I was feeling pretty awful yesterday. Had dinner with my family, then retreated to bed.  

Tested for Covid.  POSITIVE.

Don't know when I got it.  Don't know how long incubation periods are.  I was feeling pretty sluggish on the bike Saturday and Sunday.  

My wife and kids tested.  They're negative.

I've got a tele-health visit scheduled today.  

So, peoples, I'm writing this august gathering to glean recovery tips as well as how to set up the home for living with multiple people, only one of them with Covid.  

This advice from the Australian medical service seems up to date: https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/covid-19/recovery-and-returning-to-normal-activities

PAXLOVID.
God speed.

Good luck JP!

Oh no!  Good luck with recovery, JP.  

The Aus health guidelines are pretty much the same I did for both my times with COVID.  The slower the better.  

My first go around I was stuck at my GF's family's house and was the only one who tested positive.  It was 10 days of being locked in the bedroom watching CX, GCN, and Netflix.  Meals were dropped at the door. If I needed to leave the room to use the bathroom, I made sure to double mask and make it quick.

Good luck and feel better JP! Best recovery tips are to take it easy and take your time.

As far as getting back on the bike, Tim and Kathy had a short COVID recovery plan they sent me back in January 2021 that was super helpful, so I'd check in with them about what the current conventional wisdom is.

I spoke with a doctor this afternoon.

A few things.  She thinks it's too late in my Covid cycle to take Paxlovid.  And she's concerned about the "rebound effect" anyways.  She thinks while I tested positive yesterday, I probably had it a couple of days already.  "you're probably over the hump," she said, thinking the symptoms I experienced yesterday were probably about as bad as it will get for me this round.  

The big things were to 1. regular hand-washing, for me and everyone in the house.  2. use wipes with bleach on all "high-touch surfaces."  Doorknobs, faucets, light switches, etc. 3. Can probably stop isolating in two days, but mask up for the next five days after that.  

Paxlovid rebound effect:

"The CDC defines Paxlovid rebound as when a patient who, after receiving a full five-day course of treatment, either has a reemergence of COVID symptoms or tests positive after a previous, negative test. Under this classification, when you rebound, “you can have virus without symptoms, symptoms without virus, and you can have the two together,” Smith says. He adds that he’s slightly annoyed by the blanket classification of “rebound” because in virology, a “rebound” is when there is a reemergence of measurable amounts of virus.

"The Pfizer clinical trial reported between 1 and 2 percent of those who received the drug tested positive for COVID after finishing the Paxlovid course; their illness rebounded. Those rebounds were not statistically different from rebounds experienced by people with COVID who received the placebo, however."

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-paxlovid-rebound-and-how-common-is-it/

That's a weird concern, given the quote above. I think you have something like five days from symptoms to take it.

Either way, wishing you all safety.

Still testing positive for Covid.  Once on Saturday and again this morning.

Wondering if I have the new XBB 1.5 variant.  It seems to be now dominant in NYC.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/01/xbb-1-5-dominates-new-york-covid-cases-rising-nationally.html

Well i'm glad I decided to stay home on Sunday and not join for the ride, was feeling a little achey, turns out I have covid as well. My wife had it first, her symptoms had been at their worst for ~3 days but even then it was just congestion and fatigue. She's feeling a lot better today. Feels like a headcold, gonna just play it cool and rest.

Damn, hope you feel better Grant!

GrantSeltzer said:

Well i'm glad I decided to stay home on Sunday and not join for the ride, was feeling a little achey, turns out I have covid as well. My wife had it first, her symptoms had been at their worst for ~3 days but even then it was just congestion and fatigue. She's feeling a lot better today. Feels like a headcold, gonna just play it cool and rest.

That's about where I've been.  Never seemed to have a fever.  Had a bit of a sore throat.  Had a runny nose.  Even the fatigue wasn't profound, not even like a bad cold for me.  

I'm a week out from when the symptoms peaked.  Today's ride was promising.  Was able to pedal hard for a bit.  I'll test again tomorrow or Thursday.  

