BMJ Rapid Response: Dr Nina Muirhead

I hope this link works?

Re: Long covid: doctors must assess and investigate patients properly | The BMJ

Long covid: doctors must assess and investigate patients properly
BMJ 2020; 371 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m4583 (Published 02 December 2020)Cite this as: BMJ 2020;371:m4583

I just posted a rapid response of my own. Not used to creating threads so hope it is easy to find!

 

https://twitter.com/user/status/1337098669942857734

 

Thank you

 

Yes excellent response Nina @EducateME. Thank you.

 

I just wanted to echo the other comments praising this Rapid Response.

It has the main information expressed clearly and concisely. Indeed my initial personal reaction was one of happiness to see this important information in print, outlining what we do and what we don’t currently know. However this was followed by the sad realisation that we still have a way to go when it is necessary to state strongly what ought to be an obvious starting point.

 

Fabulous letter @EducateME ! Thank you.

I have shared on FB and Twitter

https://twitter.com/user/status/1337323446930452483

 

Thank you so much @EducateME I will be sharing on Social Media.

 

It was well worth the struggle to read it, @EducateME !

 

One of my favourite bits -

Do you remember there was a list of the most stressful things that tend to happen - bereavement, losing your job,moving house, divorce or relationship breakup etc.

How is it possible that so many people who focus in mental health have failed to understand the stress involved when you suddenly become sick and face an unknown prognosis. Worse still, it's an illness where you face routine disbelief and leaves you open to wholly unwarranted character assassination.

Not only are you struggling to come to terms with your new normal and learn to cope with symptoms but you suddenly find yourself facing many of the top stressors people can face -

Loss of income
Stress on relationships - personal and professional
Future uncertainty
Possible risk of losing your home

Then because of the diagnosis all of those are magnified by the disbelief & character judgement by those who are supposed to help.

At a time when your faith in a just world view, your health and your own abilities to cope are shaken to the core, instead of providing support the very ones who should help support you, undermine you at every turn.

Instead of viewing ME (& now long covid) patients as being weak, predisposed to anxiety & depression they should really wonder at the remarkable strength of character & resilience of patients in spite of all the considerable disadvantages and prejudice we face.

 

Yes, they truly do seem to have their heads up their rear ends. Cognitive constipation.

 

@EducateME

Brilliant letter, thank-you. Just one little thing
".. up to a quarter of patients are bedbound or housebound."

it's actually far worse than that
see https://www.s4me.info/threads/why-are-the-majority-of-pwme-rarely-mentioned.7732/

 

I think we could be shooting ourselves in the foot by mentioning that emotional effort exacerbates symptoms, an outsider reading this may conclude it's psychosomatic.

I'm pretty sure this prevalence is based on the flawed CDC 1994 criteria.

Has anyone got a reference to back this up? Wessely must be so cross if he reads this.