Viruses / Vaccines 2

Gern Blansten

njhaley1 said:

Gern Blansten said:

OnWis97 said:

I'm no expert but I think losing weight through lifestyle is preferred to taking something like Ozempic. But maybe as a last resort...

completely agree....I looked at it as a last resort for me. I don't have the discipline. I'm hoping this "do-over" allows me to make exercise and diet more important. The last thing I want to do is gain that back.

I'm glad to see the BP effects.  I've been trying to manage mine via exercise but it's just not cutting it.  I'll give it another 6mos, but after that might consider a little assistance.  

yeah I found myself getting dizzy pretty much any time I stood up, etc. I just don't need that same dose anymore. The Dr cut the dose in half for now which has helped the dizzying effect but I can tell that my bp is still low...

My hope was that the weight loss would be the driver for me....losing weight the hard way (like normal people do...exercise and diet) just seemed impossible for me because I have literally made that my goal for the last ten years and I completely fail.

It's great that some clothes that I have kept for years (lots of PJ shirts) fit again. 

HughFreakingDillon

I've gotten to a weight that is the biggest I've ever been. It's insane. So the past two weeks I've cut out booze, pop, and cut down on greasy breakfasts, instead opting for yogurt and fruit, being ok with not being FULL, drinking more water, more intelligent snacking, etc. Dropped 7 lbs so far. 

I was going to do keto. I didn't decide against it because it's considered a fad, the more I read about it, the more it actually makes sense. But with my laziness, I figure this is a better way to go. Changing to keto, especially in a household of carb devour-ers, would be really tough. 

Gern Blansten

HughFreakingDillon said:

I've gotten to a weight that is the biggest I've ever been. It's insane. So the past two weeks I've cut out booze, pop, and cut down on greasy breakfasts, instead opting for yogurt and fruit, being ok with not being FULL, drinking more water, more intelligent snacking, etc. Dropped 7 lbs so far. 

I was going to do keto. I didn't decide against it because it's considered a fad, the more I read about it, the more it actually makes sense. But with my laziness, I figure this is a better way to go. Changing to keto, especially in a household of carb devour-ers, would be really tough. 

yeah we joke that I was in my Elvis stage...

OnWis97

Going into New Year's Day, 2003 at age 28, I was 210 pounds (5'8").  I'd been chunky since about when I was hitting my teens but this was the worst I'd been and I had some kind of a wakeup call in the fall of 2002. I'd always been very active; people at the gym were blown away at the way this fat guy could go on an elliptical machine hard core for 45 mins. So I knew eating was my issue. I got down to 155 in about six months and eventually settled in at 163. Then eventually 170.  Since then I've probably yo-yoed more than ideal but have never been back to the 200s. Currently at 180 with 170 in my sights (and then we'll see if I want to get back to that 163 or so...)

People would ask me "what did you do." And I am pretty confident that what I did isn't important. I could say I quit drinking soda...and if they don't even drink soda, that doesn't help them out much. So here's what I (a non-expert who has been through this with some success but not as much as I'd like) think the key things are:

1. You're unhappy with where you're at. Doesn't matter if society is telling you to change. You have to want it.
2. You thoroughly examine why you're at a higher weight than you want. If you decide it's genetics, then you might not be ready. You need to really assess your movement and your nutrition.
3. Take responsibility for that. Don't beat yourself up; it's not valuable. But do recognize the the behaviors that got you here. Be honest with yourself.
4. Then it's not time for a "diet" but a sustainable/permanent lifestyle change. You can certainly lose weight by eating two 400-calorie salads per day but you will not (nor should you) keep that up. Sustainability is far more important than rapid weight loss. In my story, I lost 55 pounds, 47 of which was sustainable with serious discipline and 40 of which I think I ought to be able to have kept off.

I'm not smart enough to know whether it's best to change the full lifestyle now or do it bit-by-bit (might depend on the person).

As I understand it, it's calories in vs. calories out (or, CICO). That said, most "calories out" happen just by existing so you don't need to burn 2000 calories on the treadmill.

It's simple; but not easy given human nature, the array of unhealthy calorie-dense foods out there, our fast-paced lifestyles, and the difficulty people have breaking habits.

OnWis97

njhaley1 said:

OnWis97 said:

I'm no expert but I think losing weight through lifestyle is preferred to taking something like Ozempic. But maybe as a last resort...

Anyway, anecdote time regarding the current vaccines:

About 10 days before a nine-day vacation, I got the updated vax. My wife did not. We go on vacation and upon arrival home, I feel like I have a cold or maybe strep (I'd home-tested negative on the trip) and I test positive (with a faint "positive" line). My wife never got it (at least so far; I'm still positive).

• Me: Vaxxed and outrageously mild covid bout. It's my second time and last time was much worse including missing a whole day.
• Wife: Unvaxxed and not sick.

Our theories:

• Covid being random like it always is?
• Wife had it first with no symptoms and gave it to me?
• While the vax has kept my symptoms down, the reason I caught it and she didn't is because of our current vax status? Covid is a disease of the vaccinated?*
• Wife will still get it? (First time, she brought it home and it took me like four days to show symptoms; we're on day 5 at home...)

*That's my theory, which prompts her to say "get the fuck off Twitter."

Bolded is my theory.  She had it recently and symptoms weren't severe enough to test.  She either gave it to you or was infected long enough ago to still have high level defense.  Incubation period has been really short - like a couple of days, so I would guess she's in the clear.

