconvenience worthy of just one day off work. (I work remotely; if I worked in person I would have stayed home until I was confident that I was no longer contagious, of course.)
posted by egregious theorem at 11:34 AM on November 25, 2023
For me, it felt very much like a weaker version of the symptoms I had when I got the original flavor. That means: a lot of nasal congestion; fever; fatigue; cough. The big differences were that the fever never got as high as it did the first time, and everything resolved much faster. Pre-vaccine, the primary symptoms resolved in about 2 weeks (fever lasted about 5 days), with a cough that lingered a couple weeks longer, and loss of sense of smell that gradually recovered over about 2 months. This time, all symptoms were gone in about 4 days and I was testing negative by day 5. I had a brief (12 hours?) hit to my sense of smell.
The first was the sickest I'd been in years; the second was a mild inconvenience worthy of just one day off work. (I work remotely; if I worked in person I would have stayed home until I was confident that I was no longer contagious, of course.)
posted by egregious theorem at 11:34 AM on November 25, 2023
I had my last booster in October 2022 and recently had COVID for the second time. It was milder this time and I got over it (including testing negative) much much more quickly.
posted by cakelite at 11:46 AM on November 25, 2023
posted by cakelite at 11:46 AM on November 25, 2023
My partner had a bit of a cough but mostly just (“just”) extreme crushing fatigue and brain fog. No paxlovid or similar. She tested positive for close to ten days. (We live separately and we were waiting for her to be negative before spending time together inside again.)
posted by needs more cowbell at 11:55 AM on November 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by needs more cowbell at 11:55 AM on November 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
A loved one had covid about six weeks ago. The initial symptoms weren’t bad but she decided too quickly that she was recovered and fine to travel a couple of weeks later, pushed herself too hard, and spent a bit of time hospitalized in another country after a collapse caused by exhaustion and dehydration. Wasn’t great. But at this point she’s feeling more or less fine.
posted by Stacey at 12:14 PM on November 25, 2023
posted by Stacey at 12:14 PM on November 25, 2023
My other half was vaxxed to the gills except for this fall’s shot (she caught it a week before her appointment for the newest jab). It laid her up for two weeks: basically didn’t get out of bed for a full week, then made slow progress back to normal activity levels. She had congestion and coughing, but fatigue was the most pervasive symptom. She’s otherwise a healthy average human with no other maladies that would be made worse, or make covid worse.
posted by furnace.heart at 1:13 PM on November 25, 2023
posted by furnace.heart at 1:13 PM on November 25, 2023
Agues, aches and pains, severe headache for 3 days, exhaustion, no temperature, lots of dizziness.
last booster was the omnicron one, 57, smoker, thought it would be worse; the test, btw, lit up before the fluid even got to the control stripe.
Ran the 11 day recommended before going back into the world.
posted by Max Power at 1:21 PM on November 25, 2023
last booster was the omnicron one, 57, smoker, thought it would be worse; the test, btw, lit up before the fluid even got to the control stripe.
Ran the 11 day recommended before going back into the world.
posted by Max Power at 1:21 PM on November 25, 2023
Yep. Started feeling bad on a Sunday, oddly felt fine Monday morning, but really started going downhill Monday night, and felt horrible on Tuesday. Negative tests til Wednesday morning.
Ibuprofen wasn’t touching the fever or aches, I asked my doctor if I could take the NSAID he prescribed me for gout, indomethacin. Got the thumbs up, fever broke in an hour and never came back. I felt fine by Wednesday, and was traveling (N95’d, of course) by Saturday.
Ends up indomethacin was identified during SARS 1 as being potentially anti-viral towards a broad spectrum of coronaviruses. Good enough for me.
posted by Huggiesbear at 2:28 PM on November 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
Ibuprofen wasn’t touching the fever or aches, I asked my doctor if I could take the NSAID he prescribed me for gout, indomethacin. Got the thumbs up, fever broke in an hour and never came back. I felt fine by Wednesday, and was traveling (N95’d, of course) by Saturday.
