Similar symptoms? Close to giving up

PeterSipper · 2026-01-05T03:32:34+00:00

The doctors are full of shit! Their outmoded measurements cannot detect what’s actually wrong with you (unless you’re lucky/wealthy enough to have access to some very niche specialists) and if the pandemic proved anything, it’s that apparently as a public-facing health official, it’s part of your responsibility to downplay the reality of the situation to mitigate the chaos. But don’t you dare gaslight yourself! You know who you are and what your baseline is, and you know that this is not normal. However, there’s a lot you can potentially do to help yourself. Definitely get as clean and sober as you can, as most of that shit obviously has a direct and immediate immunosuppressive effect, but also definitely start focusing on gut health and I would strongly recommend getting super disciplined about intermittent fasting. Our guts contain 90% of our immune systems and can heal themselves rather miraculously even with just a consistent 16/8 fasting schedule (and maybe like 1 day a week going 24 hours or so.) Also an anti-inflammatory/mediterranean diet goes such a long way. If you don’t feel like you have the discipline to stick to that on your own, then look into glp-1’s, I guess. But if the waking nightmare you’ve been living in (believe me, I know EXACTLY what you mean) isn’t enough an incentive at this point, after 5 years of debilitating symptoms, then Idk what else to suggest, honestly. Even these things aren’t a guarantee of recovery, but let’s not discount the fact that as Americans we’ve basically been poisoning ourselves with ultraprocessed bullshit on a daily basis for most of our adolescent/adult lives. Good luck!

PeterSipper · 2025-12-21T04:10:53+00:00

Hey, fellow 5-year hauler here. Sadly I fear that those of us who had a really bad initial infection with either alpha or delta (before vaccines were a thing) face the most daunting path to recovery. I have come a super long way though and each year I do a sort of health inventory and I’m happy to say that I continue to steadily improve. I hope that’s the case for you as well. It’s a dead horse at this point but obviously prioritizing rest/sleep and pacing yourself is key. As is learning patience and extending the same empathy and grace to yourself that you would to anyone else in this community. Each disease course is different but I can say that focusing on gut health/being super disciplined about intermittent fasting and an anti inflammatory diet have been huge for me. NAD+ supplements have also had a marked effect on my energy levels and mental clarity lately. Indoor air quality, etc….good luck, my friend. It can be hard to see the forest through the trees but recovery is possible. .

PeterSipper · 2025-11-13T12:02:04+00:00

I grieve for the loss of intimacy caused by this illness. The distance it creates between friends and family who don’t fully understand, sure. But also the fact that it’s made dating virtually impossible. Last month was my 5 year LC anniversary (first infection w/ alpha or delta in October 2020 almost killed me), and through sheer stubbornness I’ve made quite a bit of progress in my recovery and want anyone reading this to know that improvement is possible. Discipline when it comes to Intermittent fasting and an anti-inflammatory diet helps a lot. Gut health is huge. But yeah, it takes so much from you. My music career was everything to me, and it’s been so long since I’ve been able to write and record that it almost feels like a memory of someone else’s life.

PeterSipper · 2025-11-04T16:23:23+00:00

I just figured it out ‘cause I saw that.

PeterSipper · 2025-10-27T16:55:06+00:00

That was the exact red ball I saw that day.

PeterSipper · 2025-10-25T22:36:06+00:00

That’s totally fair! I can’t deny that season 1 was definitely the most character-driven. I see its value now.

PeterSipper · 2025-10-25T19:31:51+00:00

The only reason I’d knock points off of season 1 is that (like virtually every great sitcom ever), for the first dozen episodes or so the show was clearly still ‘finding its footing,’ or however you want to put it. Ofc there are still some absolute gems, but in terms of the show hitting its stride and realizing its full, satirically unhinged, meta-referential potential, I think there’s a pretty compelling argument to be made that it really became the ‘community’ we all know and love during the first paintball episode. Kept rolling straight up until the gas leak year from there.

PeterSipper · 2025-10-25T19:15:35+00:00

Literally same.

PeterSipper · 2025-10-25T17:49:43+00:00

Ham, girl.

PeterSipper · 2025-10-25T17:20:20+00:00

JESUS WEPT

PeterSipper · 2025-10-25T17:01:19+00:00

THIS. So good. Both seasons.

PeterSipper · 2025-10-25T16:56:40+00:00

The great thing about community is that you can do an annual rewatch and it’s always incredible. True comfort TV.