Similar thing happened in our family - after the Seattle shows my kid and I were traveling.  I had a scratchy throat and mild aches, but we were traveling and I didn't think much of it other than it could be Covid.  Couldn't test because we were on the road. 

Two months later my wife gets sick after taking the kids to an indoor playground.  My mom got sick the next day, wife's parents got sick a couple days later.  All screaming positive - first time in our family, honestly, in part because we've followed common sense preventative practices.  I never got sick, my daughter never got sick despite being all up in my wife's business taking care of her.  

Alternatively, she just has a better immune system than you.  Just as plausible - for various immunological reasons the disease hits certain people harder even with otherwise similar backgrounds (age, health status, etc.).  

I'm a clinical virologist so would be happy to point you to primary literature if you'd like. The common sense practices are things I've learned from my profession.   

Interesting. The first time around (Christmas of 2002) we both had it more severely and we each lost one full day to sleep. That said, lots has changed in the variants, etc. Covid seems have quite a history of inconsistency and logic defiance.

If you have a couple of quick links go ahead and share them (but don't do more than that as I'm most likely going to be lazy about it...) 

Thanks!

njhaley1

OnWis97 said:

njhaley1 said:

OnWis97 said:

I'm no expert but I think losing weight through lifestyle is preferred to taking something like Ozempic. But maybe as a last resort...

Anyway, anecdote time regarding the current vaccines:

About 10 days before a nine-day vacation, I got the updated vax. My wife did not. We go on vacation and upon arrival home, I feel like I have a cold or maybe strep (I'd home-tested negative on the trip) and I test positive (with a faint "positive" line). My wife never got it (at least so far; I'm still positive).

• Me: Vaxxed and outrageously mild covid bout. It's my second time and last time was much worse including missing a whole day.
• Wife: Unvaxxed and not sick.

Our theories:

• Covid being random like it always is?
• Wife had it first with no symptoms and gave it to me?
• While the vax has kept my symptoms down, the reason I caught it and she didn't is because of our current vax status? Covid is a disease of the vaccinated?*
• Wife will still get it? (First time, she brought it home and it took me like four days to show symptoms; we're on day 5 at home...)

*That's my theory, which prompts her to say "get the fuck off Twitter."

Bolded is my theory.  She had it recently and symptoms weren't severe enough to test.  She either gave it to you or was infected long enough ago to still have high level defense.  Incubation period has been really short - like a couple of days, so I would guess she's in the clear.

Similar thing happened in our family - after the Seattle shows my kid and I were traveling.  I had a scratchy throat and mild aches, but we were traveling and I didn't think much of it other than it could be Covid.  Couldn't test because we were on the road. 

Two months later my wife gets sick after taking the kids to an indoor playground.  My mom got sick the next day, wife's parents got sick a couple days later.  All screaming positive - first time in our family, honestly, in part because we've followed common sense preventative practices.  I never got sick, my daughter never got sick despite being all up in my wife's business taking care of her.  

Alternatively, she just has a better immune system than you.  Just as plausible - for various immunological reasons the disease hits certain people harder even with otherwise similar backgrounds (age, health status, etc.).  

I'm a clinical virologist so would be happy to point you to primary literature if you'd like. The common sense practices are things I've learned from my profession.   

Interesting. The first time around (Christmas of 2002) we both had it more severely and we each lost one full day to sleep. That said, lots has changed in the variants, etc. Covid seems have quite a history of inconsistency and logic defiance.

If you have a couple of quick links go ahead and share them (but don't do more than that as I'm most likely going to be lazy about it...) 

Thanks!

Totally get being lazy about it - that's unfortunately been the heart of the problem the past 4yrs, with many people instead getting their info 2nd or 3rd hand because reading and interpreting scientific results is hard.  

Probably the most relatable thing is a potential association with blood group (A, B, O): This link is an openly available review that covers several published reports and speculates on why people with O blood types may have less severe symptoms than those with an A blood type. You may have even read something about this in the news early on.  Blood type is not really the most well-supported variability, though.  

Less relatable and probably more important are all the associations with various immune signals and receptors that have been found, e.g., cytokines, viral entry receptors, and white blood cell markers. 

A good chunk of my work has been on genetic markers of disease resistance, another chunk has been trying to distill science to non-scientists (and medical students!).  If you think about all of the genes that make me different from you: skin/hair color, height, weight, etc. it should make sense that there would be differences in how well we respond against an infection (and how well we respond to the vaccine, as well).   

curmudgeoness

My husband and I got Covid at about the same time (he brought it home from a work trip). While, normally, I'm the person who gets hit hardest by respiratory diseases (colds almost always turn into something much worse and last for months), with Covid my husband was much sicker than I was, to the point where I had to take him to the ER because his oxygen sat numbers were dropping. We're the same age, got vaccinated and boosted at the same time. He's overweight, so that might be the reason -- or it might not be, who knows? But even with mild cases and vaccines, we lost 2.5 weeks, easily, to being sick.

brianlux

Got my flu shot today and the firs few hours I was thinking to myself how easy that was (they usually are).  And then about three hours later I was being busy around the house and thought, "Holy crap!  Did I dislocate my left shoulder somehow?"  And then I remember the flu shot.

Oh boy, on the 14th I get the COVID vax.  This should be a hoot!