Age: 54.0
Sex: F
Vaccine: COVID19
Symptoms: Fatigue, Feeling abnormal, Headache, Influenza virus test negative, Oropharyngeal pain
Clinical narrative: I received my second Moderna booster for COVID-19 on 6/2/2022. On the morning of 11/27/2022, I woke up with body aches, a headache, and a sore throat. At this point, I was in the process of weaning myself off of the prednisone I had been taking to treat a pre-existing condition, and I assumed that my discomfort was a result of this. However, my husband and son had not been feeling well recently, so I also wondered if we should all test ourselves for COVID-19. My husband and son both tested positive for COVID-19 on an antigen test on 11/27/2022. However, when I took the test that day, I got a negative response. When I woke up on 11/28/2022, I felt a little worse. When I tested myself again that day, I got another negative result. I was having some difficulty breathing, so I used an albuterol inhaler, which helped some. I also had some chest pains, but these aren't unusual for me, since they are a frequent symptom of my autoimmune disorder. I took some OTC cold and flu tablets, and they helped a little with the headache. I had difficulty sleeping on the night of 11/28/2022, because I had some difficulty breathing, plus I had chills and more body aches. When I woke up the morning of 11/29/2022, I felt even worse than I did the day before. I had difficulty breathing, so I used my albuterol inhaler. I called my doctor's office and left a message for them to call me back, but I did not hear back from my doctor that day. I was so fatigued that I just fell asleep and didn't stay awake long enough to call back the doctor's office after I didn't hear from them. I had a rough night when I went to bed, because I had body aches, chills, and difficulty breathing. I ended up waking up several times in the night, so I did not have a sound sleep. On 11/30/2022, I got up early and used my albuterol inhaler. This time, though, the inhaler didn't help with my difficulty breathing. I then took some ibuprofen, because I'm prone to inflammation, which can negatively affect my ability to breathe, and I hoped that the ibuprofen would calm any inflammation that could possibly be contributing to my breathing difficulty. Unfortunately, though, it did not work. I took the albuterol again about 4 hours later, because I hoped that a combination of the albuterol and the ibuprofen would help my breathing. It did not help, so I called my doctor's office, because I was really struggling. They instructed me to come to their clinic to be tested for COVID-19, which I did. I was administered both a rapid test and a PCR, plus a test for the flu. They informed me within a few minutes that my results on the rapid test were positive. And because I was having difficulty breathing, they also checked my blood oxygen level, which was within in the normal range, as were also my vitals. My doctor thought that my difficulties were caused by asthma symptoms that were exacerbated by COVID-19 and by my ongoing ANCA-associated granulomatous vasculitis with polyangiitis, so she switched me over from the albuterol inhaler to an albuterol nebulizer. I was also prescribed PAXLOVID. My PCP wanted to start me back on prednisone, but she advised to consult with my rheumatologist first, and he agreed with this, so I was also given some prednisone. I began taking the PAXLOVID, the albuterol nebulizer, and the prednisone that day. When 12/1/2022 rolled around, I felt much better. I've been taking the albuterol nebulizer every 4 hours ever since, even in the middle of the night. I had less difficulty breathing on 12/1/2022, though I am having a little more difficulty at the time of this writing, as I currently have a little more pain and tightness in the chest. However, things aren't nearly as difficult now as they were at the time of the onset of symptoms. I feel a little more tired now, but that could possibly be due to the prednisone, since it often has that effect on me, plus I had difficulty sleeping last night.