COVID Chronicles
@covidchronicles.bsky.social
Chronicling my journey through purgatory, graphically. Former athlete/composer/writer/woodworker. Saddled with debilitating COVID-induced metabolic dysfunction since Nov 2022. #LongCOVID #LC #MECFS #PEM #SickJokes
Pinned
Day 124 - Not sure how to deal with the poop emoji on my head. 'Brain fog' sounds light and fluffy, but this shit's heavier than lead.
#BrainFog #DailySlog #LongCOVID #COVIDSky #LC #MECFS #PEM
["But you still managed to make this, didn't you?" Yes. Yes, I did. And it only took me six days]
#BrainFog #DailySlog #LongCOVID #COVIDSky #LC #MECFS #PEM
["But you still managed to make this, didn't you?" Yes. Yes, I did. And it only took me six days]
Reposted by COVID Chronicles
"Ungoverning is not a neutral act. It is an ethical choice. It shifts power from the many to the few. It transforms rights into commodities. It turns need into opportunity for private profit. And it abandons the belief that a society should be judged by how it treats the vulnerable."
Danielle Smith is "Ungoverning" Alberta
And trying to break the very idea of Canada
markhamhislop.substack.com
December 7, 2025 at 12:40 AM
"Ungoverning is not a neutral act. It is an ethical choice. It shifts power from the many to the few. It transforms rights into commodities. It turns need into opportunity for private profit. And it abandons the belief that a society should be judged by how it treats the vulnerable."
The reason it's so hard to remain safe from Long COVID is that no indoor public space is sufficiently ventilated, no one realizes "just sniffles" is still destroying lives. We need a cultural shift regarding respiratory infections. We need for Public Health to do its job. #CanPoli #CleanAir
December 7, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Reposted by COVID Chronicles
Exactly this. Only I didn't put it so gently.
December 6, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Exactly this. Only I didn't put it so gently.
The flip-side: My son (m16) just left for a friend's (f17) house party & will be the only N95 there
No ventilation or testing
Because nobody sees the risk
He'll have to step out early
Will say it's to keep me safe
How is that fair?
This wouldn't be so hard if public health did it's FUCKING JOB
No ventilation or testing
Because nobody sees the risk
He'll have to step out early
Will say it's to keep me safe
How is that fair?
This wouldn't be so hard if public health did it's FUCKING JOB
If you live with someone who has long Covid or a post-viral illness & you’re doing a weekly circuit of maskless bars, restaurants & concerts, you're not "living your life." You're sacrificing theirs
December 6, 2025 at 12:05 AM
The flip-side: My son (m16) just left for a friend's (f17) house party & will be the only N95 there
No ventilation or testing
Because nobody sees the risk
He'll have to step out early
Will say it's to keep me safe
How is that fair?
This wouldn't be so hard if public health did it's FUCKING JOB
No ventilation or testing
Because nobody sees the risk
He'll have to step out early
Will say it's to keep me safe
How is that fair?
This wouldn't be so hard if public health did it's FUCKING JOB
Reposted by COVID Chronicles
A school study shows shared classroom time and poor air quality drive virus transmission more than close contact.
Prolonged exposure in poorly ventilated spaces is the main risk factor, suggesting ventilation improvements are key.
#SARSCoV2 #COVID #flu
#LongCOVID
nature.com/articles/s41...
Prolonged exposure in poorly ventilated spaces is the main risk factor, suggesting ventilation improvements are key.
#SARSCoV2 #COVID #flu
#LongCOVID
nature.com/articles/s41...
The relative contribution of close-proximity contacts, shared classroom exposure and indoor air quality to respiratory virus transmission in schools - Nature Communications
The relative importance of close-proximity interactions, shared space and air quality to the transmission of respiratory viruses is not well understood. Here, the authors investigate this question by ...
nature.com
December 5, 2025 at 4:50 PM
A school study shows shared classroom time and poor air quality drive virus transmission more than close contact.
Prolonged exposure in poorly ventilated spaces is the main risk factor, suggesting ventilation improvements are key.
#SARSCoV2 #COVID #flu
#LongCOVID
nature.com/articles/s41...
Prolonged exposure in poorly ventilated spaces is the main risk factor, suggesting ventilation improvements are key.
