Thank you for this wealth of information! Lord knows our public health authorities are not forthcoming with any useful information. I have used several of these methods after a recent exposure incident (mouthwash & neti-pot). Do remember to read the instructions for the neti-pot and use the appropriate type of water or you can actually cause more harm than good.
I had COVID about a year ago and in hindsight I would say it was actually a good experience for me. I'm not much of a stickler for the public health recommendations. I spent most of April - June 2020 gardening & raising chicken (outside, digging in dirt - all great for the immune system). I also avoid hand sanitizer like the plague and would never describe myself as a germ-o-phobe. Unless you suffer from SCIDs the excessive sterilization we inflict on ourselves really isn't good for your immune system. Back to my COVID experience - I went to another state (TN - my goodness, they aren't super crazy with the mandates down there) for the holidays (even though it was greatly discouraged) and low and behold we came home with the coof. It was a bit chaotic to say the least, BUT I did get to spend time with my dad (who was likely the source of our infection - turns out several of his care-givers had it - like basically everyone had it down there) who passed away a few weeks later. If I hadn't of gone I wouldn't of seen him just before he died and I am grateful for that opportunity. We weren't given the opportunity to see my father-in-law before he died in April 2020 as he was locked away in a nursing home. That is my source of shame. We blindly followed public health protocols and he died from loneliness/abandonment (he was there because my mother-in-law could not care for him as he required). We should have taken him out and cared for him ourselves - if I would have known I wasn't going to be back to work full-time until July we probably would have done that. It's ironic that COVID has nothing to do with his death, yet our response to COVID had everything to do with his death.
Nobody should ever feel shame for coming down with a respiratory sickness. We all gotta breath air! For those trusting the public health authorities (vaccines, boosters, social & familial distancing & N95 masks) I am sure they could feel shame as they thought they were doing all the right things and still got sick.
The only ones who should be feeling shame are those who inflicted so much emotional and psychological damage on children, young adults, people who have lost their jobs, people who are deathly afraid to see family members... Yet, they seem to have no shame whatsoever. This farce has gone on long enough. When it is over ... they need to be held accountable for all this collateral damage.
Yes, people should definitely read the instructions! I remember when Spike TV was around and they had the show "1000 Ways to Die" and one of their stories was of a man who didn't use sterile water in his neti pot and an amoeba made his way into his brain!
It's such a shame that we have essentially created two different worlds here in the US. Even in my state going to a county without any mask mandates feels like entering a different planet! I'm constantly reminded of all of the people who just was not able to see loved ones or to see each other's faces. I don't think any loved one on their deathbed would have preferred to not see anyone's faces before they passed away. It's something I struggle with rationalizing personally given my personal circumstances.
It is quite troubling that many people have taken it upon themselves to serve as foot soldiers to shame their fellow citizens for not behaving in a puritanical manner. People need to remain rational and grounded, and understand that it is no one's fault if they become ill. In fact, it reminds me of an interview Dr. Battacharya (I definitely butchered his name!) did with Dr. Drew a few months back where he said he wasn't going to get his children vaccinated. He told them that if they got him sick to not blame themselves. We really can't blame others for getting ill; we take that risk by virtue of living. What we can do is find ways to deal with the illness, and it's there that we have not been provided a proper way of dealing with the virus.
Thank you for the great information! I am recovering from Covid that I got twice in 5 months and this time I didn’t tell anyone and neither did my mom who got it from me. So the part you mention about shame is so true and I haven’t heard anyone else bring that up. I was embarrassed when I got it the first time and was frustrated and embarrassed the second time. I have not had the vaccine so I was hoping that my natural immunity would have protected me from getting it again and so quickly at that. As you said, everyone is going to get it and we need to just accept it and deal with it just as we do colds and flu and move on from this madness. Thanks for the great article!
Thank you for providing your personal experience. It's such a tragedy that people feel as if they can't just explain that they got COVID without fear of people criticizing and targeting them for something that is happening everywhere! Personally, I had the mindset that we should have gone on with life nearly a year ago and so I think for those of us with a similar mindset view all of this with indifference; just tell people you got COVID and move on. I think for many people the concern isn't about having gotten COVID but having others find out. What a world we live in for such an idea to be so pervasive among so many people!
As for your infection, would you mind telling me when you got COVID the 1st time? The 5 month gap honestly sounds like you got two different variants. Again, there should be no shame in getting Omicron. The evidence suggests that even with natural immunity or vaccines won't stop Omicron due to the number of spike protein mutations. In essence Omicron has placed everyone onto the same playing field immune-wise so remember that nearly everyone will get Omicron regardless of their prior immune status.
I’m assuming it was the delta variant initially, I was diagnosed Aug 25th. So I wasn’t much concerned about getting the Omicron because I figured my natural immunity would be stronger due to the short time frame, however I am now learning that doesn’t not seem to matter. And really it’s a super contagious virus and there should be no shame in having it from the beginning. I dreaded everyone freaking out about it both times. Sad, crazy world we are living in today. Edited to add: I got the second infection January 25th
Yupp, that's the thing with Omicron. It's as if we started back at square 1 with Omicron, although it's fortunately far more mild for many people. It is a shame that so many people have lost the ability to stay level-headed, although I think it's starting to break through now. The extent the narrative breaks, I'm not quite sure but it's hard to really be fearful when everyone I know appears to have gotten Omicron.
