COVID Chronicles

@covidchronicles.bsky.social

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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

A T-Shirt on a female athlete reads: "Running for my Long COVID friends who no longer can".
A hand-written note on yellow paper is posted on a fridge with a matching yellow magnet. It reads: You can't always get what you want No, you can't always get what you want I said you can't always get what you want But if you try sometime, you'll find you get — ["what you need" is crossed out in red and replaced with:] debilitating Post-Exertional Malaise Next to the note, in bold black lettering, there is the caption: No reason. No rhyme. Welcome to Long COVID: The disease that ruins everything One crash at a time.
Picture of an office worker pointing directly at you and yelling angrily. Above it, the caption: ‪Pray tell, what other treatment than brain retraining therapy follows this pattern? Patient: It didn't work :( Everyone: BeCaUsE yOu'Re dOinG iT wRoNg!!! #MindOverMatter #LongCOVID #MECFS COVID Chronicles‬ @covidchronicles.bsky.social‬
To the left of a picture of Rodin's "Le penseur", is this caption: I STOPPED THINKING I HAD LONG COVID AND IT WORKED: I NO LONGER THINK I HAVE LONG COVID. Trouble is, Long COVID still has me. COVID Chronicles - Day 1315 @covidchronicles.bsky.social
Top corner, there's a screenshot of an email from "Friend who gets it" to "me". It reads: "I had an idea. What if made a tshirt to wear on race day that had something to raise awareness about long covid? Something like, "Running for my Long Covid friends who can't." or "Running to raise awareness about Long Covid." What's the shortest message that would seem like good PR? If anything?" Below the email screenshot, two pictures of the purple T-shirt this friend ordered. Bottom left is of the back, which has "Running for my Long Covid friends who no longer can" written on it. Bottom right is of the front, which has a ribbon and "Long COVID" written on it. Top right of this image is my caption. It reads: "COVID Chronicles, Day 1312. It's not just that she sees me. It's that she followed through. <3" @covidchronicles.bsky.social
Source: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.02.28.708602 ELI5 by Zdenek Vrozina on Ex-Twitter: A new preprint proposes an interesting mechanism for Long COVID - a link between gut dysbiosis - microbial extracellular vesicles - systemic inflammation - neuroinflammation. This is not just correlation. The authors also test functional models. The main idea - after SARS-CoV-2 infection, patients may develop a persistent alteration of the gut microbiome. This does not only mean a different bacterial composition, but also the production of different signaling particles - so-called gut microbiota-derived extracellular vesicles (GMEVs). These vesicles are microscopic membrane particles carrying bacterial cargo. Proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, and other immunologically active molecules. The authors propose that they may transmit inflammatory signals from the gut to the rest of the body. In a cohort of people with Long COVID, the researchers found persistent microbiome alterations up to 12 months after infection. Certain microbial patterns were associated with neurological symptoms such as memory problems, concentration difficulties, or brain fog. A strong part of the study - the authors did not only analyze patients. They transplanted microbiota from patients with neurological symptoms into germ-free mice. The mice developed impaired intestinal barrier integrity, behavioral changes, and signs of neuroinflammation. This moves the study beyond typical observational. It does not just say these patients have a different microbiome, but suggests that microbiota associated with Long COVID can transfer pathological effects, at least in experimental models. The second step is even more interesting. The researchers isolated microbial extracellular vesicles directly from patient stool samples. These vesicles were then tested on intestinal epithelial cells, macrophages, and human iPSC-derived microglia. The result? (Continued in next picture's ALT text)
Poster depicts two screenshots taken from the end of the Dune Part Three teaser trailer. Top caption reads: "Everyone with debilitating post-COVID condition after seeing the teaser:" Followed by a screenshot of the teaser's title card: "DUNE PART THREE" And then a caption that reads: "But I must not die yet" Followed by a screenshot of the teaser's final card: "Only in theaters 12.18.26 Filmed for IMAX" @covidchronicles.bsky.social
A cat peaks over from the back of a flat-screen TV. The TV is off and in it you can see the reflection of a sofa with a blanket and pillows on it. It has clearly been occupied recently. In small print, next to the cat, are the scribbled words "I see you". The poster's caption reads: "It doesn't just cripple you It makes you disappear You go from running marathons to barely able to run errands. We don't know why it happens, only that it does. Suddenly, you can't work, parent, or play. But the world's moved on, as if it weren't even a thing. Research goes underfunded, prevention's the butt of jokes. Welcome to Long COVID - The disease that disables hope. COVID Chronicles, day 1277 @covidchronicles.bsky.social
