Artist: theoatmeal on Insta

This #LongCovidAwarenessDay I’m reflecting on how many people have been let down by governments, public health & medical establishments

How Covid has been downplayed, airborne spread ignored & vaxx and relax strategies pushed for the sake of capitalism

How many have Long Covid because of this?

Those of us who were disabled before the pandemic could see this wave of chronic illness coming - and many of us have been screaming from the top of our lungs the last 5 years.

Begging people not to take their health for granted & to wear a mask and protect themselves.

Warning them that there are no do-overs once you become chronically ill. Unfortunately very few people are listening - and many won’t understand the true devastation of #LongCovid until it directly impacts them. At which point it’ll be too late.

Despite seeing these waves of disability as an inevitable consequence of “let er rip” Covid strategy - one thing I did not see coming was how many people would willingly embrace not only ableism - but full on eugenics.

People in my own life who were previously kind & supportive have become cruel and angry. The masks have been ripped off. They don’t hesitate to tell me that they blame me for the restrictions placed on them in the early days of Covid.

That they will never again allow their freedoms to be infringed on in the name of protecting the vulnerable. One even went as far as to say “you’ve been sick for years - just die already.”

People who say these things don’t understand what disabled ppl understand all too well - your health is not a permanent state.

Everyone will become disabled eventually - some earlier than others. Many who think they’re invulnerable are already vulnerable and don’t even know it

Yet rather than adapting behaviour and pushing for a new normal that makes the world safe for everyone - most temporarily abled people have instead doubled down on hateful eugenics talking points and want us to stay home forever (or worse - die). It needs to stop.

Covid is airborne and we all share the air. “You do you” individualism is quite literally killing people. We need to start caring about the air we share as this will lead to a healthier society for everyone.

Until then we need to mask up. It’s easy, incredibly effective & it might save someone’s life. At the very least you will know you didn’t contribute to another person’s suffering - and you will be drastically reducing your own odds of getting Long Covid. It’s worth it.

https://www.disabledginger.com/p/i-dont-know-anyone-with-long-covid

Today is international #LongCovid Awareness Day

Check this canadian interview with a Mount Sinai (NY) chronic disease specialist. Up to one in five people with COVID-19 develop LONG COVID, meaning three months after having the disease they still do not recover their full abilities.

The specialist affirms that each reinfection, even moderate, of COVID-19 subtracts between 2-6% of IQ.

LONG COVID is a disease that causes systemic damage, especially to the immune system, causing T-cell exhaustion and triggering latent diseases or exposing the body to new pathogens from which it would have been able to defend itself before. Worth a listen:

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/audio/9.6685208

#CovidLong #COVID19 #CovidIsNotOver #COVIDisAirborne
#CovidIsntOver
#ImmuneSystem #ImmuneDysfunction
#autoimmune #TCell
#chronicillness
#ChronicIllnesses

I was an athlete for years. I did fitness competitions, trail running, mountain running, obstacle course races, interprovincial bicycling, hiking, and martial arts. I was a professional dancer, an aerialist, a model, and a LARPer. These days, I spend the vast majority of my time sitting down. I go to the gym a couple of times a week and try to go for walks every day, but if I exert too much or think too hard for too long, I'm exhausted.

This is not the normal feeling of being tired after a grueling workout. It's not a mind over matter thing. It's the kind of fatigue you feel when you're sick or dealing with a nasty injury. #LongCovidAwarenessDay #LongCovid #PostExertionalMalaise #ChronicIllness

It’s International Long Covid Awareness Day, and my latest article looks at the reasons why people believe they don’t know anyone with Long Covid.

We desperately need increased visibility into this debilitating chronic illness so that we can raise awareness and fund treatments, mitigations and cures.

Anyone can get Long Covid. It’s not limited to ‘only the vulnerable’ or those who had a severe initial infection.

This disease does not discriminate. Even people with asymptomatic initial infections have found themselves disabled by Long Covid.

It’s time we start processing the trauma of the pandemic and stop living in denial.

We are in the middle of a mass disabling event, and the longer it takes us to admit that, the more people will be harmed.

Let’s spread the word that the only way to avoid Long Covid is to avoid getting Covid in the first place.

Wear a mask. Stay home when sick. Clean and ventilate the air.

When we all agree to care about the air we share, we can begin to bring about real change.

https://www.disabledginger.com/p/i-dont-know-anyone-with-long-covid

Because of long COVID, my dad will never walk on the beach again. He can no longer play accordion or guitar because of long COVID.

Because of long COVID, I am no longer a martial artist, dancer, distance runner, or athlete. I no longer feel energetic. I no longer have proper restful sleep. I have aged rapidly. #LongCovidAwarenessDay #LongCovid #ChronicIllness

From #MEAction:

Long COVID Awareness Day
March 15

https://www.meaction.net/2025/03/14/long-covid-awareness-day/

"Today is Long COVID Awareness day, and we want to lift up the importance of Long COVID advocacy. We ask you to share this video created by #MEAction volunteers today."

Link to video in next post

@longcovid

1/3

Any #science #endocrinology #doctor types out there?

Have some questions before I spent money I don’t have:

#DHEA: Can anyone w science background/knowledgeable patient help with this?
I’m trying to find a good compounding chemist (DHEA illegal in Aus without compounding prescription & permit- got both)

BUT! I’m getting confused by the chemists. Some say I must get a DHEA troche or will convert straight to #estrogen or #testosterone as capsule, no chance to tap DHEA receptors. Ive also read it taps & modulates other receptors beforehand. Wouldn’t I be better off w a cream in that case? Other compounders say there’s no difference. BS? Halp.

I thought #pregnenolone might help more. It’s the ‘mother hormone’, right?
Since I caught #COVID19 I’m mostly producing low #hormones but it can varies (some up, others down, some normalise after a time. Cortisol normalised, still on thyroid meds, oestrogen shot up, no DHEA or testosterone… much more.

Can anyone help? I’ve been through multiple doctors, asked pharmacist and they all contradict themselves and each other or don’t know what either home does.

Don’t ever get #ChronicIllness

You’ll up relying on people who don’t know how medicine works. Very few knowledgeable people.

#MedMastodon
@medmastodon

#AskFedi bc I need a refresher:

Were there, or were there not, studies during the *designated pandemic years (2020-21)* (/s) re: #Covid19 + #ClimateChange impact on gut health, with one major symptom being something like the stomach flu?

If anyone has the links and receipts, PLEASE REPLY!

Even a local newspaper here in West Bengal, India, carried a headline recently re: the outbreak of a kind of stomach flu, with symptoms such as lack of appetite, exhaustion, indigestion, and diarrhoea. My BFFs are down with it, and I am, too. And yesterday the news announced an oncoming heat wave this weekend

Masking is sporadic here, almost rare. I still mask up, but ~ it does get difficult to breathe in a mask at 12:30 PM at 36°C ~ especially when chronic pain makes it hard for me to breathe even at home. Outside, there's also significant shaming and peer pressure to NOT mask up.

And as always, it's way worse for people with #Disabilities and #ChronicIllness (for instance: me), but people in this ableist, fascist hellhole of a country never want to talk about it.

#ClimateDiary #PleaseBoost