Fighting my PEM/Flare after having had 4 very good weeks (and did too much, evidently ;) ), I'm thinking about the chats I have had in the latest months. I have heard many people discussing their fears about Covid 19 with me. Taken aside the whole discussion about the numbers game or how bad it really is etc. etc., there's one major concern that is raised by a lot of you. And that is: the amazing number of people that are left with symptoms after they had Covid. Even people with a mild infection sometimes are left with Post Covid symptoms. This has left a lot of people saying that Covid 19 is really very bad, because "You'll never recover from it". Or: "it's worse than the flu, because I never heard of people that are left sick after they had the flu".
Today I want to debunk that myth.
For decades now, people all over the world have experienced similar problems: they had an infection and never really recovered. It could be the flu, a stomach bug, Mono ("Pfeiffer").... It could have been mild or even pretty nasty, that doesn't seem to make the difference: these people's lives turned upside down and they never became the same as they were before.
For these people, a nightmare started: doctor's visits didn't bring any relief, only more questions. No diagnoses, no abnormalities in the bloodwork. For most of these people (both children and adults) the only treatment that was given was antidepressants or a programme at a psychiatric ward. Patients were met with disbelief, scorn and even abuse.
Ofcourse, you all know that I'm talking about the people with ME/CFS. A multi system disease that in most cases seems to have been triggered by an infection. After over 50 years of dismissal, now ME/CFS is classified as a Post Viral Illness. Earlier this year, Dr. Fauci mentioned similarities between the Post Covid Syndrome and ME/CFS. That brought hope to the ME community: would this worldwide health crisis finally bring scientists to start researching Post Viral illnesses
At this time, unfortunately everything seems to go different: the Long Covid patients (about 10% of people that have had Covid) seem te be considered a new group. But is it really?
MY OPINION
If you want my opinion (and who am I, but just an experiential expert for 39 years and health/life coach with a passion for medical research on this topic), this Post Viral Syndrome is nothing different than the other one. There may be a difference in symptoms, but that's always the case: we see similarities and (personal) differences in ME/CFS as well. Like there are differences and similarities in every patient with any disease.
To me, this would seem like the perfect occasion to study Post Viral illnesses (like ME/CFS) and/or any post infectious illnesses (like Lyme, Q fever, etc.!) from the onset. A rare opportunity, because normally we rarely have so many people at the same time showing this result. And not because it did not exist before, but because then the infections are more spread, or because it is the one single case in the GP's office, it's not taken seriously. By the time it's finally diagnosed as a post infectious illness it's often years later.
What makes some bodies respond to an infection like this? And why doesn't this happen to everybody? Doesn't that make you curious? (I am!!!)
I'm afraid the bets are placed on vaccines... There's easy money to be made there. So instead of putting their money on research of Post Viral illnesses, and maybe in the end cure millions of people all over the world (whose chronic condition cost a lot of money, by the way), they choose the short and easy: vaccines! A quick way to make a buck, no matter the cost of health (and lives?) in the long run. Even though vaccines aren't as profitable as drugs, it still is a good investment. Look at the flu shot, for example. It's a nice income that returns every year. And you're not eligible for any damage, either so....sounds like a great business opportunity.
We have seen the examples of this before: drugs that were regarded as safe, but caused terrible injuries and even deaths. And it's not that long ago that the industry felt the need to speed up the production of a vaccine for a pandemic called the Swine Flu. (Remember?)....As a result a substantial amount of people (mostly children) were left with an incurable disease called Narcolepsy. Are we in for a repetition of this huge mistake?
FEAR
So....with all of that out of the way, I want to let you know there's no more to fear about this virus than any other. Yes....it's a very aggressive one ( I know from experience) and if it has you good, it's scary and you're really sick. If you are unlucky enough to have comorbidities it can even be life threatening. But so can other diseases too! I mean....HIV is scary, isn't it? West Nile virus, SARS....and who knows what more viruses will be coming in the future? Will you be spending the rest of your life in fear? Do you really think we are able to control.....LIFE ?
To be honest, the chances of dying from Covid 19 are pretty small. Ofcourse, depending on where you are in the risk-groups. But if you take a look at the statistics, even if you are in the highest risk group, your chance of dying of covid is 0.492%, whereas the chance of you dying of any other cause is 0.898% ( Bron: FD/RIVM/Sanquin). Maybe that's why this year the mortality rate in Holland is not higher than the average any other year, even though we might have the feeling it is.
Then...to come back to the initial concern of developing a Post Viral illness: I'm afraid there's no guarantee that you will not develop it when you don't get Covid. Because, as I've mentioned above: you can get it from any virus or infectious disease. And we can't prevent anything if we don't know what really causes it, can we?
If you want to do risk management, you should take into account all the risks that are involved here. Those are:
What's your chance of getting Covid 19? What's your chance of recovering from it? What's your chance of being left with Post Viral illness? What are the chances of recovering from that because of the right treatment? And finally: what's the chance of vaccine injury? Maybe we can come to the conclusion that, whatever you decide, it's like placing a bet. Or even playing Russian Roulette. There's just no way any of us can be absolutely certain of any outcome. And maybe that's what feeds the fear: it's out of our hands.
Let's face it: nobody wants to die. But it's a fact of life.... Who lives, will eventually die. That's the one thing we all know for sure. Don't let governments use a new diagnosis like Post Covid Syndrome as an excuse to force a "New Normal" (with a catastrophic economic and health damage as a result!) or obligated vaccines on us. It's not new....Even though this virus is.
It's easy to use fear as a weapon of crowd control. Inform yourself through different sources. That leaves you with less fear and a free spirit. Fear never stopped anyone from dying. It only stops people from living.
Bless you all.
Sanna (Heel Gezonde Mama)
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Want to read more?
(artikel UK medical specialists how to treat Post Covid)
Swine flu vaccine 2009 : compensation for brain damaged victims in UK
https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/brain-damaged-uk-victims-swine-flu-vaccine-get-60-million-compensation-1438572
In Dutch/ NL:
Mexicaanse griep vaccin - schadevergoeding en verloop van de pandemie aanpak
https://stichtingvaccinvrij.nl/ministerie-trekt-5-miljoen-uit-voor-schikkingen-na-vaccinatieschade-door-mexicaanse-griep-vaccin/