On this year’s long covid awareness day, I want more people to read and think about what the late Shafiqah Hudson said before it killed her. Because she was right, as usual, and also early, as usual. Perhaps too early for a lot of people to listen.
The rise of online vibrant events in early Covid offered a lot of hope for disabled/chronically ill people who have access issues attending IRL events (including going into a flare later). Anti-Zoom reactive sentiment pushed a lot of people into being more isolated again.
It’s Friday March 13 again just like it was in 2020 but that’s not spooky when compared to the fact that we’ve been living in the twilight zone for 4+ years as most of the world past tenses a pandemic that is still disabling and killing people. Your constant denial is spooky.
"March 15th, 2026" International Long Covid awareness Day. We honor all who have lost their lives, or livelihoods, due to COVID. It has been six years since the declaration of a global pandemic, and Long COVID research remains critically underfunded." Theres a logo for empowerment through community which is colorful interlocking abstract sketches of people in a circle holding hands.
"Long Covid & Me/CFS" "In 2025, RECOVER researchers found that new cases of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) were 15x higher than before the pandemic, with nearly 5 out of 100 people meeting diagnostic criteria for ME/CFS after having COVID. People who have both Long COVID & ME/CFS continue to suffer without proper care." Below is a picture of me covering my face
The following quotes are from our ongoing study about ME/CFS (n=268). Lack of access to acute and preventive care: “Where I live ppl w ME are not eligible for things like Paxlovid when we have a COVID infection, even though it is known that COVID can dramatically worsen ME. Many pp w ME are sensitive to certain vaccines but the government here will not order the Novavax so many are left unvaccinated. Appeals to political representatives for support on these issues are dismissed. . .” Header: Physical/physiological impact and disability “I’ve had ME/CFS since I was 13 and only got diagnosed in 2024, after getting covid at the end of 2021. In the early years especially, my crashes would look like extremely long sleep--I would often sleep 14-16 hours straight. “ “I mentioned in the previous answer that especially earlier in my illness, my typical crashes involved sleeping for as much as 14-16 hours straight. The other hallmark was drastically worse orthostatic intolerance, manifesting as dizziness, impaired proprioceptoin, and trouble balancing and walking. In early 2022, when I was developing Long Covid symptoms but still trying to work multiple jobs (!), I remember noticing that the day or two after a shift at my dancer job (so LOTS of exertion), I would stumble around my apartment almost like I was drunk. This was the biggest, most consistent clue when I started putting the pieces together to self-diagnose. . .” Lack of Access to Acute and Preventive Care Physical/physiological Impact and Disability “Long covid made every pre-existing chronic illness 10x worse. I'm terrified I will die in my 50s and heartbroken that my body cannot handle pregnancy.” Visit restandmecfs.com to learn more about the study.
!["rior to contracting COVID, I had no limits, exercised vigorously 3-4 x/
week, and walked wherever/whenever I wanted (like, up to 9-11 miles
a day!). I was an athletic person, and worked full time, and never lay
down from getting up around 8 am until 10:30 at night. I developed
ME/CFS symptoms immediately after Covid, and, although I am now
mild, I immediately dropped in functional capacity in a day, and in
exercise capacity. A body does not decondition in 10 days, but Long
Covid hit like a bomb——destroying my old life, and my ability to sit
up even, within 2 weeks of testing negative for that first Covid
infection."
PEM"At its worst feels like I'm having acute covid all over again: chills and body temp disregulation [sic]. PEM will trigger a cough. Congestion.
Dizziness. Migraine. And of course just feeling so dead tired. like I'm
made of led. My brain gets confused. Sometimes I am too tired to leave the sofa to go to bed. “
“It feels like having covid again. At its
worst I will have lung pain, muscle
spasms in face and body, elevated HR,
broken sleep, nightsweats, sore throat,
hardened glands, enormous light/
sound sensitivity (everything hurts),
dizziness/POTS symptoms, migraine-
like symptoms, air hunger/
breathlessness, body aches, and a tired-
but-wired feeling where I feel an
adrenaline rush as though I’ve just been
chased by a bear even if I’ve been lying
down resting all day.”
