The Antidote #18: mental hell(th), rogue antibodies, and fascist mask bans

Plus, loud restaurants, germy water bottles, and U.S. crimes against humanity

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 bomb dot com! 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 THANK YOU this week goes to The Tonic’s first wish list three-timer (and human rights trailblazer) Florrie B.!

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!

Check your head

Has anyone ever told you that you need to get your head examined?

Well, screw that guy! What does he know? He’s totally projecting his own shit onto you.

But maybe that voice that said that to you came from your own head, in which case you might very well need help - either because you’re hearing voices, or because that voice is really yours and you’d like someone to talk to about all the things troubling you.

What’s more, if you are living with ME/CFS, long COVID, fibromyalgia, or other related chronic illnesses, you may want to meet with a professional who has firsthand experience with such an illness.

Imagine meeting with a new therapist or counsellor and being able to (if you choose) skip over having to educate them about your specific illness, about how much it has devastated you and your loved ones, about how isolating it has been, or about how much your life has had to change to adapt to it. Imagine being so understood right from the get-go that you can get down to nitty gritty much sooner - coping mechanisms, grief, communicating with loved ones, activity pacing, you name it.

I have worked with such a therapist and I can tell you from experience that it is a game changer. You can read about my experience here:

That very same therapist (or counsellor, in Canadian 😅) is now accepting new patients. She’s called Jamie in my first post, but her real name is Amy Hamilton.

Amy is a Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC) under the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA), working out of British Columbia, Canada. Though she is not certified as a counsellor outside of Canada, she can accept clients (like me here in the states) on a case-by-case basis as a Complex Chronic Illness Recovery Coach. (For clients within Canada, insurance/benefits coverage can be applied).

Amy specializes in ME/CFS, Fibromyalgia, Long COVID and other related complex chronic illnesses that are little understood or misunderstood by the mainstream medical community. To learn more about Amy, including her training and specializations, you can visit her website at coreconnectionscounselling.com or visit her Psychology Today profile by clicking here. Folks are also welcome to contact her directly at amy@coreconnectionscounselling.com or phone her at +1 (249) 444-0301 (charges may apply).

(If you are in the U.S. and are interested in working with Amy, know that the USD/Canadian exchange rate benefits us, so you’ll pay a little less than what her per session fee is).

And if you are in the U.S. and need to find a therapist who takes your insurance, check out the website Headway. It may be harder to find someone who specializes in chronic illness, but you still may be able to find someone great and get the sessions covered.

Let’s slink on over to our links now.

COVID, Long COVID, and ME/CFS

😵‍💫 There’s been scuttlebutt around the National Academies’ Long COVID report; in particular, the broad definition of LC: Here's What Is Wrong With the National Academies' Long COVID Definition (requires free MedPage Today account).

🤒 If anyone ever tries telling you that ME/CFS isn’t a real disease, here are the receipts you bring: Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: the biology of a neglected disease.

🐁 Another transfer from humans to mice: What causes long COVID? Case builds for rogue antibodies.

🦠 What variables are associated with time to recovery from COVID-19? Read more here in Epidemiologic Features of Recovery From SARS-CoV-2 Infection.

🌊 The wave that’s upon us: COVID Variant KP.3 Surges to Dominance.

🤧 Yes, Everyone Really Is Sick a Lot More Often After Covid (if that link won’t open, try here). A big, glaring hole in this piece is that they fail to discuss whether the virus itself (and/or the vaccine) play any role in changed immunity.

😈 “I’m from the government and I’m here to help”: Pentagon ran secret anti-vax campaign to incite fear of China vaccines. This is extreme evil perpetrated by the U.S. government. How many Filipinos died needlessly because of that the U.S. did? For more on this, see

Nate Bear

’s piece:

The US Government Anti-Vax Campaign Confirms Them As Enemies of Humanity

😷 For closer-to-home (well, my home) fuckery: Gov. Hochul considering banning people from wearing masks on NYC subways. Here are action steps you can take to speak out again this proposed mask ban in NY.

