What you are going to read is not meant to represent in any way, shape, or form a scientific study. It is not a scientific study, but merely an anecdotal Covid/Ivermectin experience … my personal Covid/Ivermectin experience.
As background, I am a retired 78+ years old physician with hypertension and prostate cancer, meaning that as far as Covid is concerned, I am not in a low risk group. I am double vaccinated and received one Covid booster before my first Covid infection almost two years ago.
Where I picked up my recent Covid infection is not a focus of this story, but it is rather that Covid is still present among us.
Before I get to my use of ivermectin, as background, my symptoms of extreme fatigue, sleepiness, nasal stuffiness, headache, cough, and no appetite began two days prior (day -2). All of these symptoms progressed significantly through the following day (day -1), culminating in a Covid self test late that evening. The self test was positive.
On the following morning (day 0) I obtained an Ivermectin four-pack and took my first dose at approximately ten a.m. About two hours later I tried and actually held down some sips of coffee. (My prior attempts to ingest some caffeine had been ineffective because after only a sip or two of either coffee or cola, I would immediately vomit) Within an hour or so my caffeine withdraw headache was gradually alleviated and did not recur.
By two p.m. on day 0, (four hours after my initial dose of Ivermectin) I felt well enough to drink an entire cup of coffee and eat a small portion of a Cheese Danish. I slept most of that afternoon, but when I awakened at five p.m., I was starting to feel better – so much so that I actually had some appetite and was able to eat a small plate of my wife’s Chinese chicken salad.
Whereas my prior night had been horrific with only short spurts of sleep mainly interrupted by nasal congestion and coughing spells, my sleep on night 1 consisted of two separate but continuous four hour bouts of sleep separated by one plus hour during which I actually read. That was the first time since the onset of my symptoms that I had any interest in reading.
Upon waking up on day 2 I was able to drink my a.m. cup of coffee but then I had to take a nap after being up less than two hours. Before napping I took my second dose (day 2) of Ivermectin. Upon awakening a few hours later my cough was practically gone but I still had continuing nasal congestion and it’s accompanying dripping. Later in the afternoon I noted that my mental alertness was much improved … enough so that I could continue my daily writing. That afternoon (day 2) I was able to take a shower. On the evening of day 2 I had my usual pre-Covid late afternoon beer followed by chili for dinner as my appetite was back to about 80%. That evening I watched college basketball (Kansas vs UConn) on TV, and was able to stay awake until just past 8:30. On night 2 I slept better than usual – uninterrupted for over nine hours.
On awakening on the morning of day 3 I felt pretty good. Not 100% normal, but close. On this third day I was not scheduled to take any Ivermectin as the dose and the day-to-day schedule was determined by my weight. Coffee followed by a bowl of cereal for breakfast. Watched the a.m. Marquette-Wisconsin basketball game on TV. Had a ham sandwich for lunch, took a forty-five minute nap, and then walked outside at a modest pace for more than five minutes. Other than my shower, that was my first off the couch endeavor for more than thirty seconds since the morning of day -2.
On day 3 my usual late afternoon beer was accompanied by some snack mix, and that was followed by a large plate of Chinese chicken salad. With the cough and nasal congestion pretty much gone, I slept well again that night.
On 4 and day 5 I took my last two doses of daily Ivermectin as was indicated by my weight. My strength and stamina continued to improve. On day 4 I walked to the neighborhood park and back (1800+ steps). On day 5, I increased my walking to almost thirty minutes (over 2700 steps) with no symptoms and no residual. Day 4 was topped off with an after dinner glass of scotch. I felt back to normal.
As I stated before, this personal Covid/Ivermectin story is not meant to be scientific, however, since I did have Covid once before, is it possible that I could I serve as my personal control. For what it’s worth in January, 2021 when I had my first episode of Covid, I had no Ivermectin. Back then I spent four consecutive days in bed, and it took well over a week for me to feel strong enough to attempt to walk outside.
In my mind there is no doubt that taking Ivermectin led to a shortened illness, as well as an overall quicker recovery. I felt fortunate that I was able to get my contraband Ivermectin, however this begs the question as to why Ivermectin was not available to everybody. Why did our government do its best to prevent the use of Ivermectin by the general public? For those perhaps unaware Ivermectin has been safely used in Africa in Billions of people for river blindness (onchocerciasis).
Here the emphasis is on Billions with a ‘B’ and “safely.” Likewise in Australia Ivermectin has been used safely in children for epidemic head lice. Here the emphasis is on “children” and “safely.” During the Covid pandemic many countries, e.g. Peru, Japan, India found the use of Ivermectin to be beneficial for Covid, and in some countries it was available over the counter, e.g. El Salvador.
Again the question … If Ivermectin has been safely used in very large numbers throughout the world, why was it not available to us common folk in the U.S.? As my recent infection indicates, Covid is obviously still with us. However, how come Ivermectin isn’t readily available? In my mind, based on my personal experience, I feel that the use of Ivermectin during the Covid pandemic would have helped many people, and could possibly have saved lives. … How many?
I suspect there will never be adequate answers to these questions, and now the use of Ivermectin for Covid is no longer even being talked about. To me, this continued silence is very suspicious, and certainly suggests something very underhanded occurred with respect to Ivermectin and its potential benefit for Covid.