Nevermind, I'm dense. This was a false alarm because I didn't do the test properly.

So, I know there's some potential evidence that doing a throat + cheek swab in addition to the nasal swab can help to detect COVID earlier and more accurately than just doing only a nasal swab (like, I've seen a lot of COVID-conscious people do this). I know most of these rapid tests explicitly give instructions on ONLY nasal swabs. Having said that, I've been doing the throat + cheek swab with the nasal swab for years on rapid tests and I've never had a problem with it. I was only doing it because these tests are often shitty on picking up on COVID on the first go-round, especially with newer variants. This method may have saved me when my household had COVID a couple of years ago--the test immediately picked up COVID on the first day my spouse and kiddo showed symptoms, and I managed to dodge it somehow.

However, I tried the throat + cheek and nasal swab on an IntelliSwab and it was a positive result.

The next day (Tuesday), I tried only a nasal swab on an IntelliSwab. It was negative.

On Wednesday, I tried a mouth and nasal swab again on an IntelliSwab. Positive. Then I tried a mouth and nasal swab on a different brand of rapid test. Negative.

On Thursday, I did another mouth and nasal swab on IntelliSwab. Positive. Then I did a PlusLife test (much more accurate, closer to PCR in terms of accuracy) on the same day and it was negative.

Yesterday, I did another PlusLife test, again negative. Then I also tried a FlowFlex combination test for COVID, Flu A, Flu B, and RSV and again (as I wanted to make sure I wasn't sick with anything to give to my family before coming out of isolation), all negative.

I had all my symptoms subside within 24 hours. That doesn't necessarily mean I wasn't sick with something, but I also feel like my symptoms (headache and chills) potentially could have been due to stress, lack of sleep, and spending too much time in the cold in not enough layers.

I asked around in my COVID-conscious groups and pretty much everyone agreed that it was a false positive/invalid result, and a LOT of people had the same exact thing happen to them when they tried a mouth AND nasal swab on an IntelliSwab test. Apparently this is such a common thing to happen that my local Mask Bloc had previously made a social media post about not doing a mouth and nasal swab on IntelliSwab tests.

So I guess this whole thread is a cautionary tale that if you're doing a mouth and nasal swab on a rapid test that gives explicit instructions for only nasal swabs, there is always a risk of an invalid result.

But whatever you do, DO NOT DO A MOUTH AND NASAL SWAB ON AN INTELLISWAB TEST.

Don't be like me.

After over six years of this shit, it finally happened. I never even let my guard down--I simply must have gotten COVID from one of the indoor places I've been to in the last week or so, despite wearing a fit-tested N95. Maybe my mask had a leak or bad seal. I really don't fucking know.

I sort of always figured it was a matter of time, but man this fucking sucks and also seems really dejecting that I still got it, despite my best efforts.

I first had symptoms about 24 hours ago and then shortly tested positive on a rapid test. My symptoms so far are a moderate headache, fatigue, chills, an ever-so-slightly sore throat, and a slight fever. Some of these symptoms already seem to be improving. I also just got a COVID shot about a week ago, which probably hasn't fully kicked in yet, but maybe it's helped with the symptoms?

Anyway, I'm not really concerned about the acute phase of my infection. I'm mostly worried about the chances of developing long COVID. My spouse had long COVID a couple of years ago, and it took like a year to get to their baseline level of health again. I've also known other people who didn't even have preexisting conditions before they got COVID, and then ended up getting long COVID--some as young as their 20s.

Are there any antivirals that you can even get anymore if you're in the US? Like Paxlovid? Metformin? Xocova? I thought Xocova had potential benefit for mitigating long COVID but maybe I'm wrong

I tried to see if I could get something like that with a virtual urgent care appointment today, but I got connected to a ARNP instead who said she couldn't prescribe me anything like that and then prescribed me medication for congestion (even though I told her I don't have any congestion whatsoever). And she said no one really gets long COVID anymore with the current variants. 🤨

Am I just shit out of luck? I'd probably only want to get something if its affordable or covered by my Medicaid.

Edit: I'm glad my spouse and son already got prescriptions for Xocova today, who are both still testing negative and symptom-free. But I find it funny that they were able to get something and I, the person who is actually infectious, could not. Dafuq

Edit 2: Got some Paxlovid from someone in our community. Very grateful to them

government surplus site (gcsurplus.ca) is basically giving out surplus stuff and will ship free by default.

expiring soon but still a steal at like 2 cents per n95

i had product shipped across the country so yeah - shipping is free.

duck bill respirators.

https://www.gcsurplus.ca/

type in medicom or n95

I might get one of these. I was hyped about the even cheaper one from IKEA a few months ago, but apparently the build quality is poor. The Ubiquiti thing in the link uses a Sensiron detector module that's around $50 from Adafruit all by itself.

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/9843661

And we all know that still selfish people won't wear masks.

36F, I had COVID in early September and I'm still not better. I have daily brain fog, exhaustion, dizziness, horrible headaches. It's been horrible, impacting my ability to not just work but live my regular life. I've seen my doctor multiple times and went for blood testing and an ECG this week. Doc says it's likely long COVID.

I'm sharing this because, folks, you do not want this. COVID is still very much a problem and it does have the ability to impact your health long-term.

I get the flu & COVID shots every year, I was unlucky that I caught it before they were available. And yes, the vaccines aren't always going to target the specific strain, but it's worth getting whatever protection you can.

Luckily, this week I've started to improve significantly so I'm hopeful that I'll be recovered in the coming weeks. But it's 6 weeks I've lost to this so far and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

Every fall this sub is full of posts people asking "is anyone else sick"...COVID and flu are inevitable. And every COVID infection is a roll of the dice.

