On a lighter note…
I got a Fitbit at the end of July. I’m getting a chuckle out of how it is handling my covid systems.
It congratulated me on sleeping an average of 66 minutes more a night this week than last week. Yeah…sleeping over 14 hours one night will kind of wreck you average!
My sleep animal is a bear. That seems accurate as I feel as if I’ve been in hibernation.
I know this isn’t supposed to be a debating society, but having had Covid this week, none of this was my experience.
I chedked the dates on the covid test kids I had. They had expired so I went to the local drug store and bought 2 kits for 23 dollars. Anyone who doesn’t check the box for the expriation date before buying a kit is foolhardy. (Please note I didn’t think I had Covid but took the test because I was going to attend an event for seniors.) Note too that some of those “expired” kits really aren’t expired.
I turned down getting Paxlovid. I just didn’t feel that sick. Around here (NYC) it isn’t hard to get it. You can find your closest test to treatment location here. https://covid-19-test-to-treat-locator-dhhs.hub.arcgis.com/
I can’t imagine anyone who makes any effort to keep informed who is unaware of how fast the virus is mutating. There’s been a lot of advice in reputable channels for seniors (AARP etc.) as to whether to get boosted now or wait until the new vaccine rolls out.
I’m in Michigan. My friends are reporting that tests are hard to find. I did order some from Amazon and so did a friend. They are not available for free anymore so people are using up their inventory.
Many are reporting that they were able to receive paxlovid, even those under 60. I found that surprising.
Seems like the writer assumes the worst possible case when there is any uncertainty. Perhaps that fits the “OK Doomer” name.
Updated to add that I discovered this afternoon that the NY Public Library is giving Covid test kits out for free again. Expiration date further in the future than the ones I paid for. Test was also much simpler to take.
I had COVID in June for the first time, along with 2 family members. We had no trouble getting tests at our local pharmacy and my doctor ordered Paxlovid for me, I started it on Day 3 as I was headed overseas toward the end of my 10 day bout and wanted to be better. I am 55 and she advised I take Paxlovid despite being in very good health.
Impossible for me to get tests in person, admittedly I live in a rural area with no big box stores. Had trouble getting paxlovid as well; found it at the 3rd pharmacy I tried. I also had to go to the ER to get a prescription. Not the best use of an ER, but had no other alternative. All in all, I would say not an easy experience.
So what? Does that mean all articles written by ‘pro-vaxers’ are suspect? That paper was peer review and used data from numerous peer reviewed data.
if the validity of peer reviewed articles are going be based on whether or not they are ‘pro or anti’ vax then we are never going to get at anything. Additionally, to question THIS ONE type of vaccine doesn’t make a group ‘anti vax’.
So it’s 3 out of 7 that some take issue with…so the odds are still in favor of the other 4 being ‘acceptable’ authorities?
But. It’s okay to ignore.
The article is a narrative. Not a scientific study.
Continuing study of long COVID among US veterans:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-023-02521-2
Figure 5 shows the relative risk of each health condition over the first two years after non-hospitalized and hospitalized COVID-19 versus no COVID-19. Note that some of the health conditions that were seen (e.g. diabetes) are not the kind of things that can obviously be blamed on COVID-19 (or not) in many individual cases, but can be observed in populations.
Eric Topol interviews Ziyad Al-Aly, who has been doing long COVID research using VA records.
D23 got Covid the 3rd week of college and she has a single room. It is spreading like wildfire on college campuses. This is her second time. The first time was August 2022, she felt tired for a few months and like she couldn’t breathe when exercising. Now a week after testing negative texted that her toes keep going numb, and breathing issues again. The school had no tests and told her to put on a mask and take the shuttle to the drugstore (she was feverish and symptomatic).
Her brother got it in August this year.
Despite very close contact to the first two cases, neither my husband nor I have ever had it. (I have not even had a cold) I have been working in person since October 2021, have traveled to Europe and not masked since around December 2021. All up to date on vaccines.
Common symptoms have changed since the earlier variants. My BIL just has his first case and said he didn’t test at first because his first symptom was sneezing and thought it was allergies because he didn’t know that was a COVID symptom.
Doctors say they’re finding it increasingly difficult to distinguish Covid from allergies or the common cold, even as hospitalizations tick up.
The illness’ past hallmarks, such as a dry cough or the loss of sense of taste or smell, have become less common. Instead, doctors are observing milder disease, mostly concentrated in the upper respiratory tract.
“It isn’t the same typical symptoms that we were seeing before. It’s a lot of congestion, sometimes sneezing, usually a mild sore throat,” said Dr. Erick Eiting, vice chair of operations for emergency medicine at Mount Sinai Downtown in New York City.
The sore throat usually arrives first, he said, then congestion.
I got Covid en route to S2’s wedding in Ukraine. This was my first time. Have narrowed down the exposure window to Labor Day when we took the, shuttle from the hotel to DUB, flew to Frankfurt and then took two trains and a cab from Frankfurt to Baden-Baden. Wore a mask, not as consistently as I probably should have. I was also exhausted, which didn’t help my immune system.
Started having sneezing and coughing in Baden-Baden, and the next day I had chills in a hot thermal pool. Was even more exhausted. Tested positive in Krakow, found a doc. No Paxlovid, but he put me on an inhaler, cough drops and expectorant. O2 SATs were at 95%, no pneumonia. By Day 5 I was feeling somewhat human again. Wedding was Day 9. Noone else (H, S1, BIL, DIL, her mom) has gotten it and I’ve been with them since Day 5 (masked except if outdoors and distanced).
Am feeling mostly normal at Day 11. Still have a cough, but I typically do anyway. Have shortness of breath on stairs, part of which is cardiac. We get home tomorrow and I will see my PCP this week.
Pregnant people….LOL
I’m getting my flu and Covid vaccine today. Still need to get the shingles vaccine, and thanks to this thread, apparently also need the RSV.
I typically feel a little “off” with the Covid vaccine. Nothing major, just out of sorts.
It’s been decades since I was pregnant, but I can assure you that I was a person (still am a person, actually).
Me too. Still, LOL.
Well, when “we” 
were pregnant (my wife and I), I was one of the two people.
(Speaking as a guy, my pregnancy was distinctly easier, of course.)
