COVID Reinfection: Hard To Avoid, Be Prepared

COVID Reinfection: Hard To Avoid, Be Prepared

COVID reinfection is certainly a thing, as a COVID Long Hauler who has experienced it. It might be harder to avoid than a COVID Vaccine advertisement. They’re everywhere! Can’t watch the Mets without a reminder. Who exactly doesn’t know about them at this point? In this post I’m going to discuss what I do when I feel I’m reinfected and how I judge that I may be reinfected, outside of the weak testing available. 

Reinfection for me feels different dependent on the variant out at the time, but there are a few typical mainstay symptoms and they are: chest tightness/fullness (that can fluctuate in severity), headaches (especially in the beginning of the acute phase), head/neck inflammation, weak limbs (tied to brain stem and neck inflammation it seems), muscle twitching, scratchy throat (dead voice at times), extra neurological unrest (sort of like restless leg syndrome and pins and needles), burping/gas, dry eyes/mouth, fatigue, and an increase in some of the normal COVID Long Haul symptoms. These are mostly symptoms I rarely have, never have, or don’t experience to such severity with my Long Haul COVID, now 2+ years out. These acute symptoms usually last 2-4 weeks peaking around 7-10 days approximately. The duration seems to depend on the severity of the variant, variant type, maybe based on how much it’s mutated, and viral load. Delta was by far my worst reinfection, and I believe I’ve had several. Delta hit my chest very hard.

Recently, I believe I had BA.4 or BA.5. It inflamed my head and neck and I felt it in my chest, along with other symptoms. Testing has not produced many results for me for whatever reason, so when I get the symptoms that I discussed above, I treat it as if I have COVID. To me doing the opposite would be much riskier and more harmful. I’ve had COVID before and know what it feels like. I’ve also had other things before and nothing has hit me like COVID hits me in the chest in particular. It’s unique. It’s also summer, not exactly Flu season. Playing the, I don’t have it unless it shows up in tests game is not a game I like to play, it’s failed me many times in the past and I’ve seen it fail many others. Plus there is further danger of re-exposure if I go try to get a PCR test at a clinic when 20% of the time or more PCR tests show false negatives (https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/96789). Furthermore, the tests are also timing dependent. Not worth it for me. What does getting the test really change? It might be beneficial for someone trying to get a script they couldn’t otherwise get or don’t have already, but that’s not my situation. 

When I get hit with a reinfection, I ramp up my arsenal. I increase my Tollovid uptake (helps noticeably), Hyperbaric Oxygen, Ear Ozone, Powdered C, D, Zinc, slight increase in Aspirin and Nattokinase, keep on my Fluvoxamine, Rife, strong Probiotics (Progurt, Seeking Health, etc.), nebulize Compounded Glutathione, Epsom Salt Baths, etc. This all helps me control how severely sick I get and how I feel during the acute stage as best I can. I have Paxlovid on hand in the event I need it and scope out Monoclonal Antibody places. 

Luckily I’ve been alright after my reinfections. That seems to be the case for most COVID Long Haulers, at least eventually. I worry though the reinfections might cause some additional damage. What am I to do though? The COVID Vaccines have significantly harmed my Mom, Aunt, Godmother, friend, and my mom’s friend, just out of those close to me, and possibly more. Additionally, COVID Long Haulers feel worse about 26% of the time after their shots. It’s not a viable option. Thankfully though my subsequent infections have never been as bad as the initial and Long Haul COVID never restarted, but for up to 2 months I felt worse than baseline.