Amy writes:
You had a question on the April 6th podcast concerning nasal washes. You said to use distilled water and weren’t sure about normal salt because of the iodine. I don’t use nasal washes often, but when I do I use tap water that I bring to a full boil and boil for at least a minute (then cooled to slightly warm). I add a teaspoon of a mixture of 3 to 1 fine sea salt and baking soda. Is this a bad idea? Could there still be amoeba present?
Thanks!
Amy
Louis writes:
Dear Daniel:
I never miss your shows. I am currently in Argentina where there is a dengue epidemic. I have never had dengue. I am 60 years old. Can you talk about the vaccine options? I am usually in Argentina three months out of the year. I am really confused about whether I should get a vaccine that is available.
THANK YOU!
Louis from Baltimore
Merle writes:
Hi, I’d like to revisit an answer I heard you give on the office hours podcast about the second monovalent booster. I agree that we need to wait for more data about this newest XBB vaccine, but does it make a big difference that the predominant variant now (JN.1) doesn’t derive from the same variant that XBB does? Is this akin to when flu viruses are chosen for the annual flu shot? I’m pretty sure it’s just a good idea to have gotten the flu shot anyway, even if you end up with the virus that’s not in the shot.
Thanks so much!
Cheryl writes:
Aloha, Doctor.
As I listened to you and Vincent today on the podcast, it occurred to me that maybe, just maybe you could identify what I experienced.
I was pregnant, about 4 to 5 months along when I caught a bad cold.
I experienced a very sore throat and after several days of the usual symptoms, I began recovering. Suddenly I experienced severe PAIN when I touched anything with my fingers. Same terrible pain was on the center of each and every TOE…. like at the center of the whorl of each finger print and toe print.
I couldn’t bear the pain to wear shoes. This lasted 1-2 days.
There was one dark red spot in the center of each finger print.
No broken skin. No other rash. No blisters. These red spots were super sensitive. Crazy painful if touched.
It affected each finger, thumb, toe. Super weird.
My doctor’s ears perked up when I told her of my finger toe symptom. Assuming that I had experienced strep throat, and worrying about scarlet fever and the baby’s heart, my doctor prescribed penicillin for 10 days.
Since that time, I tried to look up that fingertip symptom online but have never found it.
What the heck was that?? I would love to know your thoughts.
You and Vincent and the whole team of scientists that feature on the Microbe TV podcasts are a GIFT to us common folks. God bless you and THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
Mahalo ~ Cheryl
Alina writes:
Greetings from Toronto, Canada, TWIVers,
I’ve been a TWIV listener for 4 years and come to you, beneficially, for reliable information. Thank you for that.
I’m a 69 year-old woman in generally excellent health. I’m slender, exercise regularly, walk everywhere, and eat healthfully. There’s a family history of diabetes and heart disease, and I’ve been on 5mg each of rosuvastatin and ramipril for about 1 year; my doctor is happy with the results. I had a full cardiac workup, including nucleotide (I think) tracing a few months ago; the cardiologist said everything looked very good.
I had covid in July 2022 after having been vaccinated and boosted. My symptoms were weird (eg, achy lower legs in the night) but I never had fever, dyspnea or other worrisome things and recovered fully.
I’ve now been vaccinated 7 times in total, but caught covid again in February this year, testing positive from Feb 27-Mar 3. My symptoms were very mild but in the last few days while sick I had 2 episodes of sudden-onset tachycardia. My HR was 100-133bpm for over 30 min and then dropped to the 90s and took nearly 2 hours to come down to normal, which is around 60 at rest for me and usually in the 70s or 80s with ordinary activity. I felt anxious and a little nauseated, and just generally unwell. There were no chest or other pains, no shortness if breath, no clamminess or pallor. I took very small doses, about 1.25mg, of clonazepam to help with the anxiety.
I hoped that was the end of that but on Mar 15, I had another episode. I took the small dose of clonazepam immediately this time. It stayed above 100bpm, just lying down, for about 15 or 20 min and then it came down to the 90s, eventually dropping into the 80s, which is when the general sense of illness started to dissipate. The whole episode lasted about an hour this time, a little less than the first 2 times. I then had another episode on March 15 intense and long-lasting enough that I would up in ER — troponin and 12-lead ECG were normal, as was other blood work.
I saw reputable study reports online that covid can mess up electrical signaling in the heart, causing tachycardia. Is there anything more known yet? Is it likely to eventually stop happening? Is there permanent damage? Is there anything I can do? I contacted my doctor and all she said was to monitor. I don’t find this very reassuring.
Thanks for any help and for the great program.
All best,
Alina