Dr. Vibha PingléSep 23, 2023
Tim Bray

Wondering about Long Covid (or Post-Covid Syndrome).
Do you know people who are suffering significantly as follows? (This is a multiple-choice poll.)

(pls boost if the subject interests you)

In your family?
17.9%
At work?
12.7%
Among friends?
29.5%
Don’t know anyone.
39.9%
Poll ended at .
Sep 22, 2023 at 7:01pmWeb
Show threadTim BraySep 22, 2023
First choice should have been Family (including you) I guess.
Show threadaevaSep 23, 2023
@timbray was it an after thought that the poll might reach someone suffering from it
Show threadDampscribblerSep 24, 2023
@timbray yeah, my sense of smell three and a half years on is like an old TV -- sometimes the signal is great, sometimes it's full of noise. But otherwise I'm in okay shape so I consider myself lucky.
Show threadRenéeSep 22, 2023
@timbray curious to see the outcome but I suspect many people are suffering in silence, struggling to make it through the day but they don't know why or don't feel they can say something. And many may also just be oblivious to that struggle.
Show threadFroukeSep 23, 2023

@reneestephen @timbray

There is so much stigma associated with long Covid that people are unlikely to admit that they have long Covid.

I only know a few people at work, because they need to explain why they can no longer work. And often they will describe their symptoms (tired, headaches) rather than the relation with Covid.

What makes it difficult is that symptoms can arise weeks or months adter the infection and people no longer link them to Covid.

Show threadDesRoin Sep 24, 2023
@reneestephen @timbray No I really don't know anyone who suffers from long COVID personally.
Show threadProf. Julia LeydaSep 22, 2023
@timbray me!
Show threadJennifer Moore 😷Sep 22, 2023

@timbray

"Suffering" would be an overstatement, as a lot of the main things I enjoy are still possible. However, I'm still nowhere near back to the physical energy & stamina I had before covid (about 11 months ago).

Show threadaburka 🫣Sep 22, 2023
@timbray It's too late to edit, but I think "yourself" is a missing option here
Show threadNed YeungSep 22, 2023

@aburka @timbray

I guess one could choose "in your family" as the closest option? A family of one, in some cases... lol.

Show threadNed YeungSep 22, 2023
@timbray I only voted "Among friends" because the tense is present (actually just had a friend over last night who was complaining about post-covid syndrome), but I remember when my family and I were infected, we suffered from it as well. For at least half a year or more. We were discussing that last night, too.
Show threadtrendlessSep 22, 2023

Poll ☝️☝️☝️

#LongCOVID
@novid @longcovid

Show threadRoknrolSep 22, 2023
@timbray Covid was the perfect excuse for me to withdraw from society. I only know family, and few of them suffer long covid.
Show threadPxtlSep 22, 2023
@timbray do old Facebook former-classmates count? I know a couple that way, but no in-person people.
Show threadTim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPESep 22, 2023
@timbray I've included dead people as "suffering significantly" in my answer.
Show threadJo MommaSep 22, 2023
@timbray where is the "Me" option?
Show threadI am Jack's Lost 404Sep 22, 2023
@timbray
Show threadRhaedasSep 22, 2023
@timbray Can't vote since I'm seeing this via Kbin, but I can say I suspect a lot of people I daily interact with have minor degrees of Covid effects that may or may not qualify as LC. The biggest one I notice even among myself is a persistent cough every once in a while. A few have had other recent illnesses (stroke or related) occur that may or may not have some tie-in, but that's the thing about LC, it's going to be a long time before we can really look back and say it was or wasn't a catalyst for many other things.
Show threadDouglas PatriarcheSep 22, 2023
@timbray "multiple-choice poll" - it seems to only be single-choice, at least for me
Show threadZeborahSep 22, 2023
@dpatriarche @timbray It let me tick all the first three options...
Show threadDouglas PatriarcheSep 22, 2023
@zeborah @timbray Maybe it depends on Mastodon client. I'm on https://cosocial.ca, which is currently running Mastodon v4.1.9.
CoSocial

