#Fight COVID-19

[halorvic]

[1doesnotsimplyhavejust1fandam]

This has most definitely been said before, but we were robbed of the core four quarantining on-screen together at Buck’s place. ROBBED I say

[maudlin-scribbler]

Maybe I'll stop talking about my shitty life and family for a while. Or maybe tag those posts as something so ppl can block the tag.

I dunno, I dont want ppl to worry about me because I basically treat tumblr as my journal and love to complain about stuff and yeah, my life has been basically a trainwreck but it's alright, it's my trainwreck and I've learned to deal with it at this point (making my peace with it, on the other hand, I haven't truly done that yet).

I post about it mostly to confirm that I am not the insane one, that maybe some things in my life that are outside of my control do suck. I have a myriad stories of my family being downright terrible to me, and I'd probably have more if I didn't have such a shitty memory (which I am guessing, is partly bcs for reasons I am repressing some of those memories), and as much as I wanna share these stuff, I probably won't. And a lot of the stuff I share doesn't really hurt me that much anymore, because most of them happened when I was younger (if something just happened I'll specify so).

So like, yeah I am alright. If I wasn't, I do have ppl to sorta talk to, so it's cool. And yeah, my parents do suck :D but it is what it is, at least they do take care of me in some ways.

(Sometimes I do post shitty things that happen to me because I have a tendency to repress my memories or forget a lot of stuff about certain events so i guess it's also sort of a way to document these events so I know that they happened)

[quantummindclassicalheart]

There's a claim in this post that I wanted to unpack a bit, so I'm making my own post so OP doesn't feel obligated to respond.

I've also seen people saying that deaths are where they were in 2021-2022, and that we're still at "a 9/11 a week" of excess deaths and friends, I'm not seeing great evidence for any of these claims.

Deaths definitely aren't where they were in 2021-2022, but the latter claim doesn't seem unreasonable to me. Maybe the issue is in the definition of "excess deaths", which have always been hard to track-- I'm going to work with "confirmed deaths", which is better-defined (see e.g. the definition here).

About 3000 people died in 9/11-- the WHO's COVID dashboard still reports about a thousand COVID deaths a week in the US as of March 2024, as do the CDC's data. The Slate article linked in that post also mentions that "Death counts are robust because it’s quite rare that a death caused by the disease is not recorded as such."

ABC News reported in January 2024 (based on the CDC data) that "1,500 Americans [were] still dying from COVID every week." So about a third or a half of a 9/11 a week, by that standard.

The NY data linked in that post had about 100-200 deaths a week in the peak of winter, while the CA state tracker reported around 30 COVID deaths a day (so about 200 a week) during that same peak. The CDC data for New York is consistent with the NY state data, and the CDC data for California is consistent with the CA state data.

The NY Times disaggregates this (CDC) data: for the week from December 31, 2023 to January 6, 2023, there were 2,446 deaths from COVID. Of these, the largest numbers were 215 in CA, 180 in NY, 137 in Ohio, 129 in Texas, 128 in Pennsylvania, and 121 in Florida. Adding up these six states gets you a total of 910 deaths, so it's entirely plausible that during the winter surge, over a thousand people died of COVID in a week.

These are definitely not 2021-2022 numbers (that was thousands of deaths every day), but I would suggest that a) CDC and WHO are reputable national sources (and in particular agree with the state numbers well!) and b) these sources say that the death numbers in the US really are still in the thousands a week, which is simultaneously much lower than peak pandemic and yet also much higher than most people realize.

Ultimately, people do need to make their own informed decisions about how to manage risk, and they need to have reliable information to do it. Deaths isn't the only number to track, obviously, and hospitalizations and case numbers are only part of the story.

But I thought it was worth addressing where these "thousands of deaths a week" claims are coming from-- if you believe the CDC and WHO numbers (or the state numbers, which agree with them), I think there is good evidence that there are still over a thousand COVID deaths a week in the US as of March 2024.

[rattusn0rvegicus]

Yeah no, it is incredibly irresponsible to spread misinformation about COVID-19 being "just as bad as it was in 2020-2021".

Confirmed COVID-19 deaths are down, via WHO.

Even excess mortality is down (which is a more comprehensive measure on the *total* impact of the pandemic).

COVID-19 is here to stay and it is still dangerous. I am not saying it isn't smart to mask up - especially in crowded areas, or if you/your housemates are immunocompromised, or during spikes in your area. I am not saying to stop getting vaccinated.

