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#the pandemic is not over
spacedocmom · 1 month
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Doctor Beverly Crusher @SpaceDocMom Disability and chronic illness can happen to anyone. Even the health-privileged and abled may one day become disabled and/or chronically ill, especially in your ongoing pandemic. All public health policies should keep this in mind. Protect yourselves and others. emojis: black heart, blue heart, masked x 5 3:31 PM · Mar 21, 2024
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cynthicaster · 30 days
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I JUST HAD AN IDEA
since y'all seem so flipping determined to say "i hauve covid" instead of literally any other expression of admiration for the physical form, despite its insensitivity in a world in which the virus is still spreading and targeting those society tends to ignore
why don't you, instead of saying "i hauve covid," send a picture of you making a flustered face in an n95? shows that you care abt the pandemic and still wear a mask. or even just put a 😷 emoji!
or yk you could say literally anything else because this phrase serves literally no purpose, like a lot of jokes, hence it should be abandoned as soon as one realises how fucked up it is!
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feminist-space · 1 month
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"We are fundraising to purchase 288,000 3M 9501+ KN95 masks from government surplus!
Our goal is $9,000 to win the auction and pay for transportation of the masks from VA to mask blocs across the country.
These include mask blocs in DC, Northern Southern and Central Virginia, New Orleans, St. Louis, and Champaign Urbana, New York City, Kansas City, Tulsa, Knoxville, Long Island and more.
Currently, a pallet of 12,000 KN95 masks is 200 dollars each. We are aiming to buy as many pallets as possible and deliver them to whoever wants them! If you want to support but can't contribute, consider sharing this to your socials.
#MaskBloc #MaskDistribution ⁠fundraising #COVIDIsntOver #MutualAid"
"We’ve made contact with the seller, and they’ve agreed to sell them directly at $200/palette!
By buying directly instead of through the auction, we will definitely be getting these masks. The only question is how many.
The more money we raise, the more palettes we can buy, and the more transportation we can pay for to get these masks to communities across the country!
ALMOST HALFWAY THERE!!! LETS GOOO!!!! Thank you all for your support, sharing and contributions. Speaking on behalf of all of the organizers, we are so stoked that this campaign is going well and about how many masks we are going to be able to get. Thank you!!!
Alt text: Flyer with periwinkle and orange color scheme. Text at the top says “Mask Fundraiser. Joint mask bloc effort (14+ blocs). Bulk discount on high-quality KN95s at surplus sale. Every dollar makes a dent. Asterisks. $4=240 masks. $200=12,000 masks. Goal: 280,000 masks.”
Underneath is an image of a large metal shipping container with 10 big visible cardboard boxes. Next to that is an illustration of a hand holding a white respirator with ear-loop straps that shows the text “kn95 gb2626-2019.”
Text at the bottom of the flyer says “donate: tinyurl.com/bulk-kn95s. Going to mask blocs in: DC, Northern/Southern/Central Virginia, New Orleans, St. Louis, Champaign Urbana, Chicago, New York City, Kansas City, Tulsa, Knoxville, Long Island, Cincinnati, San Jose & more. To be distributed for free to all of our communities.” Asterisks mentioned at top of flyer are resolved here, with an asterisk next to text that says “Portion of money also going toward transport and associated costs.""
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My anticipatory dread of good events has increased with the general lack of care and masking: an anxiety and certainty that someone will give me or my partner Covid and we won’t be able to go to Australia, or that something else will sweep this trip out from under us. We’re generally safe but there’s a limit to how much our masks protect us if others aren’t wearing them. Part of me won’t be excited for the trip until we’re on the plane.
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sepdet · 6 months
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Best-sourced article on the state of things I have seen.
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freddyfreeman · 8 months
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Happy fourth year of masking ✌️
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"All of us wish this was behind us, but it’s not. Facing that fact this virus, in one version or another, will be with us for many years to come, rather than denialism and complacency, is critical."