Need for Specialists
“We need long covid and ME/CFS specialists! Especially these specialists who accept insurance, Medicare/Medicaid, and are not outrageously priced (although I understand why they must do so). It is so wrong that Duke receives millions to conduct long COVID research and touted their AI tool that diagnoses ME/CFS, yet they do not have a single doctor who treats either long COVID or ME/CFS. . .”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5h73uzi5rw67ncwrtt6cygfk/bafkreigblyc2iiyix3v53pdexjtlb4cggis75whwzyo77p7tvyf3nfsetq)
"rior to contracting COVID, I had no limits, exercised vigorously 3-4 x/ week, and walked wherever/whenever I wanted (like, up to 9-11 miles a day!). I was an athletic person, and worked full time, and never lay down from getting up around 8 am until 10:30 at night. I developed ME/CFS symptoms immediately after Covid, and, although I am now mild, I immediately dropped in functional capacity in a day, and in exercise capacity. A body does not decondition in 10 days, but Long Covid hit like a bomb——destroying my old life, and my ability to sit up even, within 2 weeks of testing negative for that first Covid infection." PEM"At its worst feels like I'm having acute covid all over again: chills and body temp disregulation [sic]. PEM will trigger a cough. Congestion. Dizziness. Migraine. And of course just feeling so dead tired. like I'm made of led. My brain gets confused. Sometimes I am too tired to leave the sofa to go to bed. “ “It feels like having covid again. At its worst I will have lung pain, muscle spasms in face and body, elevated HR, broken sleep, nightsweats, sore throat, hardened glands, enormous light/ sound sensitivity (everything hurts), dizziness/POTS symptoms, migraine- like symptoms, air hunger/ breathlessness, body aches, and a tired- but-wired feeling where I feel an adrenaline rush as though I’ve just been chased by a bear even if I’ve been lying down resting all day.” Need for Specialists “We need long covid and ME/CFS specialists! Especially these specialists who accept insurance, Medicare/Medicaid, and are not outrageously priced (although I understand why they must do so). It is so wrong that Duke receives millions to conduct long COVID research and touted their AI tool that diagnoses ME/CFS, yet they do not have a single doctor who treats either long COVID or ME/CFS. . .”
I didn't have energy to write an op-ed this year, but I wanted to share this short research brief with a few quotes I pulled from my ongoing research study. Sending my love to everyone with LC. It is a tough week for me.
"Why do progressives and justice advocates seem to not care about COVID?"
@teachrprecarity.bsky.social continues to tell it like it is 👏🏼🎉
www.thespec.com/opinion/cont...
I’ve tried a lot of these & while I’m still sick as shit, the relief I’ve gotten that has allowed me to survive this long & not decline even further has mostly come from things on this list. Everyone deserves access to trial these interventions.
Column from my colleague Kevin on the fallout from the Edmonton Police Service's threatening letter to the Crown in a child homicide case — including the bombshell claim from the sentencing judge that EPS may have obstructed justice. calgaryherald.com/opinion/colu...
Real talk: Progressives have completely failed to adequately address the significant impacts of Long COVID, and this has left an opening for the far right to exploit vulnerable patients and deceitfully blame vaccines for all chronic illnesses.
May 2021, KARE 11: 'Mayo Clinic releases new study on COVID-19 long-haulers'
"The more we learn about long-haul COVID, the brain fog seems to be very similar to concussion symptoms"
www.kare11.com/article/news...
Cops being dishonest? Must be a day!
Here’s my (frighteningly vulnerable!!) follow up on my reporting that exposed a white nationalist active club.
On the professional and personal costs of this work:
It's what they do everywhere. It saddens me that Canada is complicit in this.
Axon is a major sponsor of Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA), which paid for Dreichel's trip. It's a capstone sponsor, which is $150,000 a year. Edmonton police are testing Axon's facial recognition technology. www.edmontonpolice.ca/News/MediaRe...
"Why was the insurance industry given a seat at the table to draft Alberta's two-tier health care legislation while doctors and patients were ignored?"
In February of 2022 Canadian women reached the highest rates of employment ever recorded.
Now, in 2026, Canadian policymakers are increasingly in agreement the following need to be removed:
$10-a-day daycare
Remote work
EDI programs
No coincidence here.
A big thing you missed is the impact of COVID. Most people have had it & it often causes alcohol intolerance because of the histamines
Red wine and beer especially can cause reactions in people. It ranges from worse hangovers to not being able to drink at all
www.usatoday.com/story/news/h...