#SARSCoV2 #COVID #flu
#LongCOVID
nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by COVID Chronicles
Day 5 #ArtAdventCalendar • This is my first #MECFS #symptomatology #embroidery: paresthesia (hand 1) 2016. The idea came to me while doing a meditation technique to dissect the tingling sensations in my body to make them less overwhelming. #SciArt
December 5, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Day 5 #ArtAdventCalendar • This is my first #MECFS #symptomatology #embroidery: paresthesia (hand 1) 2016. The idea came to me while doing a meditation technique to dissect the tingling sensations in my body to make them less overwhelming. #SciArt
Reposted by COVID Chronicles
New research shows major damage in the brain stress system of people with very severe ME/CFS.
The key finding: a near-loss of the neurons that start the cortisol stress response. This helps explain low cortisol and many symptoms.
Let’s break it down in simple language.
The key finding: a near-loss of the neurons that start the cortisol stress response. This helps explain low cortisol and many symptoms.
Let’s break it down in simple language.
December 5, 2025 at 6:00 PM
New research shows major damage in the brain stress system of people with very severe ME/CFS.
The key finding: a near-loss of the neurons that start the cortisol stress response. This helps explain low cortisol and many symptoms.
Let’s break it down in simple language.
The key finding: a near-loss of the neurons that start the cortisol stress response. This helps explain low cortisol and many symptoms.
Let’s break it down in simple language.
Reposted by COVID Chronicles
National University Hospital Singapore studied 189 people and found stroke patients with prior COVID-19 had 73% worse recovery at 3 months.
Their blood showed lingering immune and protein-synthesis disruptions that may impair brain healing.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Their blood showed lingering immune and protein-synthesis disruptions that may impair brain healing.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Persistent renin-angiotensin system and inflammatory dysregulation following COVID-19 impairs ischemic stroke recovery
Previous studies indicate that stroke recovery is worse in patients with prior COVID-19, suggesting persistent biological perturbations. We investigat…
www.sciencedirect.com
December 4, 2025 at 11:15 PM
National University Hospital Singapore studied 189 people and found stroke patients with prior COVID-19 had 73% worse recovery at 3 months.
Their blood showed lingering immune and protein-synthesis disruptions that may impair brain healing.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Their blood showed lingering immune and protein-synthesis disruptions that may impair brain healing.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by COVID Chronicles
Yale scientists reviewed 100 years of records and found that Long COVID is part of a larger pattern.
Viruses like polio, SARS, and EBV have long caused lasting illness in some people, often through immune dysfunction
www.cell.com/trends/immun...
Viruses like polio, SARS, and EBV have long caused lasting illness in some people, often through immune dysfunction
www.cell.com/trends/immun...
The lingering shadow of epidemics: post-acute sequelae across history
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has drawn global attention to post-acute infection syndromes
(PAIS), with millions affected by post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC, or Long COVID).
While Long COVID is newly ...
www.cell.com
December 4, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Yale scientists reviewed 100 years of records and found that Long COVID is part of a larger pattern.
Viruses like polio, SARS, and EBV have long caused lasting illness in some people, often through immune dysfunction
www.cell.com/trends/immun...
Viruses like polio, SARS, and EBV have long caused lasting illness in some people, often through immune dysfunction
www.cell.com/trends/immun...
If vaccine-injured Long COVID turns out to be a thing—and it could very well be—it'll be due to some people's inability to clear the SARS CoV-2 proteins that vaccines use to prompt our immunity.
SARS CoV-2 proteins.
COVID was going to maim us regardless. Why? Wish we knew. But until we do…
SARS CoV-2 proteins.
COVID was going to maim us regardless. Why? Wish we knew. But until we do…
"I'm convinced the spike protein is dangerous! No way I'm letting that anywhere near my body, whether it's by vax or infection! In addition to refusing the vax, I'm going to do all I can to prevent infection!" is a logically consistent position that virtually no one appears to take. 1/
a close up of a man 's face with the word fascinating written below him
Alt: Spock: Fascinating.
media.tenor.com
December 3, 2025 at 5:49 PM
If vaccine-injured Long COVID turns out to be a thing—and it could very well be—it'll be due to some people's inability to clear the SARS CoV-2 proteins that vaccines use to prompt our immunity.
SARS CoV-2 proteins.
COVID was going to maim us regardless. Why? Wish we knew. But until we do…
SARS CoV-2 proteins.
