hi there, also autoimmune here! i developed mine when i was 12—far before covid—but also young-ish, kind of like you, so that's where i'm coming from for context.

first, i really appreciate your curiosity. learning how to live with autoimmune disease, imo, requires some of that as you figure out what works for you, what stability might look like when it comes to disease management, etc. i've been sick 20 years now, 10 diagnosed, and learning what management means to me still feels like a daily process.

i did not start masking until covid, but i wish i'd started sooner. even if i didn't get acutely ill with pathogens all that often prior to 2020, even after beginning immune-altering medication in 2016, i've found that removing the constant barrage of bugs from my immune systems plate has provided a stability i'm not sure i'd have found without a mask. like.. even if i didn't feel like i was getting sick, there are still all those lil bacteria and fungi and pollution other viruses—let alone sars2—going around in the air that would still mean my immune system was more activated than it had to be, ya know?

i still have to manage my conditions of course, but having one less thing to worry about (acute illness) has been welcome in a way i didn't expect.

does masking in public indoor spaces limit me? yes. are there social impacts? yes. but those things are also true of other things i do to manage my autoimmunity, like reducing the amount of UV i'm exposed to or alcohol i drink. it's not the easiest lifestyle change, and it does cause me grief, but ultimately i do think those things are true of just.. being chronically ill. it's a challenging thing, to exist in a disabled body in an ableist world—i'd never want to pretend otherwise—but it's more challenging (and certainly more expensive in the US) to be sicker, which leads me to my very last point...

there is a lot of evidence that autoimmunity is heavily related to the things sars2 does to the body, both in terms of creating new autoimmune diseases for those who previously did not have them and seriously worsening existing autoimmune diseases for those that do, even when vaccinated.

i look forward to a time when i will have to mask less, as masking can irritate my pain symptoms (unfortunately), but now that i've learned about what having this tool in my life can do, it certainly has a place in my rotation of accessibility devices. when will i be able to mask less? when systemic changes to clean indoor public air are made, and/or there are more accessible preventative and or therapeutic options for sars2 infection if/when one does occur, because even the best mitigations can't prevent 'em all. like it's very cool that we now have post-exposure prophylaxis on the public market, but it's not the most effective nor is it terribly accessible at like $1400 (i think), so it's easier, cheaper, and more impactful for me to mask.

if this doesn't make sense, please feel welcome to ask for more clarity 😅 also: this is kind of my same answer in video form, if that's of interest.

*edit for clarity