This is a long article, but it contains what you want to know, if you want to know about BA.2.86
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pandemic-info · 2 years
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COVID-19 - Close the Gaps
A good graphic via
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sainte666 · 1 year
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Posting this to tunglr dot com since nobody irl besides my equally covid cautious partner follows me here.. I am SO fed up with ppl pretending the fucking pandemic is over and it is driving me off the deep end that even my friends are believing that shit.
Tbh every day (since the CDC foolishly dropped mask mandates despite disabled ppl’s pleas and despite covid cases never actually fucking dropping that much) a “friend” of mine disappoints me with their fucking lack of covid-19 precautions. It is such a betrayal of my trust and clearly demonstrates how little people I truly care(d) about care about me, immunocompromised, and elderly and institutionalized people.
Examples that have happened to me literally this week alone:
Previously covid-19 conscious and also disabled friend went to a presumably unmasked party and ran into TWO other people I know who I thought were ACTUALLY still being covid-19 conscious. (Both of them are also a partner of one of The Last covid-conscious people I know bc he has Long Covid too, so this is SUCH a questionable choice from all fucking three of them)
Another friend who has seen texts and posts from me about how I feel discarded by society and my friends when people don’t wear masks and are pretending the pandemic is over LIKE LAST WEEK! sent me videos of him at a bar last night, not a fucking mask to be seen. He literally had a family member die of covid-19 early on. ?????
My entire fucking family basically gaslighting me that it isn’t that serious (They were fucking there when I was infected with the OG strain of covid which genuinely almost had me in the hospital and gave me Long Covid, as well as the reinfection in 2022) and going out to a bar/event unmasked
Also even my fucking therapist was like “well you can’t control what others do, you can only protect yourself :)” - in case you didn’t know.. masks don’t offer a lot of fucking protection against covid, just giving people covid. Also, you really can’t just avoid places where people don’t mask unless you have a ton of money for delivery and can work 100% remote 100% of the time. Wtf am I supposed to do, never leave my fucking apartment ever again because people choose to believe the lie that the pandemic is over?? Ah yes, let me just never be able to safely (safe-ish) go to the grocery store, or safely go to the pharmacy for the meds I fucking need to live. That sounds normal and like I am the asshole for wanting people to, idk, go back to the caution that was taken like in mid-2020??
I can and will never fucking forgive the cdc and capitalistic greed for what they’ve done (or more specifically have NOT done). Literally I am begging everyone to wear a fucking mask and get up to date on your boosters and discourage others from hosting super spreaders.
Thanks for reading if you got this far. This shit is just so isolating and frustrating. Wear A Fucking Mask Thanks :)
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olena · 2 years
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Long COVID Experts: U.S. Government Needs to Do More | Time
For many people who are done with the pandemic and the caution that came with it, a maskless supermarket may seem like a sign of progress. But for those with an intimate understanding of Long COVID, it feels like a bad omen.
Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel is used to feeling like the only person in the country who still cares about COVID-19. He ignores the side-eye he gets for wearing an N95 mask at parties—a self-imposed policy that makes him “look odd” but kept him safe after a recent work dinner turned into a superspreader event. The oncologist, bioethicist, and professor at the University of Pennsylvania provides each of his students with an N95 and runs four HEPA air filters during lectures. He rolls down the windows when he gets in an Uber and goes hungry on planes so he can wear his mask the whole time. He’s given up one of his favorite pastimes—dining at restaurants—even now that many people don’t think twice about eating indoors.
Emanuel, 65, takes these precautions even though he’s vaccinated and boosted and thus well protected against severe COVID-19. The acute disease doesn’t scare him much—but what could come after does.
“The only thing that’s preventing me from leading a normal life is the risk that I’ll get Long COVID,” Emanuel says. “I can’t say why people aren’t [reacting like] their hair’s on fire. This is a serious, serious illness.”
