Did PAXLOVID also relieve your arthritis and autoimmune symptoms?

Posted by annewoodmayo @annewoodmayo, Jul 15, 2023

Hi, everyone

I have been diagnosed with autoimmune diseases.
The diagnoses have changed over time (lupus, not lupus, spondyloarthropathy, akylosing spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, Raynaud's, Sjorgren and maybe others that I have forgotten... sorry about the spelling).

When I took Paxlovid for Covid, many of my symptoms disappeared or were significantly reduced.

Has this happened to anyone else?

I'm thinking that perhaps my autoimmune disease is somehow based on a VIRUS, since paxlovid is an anti-viral and it was like a miracle cure for my symptoms.

I told my rheumatologist about it, but I couldn't get her to focus on the logical connection between the anti-viral (paxlovid) and the reduction in my symptoms. It was very frustrating. I actually cried in my car after the appointment.

I think this could be a game-changing piece of evidence in my medical treatment and diagnosis. And maybe for other autoimmune disease sufferers, too! But I don't know where to turn with this evidence.

What do you think I should do? What doctor should I go to?
My primary care doctor probably won't offer anything; he never intervenes in my rheumatological care.

Please let me know if you had the same experience: an anti-viral medication (paxlovid or another one) reduced your autoimmune/arthritis symptoms.

I searched around online, and it was hard to find and hard to understand information there. In the CDC's PubMed, I found one source that indicates the possibility that immune suppressing medications can reactivate the Epstein Barr virus in some patients. Epstein Barr causes fatigue, among other symptoms, but fatigue is one of my worst symptoms.

Thanks!

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Post-COVID Recovery & COVID-19 Support Group.

I have fibromyalgia. Usually it gets much worse when I get sick, But, after two days on paxlovid I have much less aching and fatigue than usual.

REPLY

I recently tested positve for Covid. MY Doctor prescribed Paxlovid. During the 5 day treatment, as bad as I felt, I noticed cronic knee pain that I have suffered with for several years, went away. WHEN I quit taking Paxlovid the knee pain has returned on day 6. Is there something in Paxlovid that can be prescribed separatly that would help with arthritic joint pain?

REPLY
@yddad45

I recently tested positve for Covid. MY Doctor prescribed Paxlovid. During the 5 day treatment, as bad as I felt, I noticed cronic knee pain that I have suffered with for several years, went away. WHEN I quit taking Paxlovid the knee pain has returned on day 6. Is there something in Paxlovid that can be prescribed separatly that would help with arthritic joint pain?

Jump to this post

@yddad45, you're not alone. I moved your post to this existing discussion so that you can read previoius posts and connect with other members like you:
- Did PAXLOVID also relieve your arthritis and autoimmune symptoms?
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/did-paxlovid-also-relieve-your-arthritis-and-autoimmune-symptoms/

REPLY

Premed student here, thank you for sharing your experience. I learn so much from these kinds of posts!

REPLY
@margaretdick

Premed student here, thank you for sharing your experience. I learn so much from these kinds of posts!

Jump to this post

@margaretdick
Hi! Are you still reading?
I am typing you a longer reply, too. 🙂
Anne Wood

REPLY
@margaretdick

Premed student here, thank you for sharing your experience. I learn so much from these kinds of posts!

Jump to this post

@margaretdick

Well, my longer reply post got erased-- my hands and fingers drag over the computer and the unintentional happens. 🙁

As a pre-med student, would you be willing to ask your professors for suggestions, and then you post their suggestions here? If you have read many of the posts in this thread, then you know that we patients are desperate for guidance. Any ideas of what we can do next would be helpful. Please consider.

If you have the chance, watch the old movie with Robin Williams called "Awakenings." It will give you some sense of what we are experiencing: hope of a cure being snatched away.

Keep reading the posts here. It will make you a better doctor. Good luck with your studies!

REPLY

Hola soy nuevo en blog, tengo COVID persistente desde septiembre del 2020, en mi caso
"Mi cura milagrosa" son las vacunas de moderna, aunque parezca una broma.
Tengo dolores musculares en piernas y brazos que me incapacitan la movilidad, a demás del dolor de cabeza y la fatiga.
Resulta que me ponen la dosis de la vacuna de moderna y en tres días desaparecen todos los síntomas, es como si nunca hubiera estado enfermo.
Es como si un interruptor me volviera a poner en marcha, los efectos me duran unos 6 meses y de la misma manera que se fueron los dolores, etc vuelven.
Otra vacuna y otro vez me reinicio, como nuevo.
Hice un historial de seguimiento desde que inician los síntomas hasta que desaparecen, desde hace 4 años.
La última vacuna (la 5) no me ha echo nada, ni siquiera el típico dolor de la vacuna al ponérmela.
Me hace el seguimiento una inmunologa probando tratamientos antivíricos sin ninguna mejoría.
Lo más triste es que sabiendo que las primeras vacunas me han funcionado, no puedo conseguir que me pongan una, según mi inmunologa no hay.
Mi estado de salud está empeorando a parte de la incapacidad de poder andar se empeoran con el aparato digestivo, diarreas de más de 6 meses, distensión abdominal.
Es súper frustrante que pudiendo tener una notable mejoría y una calidad de vida digna, por un tema burocrático me vea yendo a una silla de ruedas.

REPLY

I’m so sorry you’re suffering. I was diagnosed with Covid in December of 2022 and have lost my taste/smell. I had a mild case and was not put on Paxlovid because the doctor on call when I called to tell them I had Covid said that Paxlovid had worse symptoms than the ones I was having, which was just major stuffed up sinuses. I still, 1 year and 3 months later, have no taste or smell. I’ve had 3 Stellage Ganglion Blocks and it only made the salty, sweet, sour a little bit stronger and I just had the 3rd injection done 2 days ago. I am wondering if I had been put on Paxlovid, would I have lost my taste and smell for this long? I’ll never know…

REPLY

Yes, my auto immune symptoms were relieved by Paxlovid. I also tried telling my rheumatologist and just received a stare and I was dismissed like I was crazy. I felt so much better when I had Covid and was taking Paxlovid. I would take Paxlovid every day if they would give it to me. My pain was gone, my aches were gone, my joints weren’t stiff, I had energy, and I had hope while I was on Paxlovid. All the horrible symptoms returned within 2 days of stopping Paxlovid. Is there anyone out there really researching this? Those of us with autoimmune issues desperately need help and obviously Paxlovid feels like a miracle cure for some of us.

REPLY

I have been diagnosed with an autoimmune process since at least 2017. I have been given various diagnoses: RA, inflammatory arthritis and taken various medications, methotrexate, plaquenil, etc.
I had COVID x 2 at least more than a year apart and was prescribed Paxlovid both times. I had complete resolution of my joint pain both times and it was fabulous. Mentioned to PCP and Rheumatologist will no response. The only other med that has ever completely alleviated my joint pain in the past was high dose steroids.

REPLY
Please sign in or register to post a reply.