I had a dermatologist appt yesterday. I had to preface the question I asked her with “Don’t worry I am not going to try this.”

I have reactional rosacea (which is a very common skin problem) - and basically means my skin is extremely sensitive. When I have a rosacea flare, my doc prescribed Soolantra (which is ludicrously expensive- like $700-$800 per tube). Soolantra is basically ivermectin marketed to ppl with rosacea.

I understand that Ivermectin is also available from
feed stores as not $800 per tube. I asked my doc about it bc I was wondering how the hell ppl Ingest a skin cream to treat Covid. She found this hilarious and informed me - it comes in pill form and she prescribed it for ringworm sometimes.

Her view was that the medical literature is ambiguous on Ivermectin. She also said HCQ chemistry made more sense to her than Ivermectin (FWIW).

I asked her why the hell was Covid such a problem for overweight ppl. She told me that obese patients were absolutely the most at risk. No other comorbidity did she see causing more problems with Covid. She said that most ppl think fat cells are just kind of “there” and benign. But actually fat cells cause a lot of inflammatory processes. (I was TOTALLY unaware of this fact and I am quite meticulous about my diet and am fascinated by nutrition bc food combines art and science). The end result of the inflammatory response was blood clots and that’s what ultimately gets you.

My doc (who is a genius and awesome in every way and her skin is beautiful), confirmed what I always understood to be the problem with Covid - it’s not the virus that kills you, but the inflammatory response. I was, however unaware that fat cells create an inflammatory response. And I found the entire conversation refreshing and enlightening. Delivered with no panic. Just rational, and empathetic advice.

We had discussed the vaccine at some point long ago and she was a skeptic. I don’t know if she has since changed her mind - and I didn’t ask.

She did say that bc of the effect Covid has had in the black community, she thinks there must be a genetic component. I frankly think so too - and I think it has something to do with Vit D deficiency.

I still believe the best protection against dying from and spreading Covid is washing your damn hands, staying home if you have the sniffles or a feverish headache, maintaining or getting to a healthy weight and taking vitamin D. I think a vaccine is freaking useless unless you’re over the age of 60, or obese and over 30. And masks are fricking ridiculous. Incidental exposure in the grocery store isn’t what’s spreading this shite.

I post this on the PoliBoard bc it was refreshing to have a conversation about it with an actual doctor that I trust (even if the conversation started with me jokingly trying to estimate the street value of my rosacea cream and ways to incorporate it into recipes).

I trust my own doctor. I don’t trust doctors who just want a Tv career, and especially career bureaucrats with an MD.

I’m not all the way sure that the vaccine is necessary unless you’re otherwise at risk (old, or obese). And I fear the half arse vaccinating is just creating different variants ala Darwin that learn to be resistant and just change. It’s the nature of the beast. IOW I’m not scared that the vaccine will harm me personally- but I am scared, like every other dumbass Covid thing we’ve tried without making a data centric review before making it public policy, is an ill informed and thus doomed to fail idea.

For all of you struggling with vax / no vax (and I do think it’s a private decision, that’s none of my business), have you discussed it with your doctor -
Along with other risk factors? The vaccine may be helpful to you, particularly if you’re otherwise in an at risk population. But ultimately, we don’t know much more about its efficacy than Vitamin D Supplementation.