COVID was going to maim us regardless. Why? Wish we knew. But until we do…
To those who say:
"I'm still on X because they are on X"
A quick reminder:
People are still on X because you are on X.
#BeTheChange you want to see in the world. The change we desperately need. Please pass it along to your twitter feed.
"I'm still on X because they are on X"
A quick reminder:
People are still on X because you are on X.
#BeTheChange you want to see in the world. The change we desperately need. Please pass it along to your twitter feed.
Why are Amy Proal @polybiorf.bsky.social David Putrino @putrinolab.bsky.social & so many others more active on X than here?
Why are we still legitimizing malignant platforms? Knowing what we know about the societal damage they're causing (see: how MAGA won; misinformation, apathy). Esp given that:
Why are we still legitimizing malignant platforms? Knowing what we know about the societal damage they're causing (see: how MAGA won; misinformation, apathy). Esp given that:
Scientists Leaving Elon Musk’s X are Driving Growth on Bluesky: Study
With rising engagement and originality, Bluesky is fast becoming a go-to platform for science communication and scholarly exchange.
observer.com
December 3, 2025 at 4:04 PM
To those who say:
"I'm still on X because they are on X"
A quick reminder:
People are still on X because you are on X.
#BeTheChange you want to see in the world. The change we desperately need. Please pass it along to your twitter feed.
"I'm still on X because they are on X"
A quick reminder:
People are still on X because you are on X.
#BeTheChange you want to see in the world. The change we desperately need. Please pass it along to your twitter feed.
I thought we were friends
“Sorry”
What helped you clear your flare?
“X, Y, and a little bit of Z”
[Proceeds to try all three: zero benefit]
#FuckME #LongCOVID #MECFS
“Sorry”
What helped you clear your flare?
“X, Y, and a little bit of Z”
[Proceeds to try all three: zero benefit]
#FuckME #LongCOVID #MECFS
December 3, 2025 at 3:48 PM
I thought we were friends
“Sorry”
What helped you clear your flare?
“X, Y, and a little bit of Z”
[Proceeds to try all three: zero benefit]
#FuckME #LongCOVID #MECFS
“Sorry”
What helped you clear your flare?
“X, Y, and a little bit of Z”
[Proceeds to try all three: zero benefit]
#FuckME #LongCOVID #MECFS
Reposted by COVID Chronicles
Whenever I see these stats, I feel betrayed by the invisibility of ME. I've never seen people run in a 5K to raise money for ME research or any of that kind of thing. It's mostly just us sick folk posting online that we exist and that it would be nice if there were a helpful treatment.
Day 1072—Why does ME/CFS score so low in quality of life? Because it stunts one's ability to perform daily activities. You can't function. You can't attend functions. Try as you might to carefully pace, PEM crashes are inevitable—and severe. So you remain. Alive but not living; barely even here.
December 2, 2025 at 1:21 AM
Whenever I see these stats, I feel betrayed by the invisibility of ME. I've never seen people run in a 5K to raise money for ME research or any of that kind of thing. It's mostly just us sick folk posting online that we exist and that it would be nice if there were a helpful treatment.
This is a fascinating read.
It underscores what works (collaborative investigation by complementary specialties) and doesn't (siloed expertise making broad assumptions based on incomplete data).
If you want to know how science is done right, take a gander at this 🧵 ↓
It underscores what works (collaborative investigation by complementary specialties) and doesn't (siloed expertise making broad assumptions based on incomplete data).
If you want to know how science is done right, take a gander at this 🧵 ↓
This question came up. While somewhat coy, it isn’t actually that simple to answer.
Given that I’m an “aerosol scientist”, I figured I take a crack at answering it.
Given that I’m an “aerosol scientist”, I figured I take a crack at answering it.
How exactly does one become an "aerosol scientist", inquiring minds want to know.
December 1, 2025 at 11:01 PM
This is a fascinating read.
It underscores what works (collaborative investigation by complementary specialties) and doesn't (siloed expertise making broad assumptions based on incomplete data).
If you want to know how science is done right, take a gander at this 🧵 ↓
It underscores what works (collaborative investigation by complementary specialties) and doesn't (siloed expertise making broad assumptions based on incomplete data).
If you want to know how science is done right, take a gander at this 🧵 ↓
I am lucky to have a compassionate support system. But they still struggle with this part of it:
"Living with PEM means making impossible choices every single day. Work or social life. Basic functioning or relationships. Today’s activity or tomorrow’s capacity."
