I count myself as extremely fortunate to not be one of the 800,000. However, I was Covid-19 virus patient as of March 13 2020 and I am still dealing with the debilitating aftermath including lung and vascular damage. My local hospital was crammed with sick employees who didn’t have proper PPE, there were few safety protocols and no avail…
I count myself as extremely fortunate to not be one of the 800,000. However, I was Covid-19 virus patient as of March 13 2020 and I am still dealing with the debilitating aftermath including lung and vascular damage. My local hospital was crammed with sick employees who didn’t have proper PPE, there were few safety protocols and no available beds. Even the lab refused my doctor’s order for a chest X-ray saying they did not have any way to sterilize the room afterward. I survived but my fury is as intense and focused as ever. Those who impeded the scientists and doctors have blood on their hands that is damningly obvious and I accept no excuses.
Mary, Trump should indeed be charged with negligent homicide. In my circle, a friend of mine from our theological training and one of our young pastors at Judson Memorial in NYC has been suffering for a year - maybe more - with the Covid aftermath. You who are living with long-term damage are owed a great deal more than even Trump, with all his money and power, could ever repay.
Maryomary: Your outrage is broadly shared! It consistently seemed that the early strategic planning emphasized optics over collective safety, monetizing strategies over public health concerns. It was a heartbreaking betrayal of the collective trust we citizens have had in the government’s management of our public health safety. In our family too, we have a dear young family member struggling with long COVID symptoms. I am grateful for every bit of news HCR shares that confirms the investigative committee is getting evidence proving TFG administration’s ongoing callous disregard for the public safety. Accountability critical for all of us, but especially those still left suffering. Wishing you and all of us, recovery, relief and answers!!!
"It consistently seemed that the early strategic planning emphasized optics over collective safety, monetizing strategies over public health concerns. It was a heartbreaking betrayal of the collective trust we citizens have had in the government’s management of our public health safety." Exactly!
I agree. TFG's willful disregard of Covid and its toll on US citizens is one of the highest crimes imaginable. His spin doctoring is malfeasance deserving of banishment. Perhaps try him in The Hague's International Criminal Court where other national leaders have been tried for Crimes Against Humanity.
I join all those others in deploring what has happened to you. Several friends also have long term effects from Covid, and I wish that the CDC would gather testimony from all of you. No one deserves death, but neither do they deserve being deprived of basic physical functions.
It is infuriating that those in power knew that there were long term Covid symptoms, but still tried to silence the scientists. I am sorry you are one of those suffering with Covid lung and vascular damage. Your outrage is deserved.
Jessica Jones, whistle-blower from Florida who lost her job with FL dept of health is now running for congress, against Matt gaetz. She has my donation dollars already
How dreadful that you continue to suffer from effects of Covid, Mary! My heart goes out to you. Take good care of yourself -- sending you hugs and strength.
I believe I caught covid at a New Year's Day (2020) ballet class. I struggled for months with symptoms that later were identified as covid symptoms. What helped me the most were Meyer's Cocktail infusions. A Meyer's Cocktail is a combination of various vitamins. I am now fully recovered.
D is not a placebo. I suspect zinc probably isn't as well, but my certainty on that is not high, mostly because I haven't studied it. See my post above.
Vitamin D and ZInc have some demonstrated efficacy with viruses. Problem is the doses in many of the over the counter products are way too high, and dangerous.
Not true of D. The doses there are often too low. It's hard to get too high a dose of D. I take 3000 IU/day in the darker months. (In summer, I run shirtless every day and don't need the supplement.) Fauci takes 6000 IU/day. One of my best friends takes 10,000/day, having been prescribed that for osteopenia, and she's been doing it for years with no ill effect.
you want to aim for a blood level of 40-60 ng/ml. (Mine is around 55ng/ml both summer--from the sun--and winter, from the supplement.)
It takes about 6-8 weeks of supplement for your blood level to get where it needs to be. You can speed it up by taking a high dose, like 10,000, for a week or two.
Rule of thumb: if your shadow is longer than you are, the sun is too low in the sky and the relevant rays are being filtered out by the atmosphere.
Without sufficient D, your immune system is not working on all four cylinders. Since I began taking D in 2004, I almost never get colds or flu. I went from 2-3 colds a year to getting a cold every 3-4 years.
Being a somewhat chubby senior woman, I can't go outside and run shirtless. I do take Vit D (not in as high a dose as you do) I truly recommend taking a daily walk outdoors. Short and slow if that is all you can manage, build up as you can. There is a (Swedish, methinks?) saying about there being no bad weather, only poor clothing choices. Turn that face up to the sun if you are mostly clothed. MIght not get enough Vit D to make a big difference but that exercise surely will help your overall physical and mental health.
