Joe Rogan says he contracted COVID-19 while on comedy tour
LOS ANGELES - Comedian and podcast host Joe Rogan has contracted COVID-19, the 54-year-old confirmed on his Instagram on Wednesday.
Rogan said he began "feeling very weary," and described symptoms including a headache and feeling "run down."
"Throughout the night I got fevers, sweats, and I knew what was going on," he said on his Instagram video.
He explained that after experiencing his initial symptoms he isolated himself from his family and began treatment with a variety of drugs, including ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug that the FDA has strongly warned against using to treat COVID-19.
RELATED: CDC sees ‘rapid increase’ of severe illnesses from ivermectin use for COVID-19
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has previously approved ivermectin in both people and animals for some parasitic worms and for head lice and skin conditions. It has not approved its use in treating or preventing COVID-19 in humans.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week it’s seeing a "rapid increase" of severe illnesses as more people turn to ivermectin to treat COVID-19 despite stern warnings from health officials not to do so.
Some symptoms associated with ivermectin toxicity are rash, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, neurological disorders and potentially severe hepatitis requiring hospitalization.
Rogan said he also used prednisone, a drug used to treat inflammation, as well as a "monoclonal antibody treatment."
"A wonderful heartfelt thank you to modern medicine for pulling me out of this so quickly and easily," Rogan said.
Rogan said he got sick when he was traveling for his "Joe Rogan: The Sacred Clown Tour."
He was originally scheduled to perform with comedian Dave Chappelle in Nashville on Friday but said in his Instagram post that it would be postponed.
"I GOT COVID," he wrote in the caption alongside a video of himself explaining his diagnosis. "My apologies, but we have to move the Nashville show to Sunday, October 24."