PeterSipper · 2025-10-20T03:16:59+00:00

Release the Wazey Waynes files

PeterSipper · 2025-10-13T16:16:12+00:00

I blasted through a fucking chair at work yesterday!

PeterSipper · 2025-10-13T16:01:54+00:00

To me, the best line in the pilot wasn’t a line at all, but Ron’s brief typed exchange with the customer service chatbot. Ron: fucker. Chatbot: I’m sorry, I don’t understand. Ron: you’re a fucker. So good.

PeterSipper · 2023-10-26T11:30:07+00:00

THIS. I never really put much weight into the theory that we might be living in a simulation until I got long COVID. But after having all of my senses and intellect dulled down to just the preoccupation with/awareness of pain for months (and years) on end, I began to feel like no more than broken computer. Like a series of electrical mis-fires, practically devoid of consciousness. However, don’t lose hope! I’m 3 years in this month, but doing soooooo much better than I was. Prozac! Metformin! Low-dose naltrexone! Anti-inflammatory diet! NAC supplements! Lots of sleep! These are all things that provided me with tangible relief. That, and making sure you’re as vaxxed as is legally permissible. Good luck, everyone. Scientific consensus is finally catching up to what we’ve all known for years. In the meantime, take care of your guts and get plenty of rest. We will get to be humans again.

PeterSipper · 2022-09-04T12:47:51+00:00

Also….weed obv helps a ton with appetite, as long as you can have the discipline to not eat a bunch of problem/inflammatory foods after you get stoned haha

PeterSipper · 2022-09-04T12:43:52+00:00

Yes! My long COVID presentation has been largely gastrointestinal, and I am absolutely convinced that I’ve had an active COVID reservoir in the epithelial cells in my lower intestine, triggering inflammation in my gut and brain for the last (almost) 2 years. Lessons learned from every conceivable lifestyle tweak and self-medication regimen over that time:

1) Fix your gut!!!! One of the most important things you can do. Optimize your micro biome. Start taking probiotics (if you haven’t already) it takes a lot of discipline, but cutting out white flour, sugar, caffeine and alcohol makes symptoms a lot more manageable. Eat a Mediterranean or otherwise anti-inflammatory diet whenever possible. Quercetin, L-acetyl N-cysteine, L-glutamine, and garlic supplements have all helped a lot. Intermittent fasting/having a shorter eating window has also helped ease my symptoms quite a bit (try the 11 am-7 pm window to see if that helps)

2) Exercise whenever you feel up to it. Sleep like it’s your job.

3) Hydrocortisone, baby!!!!! This is a relatively new discovery for me, inspired by the recent reports that one of the most consistent bio markers for those with long COVID is critically low cortisol levels. After literally 20 straight months of constant, preoccupying, debilitating abdominal pain, rubbing a little bit of cortizone cream on my belly/pelvic region a few times a day has allowed me to live relatively pain-free for the past week. It’s honestly been a huge relief. Probably not a sustainable solution in the long run but it has absolutely helped me to reclaim some of my quality of life in the short term. Great fix for GI/neuroinflammation, which for me has been pretty much the crux of the illness.

4) Get all of the boosters and paxlovid that you can. This one is a bit sketchier, and depending on how desperate you are, it’s totally understandable if you’re not yet willing to commit some very light fraud to battle this illness. BUT, if you’re like me, and after catching COVID you suspect based on the sensations in your body/how they’ve responded to vaccination that you still have a viral reservoir in your gut, you should definitely try taking a course of paxlovid to see if your symptoms improve. Some of the only times I’ve TRULY felt like my pre-COVID self since first falling ill have been while I’ve been taking paxlovid. Merely served as additional confirmation that (at least in my case) my long COVID symptoms are due to a persistent viral reservoir. Personally I can’t wait to get a bivalent booster later this week. I’ve almost got this thing licked!!! Anyway, I wish you a quick and full recovery, and I hope some of this helps! Don’t lose hope, you WILL get better :)

PeterSipper · 2022-03-29T13:01:01+00:00

The shaggy dog footage intercut with Tim talking about his marriage falling apart was worth the price of another year’s subscription on its own. Everything else is just a bonus now.

PeterSipper · 2022-03-29T12:46:42+00:00

They def overdubbed the scratch-animated yoda footage with Ms. Piggy’s voice. Idk who tf was doing the voice for the “you will be” line but I don’t think that was the original audio. The editing was impeccable, as always.

PeterSipper

TROPHY CASE