my heart skipped a beat reading her name, thought something untoward happened but good to see she is back on her feet, literally. I donated a couple of bucks when that video of her illness came out. Very happy to see she is better now.
Science YouTuber physicsgirl (Dianna Cowern) stands for the first time in 2 yrs
101–110 of 334 posts
Re: Science YouTuber physicsgirl (Dianna Cowern) stands for the first time in 2 yrs
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
Eh, the advantage of "long Covid" is that syndromes are clusters of symptoms without a known underlying cause. "Long Covid" may give ME/CFS symptoms, but if you solicit 100 Long Covid sufferers for a study, you are more likely to be able to find underlying similarities than for 100 ME/CFS suffers. The results would potentially scale to some sunset of ME/CFS suffers neho never had Covid, but it makes sense to start wi…
That's what I am wondering, is it the right cluster? Some long covid symptoms are nothing like ME/CFS such as a persistant loss of taste and smell. And there are people with ME/CFS who never had covid. Anyways, I am sure that research goes both way, that is, studying the consequences of covid and the causes of ME/CFS. "meet in the middle" can be a good exploration strategy.
The symptoms may be very different but the causes may be similar: permanent damage to tissues and organs which the body is unable to heal over time.
Re: Science YouTuber physicsgirl (Dianna Cowern) stands for the first time in 2 yrs
#103I’ve had long covid for a couple of years now. It’s a really difficult disease, in part because different people react very differently, and there may even be multiple mechanisms so it’s not exactly a single disease.
What has really helped me has been wearing a nicotine patch occasionally. I was never a smoker, but I came across this very small study [1] and thought it was worth a go because a) I was getting desperate and b) nicotine in such low doses is not that risky (7mg patch, worn for 2 weeks).
I know there’s counter-studies suggesting nicotine doesn’t help with resistance. My experience is anecdotal, but I saw rapid improvement in cognition and fatigue level (particularly post-exercise). My guess is that for some people the particular mechanism behind their long covid is one that this can help with, but not for everyone.
Re: Science YouTuber physicsgirl (Dianna Cowern) stands for the first time in 2 yrs
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
In circa 2022 I got covid and lost smell. First I couldn't smell the spices in the kitchen, but I thought nothing of it. But some days later, I couldn't smell WD-40. That's when I noticed I can't smell anything at all. My sense of smell never really recovered. After about a year, I could faintly smell menthol. Now I have to really try hard if I want to get some faint sense of smell, but a lot of time I just don't sme…
take a flashlight to your nostrils in a dark room with a mirror, are they inflamed? It could be reflux/silent reflux like I have, gases inflame the sinuses, then it's hard to breathe.
For any sinus inflammation issues, I would recommend trying Neti.
I had more or less constant inflammation growing up, two weeks of daily Neti solved that problem for good.
Re: Science YouTuber physicsgirl (Dianna Cowern) stands for the first time in 2 yrs
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
In circa 2022 I got covid and lost smell. First I couldn't smell the spices in the kitchen, but I thought nothing of it. But some days later, I couldn't smell WD-40. That's when I noticed I can't smell anything at all. My sense of smell never really recovered. After about a year, I could faintly smell menthol. Now I have to really try hard if I want to get some faint sense of smell, but a lot of time I just don't sme…
I completely lost taste and smell around 2022 too. It wasn't like a clogged nose, I could absolutely not sense anything with my tongue and nose (except for touch). I read stories about it not coming back for some people and it absolutely shook me. At that moment I realized how much I love delicious food and that smell is a great indicator for things you might not expect (e.g. heat). It luckily fully came back in my c…
I got covid once back in the summer of '22. I had high fever (40C) for two days but my taste and smell were gone for an entire month. Losing two of my five senses for so long was something I never want to experience again.
Re: Science YouTuber physicsgirl (Dianna Cowern) stands for the first time in 2 yrs
#106[flagged]
Re: Science YouTuber physicsgirl (Dianna Cowern) stands for the first time in 2 yrs
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
It seems no doctor takes it seriously still: just you being a whiner and get over it. My mother had it in the 80s and it was really not a thing; must see a shrink, she did, didn't help of course etc etc. Never got any help besides 'well, just rest and don't worry too much'.
I think it has more to do with the doctor thinking about the absolute nightmare they are going to have to deal with interfacing with insurance companies trying to treat you. The dismissal is just their self preservation. I have noticed that a lot of their job is playing insurance games to treat (get past preauthorizations) easily documented health issues, let alone things like ME/CFS or long COVID.
That’s a US-specific problem. Doctors dismiss patients’ complaints all the time in countries with universal healthcare.
I think the issue is much simpler than that: if the doctor is out of ideas (and doesn’t know of a specialist to refer to) they just get frustrated and give up.
Re: Science YouTuber physicsgirl (Dianna Cowern) stands for the first time in 2 yrs
#108[flagged]
Re: Science YouTuber physicsgirl (Dianna Cowern) stands for the first time in 2 yrs
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
Severe ME/CFS. I am a carer for my wife who has this forgotten & hidden disease. I am so glad Physics Girl is getting better with rest!
It seems it is not just rest but that she had some procedure done as well. https://youtube.com/shorts/ndhu7uo3PrI?si=pPzpDk4lLw3eRf0j
Indeed she was not apparently getting much better until she got the nerve block procedure a few months ago.
Re: Science YouTuber physicsgirl (Dianna Cowern) stands for the first time in 2 yrs
#110Long Covid (probably a form of ME/CFS triggered by Covid) is one of the worse diseases one can get. It invalidates you as a person physically and mentally and there are no solutions around. At the same time you are gaslighted by doctors and people because there is no clear diagnosis. My wife is already on her 3rd year and I just could witness first hand how shallow is the knowledge of most doctors, how they have zero…
GPs here are just absolutely useless. Have you tried reaching out to one of the specialized clinics? I've been under treatment for ME/CFS at Vermoeidheidkliniek (yeah, not the best name) and all of the specialists there have been incredibly helpful and willing to try different things.
They don't have very good reviews in Google but I can give it a try. My wife is in the queue for the new "Long Covid Clinics" but who knows when there will be room... they opened in November and we didn't hear anything else since then.