Signs COVID Symptoms Have Come Back After You Recovered
Dr. Dana Mincer explains how a popular COVID treatment may result in rebound symptoms.
Covid cases are on the rise and the emergence of new variants is causing some concern. It isn't a bad idea to have a plan in place in case you get infected with the virus, especially if you fall into a high risk category. One of the primary medications to treat COVID-19 is the antiviral treatment Paxlovid, which has been deemed beneficial for warding off severe disease and death. However, experts warn of a pretty concerning trend with the drug: Taking it could result in rebound symptoms.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people who are at high risk of severe COVID infections may take Paxlovid. In addition to helping keep people out of the hospital, it may lower the chances of developing long Covid.
However, according to experts, it might not be the miracle drug people presume it to be, primarily because sometimes people experience rebound symptoms.
Dr. Dana Mincer, DO, explains to Newsful that similar to other medications – like Tamiflu for treating influenza – taking Paxlovid may suppress symptoms initially. But they can come back later.
Even if your doctor is "passing it out like candy," she doesn't recommend you taking Paxlovid if you are otherwise healthy and do not fall into the high-risk category.
She explains that in her practice she has been seeing "a lot of people getting this prescription" and then getting rebound symptoms.
They ended up in her urgent care saying that after they finished their prescription, confused as to why they got sick after they were done with the cycle.
She explains that they came in starting to feel sick again and "actually having more severe symptoms" then initially. "It's like all of a sudden the Covid just came back," she said.
"This is what the literature talks about is when you stop the five day treatment, you actually can get more severe symptoms because the viral load that was initially suppressed just starts to replicate again, but it replicates even more so," she says.
She also points to the fact that the FDA approval for the drug is to treat "mild to moderate covid in adults who are at high risk for progression to hospitalization or death. That's it. It says nothing else," she continues.
"So unless you meet those indications, I would highly suggest that maybe you reconsider taking this drug," she says.