So if you are able, get the shot. It's free.

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/13042177

Archive link: https://archive.ph/KiM8h

Fascism is successfully making so many of us ill and disabled, but radical ableism turns our being ill and disabled into moral failings. We are sick and disabled because we don’t have enough political discipline, not because our comrades symptomatically and asymptomatically transmit a life threatening and disabling virus. Not because orgs have made refusing collective care into a 'revolutionary' stance.

Key points you should know:

• A petition signed by 1,700 people asks for a pause and independent review of a trial run by McMaster University researchers who want to test the Lightning Process.

• The Lightning Process is a pseudoscientific mind-body program to try to treat Long COVID that has been accused of exploiting people with Long COVID and related diseases.

• The trial is designed in part by a Lightning Process practitioner and prescreens participants for motivation using a questionnaire that isn’t validated for Long COVID.

• There are very few trials and little funding in Canada for Long COVID research, and advocates believe that studying the Lightning Process instead of pathobiological pathways is a waste of funding.

LitCovid is the most comprehensive resource on the subject, providing a central access to 493,191 (and growing) relevant articles in PubMed. The articles are updated daily and are further categorized by different research topics (e.g. transmission) and geographic locations.

The CDC raised its benchmark for levels of the Covid virus in wastewater, adjusting a key metric for assessing the disease’s transmission. As a result, officials may now classify a level that once counted as high transmission as moderate instead.

instagram post from the bar

boston globe : A Western Mass. lesbian bar required KN-95 masks. When it changed the rules, all hell broke loose.

saw this initially on tiktok with the user cornpop

was looking at queen of headaches who is also going through alot of woes caused by covid, and seeing all the times she spoke of covid.

according to her tweet, jerry messing or the tips fedora guy got disabled by covid and is now paralyzed

The latest round of the COVID-19 epidemic in China has peaked and plateaued, with the upward trend now markedly slowing, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday.

The country reported 522,000 confirmed infections last month, including 487 severe cases and one related death, compared to 79,000 total cases in June.

All tested infection samples were identified as the Omicron variant, with the NB.1.8.1 strain and its sublineages dominant in circulation.

The China CDC said COVID-19 has now become a common respiratory infectious disease, and the country is expected to experience one to two epidemic waves each year.

The current outbreak remains a routine, periodic fluctuation, with intensity comparable to that of the previous two years.

The upward trajectory has noticeably slowed, and the epidemic is now at a peak plateau, with signs of fluctuation.

The China CDC added that the severity of the disease has not changed, with the vast majority of infections presenting as mild cases. The elderly and individuals with chronic underlying conditions continue to face a higher risk of severe illness, though targeted and effective therapeutic options remain available.

Surveillance has detected no variants of major public health concern, and the recent wave has not caused any significant disruption to the overall medical system.

Disappointing to read this. I know in Asia masking is much more normalized than anywhere else, but still sad to see China promoting that its "mild" and a "common respiratory disease" we hear of in the West, when they don't have an incentive to do that. And I've read recently of studies coming out of China about Covid and they're very insightful.. Do the Shanghai libs really have that much influence? Extremely disheartening to not see AES even care about Covid anymore. Aside from the DPRK to my knowledge

I'm in internal turmoil as to whether or not I can afford to post hundreds of dollars for them. It is ridiculous that I must make this choice. They were covered for years, reducing strain on our overtaxed emergency medical response system. I fear that our hospitals will not be able to survive the upcoming influx of respiratory infections that typically comes with the autumn season. Several regional hospitals are already on the brink, with nurses demanding better conditions or having to close overnight due to lack of staff.

Because of the energy drinks.

It could not have been a more cliche moment. The conversation topic kicked off with the nurse commenting on my bestie's vape. And how it was so much more dangerous than smoking, with a detailed description of popcorn lung (if you need a reminder) and that people were being put on respirators and still being unable to catch their breath before dying.

She then followed this up with an incredibly passionate, heart wrenching account about the state of things in medicine and how they're seeing more and more young folks coming in with maladies typically reserved for the elderly... you could have copied and pasted her warning with that of a CC influencer; heart attacks, strokes, etc 19 year olds coming in with things for people in their 50s, yada, yada. All the hits... right up until she concluded on how it's the fault of energy drinks.

Meanwhile, I'm just sitting there in my n95.

Fast forward later in the night, to the end of this poorly written scene, with the nurse giving me a fistbump and telling me she 'hopes I feel better' as we said our goodbyes.

And no, i did not get into it. It was my besties bday and it was not a scenario in which me getting into a debate was going to end well.

So, yeah. I'm just sharing this to remind y'all that there are people are out there in the medical field noticing something is wrong. And that you're doing the right thing by masking... and/or not drinking energy drinks, I guess. Lol🤷

Hey; for anyone from the U. S., would you know where to get any PCR tests?

I can't tell if they're just out, now, but every place I use eventually stops selling them.

Apparently, the https://www.thehealthhub.com/ sells some, still, but their checkout page seems like a mess and keeps throwing CORS errors; https://www.labcorp.com/ seems to, as well, though I can't seem to load the site on my Wi-Fi, for some bizarre reason (loads on the phone just fine when using data, though). Regardless, the tests seem backed by 23andMe which doesn't inspire great confidence but, also, 23andMe lists their PCR tests as out of stock on their own site (so I suspect LabCorp will eventually list these as out of stock someday, as well).

Anyway, may be a long shot but figured I'd ask.