I firmly believe had I not taken them, I would have ended up in the hospital.
My son contracted COVID from his local high school. He was under quarantine in a separate bedroom, and I was his only caretaker. A few days later, I came down with symptoms, and we bunked together in hopes no one else in our family of 6 would get sick. After a day-long headache and low-grade fever, I went to an urgent care clinic to be tested for COVID.
The doctor came in with the results and told me that the test was positive. “Have you been vaccinated?” he asked. I told him I had not. His response was, “That’s not good,” while he grimaced. He said, “ I hope you don’t get sick. There are no hospital beds anywhere. There’s no treatment for COVID. It’s a virus.” He explained how he gave out “Z-packs” for COVID and then instructed me to go to the ER if I had any breathing issues. He did not give an exam and stood near the door. So I took my prescription and left.
My symptoms were annoying but weren’t serious, and I felt like I would breeze right through. However, my fever crept back up on days 7-10, and I began to feel worse and worse. On day 12, when I felt so weak I could hardly get dressed, I knew I needed medical care. I decided to go to a different urgent care clinic that I heard was actively treating people in hopes of avoiding hospitalization.
Once there, they did an x-ray which confirmed I did not have pneumonia and did a thorough exam. The doctor asked if I had been offered “antibodies,” and I told him I had not. Due to my health, I am considered “at-risk,” and he said I would have been a good candidate BEFORE day 10. This doctor prescribed Ivermectin, budesonide, fluvoxamine, doxycycline, anti-nausea and stomach protection medications.
Why hadn’t the other doctor prescribed these medicines the first time?
The Louisiana Department of Health wrote a memo instructing pharmacies NOT to fill a prescription for Ivermectin that very day. The pharmacist said she would fill the prescription, but insurance would not cover it. I left praying that this protocol would make me feel better. Forty-eight hours later, most of the symptoms I was suffering from were entirely resolved. It was a complete change from just a couple of days earlier!
I am so thankful that I found a doctor willing to prescribe me what later became a controversial medicine and a pharmacy ready to sell it to me. I cannot say which of those medicines was the big-ticket to helping me feel better, but I will say that I firmly believe had I not taken them, I would have ended up in the hospital.
— Melissa Taylor
