Today a large “leftist” influencer took a screenshot of one of my Bluesky posts about masks and shared it to X/twitter to encourage people to harass me.

It was condescending and mocking, and I spent the entire time having to block and delete comments.

People actually opened Bluesky accounts just to harass me.

This guy has hundreds of thousands of followers, claims to be on the left, and yet spent his day encouraging others to harass a disabled woman advocating for her survival.

This is exactly why I’m shouting about ableism and eugenics every day damn.

We may want to believe it’s only the MAGA crowd that hate us, but unfortunately there’s quite a few eugenicists on the other side of the aisle as well.

We see evidence of this all the time.

Disabled people’s lives are not valued.

We’re talked over or talked down to. Stripped of our autonomy. Not factored into policy decisions. No one fights for us.

Which is why we must keep fighting for each other.

I was tempted to block this guy, but instead I responded calmly and explained my position

I explained that for myself and members of my community, wearing a mask is a matter of literal life and death

I explained that his choice to use me as fodder was causing me harm and robbing me of spoons

I took the high road and stood up for myself while appealing to him to be better than the MAGA crowd he fights against.

I asked him to delete and apologize.

I doubt he will, because I suspect the feelings of a disabled person don’t matter to him.

But at least I tried. I stood up. I said “this is not ok”

I will keep saying it every day until things actually change.

#disabilty #ableism #eugenics #covidisairborne #wearamask #n95s #uspol

The masks ICE agents wear aren’t masks. They’re face coverings designed to hide their identity.

The masks disabled people have been pleading to normalize are KN95s, N95s and other respirators. Which will help protect you from COVID & other airborne threats!

Normalize masking for public health.

#uspol #fascism #ice #abolishice #n95s #covidisairborne #maskswork

please boost for visibility and reply if you can help! thanks in advance!

the place that i was buying cheap niosh approved n95 masks from is no longer selling them so now i need to figure out a new place to buy them from online

i was getting niosh approved n95 masks but i am open to getting whatever the approximate niosh equivalents are in other countries along with the masks being either n95 equivalent or better

if anyone has any recommendation of a site that sells cheap and niosh approved or similar n95 or better masks that i could order from online, accepts usd and ships to the u.s. that would be greatly appreciated

#n95 #n95s #n95mask #n95masks

@PeoplesCDC Where are they now?

People's CDC are still thinking and doing and sharing. Somewhere.

CDC HICPAC Nov 2024 Meeting Concludes with Low Standards of Infectious Disease Protections in Healthcare - The Public Must Respond by Nov 22!
#CDC’s health care infection control committee #HICPAC met on Nov 14-15 unwilling to establish robust, #science-based infection control guidelines, universal #masking, broad use of #N95s
https://peoplescdc.substack.com/p/cdc-hicpac-nov-2024-meeting-concludes
#COVID19 #COVID #Infection #InfectiousDisease

would anyone in the US possibly be interested in joining a group order of Blox N95 pouch respirators ($0.25 each plus shipping)?

for some reason, the shipping costs on their website are way more than it actually costs to ship a box that size and it makes the masks way more expensive than they should be, but if your order is $150+ (600 n95s) then you get free shipping.
if anyone is interested, the way this would work is that - you'd pay me for the respirators you want plus however much shipping is to you, I'd make the big order, then once I got it I'd repackage each individual order and ship them out

#CovidIsNotOver #WearAMask #n95 #n95s #blox #respirator

“Relying on #vaccinations as the measure of whether people are likely or not to transmit (#COVID) to vulnerable patients is a very dangerous strategy,” Gregory said.

Instead, he added, it would be best if everyone wore masks in public health settings whenever possible.

Mitigation measures such as properly worn #N95s, #HEPA air filtration, ventilation and avoiding high-risk areas like indoor crowded spaces are “all variant proof,” Gregory said. “No variant has evolved to circumvent an N95.”

I wonder what survey work #N95S is doing today.

PSA for Long Covid folks experiencing mast cell issues for the first time - anaphylaxis is not JUST airway issues. Anaphylaxis can impact all major body symptoms & you can be having an attack with NO skin or airway involvement.

