I felt pretty good yesterday, except for the side effects of the Paxlovid. My aunt and uncle dropped off work for me to do, so that’s what I spent most of the day doing between running to the restroom. Yesterday was the first day I ate more than one meal and that’s only because my mother in law made me. I wasn’t hungry. But this morning I actually was a little hungry, so I just drank a cup of V8 (explanation below).
Last night I decided to stop taking the Paxlovid. I have regretted it almost from the start. Especially when I found out that I had to stop my heart medicine. But between that and the constant diarrhea, the final straw was when I took my INR last night. INR is a measurement of how “thin” my blood is (or actually, how slow to coagulate). My therapeutic range is 2.5-3.5. Last night my INR was 5.2. That is dangerously high. I don’t remember ever being that high in my 20 years of being on Coumadin. I knew that paxlovid could make INR high, but didn’t realize it would be that high. Of course, the fact that I also haven’t been eating much at all could have factored in. You see, INR is also influenced by what you eat. The more vitamin K you consume, the lower your INR. Vitamin K is highest in green leafy vegetables like spinach or kale. Which is why I chose to have some V8. I will also be having salad today. And I’ve adjusted my dose of Coumadin for the next few days.
I went searching for what would happen if I stopped taking the paxlovid early and everything I found said that I could have a rebound of covid. Of course, we’re also seeing evidence of people rebounding after the full 5 days of treatment, so I really don’t see the difference. Except hopefully this will get the rebound over with sooner and get my other medications to even out sooner as well. I just could not put that into my body any longer. If that means I’m going to have a headache and sore throat again, so be it. That is preferable to all of the other symptoms I’ve had that are not from covid.
I ended up telling my mom about all the problems Paxlovid has caused and now she’s feeling guilty that she suggested it. Given the fact that she pushes it on just about every person she knows that gets Covid, I have a feeling she will be changing her tune. Tomorrow I probably should let my doctor know that I’ve stopped it and why. I will also warn my cardiologist’s office. I realize that many parts of media are touting it as a “wonder drug” but now that I have actually done some reading on the subject, it doesn’t sound like it makes much difference for the majority of people. At least, not for the vaccinated. I just wish I’d done my own research before ever putting it into my mouth.
Do any of you have a paxlovid story? Would you take it if offered? Would you have before reading about my experience?
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