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COVID and Paxlovid in immunosuppressed kiddo

Maya142

Moderator
Staff member
My daughter just tested positive for COVID yesterday. She doesn't have terrible symptoms - a bad cough, a very sore throat, low grade fever of 100.0 F and pretty severe fatigue. After many phone calls with her specialists and PCP, she was told to stop her meds (thankfully she forgot to take her MTX on Friday!!! She NEVER forgets and I've never been so glad that she forgot a med LOL) and was prescribed Paxlovid - the new Pfizer pill which reduces the risk of severe disease and hospitalization because she's immunosuppressed and also has many other complex conditions.
I was wondering if anyone's child (or young adult!) has been given Paxlovid? Or had COVID recently?
Her doctors are guessing she has Omicron and I'm hoping that's the case and that she'll start feeling better soon.
 

Tesscorm

Moderator
Staff member
I'm sorry to hear, Maya. I don't know anything about Paxlovid but I'm glad the treatment is available to her. I hope she recovers quicky! Hugs...
 
Oh no--so sorry to hear this. I don't have any experience to share, but just wanted to say that I hope that she has a quick recovery, and that she can go back on her normal meds soon. Please keep us updated.
 

Maya142

Moderator
Staff member
Thanks...she's doing ok now. Symptoms started Thursday but were so mild (she just had an itchy throat - not sore at all, just itchy) we thought she had allergies and she tested negative that day. But by the end of Friday she had a cough and low grade fever, so I started worrying about COVID.

Currently, she is mostly worried about being off her meds - her arthritis is already flaring and she is very afraid it will get worse.
 

crohnsinct

Well-known member
No experience with Paxlovid as O got OG Covid before she was even vaccinated. It was a rough two weeks but she made it through no real big problems other than feeling very sick. She didn't have to hold her Humira or Entyvio as it was an off week for Humira and kind of the middle of Entyvio. Actually she was also on Prednisone at the time for an awful flare and the GI thought he would hold it when the positive result came back but ended up not holding it.

I am sorry M has to deal with this on top of everything else but glad she is vaccinated and that Omicron is a little milder than Delta and OG Covid. Poor kid.
 

Maya142

Moderator
Staff member
She was told that she definitely had to hold her JAK inhibitor and MTX. I do think she would have been allowed to stay on less immunosuppressive biologics.

She felt awful for the first two days and then was given Paxlovid and that seemed to help a lot. She now just feels like she has a bad cold and a very sore throat. Thankfully this is likely to be Omicron so hopefully it won’t get any worse. She is lucky that it wasn’t Delta because her sister got really sick with Delta despite being fully vaccinated (needed to go the hospital).

But her PCP said no steroids for 3 weeks. She needs to re-check with her rheumatologist and GI about that and to ask when she can re-start her meds. I’m guessing she’ll have to be symptom free.
 
I am on Remicade and tested positive for Covid a couple of days ago.

I had itchy eyes and some bone pain so I decided to get tested. ....Big surprise!!!....since I am double vaccinated and I got Covid before, so I was supposed to have "Hybrid immunity" :).....Omicron does not believes in that it seems.!!!
Almost asymptomatic, no fever, no nothing yet. I was worried about the Infliximab and the Covid but this time its much better than the 1st time when I was not on Remicade and when I was unvaccinated (no vaccines available at that time).

I am immunocompromised but so far no symptoms. And I am also almost 60 with a lot of comorbidities.

Your daughter is young so she is in a much better shape to fight the virus!!!
 

Maya142

Moderator
Staff member
She is doing so much better! Her symptoms surprised me - a bad cough (which is still waking her up at night) and a sore throat that feels like strep. Her PCP says she has had many young adults saying the exact same thing - about having a sore throat that's so sore it feels like strep. Her throat looks fine - very red but no infection.

Her rheumatologist says she can re-start her meds when symptoms are gone and that for immunocompromised people, the isolation period is still 10 days and not 5. And that's 10 days since her positive test, not since symptoms started, so she still has 5 days to go.

She (and we) are just very grateful it has been mild and that the vaccines, booster and Paxlovid kept her out of the hospital!! She's had no side effects with Paxlovid and she thinks it really has helped.
 
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