Thanks for your excellent posts, you are among the folks I look for daily.
I think we've been through this debate before David. Suffice it to say, my review of the literature, and my own case studies, particularly on folks who have been on large (greater than 2000 IU/day) showed increased severe fatigue over time (one patient in my caseload was admitted to the hospital in coma, resolved with stopping Vitamin D). My RN, MSN hopefully counts for something.
What's important is not the dose, but the blood level. My blood level is the same on no supplements in summer, as it is on 3000 IU in winter. The level I specified--40-60ng/ml--is what researchers have found in hunter-gatherers (there are still a few tribes left). And there is literature now showing that people with higher levels of D are less likely to end up in the ICU from covid.
My doctor, a Harvard Medical School professor, disagreed with me on this for years, but she has come around.
This discussion made me curious so I took a look at the Mayo Clinic website. They recommend the following
“Taking a multivitamin with vitamin D may help improve bone health. The recommended daily amount of vitamin D is 400 international units (IU) for children up to age 12 months, 600 IU for people ages 1 to 70 years, and 800 IU for people over 70 years.”
But then include this, which suggests dosage up to 4000IU might be OK.
“Taken in appropriate doses, vitamin D is generally considered safe.
However, taking too much vitamin D in the form of supplements can be harmful. Children age 9 years and older, adults, and pregnant and breastfeeding women who take more than 4,000 IU a day of vitamin D might experience:
Nausea and vomiting
Poor appetite and weight loss
Constipation
Weakness
Confusion and disorientation
Heart rhythm problems
Kidney stones and kidney damage”
I plan to research further and talk with my doctor. I am able to be outside a lot, however live in the northeast where winter sun is weak and use sunscreen which blocks some vitamin D.
Thanks to those of you who brought this to our attention, along with the caveats.
Well, if you don't believe in vitamins, or haven't studied biochem and haven't learned that vitamins are actually catalysts, and the rxn won't occur without the catalyst, you might think so. I'm not going to argue with someone who doesn't understand nutrition, vitamins, or catalysts.
Sounds like you got the right cocktail. I don't know the formula, but I would imagine it includes Vits. C and D3 as well as Zinc. Offhand, I really believe the IV delivery made a big difference for you.
Vit. D is critically important, and I had to learn the hard way. For years, I would get extreme bronchitis during the winter. In two years, it resulted in 3 cases of pneumonia. Considering that I don't smoke but do exercise regularly and eat healthily, I couldn't imagine what would cause it. My doctors at the VA always diagnosed bronchitis. There was never talk of vitamins or especially Vitamin D. I learned on my own, and in the past 3 winters I've never had bronchitis much less pneumonia. (I heard one noted nutritionist say that Vitamin D is actually a hormone.) For those of us in the cold, gray winter areas, Vitamin D is essential. It will remain critically important to me. (I use a liquid formula which includes Vit. K2.)
That is a harrowing story. You were so unfortunate to have caught it at a point when nobody, hospitals not excepted, knew a damn thing. I don’t know you, but I’m glad to hear that at least the end of your story was somewhat fortunate. However the fact that you are still dealing with long Covid is most unfortunate. Grace to you.
As for your last sentence, full agreement. Blood on their hands - no excuses.
Memo to the smarmy Dr. Redfield and the always dutiful Dr. Birx: You two and Dr. Fauci whom I do admire, could have resigned. Publicly. Together. In the loudest way possible. And then attacked ceaselessly from the outside.
I don’t buy the reasoning that someone worse would have taken your place and you spared the nation from more disaster. That is the merest fig leaf of a rationalization. Public obeisance to a madman is a dangerous example to set for the nation in a crisis of the highest order.
Your joint resignation, at the time of the famous “bleach is the solution” news conference or when Scott Atlas was pushing the President to a policy of no Covid mitigants in a quest for herd immunity for the last 500 survivors, would have set off a public earthquake. Who knows what would have happened them? You might have set off a stream of resignations, to the total humiliation of Trump and the effective end of the mythology he created.
At the very least I think it would have set off a massive confrontation. On the one side there would have been those citizens who a) wanted to live and b) thought their best chance was through the efforts of science.
On the other side, there would have been, no offense. those Americans who had lost their mind.
I agree, Mary. But I keep thinking about the sub-prime mortgage crisis that caused the Great Recession. Zero, none, not one of those responsible spent a day in jail. I hope it's a precedent that will be broken.
