The Antidote #9: tons of links and a generous helping of U.S. hypocrisy
Plus, a cat gets the bubonic plague! 🙀
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.
Please note: my posting strategy is changing in response to my ever-shifting availability of energy (often referred to as ‘spoons’). 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.
I’m back from Florida
Had a great time with friends! I got to see four in total. That might be more friends than I saw in all of 2023.
It was in the high 70s and sunny the whole time. I just didn’t expect humidity in winter. Who knew? (apparently a lot of you knew).
Wish list shout outs!
I’m so thankful for the support of my work 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 Harrison C. and Rosemary P.
If anyone else is interested in showing support, 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 reach out and thank you!)
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!
Oh boy
The U.S. acquiesces to those who want to act like COVID is over, all while people are still dying, new long haulers are created every day, and existing long haulers get sicker. Meanwhile, it pads the Long COVID research budget by half a billion. See anything wrong with this picture? The U.S. is becoming a veritable factory for COVID-19 disability, but by all means - please ride the subway, go back to work, and go back to school when you’re still infectious. This shit will never end, and that might very well be by design (check out the link below on pandemic profitability).
Boatloads to get out to you this week, so here we go.
COVID and Long COVID
💰 You may have already heard the big news this week: the U.S. Long COVID research initiative, RECOVER, received a $515 million infusion of cash this week. You can read about it here or here. Both pieces mention the widescale patient and advocacy group dissatisfaction with the $1.15 billion initiative to date. Here’s hoping we get some actionable research out of RECOVER within the next few years; clinical trials of existing medications would be a nice start.
😷 In more head-scratching news out of the U.S., the CDC plans to drop its five-day COVID-19 quarantine guidelines. Why? Because very few people follow them, supposedly. Which could be a big reason why we just got out of the second largest wave of infection since the pandemic started. Also? Because millions of immunocompromised and elderly people are apparently expendable. This all segues neatly to these two next items:
🤑 DO NOT MISS this incisive piece on pandemic profitability. It was like reading an extremely well-written horror story I so desperately wanted to turn away from but just couldn’t.
🤒 And this important piece by Miles Griffis of The Sick Times (donate to them if you can!): Covid-19 reinfections are further disabling people with Long Covid. This quote hit home in particular (bolding is mine):
“I don’t know why [public health communicators] seem to be oblivious to the fact, but reinfection is definitely not a good thing,” he told me. “Reinfection certainly contributes to both the risk of Long Covid in people who don’t already have it and can make pre-existing Long Covid symptoms worse. Or, it can result in new symptoms you’ve never had before.”
🫀 Here’s another one for everyone who gets COVID: How SARS-CoV-2 contributes to heart attacks and strokes.
🗺️ Prevalence of Long COVID in the U.S.: West Virginia has the highest rates. Check out this link to see where your state ranks.
🥱 Estimates of Incidence and Predictors of Fatiguing Illness after SARS-CoV-2 Infection shows unsurprising increases in chronic fatigue after COVID. Will anyone listen? We are screaming into the void here, it seems.
The observed association between COVID-19 and the significant increase in the incidence of fatigue and chronic fatigue reinforces the need for public health actions to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infections.
🙄 This week in DUH: Not wearing mask during COVID-19 isn’t a free speech right, appeals court says.
🫸🏽 If you're immunocompromised, will pills, gargles and sprays fend off COVID?
😲 Graded exercise therapy (GET) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) are considered controversial approaches to treating ME/CFS. The researchers behind this new study acknowledge that. However, their self-paced program showed that long haulers who were hospitalized during their initial COVID infection reported that talk therapy and a gentle exercise program helped them. (Both of these are part of my approach to recovery as well).
🚸 Another piece from The Sick Times about Long COVID in children: Q&A: Melissa Stockwell on Long Covid in children, how RECOVER aims to answer questions.
Videos and podcasts
👩🏽⚕️ Why racial and ethnic representation in healthcare matters:
❤️🩹 Raelan Agle interviews Dr. Eleanor Stein, who recovered from ME/CFS after three decades with the disease. I have taken Dr. Stein’s Pathways to Recovery course and it’s a great learning tool. She has other resources and offerings as well.
🧘🏻 File this under “not a new podcast, but new to me.” Lindsay Vine of The Post Viral Podcast interviewed Deb Dana, LCSW, about polyvagal theory, an understanding of the nervous system that can help folks with ME/CFS and other system sensitivity disorders.
Events
🕯️ Marked by COVID is holding a COVID Memorial Day event on March 4th from 5-6pm PT/8-9pm ET via Zoom. Info can be found here.
✊🏽 Pandemic Solidarity for the Long Future (PS4LF) is hosting an upcoming event for Black, Brown, Indigenous, Asian and Pacific Islander folks who are interested in pandemic justice, solidarity, and organizing. The virtual event is from March 8-10 and they are casting a wide net for (non-white and non-white presenting/appearing) facilitators, vendors, artists, and attendees. Please pass this along to anyone you know who may be interested.
Health miscellany
🔬 Here’s a good primer on clinical trials by Creaky Joints.
🚬 How smoking scars the immune system for years after quitting.
🤕 UGH, I have a long history of migraines and a recent emergence of daily hot flashes: Hot Flashes, Migraine Tied to Higher Risk of Stroke, Heart Disease (you’ll need a free MedPage Today account to read this one).
🙅🏼 When Saying “No” Means Saying “Yes” to Yourself, an essay by Angie Ebba on setting boundaries when you have chronic illness.
🪮 An essay by Tiffany Peterson on what it’s like to get through hair-washing day when you are a chronically ill Black woman: Wash Day and Chronic Illness.
😀 A short piece by
with some good graphics and resources on going beyond toxic positivity:
💉 Could testosterone be a useful treatment for menopause?
🫦 Are you addicted to lip balm like I am? I have five stashed around my house in strategic locations and two more in my purse. Jessica Defino answers your lip balm addiction question.
😼 As a rabid (!) cat lover, I thought this headline needed several edits. The strike throughs are what I deleted and the bold print is what I added:
Oregon Confirmed a
HumanFeline Case of the Bubonic Plague that a Human Caught. It Was Likely Caused by aCatFlea.
(Here’s the article if you’re interested.)
Now stick around for…
🥳 The After-party 🥳
Added resources, joy, tomfoolery, and buffoonery
🧀 A cheese crisis?! Noooooo!!!! I can’t camembert it! 😧
🍨 Buh-bye, chocolate chip ice cream. I wouldn’t have even noticed that you were gone.
🤦🏼♀️ Buffoon of the week: SO MUCH WINNING. Donald Trump faces more than $500 million in legal penalties. As a lifelong New Yorker, I am not sad to see his businesses banned from my state. Now if only we could get these ridiculous signs taken down from the Taconic State Parkway (the land exists, but there is no park; another failed deal).
🏆 Winners of the week: Trees, trees, trees! They are the winners this week and so are we: trees stalling effects of global heating in eastern US, study finds.
🐈⬛ 💩 And finally, it’s this week’s Cat Dump. The Mommy’s-away-so-Daddy-will-do edition.
Cat dump! 🤣😍