Link to the blog article mentioned in the post above:
he Hidden Link Between Inflammation and Hypermobility in Long COVID, ME/CFS, POTS, and MCAS (Mar 3, 2026)
jeanniedibon.com/me-cfs-eds-l...
Screenshot of a news article from The Post titled “Repeatedly getting Covid doesn’t build immunity, ‘it’s more like accumulating damage’,” written by Melanie Earley of RNZ and dated March 10, 2026. Below the headline is a portrait of leading vaccinologist and associate professor Dr Helen Petousis-Harris, shown facing the camera against a dark background. The article discusses how repeated COVID-19 infections may cause cumulative harm rather than building lasting immunity.
"Leading vaccinologist Helen Petousis-Harris says there's not enough awareness of the impact of COVID-19 on overall health."
"What many people don't realise is that getting COVID repeatedly is not like building immunity, it's more like accumulating damage," she says.
Source: archive.md/Qsv13
Between the added costs and the negative impacts on parents, especially mothers, and on disabled people, mandated return to office makes me so, so angry
It spits in the face of all the research about the impact on workers and makes people’s lives worse
Anyone else pissed off at the elite class extracting our labour for profit?
While forcing us to share air with our sick co-workers?
#CovidIsAirborne #MaskUp #CleanTheAir #CovidIsntOver
In our latest, Mariame Kaba @prisonculture.bsky.social & Andrea Ritchie @dreanyc123.bsky.social on how to understand the spectacular violence of Trump’s ICE surges as an extension of the violence of everyday policing, and why to abolish ICE we must abolish the police
www.patreon.com/posts/152641...
When you’re living with chronic illness, your body calls the shots.
It doesn’t matter how hard you try.
It doesn’t matter how badly you “want” to do something.
There’s time when your body will say “No”.
You’re no longer in control and it can be devastating.
New research suggests antibodies from people with ME/CFS and Long COVID may directly change how cells handle energy and inflammation.
The study found these antibodies may fragment mitochondria and alter immune signals.
Imagine if the UCP Worked for the people of Alberta
instead of USA Oilcorps that get 90% of the Oil Money
Alberta has RECORD oil sales of 1.4 Billion Barrels but
only gets $13 Billion because the UCP Royalty deal
that pays peanuts unless oil prices are $80 or More
Masking prevents transmission. Please, mask up. It's literally the most basic amount of community care and, if you're broke like me, check out donatemask.ca for free masks.
If you also need or want Covod tests, they often have those available for free as well.
You should be able to criticize your government anonymously online.
Full stop.
"Age verification" legislation is just a pretty name for "forced online ID checks," meaning everything you post is associated with your government name
We have to stop this.
theintercept.com/2026/03/05/k...
Screenshot of a The Sick Times article titled “Two new books help children understand how Long COVID impacts their family members,” written by Heather Hogan and published March 4, 2026. The image shows a children’s book cover titled “Long COVID Transformed My Sister into a Turtle,” featuring a cartoon turtle wearing headphones and sunglasses, with bookshelves in the background.
Two new books help children understand how Long COVID impacts their family members
🔹Long COVID Transformed My Mommy
🔹Long COVID Transformed My Sister into a Turtle
Portions of the books proceeds will be donated to the Bateman Horne Center and advocacy groups Long COVID Kids and Long Covid Families
New Hampshire Bulletin: 'A priest, a police officer, and a politician — each is living with long COVID in 2026'
newhampshirebulletin.com/2026/03/05/a...
Guardian My maddening battle with chronic fatigue syndrome: ‘On my worst days, it feels almost demonic’ Long read by Hermione Hoby describes her lengthy struggle with illness with remissions and relapses before getting an ME/CFS diagnosis, and her experiments with alternative treatments including brain retraining. "I was wrong to think that this chronic condition demanded meaning be wrested from it. What it asks for is so much more banal – just the ongoing work of management and mitigation."
My maddening battle with chronic fatigue syndrome: ‘On my worst days, it feels almost demonic’
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
Screenshot from latest Science for ME weekly update
#MEcfs #CFS #PwME #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #ChronicFatigueSyndrome
A doctor whose career ended after getting the virus says long Covid patients are being forgotten
6 years on there are "hundreds of thousands of people" in the UK with significant long Covid who could not work and were "not acknowledged," she says
www.bbc.com/news/article...
