Bang, Bang, the 'Rona Shot Me Down
What I plan to do going forward (still not getting jabbed, thanks)
It finally happened. I got Covid.
Back in January I posted an article on how I avoided getting sick during the three years in which the world was panicking over a virus.
Despite the personal preventative measures I outlined there, my luck ran out in August. Rather than edit (or unpublish) the original article I’ve decided to make this update.
My wife had just returned from an out-of-town work trip when she started having respiratory illness symptoms, and tested positive for Covid, which she’s convinced she picked up in an airport line.
Within a few days I started feeling sick, too, and also tested positive.
Now, I’m skeptical that those at-home tests, or any test really, can accurately distinguish between Covid, the common cold and the flu. But for the sake of argument I’ll accept the Covid diagnosis.
I was sick for at least two weeks and perhaps closer to three (one loses track of days!). My main symptom was a horrible dry cough that only turned productive toward the end of my ordeal. I also had some fever spikes that prompted two visits to urgent care.
I was prescribed antibiotics and cough medicine — the “good” stuff, with codeine, on my second visit. I was offered Paxlovid, but declined, because of reports of Covid rebound in some people who take it. The fact it is being used for Covid under an emergency use authorization (EUA), as with the nearly worthless and dangerous “vaccines,” also helped decide me against it.
My illness eventually passed, and I am feeling quite well today.
What did I learn from getting Covid?
First, when people say it’s like a bad flu, they’re right. It had been at least a decade, perhaps longer, since I had had any kind of respiratory illness. But I can remember how miserable a flu can be, and this was definitely on that order.
Second, I am naturally disappointed that my health regimen, based mostly in common-sense habits, apparently failed me this time. But as I wrote in January:
I’m not bragging or trying to tempt fate, and acknowledge the possibility I could find myself knocked off my feet by some viral assailant tomorrow or next week.
Going forward, I don’t plan to do anything differently than what I described then, except for exercising more, having added thrice-weekly gym visits to my routine.
Presumably I do have natural immunity now, adding another level of protection against a recurrence of Covid.
Third, next time I do get the sniffles or a scratchy throat, I plan to start right in on protocols for heading off or lessening the effects of a respiratory infection. Re-reading the (Peter) McCullough protocol and others, I think I should have upped my vitamin D intake from 1000 IU daily (my normal dosage) to as much as 10,000 IU. I should have been laving my nasal passages with iodine/water solution at least a half dozen times daily instead of just one time a day.
It would be good, too, to find a doctor willing to prescribe ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, although my understanding is that these are only helpful in the early stages of illness.
Why am I recounting all this? Mostly, I felt it necessary to update the record, having earlier written about not getting Covid. I do not offer it as advice.
As I also wrote in January:
[N]one of this is health advice. When it comes to Covid or any other threatening thing you perceive out there, it’s your body and your choices. Do what seems right to you … and respect others’ freedom to do the same.
Update April, 2024: Recently (a month or two ago?) my wife had Covid again, but this time I did not catch it. In addition to upping my vitamins, especially vitamin D, I took about a gram daily of powdered NAC (N-acetyl L-cysteine), which some reports say is protective against respiratory illnesses. (I’ve added NAC to my daily “stack,” as it is supposed to have anti-aging effects, especially when combined with Glycine, which I also take.) I also rinsed my mouth frequently with a mouthwash containing cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) which has also been found effective in stopping viral infections early.
I don’t know how many of my readers appreciate the song references I sometimes include in my headlines and stories. This is for those who do …
Permission is given to republish this article with these provisions: 1. You must credit me, R. Stephen Smith, as the author. 2. You must include a link back to this page or to my home page.