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By the CDC’s own estimate from June, one in five U.S. adults with a known prior case of COVID-19 had symptoms of Long COVID. Having COVID-19 also raises a person’s risk of developing chronic conditions including heart disease, asthma, and diabetes,
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Long COVID can take many forms, including exhaustion, cognitive dysfunction, neurological issues, and chronic pain. People can develop it whether they’re young or old, sick or healthy, vaccinated or not. And while some people get better in a matter of months, recent studies and many patient experiences show symptoms can last years. There is no known cure for Long COVID, and the only way to prevent it is not to get infected at all.
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Many Americans welcomed the return to normalcy. But to McCone, 32, that approach is “a crime against humanity,” given what we now know about Long COVID.
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McCone got sick in March 2020. COVID-19 knocked him flat. ... More than two years later, McCone barely leaves the house, except for medical appointments. He still has severe fatigue, chest pain, shortness of breath, and nervous system dysfunction. He can’t work because of his symptoms, and his partner has become his caretaker. His symptoms got even worse after catching COVID-19 again in September 2021, so he’s “petrified” of getting reinfected—a fear he wishes more people shared.
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Hannah Davis, a machine learning expert who began researching Long COVID after her own diagnosis, also got sick in March 2020. Davis has testified about Long COVID before Congress and advised federal health officials about the condition. She says those experiences have shown her that health officials understand that Long COVID is a substantial problem, and that, while vaccines reduce the risk of developing it—by some amount between 15% and 50%, studies suggest—they are not failsafe. The U.K.’s Office for National Statistics recently reported that roughly 4.5% of triple-vaccinated adults developed Long COVID after being infected by Omicron. But the government doesn’t seem to want to dwell on these scary stats, Davis says. “It really looks like it’s being hidden intentionally,” she says.
Davis believes that’s because the Biden Administration leaned heavily on vaccines as a ticket out of the pandemic and is wary of walking back that messaging now,
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Some Long COVID advocates and scientists have called for an initiative like Operation Warp Speed—the Trump Administration program that quickly yielded multiple effective COVID-19 vaccines—for Long COVID treatments. But the NIH hasn’t built anything of the sort...
Dr. Eric Topol, founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute and a prolific parser of COVID-19 research on Twitter, says the NIH is doing good research on the underlying science of Long COVID, but he’d like to see more trials focused on treatments. “You need to do both, because we can’t wait another year or two for the biology to be better defined,” Topol says. (The NIH says it will begin treatment-focused trials this fall...
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A tremendous amount of Long COVID research has been published in the last two years, most coming out of independent laboratories, Putrino says. From this work, scientists have found multiple possible explanations for Long COVID symptoms: SARS-CoV-2 virus lingering in the body, abnormal immune system activity, reactivation of other viruses previously lying dormant, tiny blood clots throughout the body, and more. These disparate findings suggest that there may be different root causes or subtypes of Long COVID, which means all patients might not respond to the same therapy. But each one suggests a possible path to treatment worth testing sooner rather than later, Topol says.
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Journalist and author Katie Hafner, 64, was one of the unlucky people to develop Long COVID after being vaccinated and boosted. She got infected in May and was left with significant fatigue and brain fog. Her Long COVID symptoms were on the milder end of the spectrum and have improved with time, but Hafner says she can still manage only a few hours of work per day and has to carefully monitor her physical and mental energy levels. Her anxiety has also escalated since getting sick.
Hafner’s husband is Dr. Robert Wachter, chair of the department of medicine at the University of California, ...
[Who, by the way, publicly shamed her: https://twitter.com/Bob_Wachter/status/1522799251914313728
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She got sick shortly after.
Now Bob says:
“If it turns out that it markedly increases the rates of some of the biggest medical hazards we have in life”—including organ failure, heart disease, and dementia, as research currently suggests— “the toll of that over years and years will be tremendous,” Wachter says. “I don’t think [the CDC has] done a good job explaining that at all.”
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Experts say there is more that can be done, even before new therapies are discovered or developed. To slow transmission and thus lower rates of Long COVID, Topol says the CDC should tell people to isolate for longer than five days after getting infected and campaign harder for people to get booster shots. Emanuel, meanwhile, would like to see better communication about which masks protect wearers from infection; respirators like N95s are more effective than surgical or cloth masks, but many people still walk around in droopy blue surgical masks. Public indoor spaces, like restaurants and schools, should also have enforceable requirements for ventilation and air filtration, given the virus’ ability to spread in the air.
