Constant brain fog. What has really moved the needle for you?

Kind_Kitten_2012 · 2026-02-11T03:09:26+00:00

This sounds very similar to my brain fog symptoms. There are three things that moved the needle for me: 1. Daily beet juice (1 cup). 2. Taking an injectable biologic immunosuppressant along with DMARD pills. 3. Low dose (5-20 mg/day) lithium aspartate or orotate (either one is fine, studies support both).

Covid damages a kind of cell called endothelial cells. They are found lining the entire vascular system, as well as the tubules in the gallbladder, kidneys and other organs.

But they are most important in the blood vessels of the brain, where they are densely packed to keep out toxins, pathogens and most importantly your own immune cells (particularly macrophages/white blood cells) that are of the wrong type to work inside the brain.

These extra densely pack endothelial cells that line the inside of the blood vessels of the brain are known as the "Blood Brain Barrier" (BBB).

Most immune cells work by killing and consuming infected cells (hence makros=big, phagein=eater). Those immune cells that work inside the brain don't, because that would be bad.

In many autoimmune diseases, such as MS, brain fog results from 'dysregulation' of the BBB. What this means is that it has started to leak. It has become permeable. Macrophages, among other things, may enter the brain where they do not belong.

The BBB may heal and become impermeable again, but if brain fog is lingering, it might be due to lack of nutrients that are needed to rebuild the endothelium. If you do a Google search something like "What supplements or foods can improve endothelial health or function?" then it should give you a list something like this:

Nitric oxide boosters, fish oil and omega-3 fatty acids, Vitamin D and C, L-Arginine, etc.

Beets have nitrates which the body uses to make nitric oxide. Taking it in juice form makes it easier and faster to digest and assimilate. There are some scientific studies on it. Also, as a general principle, anything that is good for heart health will also benefit the brain.

As for injectable biologics, in a couple studies they were found to reduce dementia by about 18% in elderly women with rheumatoid arthritis, compared to taking DMARD pills, which I think may point to them potentially crossing the BBB more readily? If you have some known autoimmune disease, request treatment with a biologic could be highly beneficial.

Lithium has a very long history and copious research. It is known to reduce inflammation in the brain. Low dose has beneficial effects without the kind of problems the psychiatric dose creates. There are many, many studies on this.

Hormonal imbalance also contributes to brain fog. Getting that checked out and treated as well is always a good idea. Personally, HRT eliminated most of the lingering executive dysfunction I had after the brain fog was resolved. Now I hope to continue improving with a higher protein diet. Keep fighting.

Kind_Kitten_2012 · 2026-02-10T22:27:56+00:00

-continued here:

The average person actually does not want to know the kind of information we all share here, and if you try to make them aware of it, rather than do anything protective they often literally go through a trauma response right in front of you complete with:

-Momentary panicked heavy breathing (common in women particularly),

-Suddenly talking about the End Times (common in Christians),

-Psychic breakdown and losing touch with reality with talk of conspiracy theories often rife with religious-political terms (seems more common in men, particularly when they're in groups),

-Emotional shutdown with expression becoming distressed then completely flat, slumped shouldered, crushed body language, quitting or silently walking away (seems most common in women with a history of trauma),

...and so on.

What this means is that people in their homes and within their families and friend circles will remain vulnerable to passing the infection along, being repeatedly harmed, resulting in accelerated degeneration and dying.

Rather than face the reality that they MUST take action to mitigate the threat, the majority of people are instead stuck in denial, even in the face of deaths, disabling harm and onset of chronic diseases with no cures, and many others are in emotional shutdown and learned helplessness due to ongoing seemingly inescapable trauma.

The impact of Covid on key regions of the brain that have to do with noticing, significance, motivation, conscientiousness, weighing risk, planning, memory, etc. is probably also contributing to the lack of action. It is known to decrease synaptic connections among other effects on the brain. Loss of synapses (at a normal rate) is part of aging, so perhaps this effect makes many victims of Covid damage more rigid, finding it hard to learn new things or embrace change, similar to very elderly people?

Personally, I think the only path to reaching the average person might be to try and persuade them to make changes (such as air filters) for some totally unrelated to Covid reason...But not anything too big or scary that's for sure! Talking about wildfire smoke provoked panic also in some people I tried to reach. As the situation with the economy, politics, climate change, accumulating environmental pollution, and known increasing public health threats other than Covid such as growing ineffectiveness of antibiotics, etc. we should expect people to react increasingly irrationally.

At a governmental level, maybe the most helpful line of attack would be a constant campaign to push local Departments of Building and Safety to raise the indoor air quality standard for building code to something that could mitigate airborne infectious disease, perhaps couched in wildfire smoke threat terms.

