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I managed to avoid Covid for three years but finally got it. I suspect it is one of the new more transmissible strains from China after they opened up and 230 m

I managed to avoid Covid for three years but finally got it. I suspect it is one of the new more transmissible strains from China after they opened up and 230 million Chinese got sick, because I got it at the Trader Joe's next to the San Jose airport and live in an Asian neighborhood. I've been sick for 6 weeks now, so I don't know if that qualifies as long Covid. After years of hearing it was "just a flu" I didn't think much of it interacting with my bipolar type II disorder, but I noticed I was hypomanic with Covid in a strange sort of way and my quetiapine no longer seemed to work. Other strange things have happened, such as I am a vegetarian now because eating meat tastes repulsive to me. Dairy is ok. I also can't stand using cannabis anymore. The high feels different, much harsher and weirder. Not much research has been done in the areas of Covid interaction with psychiatric disorders, psyche meds and interactions with recreational drugs but I'm hoping things get back to normal so I don't have to keep researching it. All except for the meat part, because I'm happy being a vegetarian. And I'll save money at the cannabis store. Full disclosure: I'm fully vaxxed and boosted with bivalent formulations of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech in November 2022 Edit: I'm not making up wild theories of new mutations. There are multiple credible sources. This is just one https://www.voanews.com/a/experts-weigh-risk-of-new-covid-mutations-from-china/6895946.html https://www.voanews.com/a/experts-weigh-risk-of-new-covid-mu... I'm surprised there is any negative reaction to this comment. I would love if someone with such a reaction would explain themselves

MengerSponge 4y ago
> years of hearing it was "just a flu" "Just a flu" was always bullshit on two fronts: influenza is a terrible disease that has killed millions, and everyone serious knew COVID was worse. But of course: "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie."
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- goatlover 4y ago
  Wait, how has Covid been worse than Influenza? Infuenza killed around 50 million people in 1918. There were far less people back then, and travel was slower.
  - azeirah 4y ago
    Influenza is a virus that is constantly mutating. I think the comparison means to the variants colloquially known as "the flu", which are the ones that make you sick for a week or maybe two. They're not comparing to all influenza variants ever.
    - MengerSponge 4y ago
      Exactly. It's still a serious infection! It makes otherwise healthy young adults super ill for a week or two, and kill the elderly and the very young.
  - MengerSponge 4y ago
    The original strain of covid was not worse than the deadliest strains of influenza, but "common" circulating strains of influenza kill tens of thousands almost every year. I would say every year, except deaths from influenza plummeted in 2020/2021 due to masking and social distancing. 2020 and 2021 are the root of my claim that Covid is "worse". Millions died of covid during this time, but deaths from influenza dropped to minuscule levels. Some strains of influenza may have gone extinct. Influenza that makes you sick for a week or two isn't a trivial thing either! If you're lucky, you'll just feel awful for a week. If you're unlucky, you're part of the chain of transmission that kills someone's grandparents. Get your flu shots.
  - terminatornet 4y ago
    > This finding should be interpreted in the context of a 2 to 3 times greater number of people being hospitalized for COVID-19 vs influenza in the US in this period. > However, the difference in mortality rates between COVID-19 and influenza appears to have decreased since early in the pandemic; death rates among people hospitalized for COVID-19 were 17% to 21% in 2020 vs 6% in this study, while death rates for those hospitalized for influenza were 3.8% in 2020 vs 3.7% in this study. The gap between mortality rates for covid and the flu has decreased, but covid is still clearly worse. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2803749 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2803749
Qellion 4y ago
The flu comment was some fake news. I'm surprised that you repeated that blindly. Also your assumption why you have COVID now is just racist or stupid. COVID is still out there, people still get COVID. The simplest explainatiom why you got COVID: because someone was infected and now you were unlucky in comparison to before. COVID did not disappear.
- gadders 4y ago
  If you have no underlying conditions and under 70 or so then it is just like flu/a bad cold in 99% of cases.
  - brnt 4y ago
    1% of all humans below 70 is still tens of millions of affected.
- labrador 4y ago
  I see. Thanks for the comment. I'm resentful towards friends and family who are anti-vaxxers and downplay the danger, esp since I have elderly parents at risk. I'm mid 60's, they're mid 80's. > just racist or stupid I don't see that. China opened up. 230 million Chinese got infected. It mutated. A more transmissible mutation has been reported. I live in Silicon Valley with close ties to China. I live in an Asian neighborhood. I've lived here for three years. I've interacted plenty with my neighbors and shopped Asian stores. My experience has been pleasant. I have been careful and not changed my behavior. There's a chance the more transmissible mutation made it's way from China to the San Jose airport and to the Trader Joe's across the highway where I picked it up. Since I went three years and did nothing different, it's just a theory I have. Maybe my symptoms are different. Time will tell. Nothing about what I just said is racist. I am not a racist.
  - Qellion 4y ago
    It's already dominant since February and we have April now. As I said corona is here. Plenty of people haven't had it and still get it for the first time for different reasons.