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A return to mask mandates would also be a good step, Davis says. But even if none of those changes are enacted, she says the government should at least emphasize how common Long COVID appears to be and that it can affect vaccinated people. She fears many vaccinated people think they’re in the clear and can’t get Long COVID, because the Administration has sung the shots’ praises so much. “We’re just drowning in this sea of misinformation that is not only causing people to poorly think about their own risk, but also putting other people at risk,” Davis says.
Those with Long COVID often say they feel like they’re screaming into the void, trying to get through to people who either aren’t aware of or don’t care about the condition and the possibility it could affect them, too.
For many people who are done with the pandemic and the caution that came with it, a maskless supermarket may seem like a sign of progress. But for those with an intimate understanding of Long COVID, it feels like a bad omen.
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spacedocmom · 26 days
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Doctor Beverly Crusher @SpaceDocMom Once again the Department of Temporal Investigations says they don't care how often I tell your era to mask up and stay safe because not enough of you will do it to shift the timeline, as long as I don't tell you that you could avert the coming H5N1 crisis by [REDACTED]. emojis: black heart, blue heart, masked 5:05 PM · Apr 3, 2024
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"If a pig catches both a human influenza A virus and an avian influenza A virus at the same time, it can spark a process known as viral reassortment — a genetic exchange in which flu viruses swap gene segments." "Those swaps can introduce dramatic changes, producing a new virus with certain properties of a non-human strain coupled with the capacity to infect and spread between people." "The death rate in humans may be upwards of 50 per cent, World Health Organization data suggests, though it's possible that milder infections are getting missed, skewing the case fatality ratio. Still, in a population that's never been exposed, the global impacts could be dire." "More human cases could also be happening under the radar among farm workers who've moved to the U.S. from abroad, don't speak English as their first language, and may be hesitant to seek medical help, he added." "So I think there's probably underreporting on both sides," Armstrong said." "If [H5N1] gets into a population where there's constantly animals going in and out … it might not ever leave."
I've been watching this develop for the past several days, and apart from being terrified most people will not take this seriously (I've seen a handful of people already shout conspiracy on social media and it's alarming to see, as always). What I wanted to point out is that pandemics are going to continue to be our 'normal.' I watched a great video on YouTube a while ago (I believe it was by Vice?) that touched base on how this is going to become our new reality because of multiple factors (such as our proximity to animals, and environments/etc). It was when Covid hit and they did a piece debunking some of the misinformation floating on the internet. If I can find it I will post it here because it was informative and relevant to pretty much any world crisis we will see around any virus that spreads among a human population.
This post isn't trying to fear monger anyone, I just hope more people are aware of what is happening because this is important to talk about. There are already cases (of cows getting this bird flu) in the US, and I won't be surprised if there will be instances in more countries around the world. As usual, keep washing your hands/keeping good hygiene practices, masking up (and if you aren't I hope you consider it), and taking precautions if you do happen to visit/work or go near a pig or poultry farm too:
I'll keep track of this here of course, but please stay informed folks. And also FU to any governments who will try to minimize this or try to diminish the severity until it's too late and community spread happens like Covid because their actions are influenced by capitalistic interests.
Update (April 7th, 2024, 9:32pm EST): to anyone wondering where some of the source information originates from -here is a link to the CDC. They are tracking documented avian virus outbreaks in the US and the public can access it here:
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feminist-space · 4 months
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World Health Organization
MEDIA ADVISORY
NEW: COVID19 variant of interest JN.1
Geneva, 19 December 2023 -- Due to its rapidly increasing spread, WHO is classifying the variant JN.1 as a separate variant of interest (VOl) from the parent lineage BA.2.86. It was previously classified as VOl as part of BA.2.86 sublineages.
