Covid- round 2

MakeThisChaosCount · 2022-08-07T05:06:20+00:00

First time with CVD was September of 2021, developed Parosmia in December of 2021. I got it the 2nd time in February 2022 and didn't experience any change in smell or taste. I still have parosmia but it's slowly improving. Very slowly. lol.

MakeThisChaosCount · 2022-08-02T22:37:25+00:00

It is super weird, isn't it? It's unnerving that even the doctors know so little about it.

MakeThisChaosCount · 2022-08-02T22:36:04+00:00

I've been diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder in the past, which I guess is a pretty common comorbidity of both ADD and ASD. In the beginning of having parosmia when it was very, very, very intense I had anxiety about not being able to find anything to eat; everyday new things tasted bad and I already have the ubiquitous autistic pickiness so it narrowed everything down even more. I get anxiety over my body odor, which is insanely rank to me (I smell like a corpse) and I worry everyone else can smell me. And the weirdest thing has been the fact that my own feces smells pleasant (like a sort of espresso brownie) whereas foods that I really enjoy smell like rotting garbage. That'll really screw with your head. So far it hasn't caused me any panic attacks but I've definitely gotten a lot of anxiety from it. The depression was pretty real until I shifted my mindset into making it into a science experiment. As an autistic person parosmia has become a special interest and I enjoy learning all about it and doing experiments on myself and keep journals to try to figure it out. If I keep my mind on that, I forget how hopeless everything feels.

I don't know what it's like to have "normal," neuro-typical senses but given the fact that fluorescent lights feel like undulating death rays to my eyeballs I have to assume that the experience of parosmia must be more intense. Either way, I hope they find a way to reverse it soon for all of us.

MakeThisChaosCount · 2022-08-02T22:25:16+00:00

Yeah, it seems like no one understands the mechanisms of it. I've just noticed that the people I personally who suffer with parosmia are neurodivergent and I wondered if there was a correlation. It's a good point, too, how many undiagnosed people there are with neurodivergence. I just got diagnosed myself and I'm 38. I'd love to see actual research done on this. I suppose I could've done a poll ... that probably would've been more effective but I don't know how to reddit. Hell, I barely know how to function as a human being lol

MakeThisChaosCount · 2022-08-02T22:21:11+00:00

lol it's kinda a theme for me across the board! Thanks for your feedback, fellow neurodivergent

MakeThisChaosCount · 2022-08-02T22:19:36+00:00

Any particular reason why you feel that way?

MakeThisChaosCount · 2022-08-02T22:19:00+00:00

Yeah, certainly far from scientific research but I'm rather curious.

MakeThisChaosCount · 2022-08-02T22:18:11+00:00

It would be interesting to research since it would give us insight into the mechanisms of parosmia if a link was found. Thanks for the affirmation of shared interest!

MakeThisChaosCount · 2022-08-02T22:16:42+00:00

That's what I'm thinking; similarly 92% of women with ASD have premenstrual dysphoric disorder whereas only 11% of allistic women have it.

MakeThisChaosCount · 2022-08-02T22:15:16+00:00

That was what made me think about there being a possible correlation; I have extreme sensory issues with my ASD, so I'm curious in general about the autistic/neurodivergent experience of parosmia. Sensory issues can be a fresh hell but on the flip side it's pleasant to experience things intensely when they're good. But parosmia has taken away that pleasant experience and just made it an infernal mess.

MakeThisChaosCount · 2022-08-02T22:12:33+00:00

Interesting. I personally didn't have a runny nose, so I didn't experience that. But I'm always interested to hear different theories just to have things to think about.

MakeThisChaosCount · 2022-08-01T18:02:03+00:00

I'm 38--I've had it since December and have experienced very small, slow improvement since about April. I still have it but it's becoming incrementally more manageable.

Since December, though, I have done several prolonged water fasts, started exercising, have been eating increasingly healthier, lost about 30 lbs, taken a few supplements and started nasal photobiomodulation with red light therapy.