I am saying to stop spreading misinformation.

[humandisastersquad]

Wear a fucking mask

[frankbelloriley]

[naomiknight-17]

Ohhhh my god it is SO HARD to keep my mouth shut

One of the rules of this union conference is basically "don't start shit" but I was picking up a name badge because I didn't get one at registration, and this woman walking up behind me said something like

"Ugh, it's so stupid they're making us wear masks. It's completely pointless, and everyone is just complying-"

And then she came up beside me, and we made eye contact over my adorable black-with-rainbow-stars mask

And I raised my eyebrows at her. I waited for her to continue. I waited for her to say anything. I was so ready to pounce.

She paused. Then she kept walking

Yeah you better walk away or I'll get us both kicked out of this conference

[transparentbeardmentality]

[soysaucevictim]

Med nerd brain is thinking about how the Spanish flu killed a lot of young people and people in their prime - as opposed to those of naive immune systems (young children), geriatric, and otherwise moderately immunocompromised.

The flu strain provoked a severe and life-threatening reaction called a cytokine storm. It's called the nuclear option for a reason. A strong immune system can launch a veritable Tsar Bomba of systemic havoc. Compared to the W-54 that the aforementioned systems can fire off to an infectious/malignant threat.

(This is different from anaphylactic shock. Which is related to an allergic process- something that SHOULDN'T be harmful.)

[vrepit-salt]

Long covid fucking sucks it damaged my lungs enough to give me some severe bronchitis rn I had to get epinephrine this morning at 2am to fucking breathe

[lemememeringue]

I've been having some uncharacteristically violent dreams since I got sick

[spectrumspace]

undefined

I’ve been excitedly waiting for NFTs to die so I could share this atrocity I saw on Twitter once without giving it too much clout.

[ralfmaximus]

The discovery represents a potential new way to recruit the immune system to fight treatment-resistant cancers using an iteration of mRNA technology and lipid nanoparticles, similar to COVID-19 vaccines, but with two key differences: use of a patient’s own tumor cells to create a personalized vaccine, and a newly engineered complex delivery mechanism within the vaccine.

Within 48 hours, the four human study participants showed remarkable results: their immune systems went into turbo cancer-destroying mode. And without surgery, radiation, or dangerous chemotherapy.

Folks, we may have a cure for cancer within your lifetime.

[kharmii]

I don't know. Sometimes it really, really feels like you're trying too hard to be the smartest person in the room without any substance, like... The whole energy is someone being disinvited from the Cool Kids in Academia club because of their whinging bullshit. Like, write a paper, write a book, do literally anything, and boom, if you can prove it, prove it, but this is...sad! It's sad. It's really sad to know that you're alive and talking, and I wish this pity wasn't genuine, but seriously, what the fuck, man.

I was never invited, sillypants. A person doesn't need a high opinion of themselves to write dissenting opinions on the internet. Just type some sheeit and put it out there. Anybody can do it.

I get what's being hinted here, like the 'Appeal to Authority' scam the left always pulls. Isn't consensus always a bunch of radical leftists agreeing with each other? IE: They'll go into a global warming study with a desired conclusion, and then they'll pat each other on the back when the evidence they've tweaked supports the conclusion they manipulated it to. Then the rest of us get fed more fake and gay statistics, and the oligarchy gets to run 'clean energy' scams.

Sometimes I get so fed up I want to be an asshole about it when I'm right about something. Hey, remember back in 2020 when I was surrounded by sniveling rat coworkers cackling around me like hyenas and calling me crazy and making cuckoo noises when I said Covid-19 was fake? -When I said it was a scam to steal the election through the mail or make a ton of money for political cronies selling vaccines? Remember how people called me a terrible human being and tried to ruin my life? Remember that?

Remember when people called me a racist and white supremacist around the same time period when I called Ibram X Kendi a nasty, semi-retarded hate-filled whackadoodle Twitter personality who isn't an authority on shit, and then years later, he was caught scamming millions of dollars? Remember that?

Every one of those suckers (who harass and doxx people over political opinions) should get put into medieval stocks and get rotten fruit and pig crap thrown in their faces for a few days. I should get to guzzle down a Sam's Club economy sized can of baked beans until I'm loaded with farts and then I should get to blast farts in their faces all while saying, "Covid was fake and gay and everybody knows it now you dumb biiiiiiiitch!!!"

[youngks-smile]

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.