MengerSponge 4y ago

> years of hearing it was "just a flu" "Just a flu" was always bullshit on two fronts: influenza is a terrible disease that has killed millions, and everyone serious knew COVID was worse. But of course: "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie."

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
goatlover 4y ago
Wait, how has Covid been worse than Influenza? Infuenza killed around 50 million people in 1918. There were far less people back then, and travel was slower.
- azeirah 4y ago
  Influenza is a virus that is constantly mutating. I think the comparison means to the variants colloquially known as "the flu", which are the ones that make you sick for a week or maybe two. They're not comparing to all influenza variants ever.
  - MengerSponge 4y ago
    Exactly. It's still a serious infection! It makes otherwise healthy young adults super ill for a week or two, and kill the elderly and the very young.
- MengerSponge 4y ago
  The original strain of covid was not worse than the deadliest strains of influenza, but "common" circulating strains of influenza kill tens of thousands almost every year. I would say every year, except deaths from influenza plummeted in 2020/2021 due to masking and social distancing. 2020 and 2021 are the root of my claim that Covid is "worse". Millions died of covid during this time, but deaths from influenza dropped to minuscule levels. Some strains of influenza may have gone extinct. Influenza that makes you sick for a week or two isn't a trivial thing either! If you're lucky, you'll just feel awful for a week. If you're unlucky, you're part of the chain of transmission that kills someone's grandparents. Get your flu shots.
- terminatornet 4y ago
  > This finding should be interpreted in the context of a 2 to 3 times greater number of people being hospitalized for COVID-19 vs influenza in the US in this period. > However, the difference in mortality rates between COVID-19 and influenza appears to have decreased since early in the pandemic; death rates among people hospitalized for COVID-19 were 17% to 21% in 2020 vs 6% in this study, while death rates for those hospitalized for influenza were 3.8% in 2020 vs 3.7% in this study. The gap between mortality rates for covid and the flu has decreased, but covid is still clearly worse. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2803749 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2803749

Qellion 4y ago

The flu comment was some fake news. I'm surprised that you repeated that blindly. Also your assumption why you have COVID now is just racist or stupid. COVID is still out there, people still get COVID. The simplest explainatiom why you got COVID: because someone was infected and now you were unlucky in comparison to before. COVID did not disappear.

gadders 4y ago
If you have no underlying conditions and under 70 or so then it is just like flu/a bad cold in 99% of cases.
- brnt 4y ago
  1% of all humans below 70 is still tens of millions of affected.
labrador 4y ago
I see. Thanks for the comment. I'm resentful towards friends and family who are anti-vaxxers and downplay the danger, esp since I have elderly parents at risk. I'm mid 60's, they're mid 80's. > just racist or stupid I don't see that. China opened up. 230 million Chinese got infected. It mutated. A more transmissible mutation has been reported. I live in Silicon Valley with close ties to China. I live in an Asian neighborhood. I've lived here for three years. I've interacted plenty with my neighbors and shopped Asian stores. My experience has been pleasant. I have been careful and not changed my behavior. There's a chance the more transmissible mutation made it's way from China to the San Jose airport and to the Trader Joe's across the highway where I picked it up. Since I went three years and did nothing different, it's just a theory I have. Maybe my symptoms are different. Time will tell. Nothing about what I just said is racist. I am not a racist.
- Qellion 4y ago
  It's already dominant since February and we have April now. As I said corona is here. Plenty of people haven't had it and still get it for the first time for different reasons.