🏳️‍🌈 Let’s close out this section with an important message related to masking, Pride month, and disability justice:

disability_visibility

A post shared by @disability_visibility

Webinars/conferences/podcasts/videos

🫠 If you’ve been interested in learning about vagus nerve stimulation devices, here’s a review of the Pulsetto by Adam of the Beating Long COVID channel on YouTube:

💻 Here are the replays from the Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine’s 2024 conference:

1. “Inflammation Derails Brain Homeostasis” - Theoharis Theoharides, BA, MS, MPhil, PhD, MD, FAAAAI | HERE

2. “Neurovascular Dysregulation During Exercise in ME/CFS and Long COVID” - David Systrom, M.D. | HERE

3. “Veterans' Sleep Needs” - Linda Chao, Ph.D. | HERE

4. “Transforming ME/CFS Care: A Collaborative Approach - Jaime Seltzer, BS, MS” | HERE

5. “Post Exertional Malaise (PEM): The Price of Exertion” - Lucinda Bateman, M.D. | HERE

6. “Science-Based Supplementation in Chronic Disease - Irina Rozenfeld, DNP, MSHS, MSN, MBA, APRN, ANP-BC | HERE

7. “Living with M.E: Specialized Gentle Yoga Inspired by my Own Experience - Shannon Williams |    HERE

8. “Nutrition for Gulf War Veterans” - 1st Lt. Dan Rice | HERE

Health miscellany

🪲 Once called Nantucket fever, this nasty tick-borne illness is on the rise.

👵🏽 Older Women Are Different Than Older Men. Their Health Is Woefully Understudied.

🌈 Navigating Insurance and Health Care Rights for LGBTQ+ Patients.

🤢 I tend to agree, having spent thousands on them over these four years, to no avail:

Probiotic supplements: no evidence they offer health benefits

🚽 Squatting Over the Toilet: Is It OK To Do? (answer: once in a blue moon, but not on the reg).

🙉 Why restaurants are so loud, and what science says we can do about it (this is likely behind a paywall, unless you have an iPhone). Fascinating article about what every long hauler knows to be true: restaurants are painfully loud. I usually pop in my Loop earplugs.

💦 Please don’t ask me the story about why I know this to be true. Just trust me: Your Water Bottle Could Be Germier Than Your Kitchen Sink.

📲 Social media and youth mental health defining challenge of our time: Surgeon general.

🔙 How to Stretch Your Lower Back the Right Way.

🐦 More US bird flu spread would heighten human infection risk, officials say.

🤹🏻‍♀️ A brief bit of goodness by

Zan Tafakari

:

Stop Juggling Too Many Things

Now stick around for…

🥳 The After-party 🥳

Added resources, joy, tomfoolery, and buffoonery

⚾ RIP to a true legend, Willie Mays.

🐛 Check out these eerily gorgeous photos: Tiny beauty: how I make scientific art from behind the microscope.

🍫 Sad news: climate change is coming for our chocolate 😩

npr

A post shared by @npr

✈️ 6 Tricks to Try to Calm Your Fear of Flying

📚 Here are the nonfiction books NPR staffers have loved so far this year. Baldy just surprised me with Who's Afraid of Gender? for my annibirthary this year, so I have one book on this list (annibirthary = a term I coined years ago that is technically more accurate than birthday).

🤠 I’m no big country music fan, but you gotta hand it to George Strait: not only did one of his recent concerts break the U.S. attendance record with over 110k people, but did you know that he’s got the most No. 1 singles of any artist in any genre? Take that, T. Swift.

🤦🏻 Buffoon of the week: 🎵 “That’s why…”🎵

That’s right, theydies and gentlethems, this week’s buffoon Justin Timberlake pulled a double-buffoon move this week: he (allegedly) drove while intoxicated, and then he complained to the arresting officer that his arrest was “going to ruin the tour.” The officer was quite young and didn’t know who JT was, and the interwebs are going NUTS over that fact. My fam and I have decided that we are 100% doing this from now on:

🏆 Winner of the week: This teen, Sarah Akinbuwa, who crocheted her own Zendaya-inspired prom dress in just three days. It’s a work of art!

🐈‍⬛ 💩 And finally, it’s this week’s Cat Dump. Zira and mom have a front-row seat to the lamest cat “fight” ever. (Notice too how these tiny homewreckers have been obliterating our furniture with their paw knives).

Like anything you saw here? Let me know in the comments! Subscribe! Click on the heart and ‘like’ it! Share it! Do something, FFS! 😅

**Disclaimer: Although I AM licensed to drive and to practice social work, I am NOT a licensed medical professional. You should not rely on any information contained in this newsletter in making medical, health-related or other decisions. Please consult a doctor or other health professional.