My anaphylaxis is almost always cardiac & GI.

I find that many people (including some HCWs) still associate anaphylaxis with throat closing and hives/rashes. While that may be the typical presentation (especially for food allergies)… patients with MCAS are anything but typical.

My very first anaphylaxis experience started with a sore throat & flushing but no noticeable breathing difficulties. I had terrible diarrhea & stomach cramps, a very low pulse & was pale and woozy. I chalked it up to a bug and tried to rest it off.

I didn’t go to the ER until more than 48 hours later when the sore throat had become so severe I could no longer swallow fluids. At that point I still thought it was strep or tonsillitis & was shocked when triage whisked me into a code room after administering Epi

It turns out I had been in anaphylaxis the whole time - but my body exhibited the cardiac and GI symptoms first. The airway symptoms developed slowly so my body had time to adjust and I didn’t realize how swollen my airway was.

The chart I posted shows all the different ways it can manifest - and it’s important to be educated on the various presentations so you recognize anaphylaxis & can get immediate treatment. Even uterine cramps can be a sign. If respiratory involvement is absent but two other systems are impacted - that meets criteria for anaphylaxis.

I’ve been dealing with MCAS for years and I’m still learning all my triggers as well as the strange early warning signs my body gives me. Lately it’s been a hoarse voice, raised rash on shoulder & severe vomiting. Teeth chattering, violent shaking & slurred speech also common

I share my experiences in an attempt to educate people on the varied nature of MCAS attacks and the fact that anaphylaxis is not always sudden or obvious. Once identified it’s important to treat & be monitored for rebound or biphasic reactions.

Lastly if you have significant cardiac involvement with your MCAS reactions - it’s important to be aware of a relatively rare condition called Kounis syndrome. It’s an acute coronary syndrome caused my mast cells/allergic reactions.

It can cause spasms in the arteries of the heart and possible breaking off of plaques leading to coronary artery blockage. While considered rare - in recent years there’s been speculation it’s more common & simply under diagnosed and/or misdiagnosed.

I keep copies of all my EKG rhythm strips when I need paramedics or the ER for my MCAS reactions. It can be critically important to have them reviewed by an MCAS savvy cardiologist.

If ever in doubt - seek medical attention. Speak to your medical team about carrying an Epi pen and go to hospital if you have to use it. Even if you feel better - rebound reactions can be incredibly severe.

While MCAS can be an absolute beast to manage - medications, lifestyle and dietary changes can make a tremendous difference in quality of life. Patient support groups are an excellent resource for teaching how to identify & and eliminate triggers.

They can also provide emotional support which is critical as MCAS can be isolating & lonely. Remember you’re not alone & reactions aren’t your fault. Even the most careful patient can end up in anaphylaxis & we must give ourselves grace. It’s not our fault - it’s the disease.

#ChronicIllness #MCAS #POTS #Dysautonomia #MastCells #Spoonie #chronicallyill #LongCOVID

#CovidCautious #sarscov2 #maskup #WearAMask #CleanAir #Pandemic #Disability #accessibility #DisabilityRights #N95s #Ableism #CommunityCare #CovidIsAirborne #CovidIsNotOver #Histamine

Heard a quote today that really resonated (unsure who to attribute to)

“If you only have 10% to give and you gave 10% then you’ve given 100%”

For those of us with chronic illness this is so important to remember. Our 100% looks different than other people and that’s OK!

#ChronicIllness #MCAS #POTS #Dysautonomia #MastCells #Spoonie #chronicallyill

#CovidCautious #sarscov2 #maskup #WearAMask #CleanAir #Pandemic #Disability #accessibility #DisabilityRights #N95s #Ableism #CommunityCare #CovidIsAirborne #CovidIsNotOver #Histamine #LongCovid

This time of year is awful for MCAS & POTS patients. While everyone else enjoys the end of a long cold winter - pollen & grasses fill our histamine bucket and warmer weather strains our hearts.