Cooperative-run social media server for Canada. Join at https://join.cosocial.ca

Mastodon hosted on cosocial.ca
Show threadTim BraySep 22, 2023
@zeborah @dpatriarche That's appropriate if you know victims in your family and among your friends and at work. It's a multi-choice poll.
Show threadMark Allison Sep 22, 2023
@timbray I voted "Amongst friends", because none of us living in our home have ever tested positive for COVID (because we're careful). Some of my family members have tested positive, but haven't had long-COVID. Some friends have suffered long-COVID and they've had different effects, but always debilitating in some way.
Show threadJuliaSep 22, 2023
@timbray Two friends. One is almost back to normal after a year. The other is very bad, although she is making slow progress after 6 months from not being able to stand, to walking a few metres in the house.
Show threadTomSep 23, 2023
@timbray this adds up to 110%?!
Show threadTim BraySep 23, 2023
@tom multiple choice poll.
Show threadTomSep 23, 2023
@timbray that'll be why then!
Show threadJoe Hill 🇵🇸🇺🇦Sep 23, 2023
@timbray How about me? 1yr post-Covid. Still on supplemental O2.
Show threadSoozcatSep 23, 2023

@timbray Two of my sisters caught the first wave of COVID. One became a diabetic & may have permanent damage to her sense of smell; the other now can't breathe after climbing a flight of stairs. They got vaxxed ASAP.

My brother (who, bless him, listens to right-wing radio) was convinced that the vaccine would kill him, so he found a sympathetic doc & claimed a medical exemption. Caught COVID, hospitalized for 2 weeks, nearly died, still has serious long COVID symptoms.

AND HE'S STILL NOT VAXXED. 🤦

Show threadGNU/Matt  Sep 23, 2023
@timbray post covid has essentially aged my mother inlaw 10 years. She can no longer work, she essentially was forced to retire. Her saviour is that she had income protection insurance
Show threaddianea 🏳️‍⚧️Sep 23, 2023
@timbray most of those I work with are suffering with what I perceive as profound aging, breathing, and advanced cardiovascular problems compared to people their age I remember 50 years ago. I'm older, never knowingly caught it, but I always wear a good mask and vaccinate. I lost a coworker that passed away earlier this weekend and we are down to 4 people including myself. The health of others is showing no mercy, all kinds of symptoms, and our western diet is doing them no favors. It's bad.
Show threadPhoenixSerenitySep 23, 2023
@timbray My Dad died from it in early June. He got covid in the hospital last year.
Show threadAntï Dïsease 🗿😷💉×9Sep 23, 2023
@timbray I encountered a guy with LC in a video game I play…
Show threadHawkmoonSep 23, 2023

@timbray

There not being a test for this makes it a far bigger problem.

Show threadskrySep 23, 2023

@timbray I met someone yesterday who told me she was unable to get out of bed for 3 months following her March 2020 Covid infection and that she was still easily winded and exhausted.

A friend also caught it in March 2020 and still has a lot of impairment today.

At least two coworkers became too ill to work in 2021. They couldn’t return even after 6 months of medical leave. Another suffered from fatigue and had to change jobs.

Friends 40-55: stroke, dementia, sudden diabetes.

Show threadGeoff BernerSep 23, 2023
@timbray all those people who think they don't know somebody inevitably DO know somebody who "seems like they're always sick these days". Suggest to them that it's likely Long Covid and they react like you suggested they got it from pig fucking.
Show threadZabriskie Point 🇺🇦Sep 23, 2023
@timbray yes, myself 😔
Show threadMatt FranzSep 23, 2023
@timbray Not suffering anymore because it ended up killing them, but yeah my mother in law suffered.
Show threadDavidSep 23, 2023
@timbray It’s kind of wild that >50% of respondents have someone in their direct friends/family/coworker circle who has disclosed long COVID to them (or they themselves have it).
Show threadGygesringtoneSep 23, 2023

@freeagent @timbray

You could select multiple options, So, it's not necessarily >50%.

I selected all 3 of the "know somebody" options. But, I'm pretty open in my day-to-day life about my struggles, so I figure I have a higher than average number of people who are willing to talk about it with me.