I don’t understand why every #MECFS & #LongCovid patient presenting with the classic neuro-immune & vascular symptoms, aren’t immediately sent for screening for:
- POTS
- EDS/hEDS
- EBV & HHV reactivation
- Microclots & hyperactivated platelets
- … what else did I miss?
Adding summary from your suggestions:
- Further common co-morbidities:e.g. MCAS
- Further infection-onset disease: e.g. Lyme, Bartonella, tick-borne
Adding the importance of testing and screening for common dysautonomic, neuro-endocrine and autoimmune diseases, including this excellent list here from @Dysautonomia: #TreatME#TreatLongCovid#LongCovid
International friends with #LongCovid and/or #MECFS, international researchers, orgs & clinicians - you are allowed to submit your thoughts & experience to the Australian Parliamentary Inquiry into LC. You can help shape the future of treatment & care Australians #pwLC: ➡️ 1/🧵
What does this mean? The government in Australia has formed a committee - members of parliament, including several medical doctor MPs - to hear people’s stories of Long Covid AND experiences of Repeat SARS2 infections.
I’m told Australians and international individuals & organisations are encouraged to share 📄 written, ☎️ audio or 📱 video submissions about one or more “Terms of Reference”:
Point 6 seeks to understand “Best Practice” including internationally
It’s cute that the HANDI guide by @RACGP prides themselves on claiming they’re “evidence-based” 😂😂 When they still only have one entry for #MECFS and it’s “Graded Exercise Therapy” . 👀 Let’s dive in shall we? 1/ 🧵
First up, this is not targeted at any individual. The (mis)treatment of ME patients in Australia is systemic and institutional - spanning education to guidelines, welfare & insurance.
That said, individuals can make a positive difference. Will you be one of them? #StopTheHarm 2/
Today let’s look at the HANDI guide - a set of non-pharmacological interventions pby the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.
It’s a great resource & doctors refer to it for “evidence-based” guidance…
> The only entry for ME/CFS is on Graded Exercise Therapy… 3/
This article’s jam-packed with lived experienced & researcher interviews - you’ll get a full summation of: What is ME? how does Severe ME affect life? Where & why did the treatment of ME go so wrong? And What’s being done today (from research to guidelines) to change that! 🙌 2/2
This was me in April this year. 18 months into significant relapse following a tonsillectomy and chronic infections. #pwME 2/n
In 2008, I worked full time in retail and was looking to begin acting classes. I lived an active life full of social, creative, sporting and spiritual activities that brought me joy and meaning. 3/n
Australia, we need to talk — A brief critique of the @NSWHealth clinical practice guide, which dropped this week for #PASC#LongCovid: 🧵 1/n
This will be a critique from a patient perspective - I have viral-onset (non-Covid) longterm disease, #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis#MECFS - and it will be non-exhaustive because I, myself, am exhausted because of said disease. Let’s go: 2/
The @NSWHealth#LongCovid clinical guide matters because healthcare workers in australia will use this for advice on *what to do & what not to do.*
What they say directly impacts whether we *harm or help* thousands upon thousands of real people facing real hardship right now 3/
ME patient Results: 3 out of 3 biomarkers tested - 🩸 microclots, endothelial damage and platelet markers all abnormal. Treatment can begin straight away. 1/n
It feels quite vulnerable to share this here so publicly but as many of you know I’ve been on a multi-year journey to be more public with my story and with the vital calls & campaigns for better treatment of ME and Long Covid (especially in Australia). 2/n
I have benefited greatly from brave patients sharing their stories online, and from clinicians & researchers banding together with patients online. 3/n