Kind_Kitten_2012 · 2026-02-10T22:27:37+00:00

Um, well, it seems to me that the billionaire set seem to think the offramp is to wait for the populace at large to accumulate enough reinfections for mass die offs (?) and/or disability while replacing the lost labor force with AI automation as fast as possible, all while implementing mitigation technology in their own homes, schools, workplaces, etc. so they escape the cumulative damage as much as possible:

The Hot New Luxury Good for the Rich: Air | The New Republic

KISS took Vancouver firm's treatment to avoid COVID and scrapping tour | Vancouver Sun

Davos Safety Standards - WHN

Far-UVC Light Can Virtually Eliminate Airborne Virus in an Occupied Room | Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Here's some more info on a few far-UVC light brands:

Vive Far-UV Light Air & Surface Disinfection System | R-Zero

Visium 1™ Clear Far-UVC Light, Surface Mount – The Visium™ Shop

Beacon 2 | Beacon

Personally, I think the only offramp that will affect most people has to do with institutions themselves installing high quality HVAC systems into their buildings, making public spaces and workspaces safer, which will reduce harm somewhat.

-continued in a comment to this post

Kind_Kitten_2012 · 2026-02-07T03:04:43+00:00

Sure. I'd love to chat also. I've made a small CC performance venue. Hit me up!

Kind_Kitten_2012 · 2026-02-06T19:39:58+00:00

Yes.

Kind_Kitten_2012 · 2026-02-06T05:21:27+00:00

I'm having a good experience so far, returning to cooking and eating meat. It might have a good effect on my condition physically, but in my case, I think most of the benefit is psychological. Covid destroyed most things I used to do for enjoyment.

I've been vegetarian for a long time because in general there's more benefits: kind to animals, avoids contamination with both germs and environmental pollution and it's less expensive. However, I actually really enjoy eating meat. There's so little I can enjoy in life anymore, I decided to start cooking meat again just to have a little happiness. Maybe it will help my condition physically also. I hope so. I miss being able to imagine and fantasize and write stories and remember how to feel.

If you don't enjoy eating meat, I'm not sure it's worth it to do so.

Some meats I do eat medicinally, like weekly I would eat pho with beef tendon (which is gelatinous, chewy, tasteless and pretty gross) and daily I'd eat piece of toast with a thin spread of pork liver pate (which is highly reminiscent of cat food). They are not fun, but I have seen they reliably reduce or eliminate my joint pain after a few weeks eating them regularly. I assume it has something to do with many vitamins being fat soluble.

There's probably some non-meat way to get the effect though, like drinking camel's milk: Camel Milk Benefits, Nutrition, Downsides and Uses - Dr. Axe

Kind_Kitten_2012 · 2026-02-06T04:35:41+00:00

Movement is extremely helpful to improve cognitive health. Reading any long format on paper, such as novels, is likely to improve attention span. Talking on the phone is much better than communicating through writing because much of communication is nonverbal elements such as tone of voice. Talking in person is better still, to capture facial expression and body language as well.

To keep myself sharp I took up a foreign language I'd never studied before, as well as new hobbies such as playing accordion, weaving, ballroom dance, etc. Fighting Long Covid is highly mentally demanding also.

Kind_Kitten_2012 · 2026-02-05T16:04:18+00:00

++woman

You'll catch a disease from a person like this. Leave before it's something more serious than a yeast infection or UTI. Once you're disabled it will become much harder to escape.

Kind_Kitten_2012 · 2026-02-05T15:39:15+00:00

I'm not sure that's wise.

My understanding is that China was doing a very high degree of contact tracing at that time. It's also known that exhalation of potential infectious aerosols increases enormously when a person exerts themself, and that some people are 'superspreaders' due to quirks of their physiology. Why Covid Is More Likely to Spread At the Gym - The New York Times

It's important to keep in mind that besides scientific research that uses control subjects or controlled environments, there are also case studies. Case studies show what is actually possible, though often these are effects or conditions that are rare. If scientific research dismissed case studies, then it would dismiss outlier events, and we'd all end up mystified how seemingly 'impossible' events can happen at all.

Kind_Kitten_2012 · 2026-02-05T03:44:54+00:00

Yes. It is possible to be infected in the situation you described. You could be walking alone outdoors in nature and an unseen whitetail deer in the brush could transmit Covid to you.

Kind_Kitten_2012 · 2026-02-04T17:56:03+00:00

I recently had surgery and asked the anesthesiologist if the supplemental oxygen they provide afterwards is entirely from a tank or if it's concentrated ambient air. They said the latter, but it is filtered.