Desire v Ability
#LongCOVID #MECFS
"Living with PEM means making impossible choices every single day. Work or social life. Basic functioning or relationships. Today’s activity or tomorrow’s capacity."
Desire v Ability
#LongCOVID #MECFS
Why I Can’t Just Meet You for Dinner
The Reality of Post-Exertional Malaise
substack.com
December 1, 2025 at 3:10 PM
I am lucky to have a compassionate support system. But they still struggle with this part of it:
"Living with PEM means making impossible choices every single day. Work or social life. Basic functioning or relationships. Today’s activity or tomorrow’s capacity."
Desire v Ability
#LongCOVID #MECFS
"Living with PEM means making impossible choices every single day. Work or social life. Basic functioning or relationships. Today’s activity or tomorrow’s capacity."
Desire v Ability
#LongCOVID #MECFS
Not a journey: chronic illness is "a place, and often a dark and lonely one";
Long COVID is a cage, a prison; derailment into a ditch on the side of the road.
It forces you to watch, helplessly, hopelessly alone, as life passes by.
Long COVID is a cage, a prison; derailment into a ditch on the side of the road.
It forces you to watch, helplessly, hopelessly alone, as life passes by.
December 1, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Not a journey: chronic illness is "a place, and often a dark and lonely one";
Long COVID is a cage, a prison; derailment into a ditch on the side of the road.
It forces you to watch, helplessly, hopelessly alone, as life passes by.
Long COVID is a cage, a prison; derailment into a ditch on the side of the road.
It forces you to watch, helplessly, hopelessly alone, as life passes by.
Should I find a cure for Long COVID, I'll be keeping it all to myself…
…is how the billionaire class thinks, apparently. Keep an advantage over others, at all costs.
#Climate #Inequality #Chaos #Collapse
Gotta say, that sort of sociopathy is wildly foreign to me.
…is how the billionaire class thinks, apparently. Keep an advantage over others, at all costs.
#Climate #Inequality #Chaos #Collapse
Gotta say, that sort of sociopathy is wildly foreign to me.
November 30, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Should I find a cure for Long COVID, I'll be keeping it all to myself…
…is how the billionaire class thinks, apparently. Keep an advantage over others, at all costs.
#Climate #Inequality #Chaos #Collapse
Gotta say, that sort of sociopathy is wildly foreign to me.
…is how the billionaire class thinks, apparently. Keep an advantage over others, at all costs.
#Climate #Inequality #Chaos #Collapse
Gotta say, that sort of sociopathy is wildly foreign to me.
"bUt hAvE u tRiEd yOgA tHo?
…
oR cOq-10?
Or fAsTinG?
oR SgB?
Or HbOt?
oR Tt?
Or rApaMiciN?
Or bOx BrEaThInG?
oR aYurVeDiC mEdiCinE?
iCe bAtHs?
iMc-2?
Ldn?
nAc+?
rLt?
hAve u tRiEd aGgrEsSivE rEsT?
cBt?
bRt?"
Not that last one, no.
"wEll tHeN tHaT exPlAinS iT"
COVID Chronicles, Day 1178
#LongCOVID
…
oR cOq-10?
Or fAsTinG?
oR SgB?
Or HbOt?
oR Tt?
Or rApaMiciN?
Or bOx BrEaThInG?
oR aYurVeDiC mEdiCinE?
iCe bAtHs?
iMc-2?
Ldn?
nAc+?
rLt?
hAve u tRiEd aGgrEsSivE rEsT?
cBt?
bRt?"
Not that last one, no.
"wEll tHeN tHaT exPlAinS iT"
COVID Chronicles, Day 1178
#LongCOVID
Day 98 - Realizing no outside help is coming, you hit the online forums hard to see if anyone has found a way to improve. The answer is yes, and no, but mostly maybe, kind of, a little, I guess. Undaunted, you try one thing, then another. But not the hook worms. That's just weird. #LC #LongCOVID
November 30, 2025 at 3:03 PM
"bUt hAvE u tRiEd yOgA tHo?
…
oR cOq-10?
Or fAsTinG?
oR SgB?
Or HbOt?
oR Tt?
Or rApaMiciN?
Or bOx BrEaThInG?
oR aYurVeDiC mEdiCinE?
iCe bAtHs?
iMc-2?