Merriam-Webster The Words of the Week - Mar. 13 Word Worth Knowing: 'Dauncy' Our Unabridged dictionary defines the adjective donsie as a word used chiefly in northern Midland (see sense 2b) dialects to mean "slightly ill." It sometimes appears with the variant spelling dauncy (both forms are rarely encountered these days). Donsie/dauncy can be traced to the Scottish Gaelic word donas, meaning "evil." "You feeling dauncy, Mr. Birdwell? Did you maybe stand up too fast?" - Jessamyn West, The Friendly Persuasion, 1945 Last Published: 13 Mar 2026 | Privacy Policy & Terms of Use
1. Introduction (...)Recent studies have stressed the importance of the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2. In the context of human mobility patterns at any location, the airborne transmission process can be roughly segregated into short-range and long-range. Short-range transmissions include the direct inhalation of a wide range of virus-laden respiratory particle sizes in proximity of the index case. However, the long-range route exposes individuals to only smaller aerosols that remain airborne for an extended period. Understanding the major parameters that govern the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is therefore crucial for the modelling of both the short- and long-range routes. (...) The heterogeneity of the viral load has been strongly tied to the overdispersed nature of SARS-CoV-2 infections, along with the higher index-case viral loads being directly correlated with the increase in secondary infection counts. The alleviating effect of increased ventilation on infection spread was delineated by Thornton et al., while a study by Buonanno et al. in schools found the inclusion of mechanical ventilation instead of natural ventilation led to a reduction in infection likelihood. (...) (...) The dose-response parameter is the probability of the survival of a single virus up to the point that it reaches the target organ. However, every particle or RNA copy of the virus that survives may not have the capability to induce infection. Hence, the dose-response parameter for our model has to be r = Virus survival probability(k) × Infectivity(4), Source: Mukherjee A, Mishra S, Kumar Murty V, Chaudhuri S. 2026. Analysing the distribution of SARS-CoV-2 infections in schools: comparing model predictions with real-world observations. Proc. R. Soc. A 482: 20250291. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2025.0291 @covidchronicles.bsky.social • r/covidivici
"The mitochondria prior to Long COVID: I HAD THE POWER" is written above a poster of He-Man doing this "I have the power" pose. @covidchronicles.bsky.social
A cat peaks over from the back of a flat-screen TV. The TV is off and in it you can see the reflection of a sofa with a blanket and pillows on it. It has clearly been occupied recently. In small print, next to the cat, are the scribbled words "I see you". The poster's caption reads: "It doesn't just cripple you It makes you disappear You go from running marathons to barely able to run errands. We don't know why it happens, only that it does. Suddenly, you can't work, parent, or play. But the world's moved on, as if it weren't even a thing. Research goes underfunded, prevention's the butt of jokes. Welcome to Long COVID - The disease that disables hope. COVID Chronicles, day 1277 @covidchronicles.bsky.social #LongCOVID #LongCOVIDawareness #COVIDcaution #MECFS #ChronicIllness #SARSCoV2 #COVID #CleanAir #MaskUp #MedSky
Regarding the analysis of infection probability at different ACH levels, the viral load of particles is fixed at 10° copies/mL. Although higher ACH levels result in a higher proportion of small particles being inhaled, the total number of inhaled particles is much lower compared to low ACH levels. This results in a higher infection risk at lower ACH levels. At ACH levels of 3 and 10, the probability of the exposed individual inhaling the Omicron strain through mouth breathing is 96% and 94%, respectively. As ACH increases, the probability of infection with various virus strains decreases. Furthermore, nasal breathing is found to be safer than mouth breathing. When ACH = 30, the probability of infection through nasal breathing is already very low, less than 5%. However, when ACH = 50, the likelihood of infection through oral breathing reaches a similar value. By normalizing the data, it can be found that the probability of infection does not seem to be affected by the type of virus when breathing through the nose, and the ventilation rate also changes. At ACH = 30, the infection probability has decreased to around 0.05 compared to ACH = 3, with a less pronounced decrease thereafter. Conversely, when breathing through the mouth, at ACH = 50, the infection probability has dropped to below 0.2 of the ACH = 3 level, with a similarly diminished subsequent decline. More details can be found in Figure A4a in Appendix IV. Increasing ventilation volume in ventilation systems typically correlates with higher power. Considering energy efficiency and recent studies, setting the elevator ventilation to around ACH = 30 appears to be an appropriate configuration. This setting corresponds to an airflow velocity of 0.188 m/s at the ventilation inlet, which is significantly lower than the airflow and energy consumption levels typical of household air conditioning systems. Full study: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1155/ina/7436897
