My Hydroxychloriquine Story

This is NOT a political story. It’s a personal, medical memoir regarding my encounter with Covid in April 2020. I didn’t politicize what happened, though I realized later that but for some fortunate timing, caring help, and informed decisions, I would have likely died due to the politics of it all.

I don’t know what choices other people made or should have made. I count myself lucky that at that time, decision making was not taken away from me.

Here’s my story…..I showed first symptoms of Covid on April 1, 2020. Kind of at the height of the worst of things. I was sick for a total of 14 days. I had a bit of a sore throat, some body aches and felt chilled, but my most serious symptom was a fever that would get as high as 103 in the evening, and then go back down to around 100 each morning. On about the 5^th day I lost my senses of smell and taste.

I have some medical history which made the above even more scary than it already was. I was 63 when this was going on. I previously had a heart attack at a young age (43) with some after effects, though not disabling. The possibility of Covid leading to breathing problems was frightening, and addressing that in a hospital was even scarier.

During this time, I consulted regularly with my doctor via “telemed” appointments. On about the 7^th day of 103 fevers, he said to me “These daily fever spikes are very dangerous, particularly considering your heart situation. Your body is reacting with a furious antibody rush each day, which may be preventing a spread to the lungs, but the antibody response itself is getting dangerous, as it will attack and damage your heart and lungs. He called it a “cytokine storm”, which I researched and realized it was life threatening.

I asked “What are the options?” He said “The only thing I can think of is to try hydroxycholoroquine. This is an antimalarial generic drug that seems to be useful on high fevers, but there is no consensus regarding its usefulness for Covid.” My initial response was “The stuff that Trump is touting?!?” He said, “I am looking at what’s available and might help, and I don’t see any other options. If this keeps up you’ll start having breathing issues and have to go to the hospital”. We then spoke about the protocols for my going to the hospital if needed.

I told the doc I needed to discuss the hydroxy suggestion with my cardiologist. I also wanted to make sure that politics and emotions would play no factor, so I could make an informed, logical decision.

I called my cardiologist’s service that night. I knew I wouldn’t get MY cardiologist, but would get one of the “on-calls”, probably a cardiac fellow, which seemed OK for the situation. A fellow called me back and had my records in front of her. She was not adverse to hydroxy for me, but said their current view was if they were giving hydroxy to one of their cardiac patients with Covid, they preferred the patient be hospitalized. I said I wanted to think that over. But I REALLY didn’t want to go to the hospital.

The next morning I discussed the situation with one of my cardiologists who I knew pretty well. Regarding the hydroxychloroquine, he stated “You really have no other choice and I think you should take it.” I then asked about the fellow’s view about the hospital. He said he would OK with my taking it and not going, as long as I promised I would come in if I had breathing problems or chest pain. Fair enough.

So, I got the prescription.

The protocol was to take it for 5 days, with Azithromycin and zinc. I was surprised, and somewhat comforted, that there WAS a protocol. I was also comforted by the research I did while deciding, concluding that this was a low risk option that was my best chance. My usual pharmacy (CVS) didn’t have hydroxy, but a nearby Rite-Aid did. As it turns out, a few months later you couldn’t fill a hydroxy prescription at all, when our government essentially banned it.

I started taking it, per protocol, on day 8 of my fevers. Things were the same on day 8 and 9, but the fevers were less on days 10-12, and gone by day 13.

Did it work? Did it cure me?

I must be honest, I don’t know. But I kind of think it did.

Does any database in the world have my case (history, symptoms, treatment, results) documented? It does not seem so. You would think the “scientific” world would be interested in such things, but apparently not. I always felt that my general doctor and cardiologist should have been required to report the scenario, so the data could be assessed. But in reality, I would not be surprised if my data was not recorded or reported anywhere.

As an aside, my doctor is a standard medical practitioner. He’s not a naturopathic, avant-garde practitioner, or someone outside the mainstream. He did what I hope all doctors would do….assess the situation, discuss options with the patient, and together an informed decision was made.

After recovering, I found myself wanting to understand what “the science” actually said about natural immunity in someone like me — someone who had fought off the virus and had the experience to prove it. Should I take the shot when it came out? I wasn’t looking to make a political statement. I genuinely wanted data, so I could make a responsible, informed decision about next steps. That turned out to be harder to find than it should have been.

I wanted to make an informed decision so I looked at what the CDC was saying, which was essentially “We think everyone should get the shots”. My thought was, “That doesn’t seem too scientific, and it wasn’t addressing the science regarding natural immunity.” It wasn’t too helpful in making an informed decision.

When vaccines became available, I did what I had done during my illness — I tried to do a personal risk-benefit analysis. Given my cardiac history, the early reports of myocarditis as a possible side effect gave me pause. I understood it was being described as rare and mild in most people. But I also knew that “mild myocarditis” in someone with my history was a different calculation than it was for a healthy 30 year old. I made the decision that was right for me, and I’ve never second-guessed it. I never took a shot. I’m not suggesting anyone else should make the same decision. I am suggesting that everyone deserves the space and information to make their own.

I’ve never regretted not taking the shot, and was grateful that since I worked for myself, I was not put in the position where I was pressured to waive informed consent.

The principle that individuals deserve honest, complete information when making health decisions should not be controversial. In my retirement I have gotten involved in the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) movement, which is dedicated to providing people with true scientific information, untainted by politics.

My own experience taught me how much can go wrong — and how much can go right — when patients and doctors are empowered to think clearly and decide together. I proudly support MAHA and urge friends to see what they are doing.

The politicization and financial influences affecting of our collective health has been going on for too long and with huge consequences. This is NOT political, we all share a common interest in this.