WHO advises people to take measures to prevent infections and severe disease using all available tools. These include:
-Wear a mask when in crowded, enclosed, or poorly ventilated areas, and keep a safe distance from others, as feasible
-Improve ventilation
-Practise respiratory etiquette - covering coughs and sneezes
-Clean your hands regularly
-Stay up to date with vaccinations against COVID-19 and influenza, especially if you are at high risk for severe disease
-Stay home if you are sick
-Get tested if you have symptoms, or if you might have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 or influenza
For health workers and health facilities, WHO advises:
-Universal masking in health facilities, as well as appropriate masking, respirators and other PPE for health workers caring for suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.
-Improve ventilation in health facilities
Image also has alt text embedded.
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kimberlychapman · 3 months
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The Pandemic Is Not Over
"We’re asking you to stay home if you’re unwell but also seek medical care if you need to seek medical care. Get tested so that you can get the right treatment course. Wear masks when you’re in crowded places. If you’re going to be around older people, test yourself before you go; use a self-test—things such as that."
As I've said before, you either care about medically vulnerable people or you don't. We don't wear signs on our heads. Abled and health-privileged people need to mask up all the time in public spaces to help stop this thing from spreading around and creating new variants.
You are NOT an intersectional ally of anyone if you are going around spreading this disease without care.
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youngks-smile · 2 months
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What I Want You To Know About Long COVID
Well lads, I've been suffering from Long COVID for over a year now. My life is at a complete standstill. I'm 25 years old and I'm too sick to go back to school, I can't work, I had to move back in with my parents and I'm still stuck here.
Here are just a few things I wish people knew about Long COVID, including things I didn't know myself until I got it.
COVID destroys your immune system. Yes, even if you don't have Long COVID. Are you getting sick more often now? When you get sick, does it last longer? There are many studies showing that COVID causes t cell depletion, even in mild COVID cases! T cells are how your body remembers how to fight off infections you've had before so losing those cells? Bad news.
Your initial infection can be mild and you can still get Long COVID. Right from Yale Medicine, "Most people with Long COVID had mild acute COVID." (This is also a good link for a basic Long COVID overview).
There can be a gap of time between when you "get better" from the initial COVID infection to the onset of Long COVID symptoms. Some people get sick with an initial COVID infection and never get better. Some get better and then weeks or months later start developing Long COVID symptoms. Long COVID symptoms can even fluctuate over time, can go away for months and then suddenly come back.
So many people have Long COVID and don't realize it. Do you feel more tired lately but no matter how much you sleep, nothing helps? Is it harder to concentrate at work or school? Can you just not think like you used to? You could have Long COVID and not even know it. Even mild post-COVID symptoms are still Long COVID.
COVID can do anything to your body. Long COVID has over 200 recognized symptoms and can affect basically any part or system of your body. There is no one mechanism or cause of Long COVID which unfortunately also means there's no one cure either.
The effects of COVID are cumulative. Each COVID reinfection increases your chances of developing Long COVID. COVID is also affecting your body in other ways, yes, even if you're otherwise young and healthy! "Repeat COVID-19 infections increase risk of organ failure, death".
Once you have Long COVID, repeat COVID infections will make your symptoms worse. "80% [of Long COVID patients] saw their symptoms worsen [from reinfection]. In 60% of people who were in recovery or remission from Long COVID, reinfection caused a recurrence of Long COVID."
There is a lot more I want to say about Long COVID but I want to keep this post at least somewhat manageable to read. Like how when COVID is contracted during pregnancy, those COVID-exposed fetuses have a 6.3-fold increased risk of motor developmental delays, or that another study found 50% of babies exposed to COVID in utero had developmental delays.
You need to keep caring about COVID, for others around you and also for yourself even if you're "healthy". Everyone is at risk. And don't forget 40-60% of COVID infections are asymptomatic, which is why masking even if you feel fine is crucial. The only way right now to not get Long COVID is to not get COVID in the first place. It's not too late, if you've stopped masking it's never too late to start again! I know it's easy to get distracted by things in your life that seem more real than the possibility of getting sick some time in the future, and the peer pressure to not mask can be intense. But it only feels less real or less important until your entire life is having Long COVID. Trust me.