I know it’s Spring when I start having middle of night attacks… my sleep schedule falls apart and I find myself reaching for coping tools. Here’s how I handle those nocturnal attacks.

First of all MCAS isn’t limited to “just” histamine. These pesky cells contain hundreds of mediators that can wreak havoc in your body. Histamine just happens to be the one that’s most well known. It also happens to be the one that loves nighttime parties.

When too much histamine builds up in the body & the brain… it gets released in the early hours of the morning. Many people may never notice this occur - but if you’ve got MCAS you’re likely more than familiar with the aggressive & rude wake up.

It’s not uncommon to wake up tachycardic and feeling panicked - covered in sweat, wheezy, itchy and nauseous. This happened to me every night during spring for YEARS before I made the connection. Now that I know - there’s some things I do to make it slightly more tolerable.

First - natural fibres in bed! I really can’t stress this enough. You want your pajamas and bedding to be a material that breathes. Cotton, bamboo and linen are all good options. A zippered mattress cover that’s designed for allergies will help as well.

When I know I’m at my worst - I sleep with a towel underneath me in bed and a clean towel on the opposite side. I also keep a change of clothes in bed with me. This way if I wake up soaked and I’m too dizzy to get up - I can change in bed & roll onto the dry towel.

Don’t neglect your pillow either! Having a pillow cover that’s designed to keep dust & allergens out will help - and I wash my pillowcases every few days. I also recommend having an air purifier in the bedroom with the best CADR you can get (clean air delivery rate).

You want as much filtered air being circulated while you’re sleeping as possible. I avoided this for the longest time and was really surprised at the difference it made when I finally put a HEPA in my bedroom.

Be prepared for hydration needs! I keep a bottle of water on my nightstand & another (sealed) bottle in bed. When I have a particularly bad attack my already low BP drops further - making sitting up dangerous. A water bottle within reach helps me avoid fainting.

Water is key to flushing out histamine and other mediators - so if possible I drink 500ml before I attempt to go back to bed. I also keep rescue meds on the nightstand - but I make sure they’re portioned out in the exact “safe” dose. This avoids any groggy dosing errors.

If you’re reaching for the Benadryl (as many of us do) be aware of the Benadryl rebound. While it’s a very effective antihistamine for an MCAS flare - it suppresses the histamine without actually removing it from your body. When it wears off the flare CAN come raging back

If I resort to Benadryl I increase my water intake as much as I can tolerate to offset the rebound - but ideally I try to control reactions with a mast cell stabilizer versus an antihistamine. Those are meds like Cromolyn & Ketotifen.

Depending on the flare - I can wake up burning hot or freezing cold. I keep an extra blanket on opposite side of bed for when I’m cold - and an ice pack wrapped in a cooling buff so it’s still frozen if I’m hot. Ice pack to the back of the neck can also help break tachycardia

If I’m extremely tachycardic and the ice pack doesn’t work - I flip myself around in bed and put my legs up the wall/headboard. This helps calm the autonomic nervous system. Deep belly breaths while in this position are very soothing - just don’t fall asleep that way!

Mast cells love to wreak havoc on the bladder & bowels - and unfortunately more often than not an emergency trip to the bathroom ends up being needed. If possible I drink water BEFORE getting up & do as many ankle pumps as I can tolerate. This staves off fainting 50% of time

If you live alone or your bathroom is far from bed… consider a bedside commode. It’s not something we LIKE to think about but it reduces the risk of falls & its easier to get back to sleep if you’re not struggling to walk to the bathroom. Accessibility tools are our friends! 1/2

#ChronicIllness #MCAS #POTS #Dysautonomia #MastCells #Spoonie #chronicallyill

#CovidCautious #sarscov2 #maskup #WearAMask #CleanAir #Pandemic #Disability #accessibility #DisabilityRights #N95s #Ableism #CommunityCare #CovidIsAirborne #CovidIsNotOver #Histamine

Canadian here so bear with me because I don’t fully understand US gun laws (nor do I understand their attachment TO guns).

What I do know is whenever there’s a mass shooting someone will bring up stricter gun control and the Right wing gun lovers shout “my freedom! You can’t take away my right to protect myself!”