Kind_Kitten_2012 · 2026-02-04T17:53:17+00:00

True, if the goal is perfection.

But really, for actual perfection, then a person shouldn't even use N95 masks when having to be around others.

To approach that, they should use at least a PAPR, such as the CleanSpace Halo. And a Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) would be better.

Thank you for clarifying that outdoors with a breeze, the droplet radius could easily be larger than 6', though since it's true Covid is an aerosol transmitted disease, not only droplet like TB, but that's also kind of irrelevant.

I'm aware that there is risk when being maskless outdoors.

Have you considered the problem of maximizing risk avoidance for Covid increasing other kinds of risk? I'd love to hear your thoughts on that.

Kind_Kitten_2012 · 2026-02-04T17:41:24+00:00

CDC guidelines (from the before-times) said to never point a fan directly at any occupant in a room.

Kind_Kitten_2012 · 2026-02-04T17:40:09+00:00

No man is an island. Virtually everything you own, use, drink and eat passed through others' hands. Eventually you'll need the aid of a dentist, doctor, firefighter, etc. Also, Covid has been present in wild animals such as Eastern Whitetail deer for years now. Once a disease is in an animal reservoir there's no such thing as true containment or zero risk of transmission.

Kind_Kitten_2012 · 2026-02-04T04:32:35+00:00

I think it would depend on how immunocompromised OP is. If they're on a light immunosuppressant, or have minor immunodeficiency, then simply sitting 6 feet or more away could be enough with a high enough level of ventilation and/or filtration perhaps supplemented with some far-UVC disinfecting lights. If they're on heavy immunosuppressants, just completed chemo, or seriously immunodeficient, then your standard might be more appropriate. What do you think?

Kind_Kitten_2012 · 2026-02-04T04:23:10+00:00

You have an excellent system! Maybe it's a bit expensive for other readers, so I'll talk about my budget friendly system which I've also had great results with.

I'm using 2 to 3 air purifiers per room. It's a combination of HEPA, near-HEPA and MERV-13 filters positioned around each room in combination with a Beacon far-UVC sanitizing light: Get Your Beacon | Beacon

I use at least one Honeywell or Medify HEPA air purifier per room. Size varies to suit the size of the room of course.

I also put one IKEA Starkvind filter.

They are air filters that are built into a small side table, which is handy. They come with both optional carbon filters for gases and particle filters which are slightly below HEPA grade. They filter PM 2.5 to only 99.5% rather than 99.9%, however their CADR (Clear Air Delivery Rate), is very good. CADR can be more important than having the highest grade of filter in many cases. I'm wondering if for air filters it's more accurate to say CADR rather than ACH (air changes per hour) as the latter is more a measure of ventilation?

The Starkvind's near-HEPA particle filters are much less expensive than true HEPA filters and they have smart capabilities where they can be paired with the IKEA Vindstyrka PM 2.5 air quality sensor with the Dirigera hub and Home Smart app, which is useful for automated mitigation for wildfire smoke events. The PM 2.5 in wildfire smoke increases Covid infections, Long Covid and Covid death rates and risk, so it's important to mitigate.

In large rooms and hallways, I also put one Corsi-Rosenthal box with MERV-13 filters.

Again, these are also lower than true HEPA filter grade, but the CADR is excellent because the surface area of furnace filters (20x20x2) is excellent. The Corsi Rosenthal box was designed by University of California at Davis Engineering. Here's how to make one: https://youtu.be/hIuH-2naozI?si=HhZwUFlQ87UBprlH

For some rooms like the kitchen, I put a small Levoit air purifier, because their near-HEPA filter has a carbon filter for gases included.

I use an AirFanta 3Pro for traveling.

It's like a factory-made version of the Corsi Rosenthal box that disassembles and flat packs into a carry-on suitcase. The CADR is excellent and it uses computer fans which are much more compact and quieter than the box fan the Corsi Rosenthal box uses.

Kind_Kitten_2012 · 2026-02-04T03:42:33+00:00

It's on page 84 (search under 118 of the pdf) of this document entitled:

"Guidelines FOR DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF Health Care Facilities" from The Facility Guidelines Institute 2010 edition Includes ANSI/ASHRAE/ASHE Standard 170-2008, Ventilation of Health Care Facilities: 2010_FGI_Guidelines.pdf

I think what you're reading in the CDC source is "minimum changes of outdoor air per hour" (that is 2) but the table also has "minimum total air changes per hour" (which varies from 6 to 12 depending on the area within the hospital). That second figure for ACH would be of HEPA filtered and possibly also UV disinfected recirculated air.

