The Antidote #15: gut biome tests, the burden of Long COVID, and how to truly rest
Plus, primates are amazing, men are scarier than bears (?), and a man named Taylor Swift.
Welcome to The Antidote, the biweekly roundup post from The Tonic that is filled to the brim with goodies.
The Tonic is a lighthearted, heavily resourced newsletter for folks interested in learning about long COVID, ME/CFS, and other chronic illnesses. Come for the info; stay for the whimsy. Or vice versa.
I will generally post once a week on Saturdays or Sundays: a narrative post when my energy allows and resource roundups (The Antidote) at all other times. Occasionally I post more than once a week, usually to announce an event or to push brief, timely info out to you sooner.
Wish list shout outs!
My readers are the best! Many of you have chosen to support my efforts here via the Amazon wish list in lieu of paid subscriptions (which could jeopardize my disability benefits). A big Tonic THANK YOU this week goes to Stacy K.
If anyone is interested in showing support for The Tonic, see below for the info. There’s something for every budget and any help is appreciated. (Note: please be sure to include a note with your gift(s) so I can include you in the shout out!)
The Tonic is free to read - Amy is so happy you’re here! There is no paid subscription option here like with other Substack newsletters. However, if you are valuing the experience and are able, please consider a show of support by sending a gift of health, wellness, or joy from this Amazon wish list. Anyone who does gets a 📢 in an upcoming post. Thank you!
Hug someone with ME/CFS or fibromyalgia
(Or send them a text)
This Sunday is International ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia Awareness Day. I for one had never heard of ME/CFS before getting Long COVID, though I had heard of fibro. Why not bank on the fact that the vast majority of folks have not heard of these illnesses and spread the word about what they are on your socials? You can lift my graphic above by right-clicking on it.
Here’s a definition of ME/CFS from Solve M.E.’s website that you can share: Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a chronic, complex, neuroimmune disease that profoundly limits the health and productivity of patients and, like Long Covid, is often (but not always) triggered by an infection.
Here’s a definition of fibromyalgia from the Mayo Clinic site: Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, along with other symptoms such as fatigue, sleep disturbances, memory issues, and mood changes.
If you’re in the U.S., it’s also Mother’s Day - a Hallmark holiday created to generate millions of dollars in revenue for greeting card companies and florists.
If that sounds offensive, my point is that mothering is fucking HARD and we should not limit our appreciation of the heavy lifting most mothers do to one day a year. Why not hand the cash you’re using to line the pockets of these businesses right over to mom in a handmade card? After all:
Now on to the linky dinks.
COVID, Long COVID, and ME/CFS
Long COVID: Millions have it. Why do we still know so little? (Many thanks to Substacker
for sharing her experience of LC for this piece!).🔬 In the U.S.: the NIH to open long COVID clinical trials to study sleep disturbances, exercise intolerance, and post exertional malaise.
💰 An incomplete picture: understanding the burden of long Covid from Economist Impact. Includes policy and economic implications.
👷🏾♂️ Important piece to read if you are a worker w/LC or a manager of any kind: Long Covid at Work: A Manager’s Guide.
🧠 COVID and Long COVID are having significant neurological impacts. Check out Dr. Ruth’s newsletter for the skinny:
🛌🏽 Putting this under the Long COVID and ME/CFS section because…well…you’ll see. Thanks for this post
.
💤 And then this, from Time: How to Get Real Rest.
🦠 Many long haulers and folks w/ME have found their Epstein Barr virus to be reactivated, sometimes for years (me included 😒). EBV significantly raises one’s risk for developing multiple sclerosis. This might be of interest: Multiple Sclerosis and Epstein-Barr Virus: What Do We Know and Where Do We Go From Here?
Webinars/conferences/podcasts/videos
👩🏽💻 RECOVER is holding its next webinar on Tuesday, May 14th from 12:00-1:30 PM ET. It will be a panel discussion titled, "SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy and development of Long COVID.” Register here.
🖥️ Unite to Fight, being billed as “the biggest community-driven ME/CFS and Long COVID conference ever” with many well-known names, is happening on May 15th and 16th and is free. Register here.