Ends up indomethacin was identified during SARS 1 as being potentially anti-viral towards a broad spectrum of coronaviruses. Good enough for me.
posted by Huggiesbear at 2:28 PM on November 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
I had my first bout of Covid last December, then another round at the end of October. Fully vaccinated and got the bivalent booster a bit over a year ago. This second round wasn't much different than the first. No fever. Some cough. Sneezing and stuffiness. Sense of taste/smell came and went, sometimes within a single meal. More like an allergy attack than a flu. Felt definitely under the weather for 1.5 - 2 days, then steady and pretty rapid improvement. Was champing at the bit to get out somewhere - anywhere! - by the time the quarantine ended.
posted by DrGail at 3:11 PM on November 25, 2023
posted by DrGail at 3:11 PM on November 25, 2023
A bunch of work colleagues have re-caught it over the last three or four months, presumably the new flavor that is going around. All have had at least the initial two-part vaccination plus first booster (those were required by our work; vaccinations past that point are up to each person). From talking to people, it has ranged from as mild as a very slight cold, up to more or less a flu-like severity. No one has felt the need to take more than a few days off of work. Broadly speaking, it seems to be presenting pretty moderately, though obviously every case is unique.
posted by Dip Flash at 3:21 PM on November 25, 2023
posted by Dip Flash at 3:21 PM on November 25, 2023
I got it in September. Flattened me for a solid week. My lungs just started feeling normal-ish last week, and I feel generally unwell still. Like a constant low-level cold. I stupidly turned down paxlovid, so maybe that would have helped a bit.
posted by nixxon at 3:48 PM on November 25, 2023
posted by nixxon at 3:48 PM on November 25, 2023
I got covid (for the first time) on Halloween, right after getting my booster so it didn't have time to take effect. It was mild for me - just very tired, some chills, a weird feeling in my sinuses, some coughing that badly disturbed my sleep one night but otherwise minor, and I lost 95% of my smell, which started returning after about 2 weeks. I also was noticeably more easily winded from stairs or even walking for about 2 weeks. Felt weirdly different, but less annoying symptom-wise than the colds I've had recently. No lingering effects as far as I can tell.
posted by randomnity at 3:49 PM on November 25, 2023
posted by randomnity at 3:49 PM on November 25, 2023
Like a bunch of folks above, I had my last vax in Oct/Nov 2022 and got COVID in July for the first time (from visiting family, I think, even though they never tested positive). It was awful! I felt like I had a light cold coming on, nasal congestions, kind of headachey, sore throat, then it got way more intense overnight. I tested positive right away and got Paxlovid within the first 1-2 days of symptoms, but I was miserable. Terrible cough, lots of sinus drainage, fever, chills, headache, and so tired. Even with the Paxlovid, those intense symptoms lasted about 4-5 days. I continued to test positive and feel weak and exhausted for another 5 days. I didn't get a negative test 'til my 11th or 12th day after symptoms started, and I continued to be fatigued for at least another 10 days after that. I just felt like my legs were leaden after a very brief walk, and I'd get sort of hot and need to sit down. The obvious respiratory symptoms had all resolved by day 8-9, but the tiredness continued on after I was testing negative and feeling a lot better. I did a lot of resting and finally felt back to normal about 3-3.5 weeks after the first symptoms, with no lasting effects (except I really don't want to get COVID again)!
posted by luzdeluna at 6:42 PM on November 25, 2023
posted by luzdeluna at 6:42 PM on November 25, 2023
Vaxed November 2022, Covid August 2023. I was fine. Felt like a moderate cold--soar throat, then some mild congestion, pretty fatigued, cleared up after about 4 days.
Worst part was testing positive for over two weeks, so it was an unpleasant return to lockdown mode.
posted by mark k at 9:49 PM on November 25, 2023
Worst part was testing positive for over two weeks, so it was an unpleasant return to lockdown mode.
posted by mark k at 9:49 PM on November 25, 2023
Not speaking for myself exactly, but it might help you to know that my texts, email, and work notes are full of people who seem to have Covid memory loss - in a couple of cases about family members.
Typical is an email or text that says "Oh no! Covid." Then a week or solater, they are back online to report that they can finally get out of bed for a shower and then still had energy to eat a bowl of soup! Two weeks later, they are well enough to get dressed and go into the family room.
Six months later the story is "I was in bed for a couple of days."
posted by Lesser Shrew at 4:56 PM on November 26, 2023
Typical is an email or text that says "Oh no! Covid." Then a week or solater, they are back online to report that they can finally get out of bed for a shower and then still had energy to eat a bowl of soup! Two weeks later, they are well enough to get dressed and go into the family room.
Six months later the story is "I was in bed for a couple of days."
posted by Lesser Shrew at 4:56 PM on November 26, 2023
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It started out with a sore throat and exhaustion, then the day I started testing positive, I had a fever of 101, which is not crazy high but it’s rare for me. I was also really tired and out of it. The fever went down literally within hours of starting Pax and then it was just like any mild bug the next few days. I think I was working again by the afternoon of Day 3.
Unfortunately I did get a rebound infection which sucked (wound up being in isolation for 12 days total) but the rebound itself was mild, symptom-wise.
Between the vaxx and the paxlovid, I was only really sick for a couple of days.
posted by lunasol at 10:47 AM on November 25, 2023