Ldn?
nAc+?
rLt?
hAve u tRiEd aGgrEsSivE rEsT?
cBt?
bRt?"
Not that last one, no.
"wEll tHeN tHaT exPlAinS iT"
COVID Chronicles, Day 1178
#LongCOVID
…
oR cOq-10?
Or fAsTinG?
oR SgB?
Or HbOt?
oR Tt?
Or rApaMiciN?
Or bOx BrEaThInG?
oR aYurVeDiC mEdiCinE?
iCe bAtHs?
iMc-2?
Ldn?
nAc+?
rLt?
hAve u tRiEd aGgrEsSivE rEsT?
cBt?
bRt?"
Not that last one, no.
"wEll tHeN tHaT exPlAinS iT"
COVID Chronicles, Day 1178
#LongCOVID
Bottom line: Beware the Brain Retraining grift.
Thankfully, actual science is progressing: I'd been hoping for an update on microfluidic capture (the 'herringbone chip') for diagnosing Long COVID & enabling us to measure treatment efficacy. Here it is.
If it pans out? Game on.
#Polybio #MedSky
Thankfully, actual science is progressing: I'd been hoping for an update on microfluidic capture (the 'herringbone chip') for diagnosing Long COVID & enabling us to measure treatment efficacy. Here it is.
If it pans out? Game on.
#Polybio #MedSky
November 28, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Reposted by COVID Chronicles
Proponents of brain retraining to cure Long COVID sound like Scientologists. They are adamant that "THIS is what's wrong with you". They promote it irrespective of scientific evidence, based on faith alone. And if you don't buy into it, it's just proof that they were right. That's a problem. 9/9
November 28, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Proponents of brain retraining to cure Long COVID sound like Scientologists. They are adamant that "THIS is what's wrong with you". They promote it irrespective of scientific evidence, based on faith alone. And if you don't buy into it, it's just proof that they were right. That's a problem. 9/9
Reposted by COVID Chronicles
I meditate, daily. Practice box breathing. I've overhauled my diet. Do fasting for the autophagy. I basically follow BRT's prescription, but I also know that's not the cure for Long COVID that grifters (who, okay, you are not) make it out to be. Because that's not how the body works. 8/9
November 28, 2025 at 5:17 PM
I meditate, daily. Practice box breathing. I've overhauled my diet. Do fasting for the autophagy. I basically follow BRT's prescription, but I also know that's not the cure for Long COVID that grifters (who, okay, you are not) make it out to be. Because that's not how the body works. 8/9
Reposted by COVID Chronicles
I have the luxury of being well supported by family and MDs. I am not depressed, stressed or worried. I was fit and happy, got COVID, became disabled. Exercise used to make me stronger. It now leads to PEM crashes. But I'm convinced a cure is coming and curious as to the underlying mechanisms. 7/9
November 28, 2025 at 5:17 PM
I have the luxury of being well supported by family and MDs. I am not depressed, stressed or worried. I was fit and happy, got COVID, became disabled. Exercise used to make me stronger. It now leads to PEM crashes. But I'm convinced a cure is coming and curious as to the underlying mechanisms. 7/9
Reposted by COVID Chronicles
A Freedom of Information Act request shows Paul Garner actively campaigning for Canada to focus on somatisation as a cause of Long COVID in their updated guidelines. At best, he has no idea (and no evidence other than his own recovery—within a year). That's malicious, given the implications. 6/9
November 28, 2025 at 5:17 PM
A Freedom of Information Act request shows Paul Garner actively campaigning for Canada to focus on somatisation as a cause of Long COVID in their updated guidelines. At best, he has no idea (and no evidence other than his own recovery—within a year). That's malicious, given the implications. 6/9
Reposted by COVID Chronicles
You don't profit from promoting BRT? I'm glad. But then why push something that is scientifically dubious (at best) and predatory (at worst)? You and I both know there are 100s of alleged cures for Long COVID out there. None of them work for 99% of people who try them. But this? THIS works? 5/9
November 28, 2025 at 5:17 PM
You don't profit from promoting BRT? I'm glad. But then why push something that is scientifically dubious (at best) and predatory (at worst)? You and I both know there are 100s of alleged cures for Long COVID out there. None of them work for 99% of people who try them. But this? THIS works? 5/9