Yet we are seeing a U.S. State attempt to criminalize the wearing of medical masks in all public spaces. Something that is quite literally “personal protective tool”. Why doesn’t our freedom to protect ourselves from infection as much as their freedom to carry a gun?

I can’t see any scenario where someone else would be harmed by an N95 - the same is NOT true for any gun. Yet one is being criminalized and the other isn’t.

I sincerely hope we start hearing more people speak out against criminalizing medical masks if for no other reason than the violation of freedom and bodily autonomy. You don’t have to care about Covid to understand that some people need to wear masks.

It is a very sad example of the state of the world when a person can walk into a pharmacy or grocery store with a gun - but not wearing a medical respirator DURING A PANDEMIC

#CovidIsAirborne #CovidIsNotOver #CovidCautious #sarscov2 #maskup #WearAMask #CleanAir #Pandemic #Disability #accessibility #DisabilityRights #N95s #Ableism #CommunityCare #Eugenics #MaskBans

I’m immune compromised - would you mask for me?

“No! Stay home forever!”

I can’t stay home I need food - can I order in?

“Do it yourself! It’s entitled and privileged to get delivery! SURELY you can use a microwave!”

I’ve got a family member to help me.

“Don’t be a burden!”

I need the hospital so I’m going to wear a respirator.

“Haha that’s illegal now!”

This is genuinely how it feels to be a high risk disabled person in society right now. It’s not enough that the loudest voices won and governments basically dismantled all covid protections, reporting tools, testing etc… they still scream at us for trying to protect ourselves. We stay home and rely on gig economy & delivery services and we’re exploiting others. We ask people to mask and we’re tyrants. We try to mask ourselves and we’re mocked and teased and now at least one US State is actively trying to criminalize medical masks.

Yet whenever I bring up eugenics I’m shouted down and told I’m exaggerating - despite the fact that a large portion of society very clearly doesn’t want disabled people to survive (and they certainly won’t lift a finger to help us).

It feels terribly bleak and I wish the “my freedom” crowd would recognize that disabled people are the canaries in the coal mine. Governments won’t stop with us. We’re just unlucky enough to be first.

#CovidIsAirborne #CovidIsNotOver #CovidCautious #sarscov2 #maskup #WearAMask #CleanAir #Pandemic #Disability #accessibility #DisabilityRights #N95s #Ableism #CommunityCare #Eugenics #MaskBan

A few months ago a friend told me I needed to stop “being a burden” on those around me & find somewhere with round the clock care to live & accommodate my disabilities. Knowing no such place exists for someone like me - I gave them a challenge.

I told them that I had looked for such a place many times - and I’ve come up empty because people like me (relatively young with unstable chronic illnesses) fall through the cracks. We aren’t considered when care homes are being established.

We have homes for the elderly, rehab centres and hospices but almost nothing for a young person who isn’t imminently dying but also has no expectation of improvement. I challenged this friend to find me a place - within a reasonable budget - and said if they did I would move.

Of course they were unable to find anything - and in fact even when they tripled their budget they came up empty. There was one contender that provided a brief glimmer of hope - but as soon as they discovered my heart condition they said no.

The reason? “She’s too unstable and we don’t have adequate monitoring. She should be in hospital or try hospice.” Most chronically ill people know that hospitals are short term solutions & will often discharge you before you’re strong enough to be on your own.

And hospice? You can’t enter hospice unless you are imminently dying. So around & around this friend went… hitting all the same roadblocks I’ve hit time and time again. Finally they asked if I considered private in home nursing?

In home nurses where I am start at around $36/hour. If you need round the clock care that’s just over $6000 a week. Clearly not an option for the vast majority of people.

Finally my friend conceded that I was right and there was no magical place where I could have round the clock care & cease being a “burden” to those around me. They were flustered and apologetic & kept saying “I just assumed you hadn’t really looked”.

Therein lies the problem for so many of us - our friends & family always seem to assume they know better and/or that we have simply failed and not “tried hard enough”. The reality is we often spend all our energy looking for solutions - but those solutions simply don’t exist.