Source: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNU01074597
Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mrsa-mssa-gram-negative-bacteraemia-and-cdi-quarterly-report/quarterly-epidemiological-commentary-mandatory-gram-negative-bacteraemia-mrsa-mssa-and-c-difficile-infections-data-up-to-april-to-june-2025
Picture of a puppy's snout sticking out from under a pile of knitted sweaters or blankets. Caption reads: "I tried covering myself in blankets, but was still cold. so I repositioned them all and just like that, the PEM melted away. All this time, I had no idea: all you have to do to cure Long Covid... ...is re-cover." @covidchronicles.bsky.social
(1/2) of Long COVID Advocacy's Response to Emily Mendenhall's Jan 20, 2026 post: "Thresholds is a Biological Theory that Incorporates Social and Ecological Realities" Source: https://emilymendenhall.substack.com/p/thresholds-is-a-biological-theory Thank you for engaging with the community on this, Emily. I would like to highlight some structural concerns with the threshold/polyvagal framing in relation to ME and Long Covid. First, biological language is not evidence. Referencing nerves, thresholds, or regulation does not establish causation. ME and Long Covid have measurable physiological abnormalities, immune, vascular, metabolic-that this model does not account for, and the threshold/polyvagal hypothesis remains speculative. Second, polyvagal theory, while biologically framed, mirrors psychosomatic logic: it emphasizes safety, threat perception, and regulation as core drivers. Historically, frameworks like this have shifted focus away from pathology toward patient behaviour or adaptation, often harming the very communities they aim to support. We have had many orgs, advocates and clinicians try to bring polyvagal theory to Long Covid and ME - it has never ended well. It is a theory that is often promoted to people with chronic illness due to the lack of legitimatacy of these conditions. Somehow it's great at being applied and treating these illnesses but not touted to those with Parkinson's or Cancer. (1/2)
What can the medical profession do when it’s searched through every potential treatment and cure, only to end up empty handed? Re-search. [*Takes a bow*]
The Promise (by: The Cure) How time will heal Make me forget You promised me Time will heal Make me forget You promised me Love will save us all And time will heal You promised me How love will save Make me forget You promised me Love will save Make me forget You promised me Time will heal us all And love will save You promised me I trusted you I wanted your words Believed in you I needed your words Time will heal Make me forget And love will save us all You promised me another wish Another way You promised me another dream Another day You promised me another time You promised me another life You promised me So I swallowed the shame and I waited I buried the blame and I waited Choked back years of memories I pushed down the pain and I waited Trying to forget You promised me another wish Another way You promised me another dream Another day You promised me another time You promised me Another lie Oh you promised me You promised me You promised me And I waited And I waited And I waited And I'm still waiting
Case series have been published on stellate ganglion blocks with catchy titles, such as: Stellate Ganglion Block Relieves Long COVID-19 Symptoms in 86% of Patients: A Retrospective Cohort Study (Sept 2023) Reduction of long COVID symptoms after stellate ganglion block: A retrospective chart review study (2025) However the authors of the latter study admit: "The mechanism by which SGB improves Long COVID symptoms remains unknown", that their sample size was small, with no controls, and with a significant number of drop outs. As for the former, older study, a 2025 correction states: The Ethics Statement and Conflict of Interest Disclosures section has been updated to disclose the following: Financial relationships: All authors declare(s) employment from Metamorphosis Pain Management. The procedures described in this study were performed at Metamorphosis Pain Management. Oops. "Did we forget to mention that we have a vested interest in this working? Sorry." Youtube personality Dianna Cowern (Physics Girl) had the procedure done and seemed to show significant improvement (though no source I've found directly linked the SGB as being causal). A September 20, 2025 update "Dianna's Crash - Health Update - Summer 2025" on her Patreon states that "Dianna has been in another crash for a while now. [...] Setbacks last for months, and they put Dianna in a physical and mental state reminiscent of 2023 and 2024—the dark, bed-bound years. For the most part, Dianna has been bed-bound again." Accounts on the usual COVID and ME/CFS forums read no differently than for every other promising/popular treatment tried with unreliably mixed results. My overview of the available data has not convinced me it's worth another go. The case series are all calls for further research, patient testimonials are all over the map. Until we know what it is we're even trying to correct, I'm going to take a pass.