I am so sorry that you're among the long-haulers. As bad as Covid has been, I suspect that an even worse pandemic "after-effect" is going to be the continuing medical issues of our survivors. I have two in my immediate circle (my sister in law and my best friend) who are both long haulers. My friend was sick in March 2020 (her Mom, living with her, nearly died) and neither were either hospitalized or (they believe) not counted in the early count of local Covid cases.)
When the pandemic is "over", the continuing and long term after effects are going to be as bad as what we're seeing now.
One of my local TV stations spends about 75% of the broadcast covering Covid developments. The two biggest stories on this Cincinnati station right now are Covid and the Kentucky tornadoes. They do an excellent job.
I'm hoping against hope that the theme of national coverage will be the percentage of people hospitalized for Covid who are not vaccinated and who bears responsibility (Republicans and Fox News). Not holding my breath.
Sorry to hear of the pain and suffering MaryO. I have a cousin who was unvaccinated by choice, got the virus, took up a hospital bed and when cured thanked her prayer army or some such insanity. Don't speak to her anymore. If you have the energy help us gain 3 or 4 Democratic Senate seats in 2022 and then MAYBE we can deal with some of this nihilism on the right.
I count myself as extremely fortunate to not be one of the 800,000. However, I was Covid-19 virus patient as of March 13 2020 and I am still dealing with the debilitating aftermath including lung and vascular damage. My local hospital was crammed with sick employees who didn’t have proper PPE, there were few safety protocols and no available beds. Even the lab refused my doctor’s order for a chest X-ray saying they did not have any way to sterilize the room afterward. I survived but my fury is as intense and focused as ever. Those who impeded the scientists and doctors have blood on their hands that is damningly obvious and I accept no excuses.
Mary, Trump should indeed be charged with negligent homicide. In my circle, a friend of mine from our theological training and one of our young pastors at Judson Memorial in NYC has been suffering for a year - maybe more - with the Covid aftermath. You who are living with long-term damage are owed a great deal more than even Trump, with all his money and power, could ever repay.
Mary, I'm sorry you're still dealing with the effects of Covid. I cannot imagine the outrage you're feeling as cases surge upwards once again.
Please stay safe. We are with you.
Maryomary: Your outrage is broadly shared! It consistently seemed that the early strategic planning emphasized optics over collective safety, monetizing strategies over public health concerns. It was a heartbreaking betrayal of the collective trust we citizens have had in the government’s management of our public health safety. In our family too, we have a dear young family member struggling with long COVID symptoms. I am grateful for every bit of news HCR shares that confirms the investigative committee is getting evidence proving TFG administration’s ongoing callous disregard for the public safety. Accountability critical for all of us, but especially those still left suffering. Wishing you and all of us, recovery, relief and answers!!!
IMO, the republicans are still playing their part in “emphasized optics over collective safety, monetizing strategies over public health concerns”.
"It consistently seemed that the early strategic planning emphasized optics over collective safety, monetizing strategies over public health concerns. It was a heartbreaking betrayal of the collective trust we citizens have had in the government’s management of our public health safety." Exactly!
Trump needs to be charged with Crimes Against Humanity.
I agree. TFG's willful disregard of Covid and its toll on US citizens is one of the highest crimes imaginable. His spin doctoring is malfeasance deserving of banishment. Perhaps try him in The Hague's International Criminal Court where other national leaders have been tried for Crimes Against Humanity.
Pardon my ignorance, but what does “tfg” stand for? Thank you.
TFG stands for The Former Guy, Pres.Biden's phrase for Trump. It's being used commonly now since even mentioning Trump is painful!
Thanks Hope, yes, to utter his name is anathema.
I join all those others in deploring what has happened to you. Several friends also have long term effects from Covid, and I wish that the CDC would gather testimony from all of you. No one deserves death, but neither do they deserve being deprived of basic physical functions.
It is infuriating that those in power knew that there were long term Covid symptoms, but still tried to silence the scientists. I am sorry you are one of those suffering with Covid lung and vascular damage. Your outrage is deserved.
Note the attempt (and probable success) to muzzle COVID data at the University of Florida
Jessica Jones, whistle-blower from Florida who lost her job with FL dept of health is now running for congress, against Matt gaetz. She has my donation dollars already
Rebekah Jones FL-01 | 2022
Oh, I didn't know this! Wow, she's a firebrand.