I thanked my friend for apologizing & for their efforts in trying to find a place - but I also asked them to consider how it feels to be called a “burden” just for needing support to survive. To be told you needed to go away & stop “bothering” friends & family?

Of course my friend didn’t have an answer - just uncomfortable silence followed by some muffled apologies. I share this story to implore people to stop assuming disabled people haven’t already tried the things you’re suggesting.

This doesn’t mean it’s wrong to make suggestions. But if we tell you we’ve already tried it and it’s not an option - believe us. It’s exhausting spending your days dealing with chronic illness - we don’t need to be explaining ourselves to people who should have our back.

Lastly - disabled people are NOT a burden. There’s nothing wrong with needing help to survive. Telling someone they should feel bad about receiving that help is an unkind thing to do. Please offer help or keep quiet. Most importantly - believe us when we say we’ve tried.

#CovidIsAirborne #CovidIsNotOver #CovidCautious #sarscov2 #maskup #WearAMask #CleanAir #Pandemic #Disability #accessibility #DisabilityRights #N95s #Ableism #CommunityCare #Eugenics

A friend of mine made this fantastic respirator graphic with a QR code that links to the huge study on efficacy of masks & respirators that came out yesterday.

I love that’s it’s eye catching - but the best part is the QR code takes you straight to the study! He’s not on here (yet) but says people are welcome to save & share!

#CovidIsAirborne #CovidIsNotOver #CovidCautious #sarscov2 #maskup #WearAMask #CleanAir #Pandemic #Disability #accessibility #DisabilityRights #N95s #respirators

In case anyone missed it - @trishgreenhalgh dropped a HUGE multi disciplinary study on masks & respirators yesterday.

This study involved people from all over the world and tackled everything from are masks effective against COVID (spoiler -
They are), why were there bad RCTs saying the opposite and what were their flaws, what are the sociological barriers to masking (with input from @DALupton).

It was exactly the kind of gold standard, irrefutable study on masks and respirators that we need to counter the “masks don’t work” crowd. Unfortunately I realize many of them won’t ever read it - but it still feels wonderful to see it laid out so clearly.

If any of the other contributors are on here - please drop a comment so I can find & follow you!

https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/cmr.00124-23

#CovidIsAirborne #CovidIsNotOver #CovidCautious #sarscov2 #maskup #WearAMask #CleanAir #Pandemic #Disability #accessibility #DisabilityRights #N95s

Even though #N95s are easily available, I'm tempted to keep buying #KN95s, because if #NIOSH is anything like the #CDC, they would not care at all if people sell #masks that just let #Covid through.

I got up early and then did my indexing at the college because I had a dental cleaning first thing. Hence the bad sleep - the likelihood of bad sleep goes way up if I have to set an alarm.

On the upside, it was nice to talk to the hygienist, who wears fit-tested #N95s all day, about how messed up the CDC's recent "guidance" is. #COVID

OMG, and so many of them are sick or "recovering" from illness.

Thank God for #N95s!
#Masks

Confused about where/how you got #sick w/ #Covid bcuz you #mask?

✓ Wearing a surgical or cloth mask?

✓ Did you take your mask off when nobody was around?

OUTDATED Recommendations:

❌ Surgical or cloth masks

There's no longer a shortage. Wear #N95s. Fit is key so fit test them

❌ Staying 6ft away will keep you safe

From droplets but not from aerosols

❌ 0 people = safe space

#CovidIsAirborne - Aerosols can STAY in the air for HOURS after infected ppl are gone

Stay safe!

#CovidIsNotOver

@kitten_tech @wordshaper @neil

"...also, as masks seem to protect others from you more than vice versa, wearing a mask in public protects others..."

That's not actually the case. With surgical masks maybe, because they don't do much of anything except stopping liquid or droplets. A well fitting #N95s or better attracts and stops airborne aerosols from entering as well as they do keeping them in if you're sick

This article explains some of the misconceptions of masks:

https://teamshuman.substack.com/p/upgrade-your-masking-chart-explained