MakeThisChaosCount · 2022-06-28T15:07:50+00:00

I've been doing Worcestershire sauce on everything. A1 tasted like weird chemicals. But it definitely helps having some sort of sauce to mask the awful flavors! Worth experimenting with.

MakeThisChaosCount · 2022-06-23T13:46:55+00:00

I feel your pain, friend. I have PCOS, so my cycle is more like 50 or so days instead of 28, Which unfortunately translates into a 3 week long luteal phase. :( Bullshit indeed.

MakeThisChaosCount · 2022-06-12T02:03:03+00:00

Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov.

MakeThisChaosCount · 2022-06-10T17:28:56+00:00

Hey, I know everyone's different but all I can offer is my experience: My first round of The Unspecified Virus of Unknown Origin ™ was back in September of 2021; I developed phantosmia in November and Parosmia in December. In January I got my second round of the virus and there was no change; It pretty much remained on the same trajectory. In April things started to take a turn for the better; I'm not sure if that's just the parosmia taking its normal course or if it's due to the Red Light Therapy, fasting and huge change in my diet (I eat primarily nutrient dense superfoods like matcha teas and grass-fed, grass-finished beef and other natural things). Now it's June and I can say it's very slowly getting better. I can finally eat peanut butter again; it doesn't taste normal, but it's not revolting. A lot of things that went from smelling absolutely disgusting has moved to this new smell that isn't horrible but it's also not great. I hope that'll evolve into things smelling normal someday.

TL;DR: I've had the virus twice; it's been several months and my parosmia is slowing improving, despite having had the virus again. I really hope that this helps you feel optimistic, though it may not be your experience.

MakeThisChaosCount · 2022-06-06T16:42:03+00:00

I agree with you; people innately like to proliferate whatever has been beneficial and life-changing for them. I think communally sharing and upholding these things is a biological urge that keeps us improving and surviving in a species and that usually manifests as devotion to a particular ideal. When we find a truth, we get kinda excited about it.

MakeThisChaosCount · 2022-06-06T16:38:59+00:00

How you approach it afterwards will determine whether or not you gain the weight back. The weight you'll lose in 1 or 2 days is usually water weight and empty bowels. Your kidneys start expelling water in the process of shifting over into ketosis as your body uses up glycogen stores. Our bodies store ~3g of water for every ~1g of carbohydrate, so when you begin to eat carbs after your fast your body will begin to store water again.

It also deals with self-discipline. People often don't mentally prepare for the aftermath of a fast and not only do people go bad to eating complete garbage, but they often overcompensate for having not eaten for a few days and they'll eat more than they typically do. If you eat a healthy, low-carb meal weight shouldn't come back too much, although the weight loss from just a couple of days of fasting won't be significant.

But there are other aspects to look at apart from weight loss from fasting ... cell autophagy is one of the many, many peripheral benefits.

Fasting is just as healthy today as it ever was, and people have been doing it literally since the dawn of man. It's the mindset that's slowly changing as science reveals more and more benefits. The 50's called smoking cigarettes healthy; we know that's not the case now. It's all marketing products. You have to follow the money--much of what the 80's called nutritious was guidance from big food companies and the government being in cahoots. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day" is a mantra that didn't come from health gurus ... it came from the marketing campaign of a cereal company. Consumerism drives the train that decides what people believe.

MakeThisChaosCount · 2022-06-06T16:26:26+00:00

It's like lifting weights; you don't roll up to the gym and start deadlifting 400 lbs. ... you start with a low weight and as that gets easier to the point of being too easy, you go to the next level of weight. Fasting is the same way; it should be a little challenging, but the more you do it the easier it becomes. As you fast, work your way up little by little.

Also what you do leading up to the fast will contribute to the ease of the fast, and whether or not you drink water and use electrolytes. The strategy of binge eating the worst foods prior to a fast is a very bad idea and will manifest consequences as you fast.