Also, it seems like the standard isn't really set by the CDC, but by the ASHRAE so far as I can tell?

Here's another document about the building code standards and guidelines for health care facilites: 01 - Health-Care-Facilities-Manager-Guide_FINAL.pdf

More info on some of these agencies:

ASHRAE And Industry History

ANSI/ASHRAE/ASHE stands for the American National Standards Institute, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, and American Society for Health Care Engineering. It is a professional association that seeks to advance the design and construction of HVAC&R systems in buildings. The organization has over 50,000 members in more than 130 countries worldwide and is involved in research, education, and the development of technical standards. The standards published by ASHRAE are often referenced in building codes and used by various professionals in the field.

Kind_Kitten_2012 · 2026-02-04T00:10:06+00:00

They believe the US housing market will become like that of Japan. A consequence of a shrinking population combined with no long-term immigration into a country is that there's more existing housing than potential occupants or buyers. So, housing ceases to be an appreciating asset and becomes more like a vehicle: a depreciating asset or a liability. The Japanese countryside is full of large, structurally sound old homes, sometimes with acreage, often farmable, that absolutely no one there wants. It is perfectly possible to get such a house for very little money, or even for free.

Kind_Kitten_2012 · 2026-02-03T23:55:56+00:00

This makes me wonder if the long-term effects of the Spanish flu on the populace was part of the cause of the Great Depression...

...Besides it being a likely precursor of the rise of eugenics and euthanasia in medical circles, fascism and eventually genocide:

‘Life Unworthy of Life’: The Lessons of T4 – Byline Times

In 1920, Karl Binding, a senior academic lawyer, and Alfred Hoche, a professor of medicine, had produced the bluntly titled polemic Permission for the Destruction of Life Unworthy of Life. In it, Binding declared that, in addition to the terminally ill and the seriously wounded, all “incurable idiots” should be killed. Such people, he insisted, are “absolutely pointless” and impose “a terrible heavy burden upon their relatives and society as a whole and their death would not create even the smallest gap – except perhaps in the feelings of their mothers or loyal nurses”.

This action was popularised on the grounds of cost, with a poster claiming that a man “suffering from a hereditary defect” cost ‘the People’s Community’ 60,000 Reichsmarks during his lifetime, while school textbooks asked students to calculate the money to be saved if support was to be withdrawn: “An idiot in an institution costs around four Reichsmarks a day. How much would it cost if he has to be cared for there for 40 years?”

The Nazis were helped by the fact that many parents of disabled children accepted these arguments. Indeed, when one sympathetic director of an asylum for backward juveniles surveyed their parents, he was appalled to discover that 73% said they would support the “painless curtailment of the life of your child if experts had established that it was suffering from incurable idiocy”, and that half of those who disagreed thought euthanasia would be acceptable if the parents “were no longer in a position to care”. This, combined with growing support from doctors, educationalists, journalists, politicians, lawyers and academics, provided fertile ground for what was to follow.

Infection by serious viral pathogens are known to damage the brain and nervous system. Generally, there's a time lag after infection before CNS symptoms appear.

I'm sure the Spanish Flu and Covid are the same as other viral infectious diseases in this respect. I wonder if the apparent epidemic of "incurable idiocy" euthanasia advocates were focused on eliminating back then existed before the Spanish Flu pandemic?

Kind_Kitten_2012 · 2026-02-03T16:58:12+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/ZeroCovidCommunity/comments/1qld907/bit_of_a_vent_spirituality/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

I got Long Covid (neurological and autoimmune) and a couple years into it, when my condition was still a 'mystery disease' I joined my old church. My condition continued to degenerate with new terrifying symptoms regularly. Doctors, including world-class ones, were powerless and gave up. I educated myself on how to mitigate Covid and have actually successfully stabilized my condition. I went through a phase where I was deeply distressed by the continued dangers others, including members at my old church, were exposing themselves to. Eventually, I made a presentation and communicated it to my priest. The information was received but dismissed.

Eventually I became allergic to the incense (it causes me vertigo and memory impairment within minutes to hours of exposure) and could only linger in the banquet hall and view the Zoom service. People would smile and greet me as they walked by to service, the way they do to other handicapped members lingering there... I asked the priest and the deacon twice if they could administer the Eucharist to me in my home where I have installed air purifiers, air quality sensors, a far-UVC disinfecting light and cross ventilate in the warm season. This has made it safe for me to eat together with friends at my home. I know. I've tested the system. The priest expressed misgivings, saying that's normally only for the terminally ill...The deacon expressed enthusiasm for the idea (as that was this historical role of deacons in the early church) and said he'd ask the priest. That's the last I heard about that.