I know this is a complicated issue, many people can't afford to stay home when sick even if they want to because of their jobs, there are disgusting policies trying to ban wearing masks, but please if you can. Keep masking. Masking works, masking saves lives.
This post got a bit longer than I wanted so below the cut is a non-exhaustive list of my Long COVID symptoms and some of my experiences as one of the "healthy young people" who got "unlucky". cw brief mention of suicidal ideation.
Welcome to the Thunderdome that is my body with Long COVID. Keep in mind these are just my experiences and symptoms, Long COVID can cause any range of symptoms at varying severities.
Dysautonomia: Exercise intolerance, Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM), fatigue, and heat intolerance. What do those things mean? Here's some specific examples. Absolutely terrible circulation I am so cold all the time but also, if I get a little too warm I will pass out. Eating hot food makes my heart rate spike, I sweat, my body feels heavy. Blood pooling and pins and needles in my feet when I walk. Don't even think about exercising past walking, it's impossible. I used to work out an hour a day 4 times a week and now walking up one flight of stairs makes my heart pound and I can't breathe. Can't take even just warm showers anymore or I will pass out. Heat rashes from being in the sun for 10 minutes.
Digestive issues: Honestly too many to name but: constant bloating, extreme nausea, constipation, slow motility, lack of appetite, just so much cramping and pain. I lost 18 pounds from Long COVID, as someone who was already considered underweight their entire life, and almost had to get a shunt put into my chest to deliver nutrients because I was nearly completely unable to eat. For the first 6 months of Long COVID, if I could manage 600 calories a day, that was a good day.
Histamine intolerance: Oh boy. My worst symptoms, I don't even know where to start with it. If you know Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) it's very similar. I can only eat 19 foods. If i eat a single bite of something not on that list, it's 48 hours of absolute hell. Coughing, migraines, itchy eyes, such extreme nausea I cannot even describe it, panic/feeling of doom, racing heart rate, derealization, rash, uncontrollable muscle tremors. I only learned about histamine intolerance 5 months into having Long COVID so before that, I was experiencing these symptoms nearly every single day. Terrifying isn't even a strong enough word to describe how it felt to experience all this and have no idea what it was, how to stop it, or if it would ever stop. Really dark times.
Neurological issues: More of that derealization. Inability to concentrate. Anxiety. OCD-like symptoms such as thoughts getting "stuck" in my head, repeating 24/7 completely unable to stop them, genuinely felt like my brain had cracked open and I had lost my mind. Constant dizziness like I'm on a boat.
Sleep issues: I sleep like garbage. I have insomnia, I wake up dozens of times every night and every single time I sleep I have intensely vivid dreams. I can't sleep longer than 7 hours total no matter how exhausted I am. It is exhausting. I'm exhausted, I'm so so tired.
And finally. Just. Really intense suicidal ideation. My body, my health, my entire life has been stolen from me because someone else decided my life was worth less to them than wearing a mask or staying home if they feel sick. Before I got Long COVID, I was preparing to go to South Korea to teach English, then on to a PhD in neurolinguistics, I was supposed to meet my long distance partner and had already booked plane tickets when I got sick. All of that has been destroyed.
Most of us with Long COVID are stuck in a cycle of being extremely sick, then if you're lucky you'll slowly get better over months, just to get reinfected and go right back where you started or worse. Honestly, I'm not scared of dying from COVID. I'm scared of living for a long time, suffering from Long COVID the entire time. This isn't living.
I don't know how to end this now. I'm still fighting, I'm trying experimental treatments, I'm not giving up yet. I hope everyone reading this stays healthy and well.
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intersexfairy · 4 months
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at urgent care and the sheer number of people with covid in here is absurd. if you haven't gotten the most recent vaccination, NOW is the time to get it. if you arent wearing a mask, NOW is the time to start. protect yourself and others as much as you can! you will regret it if you don't.
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