👩🏻⚕️
interviews Yale immunologist and Long COVID researcher Akiko Iwasaki:🧑🏼⚕️ Dr. Eleanor Stein, a Canadian psychiatrist who recovered from and runs programs for ME/CFS education, does short “tip of the month” videos. Examples of topics include LDN (low-dose naltrexone), PEM (post-exertional malaise), and why women get autoimmune diseases more than men do. You can access them here.
🤓 Raelan Agle busting recovery myths:
🗞️ Keeping Long COVID in the News: The Sick Times’ Betsy Ladyzhets and Miles Griffis on the Important, Not Important podcast:
Health miscellany
🦟 (U.S.) Tick season map: See where the parasites are plus how to prevent bites.
🩺 Wait times for doctor’s appointments at all-time high. I don’t know about you, but I have at times waited upwards of 4-6 months to see a new provider. Not good.
👩🏾🦱 Major study of cancer in Black women launches in 20 states.
🧪 Many people with our conditions have gut issues and may be wondering: Are Direct-to-Consumer Microbiome Tests Clinically Useful?. Here’s a telling quote:
"People have taken the same stool sample, sent it to multiple companies, and gotten different results back," von Rosenvinge said. "People also have taken a stool sample and sent it to the same company under two different names and received two different results. If the test is unreliable at its foundational level, it's hard to use it in any clinical way."
Here’s a podcast about it too:
🦧 For those of you who still don’t believe in the (well-established) theory of evolution by now: Orangutan used medicinal plant to treat wound, first time ever seen. Primates…they’re just like us, amirite?
🚽 Men Are Aiding Hospital 'Superbugs' by Leaving Toilets Dirty. I love you guys, but:
👏🏼 Finally,
for the win:
Now stick around for…
🥳 The After-party 🥳
Added resources, joy, tomfoolery, and buffoonery
👟 Who’s Brave Enough to Style the New Balance Loafers? (not me, that’s for sure).
👯Man Named Taylor Swift Opens Up About Sharing a Name with the Pop Star. Reminded me of this classic scene from Office Space:
🏳️🌈 New EEOC rule strengthens harassment protections for LGBTQ+ people at work. STOP 👏🏼 MIS👏🏼 GEN👏🏼 DER👏🏼 ING 👏🏼 PEO👏🏼PLE.
🐻 Women: would you rather be alone in the woods with a man or a bear? (Men, before you get your hackles raised, just know that in all of the years Baldy and I have gone hiking, we have encountered far more creepy dudes by themselves in the woods than bears - and yes, we’ve encountered several bears).
Most telling response:
“Bear, because If I got attacked by a bear people would believe me.”
🧔🏻♂️ We know, we know: not all men 🙄. For real, let’s heal from that last one with some endearing father-daughter cuteness:
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🤦🏻 Buffoon of the week: Representative Andrew Clyde of Georgia, who after hearing that the Boy Scouts of America is changing its name to Scouting America to be more inclusive of all youth who want to learn scouting, said, "The Left has now taken "Boy" out of "Boy Scouts.” Wokeness destroys everything it touches."
What he really meant to say was that girls and gay/trans kids destroy…what? The knot your son was learning how to make?
🏆 Winner of the week: The winner this week is not a person. It’s our new vacuum, the Dyson v12 Slim Detect, and it has changed my life. Ironically, I learned about this beauty from a Substacker who posted on Notes about how it had changed their life too. I was looking for some superior sucking action (YEAH, BABY), and kids, this one does not disappoint. The little laser light on the floor attachment lights things up that you never knew were on your floors. Gross! But also, yay! I call it my crime scene cleanup machine.
🐈⬛ 💩 And finally, it’s this week’s Cat Dump. Vicious yawn edition.
Many heartfelt thanks for the mention! And I bloody well need that vacuum!
Fighting off PEM, brain fog and balance issues. But other than that I'm just Jim Dandy! Spend more time in the hospital than in my own backyard!
Michael
Class of 2020