Is it really that hard.....? 🤔

[StillGotBabyBrain]

My family is vegan, not a massive deal.

When the school has events, no vegan option, so everyone gets a bbq or food catered and we don't. Not even a dairy free alternative for hot drinks! (Primary school, high school is better).

When they go for sleepovers I get worried parents asking me what should they do, can I provide food and drinks for them...

Pubs and restaurants barely cater for adults let alone add options for the kids menu.

Went to a choir meeting the other week, nothing I could eat from the food included in my ticket price.

Am I being unreasonable thinking it's really not that difficult to provide bread and houmous or vegetable dishes? They're suitable for everyone, so isn't a waste of food! Blows my mind.

My husband has been itching since Covid. Over a year now. I just had that for a couple of months.
My doctor also said that Covid does all sorts of strange things. I think we'll keep learning about just what it does for the next few years.
I hope you find a solution or it passes soon for you. Meanwhile I guess we just keep being as healthy as we can to support our bodies.

I've made up what looked like the best recipe for home-made hydroxychloroqine. There's various ones on different U.S. sites.

2-3 grapefruit, 2-3 lemons. Place the peels in large saucepan (fruit innards not required). Cover with lid and simmer in 3" of spring water for 2 hours (ie 8 cups worth). Allow to cool completely (with lid on!). Strain it. Pour into quart mason jars and refrigerate one, freeze the other. Use by 60 ml of mixture + 180 ml Fevertree tonic water (for the quinine in it) and have 3 times daily. The jury is still out as to what I think about that - but I did it/worked my way through it.

On the other hand I've been recommended by a medical professional (who wishes to remain anonymous) to use Nattokinase (which one can readily obtain on the Internet) and, as far as I can make out, it seems to be the idea to take 4,000FU twice per day of that. They couldn't manage to make that a problem to get - as it's from fermented soybeans and there's all sorts of recipes for making one's own on YouTube.

Anyway - hope you manage to get yours sorted out soon. Me I'm "throwing the book at it" by doing everything I can think of to get back to normal - lymphatic drainage massage, saunas, castor oil packs, the super-healthy diet I'm in process of adopting anyway (ie whole-food plantbased - wfpb for short - which is basically healthy vegan with no oil and contains absolutely LOADS of fruit and vegetables). I'm inclined to think the stress I've been under for some time now has been a contributory factor to being "weak" enough to get Covid (ie I've had a lot of Bad Neighbour problems - which culminated in one of them legally stealing a bit of my land courtesy of the Land Registry). So my eye was "off the ball" rather dealing with those neighbours.

Wouldn't it just be easier/more fun to drink gin or Irn-Bru? It's equally ineffective.

If that combination of American style lemonade and tonic actually contained medicinal levels of quinine on a par with hydroxychloroquine, your immune system would be so depressed that you'd be at greater risk of infections. If you'd ever had a wart on your finger, you'd be seeing 20-30 of them around your fingertips and they'd be splitting open and bleeding. Your mouth could be full of ulcers. You'd be likely to have nausea and vomiting. Headaches and the sensation of your skin crawling and burning aren't uncommon. You could even be experiencing blurred vision, irreversible Tinnitus, sensitivity to light, thrombocytopenia, reduced colour perception and heart abnormalities.

Hydroxychloroquine is not a safe, natural, herbal thing. What you're consuming isn't it - which is a very good thing, as if it were, you'd be seriously endangering your health.

Nattokinase also has its own risks - if you've a history of blood clots, for example, it can make them break off and start travelling to where they could do irreparable harm. Making Natto itself isn't going to give the high levels of a supplement (which is why it's being sold to you), and it's unlikely you'll eat enough of that to experience the side effects. More is not always more - and can do harm in itself.

I understand the desire to make everything better. But getting sucked in by the appeals to magical thinking and outright lies of others isn't going to do that - and whilst it could just be an expensive and life consuming trek to 'purity' with no real success other than the feeling that you're doing something, it could also do you significant harm once you get to taking inappropriate substances.

It's a minefield as people have different expectations. You said you'd been fine with your kids just being given veggies, I know several vegans who would be furious if not given a proper meal with protein and carbs (and not every family had vegan protein in the house as standard). I know a vegan who does not accept food that has been stored in a fridge that has meat in it or prepared with utensils that have ever been used with meat even if washed. Some vegans are fine with meat substitutes, some are not. I also know some who are much more laid back and will happily guide you.

NeverDropYourMooncup

Conventional medicine doesn't seem to be helping us and it has only really been around since around World War 2 (which is zilch even in comparison for anyone who believes we're really only around 5,000-10,000 years old as modern day humans). Therefore we will do our own research - because there are only two alternatives: 1. Sit and do nowt - and "accept our fate" or 2. Check out what else there might be. Right now - I'm about to add to the Nattokinase and take bromelain and NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine). Plus saunas, plus more lymphatic drainage massage, plus castor oil packs. Modern-day chemical medicine is just a "baby age" on the planet and we all know how pushy drug company reps and Governments-and-above can be. Many of us have also learnt (especially since 2020) that there are always at least two opinions on any given topic under the sun and sometimes/often the person or "body" stating another opinion is saying "This isn't 'opinion', it's FACT!" and trying to constrain/punish anyone else that doesn't share that opinion. The way I look at it is "I've got x years of estimated remaining lifespan left - and don't want more than that anyway - BUT what's the point of having those years if I'm not healthy enough to 'get on with My Life' during them?"