Rebekah, Rebekah! I thought Jessica didn't sound quite right
https://www.rebekahjonescampaign.com/
I'm sorry about your debilitating aftermath, and I hope things improve for you, and that you have plenty of support from friends and/or family.
How dreadful that you continue to suffer from effects of Covid, Mary! My heart goes out to you. Take good care of yourself -- sending you hugs and strength.
I believe I caught covid at a New Year's Day (2020) ballet class. I struggled for months with symptoms that later were identified as covid symptoms. What helped me the most were Meyer's Cocktail infusions. A Meyer's Cocktail is a combination of various vitamins. I am now fully recovered.
I'm glad you're feeling better, but I'm sceptical about whether the vitamins were responsible for your recovery.
The vitamins may have been a placebo, but sometimes that is all that is needed.
D is not a placebo. I suspect zinc probably isn't as well, but my certainty on that is not high, mostly because I haven't studied it. See my post above.
Zinc does show significant efficacy, but again, dose does NOT need to be high).
Vitamin D and ZInc have some demonstrated efficacy with viruses. Problem is the doses in many of the over the counter products are way too high, and dangerous.
Not true of D. The doses there are often too low. It's hard to get too high a dose of D. I take 3000 IU/day in the darker months. (In summer, I run shirtless every day and don't need the supplement.) Fauci takes 6000 IU/day. One of my best friends takes 10,000/day, having been prescribed that for osteopenia, and she's been doing it for years with no ill effect.
you want to aim for a blood level of 40-60 ng/ml. (Mine is around 55ng/ml both summer--from the sun--and winter, from the supplement.)
It takes about 6-8 weeks of supplement for your blood level to get where it needs to be. You can speed it up by taking a high dose, like 10,000, for a week or two.
Rule of thumb: if your shadow is longer than you are, the sun is too low in the sky and the relevant rays are being filtered out by the atmosphere.
Without sufficient D, your immune system is not working on all four cylinders. Since I began taking D in 2004, I almost never get colds or flu. I went from 2-3 colds a year to getting a cold every 3-4 years.
Being a somewhat chubby senior woman, I can't go outside and run shirtless. I do take Vit D (not in as high a dose as you do) I truly recommend taking a daily walk outdoors. Short and slow if that is all you can manage, build up as you can. There is a (Swedish, methinks?) saying about there being no bad weather, only poor clothing choices. Turn that face up to the sun if you are mostly clothed. MIght not get enough Vit D to make a big difference but that exercise surely will help your overall physical and mental health.
Thanks for your excellent posts, you are among the folks I look for daily.
I, too, fit that description, and supplement with Vitamin D at a lower dose during the fall and winter.
I think we've been through this debate before David. Suffice it to say, my review of the literature, and my own case studies, particularly on folks who have been on large (greater than 2000 IU/day) showed increased severe fatigue over time (one patient in my caseload was admitted to the hospital in coma, resolved with stopping Vitamin D). My RN, MSN hopefully counts for something.
What's important is not the dose, but the blood level. My blood level is the same on no supplements in summer, as it is on 3000 IU in winter. The level I specified--40-60ng/ml--is what researchers have found in hunter-gatherers (there are still a few tribes left). And there is literature now showing that people with higher levels of D are less likely to end up in the ICU from covid.
My doctor, a Harvard Medical School professor, disagreed with me on this for years, but she has come around.
This discussion made me curious so I took a look at the Mayo Clinic website. They recommend the following
“Taking a multivitamin with vitamin D may help improve bone health. The recommended daily amount of vitamin D is 400 international units (IU) for children up to age 12 months, 600 IU for people ages 1 to 70 years, and 800 IU for people over 70 years.”
But then include this, which suggests dosage up to 4000IU might be OK.
“Taken in appropriate doses, vitamin D is generally considered safe.
However, taking too much vitamin D in the form of supplements can be harmful. Children age 9 years and older, adults, and pregnant and breastfeeding women who take more than 4,000 IU a day of vitamin D might experience:
Nausea and vomiting
Poor appetite and weight loss
Constipation
Weakness
Confusion and disorientation
Heart rhythm problems
Kidney stones and kidney damage”
I plan to research further and talk with my doctor. I am able to be outside a lot, however live in the northeast where winter sun is weak and use sunscreen which blocks some vitamin D.
Thanks to those of you who brought this to our attention, along with the caveats.
I thought vitamin C was supposed to do that.
That was Linus Pauling's theory around 50 years ago. As Dawna says below, C has some important actions, but D is far more critical.
Anything can become problematic in too large doses, including D. But too much D is MUCH more than they used to think it was.