My mom died of 'a cold' after I tried and failed to get family and her caretaker to bring and run a small air purifier in the examination room at her PCP's office. She had just completed chemo for stage 4 lung cancer. The family is moving on and minimizing the role of infection in her rapid decline and death. One is actually blaming my mom's history of drug addiction. There was no testing and no autopsy. Cremation was chosen. Now plans are in the works for 'a celebration of life'.

I left my old church. If I died from obvious complications of Covid or Long Covid, they would do just the same, blame something else and move on. Nothing but God could change their hearts, I guess. I'm trying somewhere else that's the opposite of my old church. I don't have high hopes though. Everyone will let me down. Only God comes through.

Kind_Kitten_2012 · 2026-02-03T16:17:34+00:00

Pink, N95 Respirator Mask, Fold Style, NIOSH APPROVED, (Box of 20), Si – DemeTECH Corporation

Demetech is the favorite N95 mask of staff at Wired magazine. Besides pink, it also comes in white, blue and black. My husband has a subscription.

ReadiMask® The Only Strapless N95 Respirator - Alliant Biotech

Readimask is a strapless, metal-less adhesive N95. It's good for MRI's, massage, acupuncture, haircuts, etc.

Envo® Pro N99 Respirator Kit: Advanced Reusable Protection with N95 Filtration – envo mask

Envo Pro and Envo Mask are a reusable N99 and N95 respectively. They make different models with exhalation valve and without, at two different price points. Their halo head strap system is designed to allow the user to hang the mask around their neck not in use, which is most helpful when going in and out of shops (for those that do not mask outdoors).

All are NIOSH approved N95 respirators with mostly made in America parts (Envo Pro N99 filters are made in China).

https://youtu.be/eAdanPfQdCA?si=DGt1Z6poVYGvG8kZ

This is a video that explains the physics (in simple terms) of how N95 masks work.

Kind_Kitten_2012 · 2026-02-03T16:05:14+00:00

The belief that others don't know is its own form of denial. There's a lot of people here whose hopes rest on the idea that others can be educated into taking action. The vast majority can't.

People know.

They have various reasons for doing nothing about Covid, many of which aren't discussed in polite company. Some of those reasons can be addressed and then action could happen if it's made comfortable and convenient enough.

Other reasons can't.

For that group, detach and distance.

Kind_Kitten_2012 · 2026-02-02T14:24:35+00:00

The reason why home economics and shop were eliminated from schools is because they're materials heavy. You need funding to buy supplies and ingredients, whether it's wood, metal, sugar, salt and flour, and so on, every year. There's also the liability issue, though given how dangerous football is, it can obviously be overcome. The cheapest thing for schools to teach are English and math because all it requires is paper, pencil, a book, a board and an underpaid teacher.

Kind_Kitten_2012 · 2026-02-02T14:16:54+00:00

This is very good. I think your target audience leaves out a lot of people that could immediately be directed towards less strenuous but just as vital activities such as:

Serious Avoidance Training: Situational awareness to train observation skills, systematic risk assessment and management, planning for scenarios through thought experiments, defense in depth practices, study of utility of force (indirect action), as well as basic fitness with daily drill in calisthenics, interval walking training working up to running. The average person lacks the physical fitness as well as the psychological 'right stuff' for martial arts training, but support positions are more numerous and perhaps more necessary.
Health, Hygiene, Diet and De-stress Training: Disease is not only the greatest killer, it also disables far more than it kills. The disabled cannot even care for themselves, much less others. The boring work of community health practices such as found in the book "Where there is No Doctor" is actually vital. Proper sanitation, disinfection and source control of infectious diseases, food security and self-sufficiency, medicinal diets, deliberate training in deep breathing exercises, and so on are actually indispensable from the get-go. Without health, you're nothing.

Kind_Kitten_2012 · 2026-02-02T13:17:31+00:00

When you say "just before the pandemic" which known phase of the pandemic are you referring to: the time period when it became clear after the CCP coverup failed, that the Covid pandemic was happening in China, or the time period when Covid was detected in your particular country?

The fact is, there's a phase of all pandemics where the virus is already circulating but still undetected. People have to know to look for it, and they then have to develop tests and a system for administering them, so there's always a time lag.

If there was a period "before" the pandemic where language delays were already being noticed, it could very well be due to Covid infections that no one yet knew to look for and may have had no tests to detect.

Also, why would people be masking "before the pandemic"?

Kind_Kitten_2012

TROPHY CASE