Thank you for this wealth of information! Lord knows our public health authorities are not forthcoming with any useful information. I have used several of these methods after a recent exposure incident (mouthwash & neti-pot). Do remember to read the instructions for the neti-pot and use the appropriate type of water or you can actually cause more harm than good.
I had COVID about a year ago and in hindsight I would say it was actually a good experience for me. I'm not much of a stickler for the public health recommendations. I spent most of April - June 2020 gardening & raising chicken (outside, digging in dirt - all great for the immune system). I also avoid hand sanitizer like the plague and would never describe myself as a germ-o-phobe. Unless you suffer from SCIDs the excessive sterilization we inflict on ourselves really isn't good for your immune system. Back to my COVID experience - I went to another state (TN - my goodness, they aren't super crazy with the mandates down there) for the holidays (even though it was greatly discouraged) and low and behold we came home with the coof. It was a bit chaotic to say the least, BUT I did get to spend time with my dad (who was likely the source of our infection - turns out several of his care-givers had it - like basically everyone had it down there) who passed away a few weeks later. If I hadn't of gone I wouldn't of seen him just before he died and I am grateful for that opportunity. We weren't given the opportunity to see my father-in-law before he died in April 2020 as he was locked away in a nursing home. That is my source of shame. We blindly followed public health protocols and he died from loneliness/abandonment (he was there because my mother-in-law could not care for him as he required). We should have taken him out and cared for him ourselves - if I would have known I wasn't going to be back to work full-time until July we probably would have done that. It's ironic that COVID has nothing to do with his death, yet our response to COVID had everything to do with his death.
Nobody should ever feel shame for coming down with a respiratory sickness. We all gotta breath air! For those trusting the public health authorities (vaccines, boosters, social & familial distancing & N95 masks) I am sure they could feel shame as they thought they were doing all the right things and still got sick.
The only ones who should be feeling shame are those who inflicted so much emotional and psychological damage on children, young adults, people who have lost their jobs, people who are deathly afraid to see family members... Yet, they seem to have no shame whatsoever. This farce has gone on long enough. When it is over ... they need to be held accountable for all this collateral damage.
Yes, people should definitely read the instructions! I remember when Spike TV was around and they had the show "1000 Ways to Die" and one of their stories was of a man who didn't use sterile water in his neti pot and an amoeba made his way into his brain!
It's such a shame that we have essentially created two different worlds here in the US. Even in my state going to a county without any mask mandates feels like entering a different planet! I'm constantly reminded of all of the people who just was not able to see loved ones or to see each other's faces. I don't think any loved one on their deathbed would have preferred to not see anyone's faces before they passed away. It's something I struggle with rationalizing personally given my personal circumstances.
It is quite troubling that many people have taken it upon themselves to serve as foot soldiers to shame their fellow citizens for not behaving in a puritanical manner. People need to remain rational and grounded, and understand that it is no one's fault if they become ill. In fact, it reminds me of an interview Dr. Battacharya (I definitely butchered his name!) did with Dr. Drew a few months back where he said he wasn't going to get his children vaccinated. He told them that if they got him sick to not blame themselves. We really can't blame others for getting ill; we take that risk by virtue of living. What we can do is find ways to deal with the illness, and it's there that we have not been provided a proper way of dealing with the virus.
Thank you for the great information! I am recovering from Covid that I got twice in 5 months and this time I didn’t tell anyone and neither did my mom who got it from me. So the part you mention about shame is so true and I haven’t heard anyone else bring that up. I was embarrassed when I got it the first time and was frustrated and embarrassed the second time. I have not had the vaccine so I was hoping that my natural immunity would have protected me from getting it again and so quickly at that. As you said, everyone is going to get it and we need to just accept it and deal with it just as we do colds and flu and move on from this madness. Thanks for the great article!
Thank you for providing your personal experience. It's such a tragedy that people feel as if they can't just explain that they got COVID without fear of people criticizing and targeting them for something that is happening everywhere! Personally, I had the mindset that we should have gone on with life nearly a year ago and so I think for those of us with a similar mindset view all of this with indifference; just tell people you got COVID and move on. I think for many people the concern isn't about having gotten COVID but having others find out. What a world we live in for such an idea to be so pervasive among so many people!
As for your infection, would you mind telling me when you got COVID the 1st time? The 5 month gap honestly sounds like you got two different variants. Again, there should be no shame in getting Omicron. The evidence suggests that even with natural immunity or vaccines won't stop Omicron due to the number of spike protein mutations. In essence Omicron has placed everyone onto the same playing field immune-wise so remember that nearly everyone will get Omicron regardless of their prior immune status.
I’m assuming it was the delta variant initially, I was diagnosed Aug 25th. So I wasn’t much concerned about getting the Omicron because I figured my natural immunity would be stronger due to the short time frame, however I am now learning that doesn’t not seem to matter. And really it’s a super contagious virus and there should be no shame in having it from the beginning. I dreaded everyone freaking out about it both times. Sad, crazy world we are living in today. Edited to add: I got the second infection January 25th
Yupp, that's the thing with Omicron. It's as if we started back at square 1 with Omicron, although it's fortunately far more mild for many people. It is a shame that so many people have lost the ability to stay level-headed, although I think it's starting to break through now. The extent the narrative breaks, I'm not quite sure but it's hard to really be fearful when everyone I know appears to have gotten Omicron.
That’s a very good point. Nothing to fear now… hopefully everyone will move along.