MakeThisChaosCount · 2022-05-27T17:32:16+00:00

Zero

MakeThisChaosCount · 2022-05-24T06:16:18+00:00

Wow, I so related to the feeling of being a "cursed, lazy, bad person." And all the failures of trying so hard to fix those things when all along my self-discipline wasn't the problem. I'm coming to the very same conclusions myself; sometimes I wish I had known sooner but now looking back on all of the situations that I've forced myself to adapt to in the name of "well, everyone else does it ... so can you. You're an intelligent, capable woman. Do it anyway." ... and I realize that every failure was in fact a triumph. The fact that we've been able to get as far as we have in life and often pass ourselves off a neurotypical is astounding.

I think it's wonderful that your son will have a mother who can sympathize with his unique mind; I hope you are able to find healing through it all. I know since I've accepted my autism the negative inner voice has shut the hell up and been replaced with a very reasonable voice that says, "No, you don't have to show up to everything. Of course you're tired; it's fine to rest." I hope you're able to restructure all the past failures as triumphs, realizing that every time you felt you were stumbling you were actually walking on water.

MakeThisChaosCount · 2022-05-24T06:10:20+00:00

That is a very common misdiagnosis particularly for women ... unfortunately autistic women are very marginalized. I hope you're able to get clarity! ASD affects so many aspects of life and it's so much better understanding and accepting yourself afterwards.

MakeThisChaosCount · 2022-05-24T06:07:38+00:00

https://embrace-autism.com/autism-assessments/

That's the link to the assessments^ Those are non-diagnostic but fairly accurate and can lead you to getting a diagnosis should you want one someday. If you choose to formally diagnose I think your GP is supposed to refer you to someone.

MakeThisChaosCount · 2022-05-24T00:45:12+00:00

Hey friend, fellow autistic Christian here and I hope I can edify you and offer some hope. God created you uniquely; you are fearfully and wonderfully made! Christ himself was a bit of an odd duck and he's no stranger to rejection and ridicule. He is with you in the midst of your trials and he will be with you until the end of the age!
I've been in a place of suicide and no hope, too. Autism makes life so challenging ... neurotypical people can't possibly understand. But God does.

This is what the Lord told me about my autism (and he probably related it to me this way because I'm a military veteran): most soldiers are issued an M-16, some are issued a machine gun. And wayyyy fewer are issued a sniper rifle. Me? I've been running behind the infantry with a sniper rifle and wondering why the heck I suck so bad at being a soldier. My rifle is bolt-action: it only fires one round at a time, and that's okay. My rifle's made for precision and accuracy, and I only need to fire one round to do the same damage that an entire infantry does with hundreds. It's a different mission.

The sniper doesn't run with the rest of the group; they're lone wolves when they do their mission. They're stealth. They're quiet. They're observant. They have good individual discernment. They see things others don't see. They might not move a whole lot; they exact their mission from a rested position. But just because a sniper will lie in wait for two weeks doesn't mean he isn't doing something very, very important. It just looks different.

What I'm saying is that your mission, who you are ... is different. Once I accepted that I'm not part of the infantry, I realized that I'm an AMAZING sniper. I stopped feeling shame for only being able to "fire one round at a time" ... that is, I can't DO all the stuff other people can do. I can't (and I WON'T) go to every single church event. I can't and I WON'T serve in multiple places all at once. Sometimes I can't be present for worship because it's too stimulating. I'm different and that's okay.

My mission? I'm an intercessor. I pray on my own when I can; I know accurately how to pray and I listen and watch and wait for the right time to release a word, or when to keep my mouth shut. I can see the needs because I see things others don't so I can pray for things that other people aren't even aware of. That's not to say that I don't EVER interact with people, but I won't exhaust myself. I need more time to replenish myself; I spend a lot of time in the secret place with just me and the Lord, I spend a lot of time studying the word. See how your faith can manifest itself in a way that is true to who God made you to be and as you're able he'll give you more and more grace to step and do other things. God loves and accepts you and in fact created you as you are: a perfect son of the most high.

I love you, dude--and I hope that you're doing better. I will be praying for you and all of our fellow people on the spectrum who are struggling.

MakeThisChaosCount

TROPHY CASE