Paxlovid: You'd have expected more • Hacker News Board

Re: Paxlovid: You'd have expected more

#11

Post by freehorse » Sat, Feb 22, 2025, 2:09 AM UTC

iamben wrote: post #6

evnc wrote: post #2

Always enjoy Derek Lowe's writing. n=1 here, though I've heard others say the same -- but I (fairly healthy 30s male, vaccinated) found Paxlovid massively reduced symptom intensity for me. Within a day my symptoms went from "top 5 fevers I've ever experienced, normal function significantly impaired" to "feels like a cold; can reasonably handle myself around the house and even take a software engineering interview". I…

Both times I had COVID I went from "worst fever ever / my body feels like I've been hit my a bus" to "I have a pretty average cold" in less than 36 hours. Utterly bizarre. (Vaccinated, good health, 40s male) Edit to clarify: I didn't take anything other than paracetamol and ibuprofen.

I did not take anything special either, vaccinated, and have had more or less the same experience. I got from not being able to even sleep the night due to the pain, to feeling great the very following afternoon. Completely bizarre. None of the people I know experienced it like this, though.

This is why properly controlled trials are needed for stuff like that. It is easy to attribute the change to whatever random thing I tried at that point out of desperation.

Re: Paxlovid: You'd have expected more

#12

Post by monktastic1 » Sat, Feb 22, 2025, 2:10 AM UTC

francisofascii wrote: post #7

For most people now, the whole reason to take Paxlovid is the avoid long covid. The hospitalization risk is less of a concern. The article points out at the end that this drug has shown evidence of avoiding long covid.

But only in high-risk patients, it should be noted.

Re: Paxlovid: You'd have expected more

#13

Post by jgalt212 » Sat, Feb 22, 2025, 2:11 AM UTC

moshegramovsky wrote: post #8

I have quite a bit of anecdata that Paxlovid works very well in helping very sick elderly people stay out of the hospital.

Yes, but these drugs (and the vaccines) don't make nearly as much money if only taken by those with high risk profiles.

Re: Paxlovid: You'd have expected more

#14

Post by monktastic1 » Sat, Feb 22, 2025, 2:13 AM UTC

moshegramovsky wrote: post #10

stonogo wrote: post #4

I don't have any insight into hospitalizations, but as someone who was not vaccinated at the time I came down with COVID-19, Paxlovid was the difference between feeling utterly horrible and barely being able to get out of bed to being able to work remotely at full productivity. I took the first dose on the first morning and by the next morning the difference was night and day. I too experienced the bizarre changes in…

Same. I had one night of fever and incredible chills. Thought for sure I was going to get very sick. Got Paxlovid next day. Felt better the following day. It was like having a cold, and I don't think that would have happened without the Paxlovid.

I also had one night of fever and incredible chills, followed by two days of no symptoms. No Paxlovid. (But then I did get bad cold-like symptoms for a week, and what seems to be long Covid...)

Re: Paxlovid: You'd have expected more

#15

Post by shusaku » Sat, Feb 22, 2025, 2:17 AM UTC

People always complain about replication crisis and a lack of publishing of negative results. From my surface level reading then, it seems nice to have a paper getting attention for just confirming what the original Paxlovid study already found.

Re: Paxlovid: You'd have expected more

#16

Post by robbiep » Sat, Feb 22, 2025, 2:27 AM UTC

moshegramovsky wrote: post #8

I have quite a bit of anecdata that Paxlovid works very well in helping very sick elderly people stay out of the hospital.

Dealing with the drug interactions when prescribing paxlovid j find to be a bloody nightmare. Must have handed it out like 10 times in my last run of shifts

Re: Paxlovid: You'd have expected more

#17

Post by energy123 » Sat, Feb 22, 2025, 2:28 AM UTC

This appears to be a hasty conclusion. Older people with paxlovid did equally well as younger people without paxlovid. That indicates that paxlovid actually works, given that older age leads to covid mortality! The author's only refutation of this is that the same pattern was observed before Paxlovid was around. But that pattern itself is an aberration that is not true of the general population, it's only true in that one geographical area due to, I would assume, a statistical anomaly.

Re: Paxlovid: You'd have expected more

#18

Post by sterlind » Sat, Feb 22, 2025, 2:31 AM UTC

evnc wrote: post #2

Always enjoy Derek Lowe's writing. n=1 here, though I've heard others say the same -- but I (fairly healthy 30s male, vaccinated) found Paxlovid massively reduced symptom intensity for me. Within a day my symptoms went from "top 5 fevers I've ever experienced, normal function significantly impaired" to "feels like a cold; can reasonably handle myself around the house and even take a software engineering interview". I…

How do you know that it was Paxlovid that made you better, rather than coincidentally convalescing? There's a tendency for fevers to break as the body gets the upper hand on an infection, so if you started taking Paxlovid during a high fever your body might have been nearly done mopping up.

I'm not saying Paxlovid didn't help you, just that it's tricky to distinguish from placebo without a study.

Re: Paxlovid: You'd have expected more

#19

Post by justin66 » Sat, Feb 22, 2025, 2:33 AM UTC

jibe wrote: post #3

Checking GoodRX, Paxlovid ranges from $1,497 at CVS to $1,696 at Costco. Expensive for something that potentially has little effect.

Thanks to a helpful pharmacist who let me know about it, I used the manufacturer's copay coupon (I think this is it: https://www.paxlovid.com/paxcess-terms-and-conditions ) and the cost of the drug for me (with insurance!) went from $400 to zero.

I don't know about "potentially no effect." It sure seemed to work well for me, and I've had covid with and without it. The difference was pretty big. I'm fairly certain the more profound difference is for those who are older or otherwise at risk, of course.

Re: Paxlovid: You'd have expected more

#20

Post by x3sphere » Sat, Feb 22, 2025, 2:35 AM UTC

evnc wrote: post #2

Always enjoy Derek Lowe's writing. n=1 here, though I've heard others say the same -- but I (fairly healthy 30s male, vaccinated) found Paxlovid massively reduced symptom intensity for me. Within a day my symptoms went from "top 5 fevers I've ever experienced, normal function significantly impaired" to "feels like a cold; can reasonably handle myself around the house and even take a software engineering interview". I…

Same here. I got really sick the second time I had Covid (despite it being a more “mild” strain - Omicron I believe). Was bedridden for almost two weeks and had a rebound fever. With Paxlovid however, most of my symptoms subsided after a few days of taking it and I didn’t have a fever. This was the third time I got Covid.

Obviously I don’t know for sure how much I can attribute to the medication, but I will be taking it again if I catch Covid.