Well, if you don't believe in vitamins, or haven't studied biochem and haven't learned that vitamins are actually catalysts, and the rxn won't occur without the catalyst, you might think so. I'm not going to argue with someone who doesn't understand nutrition, vitamins, or catalysts.
Sounds like you got the right cocktail. I don't know the formula, but I would imagine it includes Vits. C and D3 as well as Zinc. Offhand, I really believe the IV delivery made a big difference for you.
Vit. D is critically important, and I had to learn the hard way. For years, I would get extreme bronchitis during the winter. In two years, it resulted in 3 cases of pneumonia. Considering that I don't smoke but do exercise regularly and eat healthily, I couldn't imagine what would cause it. My doctors at the VA always diagnosed bronchitis. There was never talk of vitamins or especially Vitamin D. I learned on my own, and in the past 3 winters I've never had bronchitis much less pneumonia. (I heard one noted nutritionist say that Vitamin D is actually a hormone.) For those of us in the cold, gray winter areas, Vitamin D is essential. It will remain critically important to me. (I use a liquid formula which includes Vit. K2.)
Can you enlighten us on Meyer’s Cocktail? Thank you.
That is a harrowing story. You were so unfortunate to have caught it at a point when nobody, hospitals not excepted, knew a damn thing. I don’t know you, but I’m glad to hear that at least the end of your story was somewhat fortunate. However the fact that you are still dealing with long Covid is most unfortunate. Grace to you.
As for your last sentence, full agreement. Blood on their hands - no excuses.
Memo to the smarmy Dr. Redfield and the always dutiful Dr. Birx: You two and Dr. Fauci whom I do admire, could have resigned. Publicly. Together. In the loudest way possible. And then attacked ceaselessly from the outside.
I don’t buy the reasoning that someone worse would have taken your place and you spared the nation from more disaster. That is the merest fig leaf of a rationalization. Public obeisance to a madman is a dangerous example to set for the nation in a crisis of the highest order.
Your joint resignation, at the time of the famous “bleach is the solution” news conference or when Scott Atlas was pushing the President to a policy of no Covid mitigants in a quest for herd immunity for the last 500 survivors, would have set off a public earthquake. Who knows what would have happened them? You might have set off a stream of resignations, to the total humiliation of Trump and the effective end of the mythology he created.
At the very least I think it would have set off a massive confrontation. On the one side there would have been those citizens who a) wanted to live and b) thought their best chance was through the efforts of science.
On the other side, there would have been, no offense. those Americans who had lost their mind.
I know who I would have bet on.
Well said.
I can’t help but wonder if all of you who have these disabling Covid conditions can go after trump in a civil suit. He must be held accountable.
I agree, Mary. But I keep thinking about the sub-prime mortgage crisis that caused the Great Recession. Zero, none, not one of those responsible spent a day in jail. I hope it's a precedent that will be broken.
Mary,
You are right to feel anger toward Trump. He convinced many the CV-19 was a hoax.
However, see my other posts today.
He is going to jail. I am optimistic you will see him in stripes behind bars in the not too distant future.
In fact, I encourage you to imagine Trump in stripes, in a small jail cell, with (very) friendly inmates and
a prison guard whose wife died from CV-19 making sure he does not escape.
I am so sorry that you're among the long-haulers. As bad as Covid has been, I suspect that an even worse pandemic "after-effect" is going to be the continuing medical issues of our survivors. I have two in my immediate circle (my sister in law and my best friend) who are both long haulers. My friend was sick in March 2020 (her Mom, living with her, nearly died) and neither were either hospitalized or (they believe) not counted in the early count of local Covid cases.)
When the pandemic is "over", the continuing and long term after effects are going to be as bad as what we're seeing now.
The press and spokespeople do not talk about long Covid nearly enough, if at all.
One of my local TV stations spends about 75% of the broadcast covering Covid developments. The two biggest stories on this Cincinnati station right now are Covid and the Kentucky tornadoes. They do an excellent job.
I'm hoping against hope that the theme of national coverage will be the percentage of people hospitalized for Covid who are not vaccinated and who bears responsibility (Republicans and Fox News). Not holding my breath.
Sorry to hear of the pain and suffering MaryO. I have a cousin who was unvaccinated by choice, got the virus, took up a hospital bed and when cured thanked her prayer army or some such insanity. Don't speak to her anymore. If you have the energy help us gain 3 or 4 Democratic Senate seats in 2022 and then MAYBE we can deal with some of this nihilism on the right.
The R's did the same with AIDS in the '80 btw.
You betcha they did.