I understand your feelings, I really do - chronic illness is a bastard. But the companies selling you isolated compounds and the people making an income from YouTube views also benefit financially from your desperation and will make appeals to your emotions in order to make money. They're just as profit oriented, even if they're 'only' making x amount from ad revenue, Patreon or affiliated links to manufacturers/suppliers.

A drink made from citrus, fresh pineapple (and some fresh ginger) would taste lovely. I'd prefer it hot, rather than with tonic water and if I had a sore throat, gum disease, digestive discomfort or mouth ulcers, I'd use mango rather than pineapple, as it's not quite so stingy. But it's not a magic potion and changing from a pleasant drink to a bunch of tablets/capsules somebody is making millions from selling isn't going to be one, either - and carries its own risks; you're taking multiple substances that can increase the incidence of internal haemorrhage or dislodge thromboses.

This guy is an expert and he doesn't seem to think you can just make it at home. Of course you might be an organic chemist for all I know.

Dr. Stephen Cochrane, Senior Lecturer in Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), told Reuters in an email.“The production of HCQ requires several sequential chemical reactions and purifications, and even for a trained synthetic chemist, this is not a trivial exercise,”

Bromelain is great for constipation or gastric problems. If it cured long covid I'd be fine as I take it regularly due to my very ineffective bowels.

Nothing seems to help the itching, I've had a few different creams but had no success. It is now just on one leg, from knee to ankle and not all the way round so I live in hope it will continue to reduce until it disappears. My DIL is a doctor and she says the worst thing is what it does to your lungs so I am at least grateful I've only got the itch to worry about. Well a bit of lingering joint pain but that is mainly in sites where I have had a previous injury (broken wrist and ankle) so it could just be aging on those damaged joints and not really long covid at all.

I hope your husband is also improving, the itch it maddening.

The thing is that it IS worth trying something that has worked for a noticeable number of people (for whatever reason) re Long Covid or any other illness one has. Some people CAN manage what is deemed impossible/some can't. I can think of three people that have achieved what they were told they couldnt achieve. One is a doctor I don't know that cured herself of lupus quite some years back (in her case with a wholefood plant-based diet). One is a friend of mine that cured himself of MS quite some years back (with lots of self-healing and meditation as to how he'd got this illness - so he could "rewind and remove" that). One is me - when I got a "panic/see specialist AT ONCE and I've made the appointment for you" letter from the doctor I had at the time after having a routine cervical smear and got a bad result and I sat down and gave a lot of thought as to what would happen if I "let the illness roll and kill me" and then I could forget about having to have the rest of my life and that would have been "Bonus Time" imo as far as I personally was/am concerned - but I decided I wasn't prepared to be ill for months or upset my parents by dying before them and so I basically "willed it away" and went back and told my doctor what I'd done and requested another test (in order to confirm I was now clear). He hit the roof that I'd cancelled the specialist appointment - but he was a good traditional doctor and genuinely did his best for his patients and swore at me and then made a repeat test appointment and neither of us said a word when it came back clear/but just accepted it. So - yep - I do believe that sometimes one can get shot of chronic illness and, in my own case, I'm now having to contend with having a way/way/way more cynical view of Society than I used to have (which multiplied enormously 2020 onwards) and so don't know if I can summon up the willpower this time to stay in a Society that has proven to be so bad - but I'll give it a shot with the physical remedies.

I got my husband sulphur soap. It helps a lot.

That's interesting. I'll have a look at it.

Well thanks for explaining my friend who died of cancer is wholly responsible for her own death because she didn’t have your shiny willpower. Your victim blaming and explanation that you just have to want to be well to get rid of major illness makes me feel much better knowing she chose to die and leave her young children behind. /s

For those suffering with itching with long covid you might want to look into histamine intolerance - it can trigger mast cell reactions which can present as itching. Many people try following a lower histamine diet for a while. Worth a trial at least to see if it helps.

I was thinking the same, my poor aunt who died months after having her much wanted rainbow baby. Why didn't she just decide she hadn't got cancer, if only she'd known.

Of course on the other hand I've had friends who got worrying results from a cervical smear and when they went for their hospital referral it was discovered that the test had been wrong so presumably they cured themselves without even trying.

Can't understand why a doctor would be so selfish as to keep his cure for MS to himself. He should be struck off, think of the suffering people have been through that he could have prevented.

I was advised to give antihistamines a try, pinched some of grandsons but it didn't seem to help and I have a pretty low histamine diet to start with. Good if it helps some people.

I'm about to start wet wrap therapy, apparently it works well for eczema and reduces irritation so it is worth a try.

Not if they are cooked in beef dripping they are not!!!

I have children with egg and dairy allergies (among others). Most "community" events including school events are not inclusive at all . It's a total PITA, especially when you have children who get upset as there's no vegan ice cream available and all their friends have ice cream