1) Why do some people test positive on certain persistence assays & negative on others? How can we use all of the commercially & scientifically available assays to create a unifying test for persistence that helps us to understand when and how SARS-CoV-2 is problematically persisting in people with #LongCOVID and how it is asymptomatically—for now—persisting in healthy controls. My hope is that Polybio Research’s VIPER program — https://polybio.org/lcci/ — will be instrumental in shining light on this in 2026. 2) What does testing positive for reactivated pathogens mean? If your IgG titers for pathogens such as Babesia, Borrelia, EBV, CMV, etc are through the roof, what action should be taken? If you can knock these antibody numbers back to normal, will we see clinical improvement? Is it time to go beyond simple antibody testing to understand this problem? I’m hoping that some of our antiviral/antibiotic (monotherapeutic & combination) trials that conclude in 2026, paired with our work with Francis Eun-Hyung Lee on her brilliant MENSA assay will help us to answer this question. — https://polybio.org/projects/mensa-virus-immune-snapshot-testing-to-identify-long-covid-clinical-trial-responders/ 3) What is the dynamic nature of pathogen persistence? If we used the best assays to test people for a variety of pathogens every single day how would hormonal, immune and general physiological fluctuations alter their pathogen testing results? Should this fundamentally change the way that we test for pathogens and when we choose to treat them? These are fundamental questions that are crucial to our understanding of how various infection-associated chronic conditions and illnesses intersect and how they may differ completely. In turn, this understanding is crucial to the development of general treatments that may help everyone a little vs. precision medicine targets that will help specific subtypes a lot. https://bsky.app/profile/putrinolab.bsky.social/post/3mbex5ok6a227
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. Graph showing how ME/CFS patients have a Health-Related Quality of Life of 0.47 compared to Bleeding Ulcer (0.63) COPD (0.65), Multiple Sclerosis (067), Chronic Renal Failure (0.68), Rheumatoid Arthritis (0.69), Lung Cancer (0.69), Stroke (0.71), Diabetes Type II (0.72), Colon Cancer (0.74), Diabetes Type I (0.74), Breast Cancer (0.75) and Prostate Cancer (0.79) whereas the general population mean score is of 0.85. Source: The Health-Related Quality of Life for Patients with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0132421 #LongCOVID #MECFS
Alterations in gut microbiota and associated metabolites in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-27564-y Our findings suggest that gut microbiota disruption contributes to the onset and progression of CFS through SCAs metabolic dysfunction. Acetate, a crucial energy source for colonocytes, its deficiency may lead to impaired intestinal barrier function, lipopolysaccharide translocation, and systemic inflammation activation. Clinical implications The findings provide a rationale for microbiota-targeted intervention strategies in CFS. Several studies indicate that probiotics can alleviate CFS symptoms by restoring microbial balance and reducing pro-inflammatory cytokine levels, mechanisms thought to involve promoting SCFAs production and repairing intestinal barrier function. In our study, CFS patients with high dietary fiber intake exhibited significantly higher fecal acetate and isovalerate levels than the low-fiber group, consistent with the mechanism whereby prebiotics selectively increase SCFA-producing bacteria to elevate SCFAs concentrations. Beyond directly supplying SCFAs precursors, dietary interventions can also indirectly improve energy metabolism and mitigate neuroinflammation by modulating the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio and reducing intestinal permeability. Therefore, microbiota-targeted strategies for CFS could be based on dietary modifications, potentially combined with specific probiotics or prebiotics, to synergistically correct the core pathological aspect of SCFAs deficiency.