I was recently on paxlovid for getting COVID (the third time) and felt better than I have in years. It lasted about 10 days. That was a clue there could be a viral component. My primary care doc thinks that the five days of paxlovid was like taking a partial course for strep--didn't clear whatever virus it was acting on enough, so it just came back.

After the paxlovid experience I insisted on getting tested for EBV, CMV, HH6 and parvovirus. My EBV IGM was positive. In my deep dive since then I've discovered that doctors have different thresholds for what constitutes positive. I am seeing a specialist next week who thinks I have all four of these viruses reactivated based on my EBV IGM and high IGGs for the others. Like you said, misinterpretation of test results is a huge problem with EBV in particular.

I was only able to access a brief dose of famvir. Started Truvada but it made me hella sick. Check out the Drosu study about EBV that shows tenofovir drugs (e.g. Truvada) are way more effective than valtrex, famvir, etc.

I'm also doing high dose vitamin C IVs. See "Effect of high dose vitamin C on Epstein-Barr viral infection." (sorry, this site won't let me add links.)

You also might want to check out William Pridgen's studies on valtrex/famvir + celebrex. He's been doing trials for 10 years and has a patent. His theory is that reactivated herpesviruses (e.g. EBV and VZV) cause a host of issues such as long covid, IBS, alzheimer's. You can find more info on the Virios website (his company). Also, end of last year he did a pilot adding 15 days Paxlovid to the valtrex+celebrex combo with amazingly positive results.

What's the name of your doc?

I think paxlovid holds a lot of promise. How were you able to get it?