I got Covid in October. I Vaccinated with the latest variant vaccine in September two weeks before going to San Diego for my conference/bike riding. For symptoms I had one day of dizziness, nausea, and fever. The rest of the days was runny nose and such. I had symptoms on Wednesday, and was cleared 10 days later on Sunday with a negative test. My whole house had it so....  I had a difficult time for a few months to do hard efforts but I think now I'm roughly back got normal? Amy is just getting over it she and her son got it the other week. I testes since I was with her but I'm negative...  But I have some weird roller coaster cold. One day I feel good the next day my nose is running like nuts and I'm all congested. Then back to normal then runny nose etc... Up and down, up and down... 

Tested negative this morning.  A minor victory.

Still don't feel 100%.  Hoping that changes.

My story is similar to Andrew's post. I have long covid

In November, I was recovering slowly but surely from my heart valve surgery. I still would spike my heart rate on moderate to hard efforts, but I was finding my legs again. The on Thanksgiving I got covid. Symptoms sucked but were not awful: I felt like had the flu, had body aches, sore throat, chills and fatigue. My doctor recommended the paxlovid (especially given my heart surgery) and I felt better after a few days and stopped testing positive in about a week.... until I got the dreaded paxlovid rebound about 5 days later. Ugh

The second round of symptoms wasn't awful. I was tired and had a sore throat but could work (remotely). This lasted a week to ten days before I tested negative again. Just in time for the Christmas holidays and company from out of town. Whew

The period between xmas and new years was busy with company (and of course watching cross races nearly every day!). After new years I was still pretty beat, but assumed I either was wiped due to having company or had picked up a cold or virus. I would go out riding and on a few occasions felt completely empty even through I was not riding that hard. 

Basically, I have been getting more sleep than ever (because I am so physically tired that my body feel heavy when I wake up) and I am still tired during the day. After going for a 1-2 hour bike ride at endurance pace I feel the fatigue that I might have felt from racing Floyd or doing intervals. I get foggy from time to time. Usually difficulty retrieving names or words (always my weakness, but worse than usual). I also have some minor chest congestion, more frequent headaches and some transient (but mild) body aches. 

Saw my Cardiologist on the 11th, who basically said he thought my heart was okay (so not a post surgery issue) but rather that I had all the signs of long covid and there wasn't much I could do but wait it out. He did say I could continue riding, but to manage my fatigue and keep the intensity low. Unfortunatley that means I am not going to make it to this year's Super Bowl ride. 

Hope this passes soon and that you all have better recoveries than I 

@PatrickGrehan that sounds really rough, I'm sorry to hear it. Remember to tell the management that you've had your fill and they can cut this shit out now.

I've been crawling back to fitness after taking a solid 6 months off after getting COIVD twice in 8 weeks this summer.

My shoulder is still pretty jacked but I can ride the trainer when the motivation strikes.

Is there any correlation with exercise or activiry while or right after covid, and then staying with long covid?

Ultimately this all sucks, wishing you all a full recovery soon!!

eloy said:

Is there any correlation with exercise or activiry while or right after covid, and then staying with long covid?

Ultimately this all sucks, wishing you all a full recovery soon!!

As far as I can tell nobody knows shit

eloy said:

Is there any correlation with exercise or activiry while or right after covid, and then staying with long covid?

Ultimately this all sucks, wishing you all a full recovery soon!!

This has been on my mind for a while.

I went on today's ride, after another negative Covid test, thinking that if I was feeling tired, when we got to Piermont, I'd limp home.  And that I wouldn't push the hills because I don't want to dig a deep hole.

I got to Piermont ok.  But I did end up riding the hills harder than I was planning.  And felt ok doing so.  Now I want to take a nap to make sure this ride doesn't contribute to long covid, as if we know anything--and I'm sure we don't.

Took me a full 2 weeks to test negative. My symptoms were mild the whole time, some congestion and an annoying headache that wouldn't go away. No cough at all, didn't seem to affect my lungs at all. I tried to exercise through it for a little bit which felt really good in the moment but it really tired me out the days after which scared me so I've just been relaxing as much as possible, let my body fight it off. Gonna keep resting and get back on the bike slowly, don't want to rebound back into it somehow. 

My takeaway is that everyone seems to have a different experience symptoms/length wise and I think it's best to rest as much possible. Also agreed that no one knows shit about it.

Long overdue updates...

So things are better (?) sort of. What follows is where I am at and what is going on.