Thread by @froglet80

most of y'all have never read any of the research published during the firs 5 years of the AIDS crisis and it shows in so many ways

starting with, had you read it, you wouldnt have a knee jerk reaction against folks who try to point out the similarities in pathology and outcomes

but also, you'd realize that using the name of a virus and the illness it causes interchangeably is a bad idea that only sows confusion

you'd definitely still be big mad about the 12 symptoms, but - *cringe* - you'd find early definitions very interesting.

Most of y'all have also never watched any documentaries with interviews of patients in those early years and it shows even more

"the hardest thing about living with this is never knowing how you will feel from one day to the next"

"i've had a fever for 128 days but they don't know whats causing it"

"i sleep 19 hours a day and i'm still so tired all the time"

i regret that i dont remember their names 🥺

you damn sure wouldn't believe that diet, exercise, pacing, or supplements could get us out of this mess

and this whole cure thing. using that word interchangeably with treatment. LOOKING FOR A QUICK FIX. your priorities are all fucking confused.

Everyone likes to talk about Larry Kramer, ACT UP, and other early activism but most know next to nothing about that either and it shows, too.

thats why we don't have any real community care happening, for one thing.

thats why our online community demographics don't at all match the real world reality of our illness, for another.

thats why we're talking about moonshit instead of helping each other get antivirals that already exist. thats why there are so many of us on the streets or close to being there. thats why when the one person we should be listening to was attacked, very few stood up for them.

thats why we're shitpiling researchers who stand up against media misinterpretation instead of the media that misinterpreted the data. thats why patient led groups led the nih to believe we're more worried about fatigue and sex drive than not dying.

thats why our community appears lily white, despite the fact that black and latino communities in the US have been disproportionately affected by SARS-CoV-2 AND the fat that Long Covid is a global issue

thats why there are only three people in our community that are openly living with hiv also, despite THEIR community being disproportionately affected as well (never mind that one doesnt even have LC and puts up with this bullshit to try to help us)

thats why you're all asking me about Dallas Buyers Club but fail to realize you could get antivirals right now - let alone that asking the members of our community that were there would be more productive than me trying to relay what they experienced.

🤷‍♀️

But for realz I did a whole thread on how to get antivirals right now. Most of y'al didn't read it, either, and it shows.

https://twitter.com/froglet80/status/1775262301073072323?t=BbP4d4MwYYiUA0QKpUToeg&s=19