Age: 75.0
Sex: F
Vaccine: COVID19
Symptoms: Aptyalism, COVID-19, Decreased appetite, Dry mouth, Dysphagia
Clinical narrative: I received my Moderna booster for COVID-19 on 4/7/2022. On 7/23/2022, I began feeling fatigued and congested. I was on a trip abroad that required a lot of walking, so I thought that maybe my fatigue was due to all the activity. On 7/24/2022, we walked for about 4 hours; the last 20 minutes were devoted to walking back to our tour bus, and I was so exhausted that I could barely pick up my feet at that point. That night, I had a fever of 101.9. I have a history of sinus infections, and I noticed that I had the tell-tale yellow drainage. I started generic Zithromax that night, because we had a few days of the trip left, and I didn't want my trip to be ruined by a sinus infection. I also took Tylenol for my fever. I definitely felt better within 24 hours. On 7/25/2022, my temperature was about 99 degrees, so it was lower. I didn't have to do a lot of walking that day, so I didn't feel as poorly as I had when I exerted myself. I was tired, but my fatigue wasn't as extreme as it was on 7/24/2022. For the following few days, my temperature never climbed above the 99-degree range; my normal temperature is 97.7. That day, I just had an occasional runny nose, but I didn't have too many sinus infection symptoms, aside from the tiredness. On 7/26/2022, I remained tired, but I was able to continue with the strenuous transfer from ship to train in another city. When we reached our destination, we had lunch and took a 3-hour nap; at about 7 PM, we had dinner, but I wasn't very hungry, and we went to bed at about 9:30 PM. On 7/27/2022, we took a shuttle to the airport, and the ordeal lasted for about 3 hours. My temperature remained in the 99-degree range. I felt tired, but I had no sneezing, coughing, or nose-blowing to speak of. I felt congested, but my sinuses weren't draining, and I occasionally felt hoarse. We took an 8-hour flight back home. When we got home, we went through a 2-hour ordeal at the airport and then took a one-hour road trip back home. During our trip abroad, we had learned that our son had tested positive for COVID-19. When I was abroad, though, I always wore a mask (except when eating) and socially distanced. When I got back home, I didn't know if I had caught the virus, but I still used a mask and socially distanced as precautionary measures. On the evening of 7/27/2022, my husband and I took home tests for COVID-19 and got positive results. We sent pictures of our tests to our doctor. The doctor prescribed me a 5-day course of Paxlovid on 7/28/2022, but he told me that I needed to cease taking sertraline and pravastatin while I was on the Paxlovid on account of drug interactions. The doctor also warned me that  possible side effects of the Paxlovid were high blood pressure, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, change of taste, and muscle aches. At this point, I felt reasonably well and didn't want the side effects, so I didn't take the Paxlovid. I also had reservations about taking Paxlovid, because the brochure indicated that the drug hadn't been extensively researched. 7/28/2022 was the fifth day after the onset of symptoms, so it was the last day I had the option of treating my symptoms with the Paxlovid, as the doctor had advised us that we needed to start taking it within 5 days after the symptom onset. At this point, my symptoms consisted primarily of fatigue and general malaise; I spent much of the time sleeping. I also began to get a runny nose. On 7/28/2022, I had bright red blood in my nasal mucus and the sputum that I coughed up, and this typically took place in the morning. On 7/30/2022, I took another home test and got another positive result. By 7/29/2022, my fever was gone completely and my temperature was in its normal range again. At the time of this writing, I still feel pretty much the same. I'm extremely exhausted. I sometimes feel like I have to take a very deep breath. Earlier this morning, I had a little bit of rattling in the chest when I was lying down. When I sat upright, though, there was no rattling, This made me realize that I should stay on top of the situation to make sure it doesn't get worse. I've been treating my symptoms with Mucinex. On the nights of 7/29/2022 and 7/30/2022, I woke up with a very dry mouth and absolutely no saliva, and it was really hard to swallow. However, my breathing was fine. Since then, though, I have been drinking copious amounts of water to prevent the dry mouth. Also, I often feel hot, but the thermometer indicates that I haven't had another fever. However, I do live in a humid climate, so that may account for it.