I am struggling with this too. I don’t know.
I’ll probably post more about this in my journal when I’m not at work, as I started to discuss this in therapy last night but she asked if I knew why I had such a fear of sickness in general and the session turned into THE CENTRAL TRAUMA IN MY LIFE, LET ME SHOW YOU IT so we didn’t actually get back to the conversation about how to reintegrate into society.
3 Likes
I think doing things gradually and in off times at first is a good idea. Going to the store when it’s emptier, only hanging out with people socially who you trust, etc. IME fear doesn’t go away with avoidance (for me it grows with avoidance). I’d just gradually do things here and there, and then each time you do and nothing terrible happens you’ll hopefully start to feel less afraid.
I’m not vaccinated at all yet and I go to the grocery store, produce store, pharmacy, and lots of medical appointments. I was not doing all of that this whole time! I gradually added things back in. I’ve very recently started doing takeout here and there (which I avoided for nearly a year) and went to get a pedicure once. We started bubbling with another couple about 5 months ago, so we’ve been hanging out indoors mask less. They basically do and don’t do the same things as us, so while it’s a risk I don’t feel like it’s a crazy risk. I also went to a large mall once, during off times and mid-week so it wasn’t super busy. It did feel weird initially, but it was fine!
11 Likes
Last year I went through a time where I was really worried and anxious. It was very unpleasant. Now that I am vaccinated I am doing anything I want and I feel fine. For me the vaccine was sufficient to make me feel better.
2 Likes
I read that everyone in the placebo group has now been offered a vaccine, and the uptake was 98%. It’s the only ethical thing to do, now that the vaccine is widely available in the US. While the data is not quite as clean, there are other ways of monitoring continuing vaccine efficacy: antibody levels, T cell function, breakthrough infections, etc.
4 Likes
This was my approach. Because I went from literally not leaving the house for a long time pretty much. We only had one car, and I would always end up staying with the baby. So I wasn’t even leaving to go pick up groceries from curbside pick up. So that’s what I did first, I started driving and just going to where the curbside pick up was. And they would put the groceries in the trunk, and I would come home. I did that for a couple weeks before introducing anything else. It helped that we were doing outside happy hours with our neighbors. But yeah, just gentle progressive constant exposures. I’m definitely prone to anxiety and being a major homebody as it is. I knew agoraphobia was a big risk, so I’ve been trying to go and do lower risk stuff a lot the whole time, like periodic hikes and things. and many many daily walks.
7 Likes
I don’t go out a lot I the winter, and I spent about 8 months housebound in 2018 because of my knee surgery, so it does feel weird to go out more again. I do generally go into the store in the morning, and it’s not especially crowded, and mask compliance seems pretty good. Every time I do something, I’m surprised at how okay it feels.
Plus, I remind myself that loads of people have been going to work and parties and restaurants for months, and there are not bodies piling up in the streets.
5 Likes
Would you look at these numbers from the state data portal
(We’ve had an almost entirely age-based rollout, with only a few groups having special carve out status (notably health care workers at the beginning and teachers/childcare workers later on), and you can see approximately when age groups became eligible in the data.)
15 Likes
are the different colors different jobs?
2 Likes
No, it is just by date. The first bin (when they started making the data available) was Feb 16, and each additional one is approximately 1 week later, cumulative (they are reporting data approximately weekly), so the latest is Apr 14 and it is 9 weeks of vaccination data. 65+ opened Feb 11, 55+ opened Mar 1, 45+ opened Mar 12, 16+ opened Apr 1.
3 Likes
oh cool, I see now.
2 Likes
I get my first shot tomorrow and DH got his first shot today!!! I’m so excited and amazed! This progress is astounding. I fully expected to wait until the fall at least if not longer. Feeling super blessed to be in a country with SO MUCH of the vaccine. YAHHHH!!!
31 Likes
SAME. Amazed at how quickly the vaccines were developed, how effective they are, and how quickly I was able to get it.
Glad you’re both getting vaccines already!
11 Likes
I just got my 2nd vaccine dose. I too didn’t expect this until summer at the earliest.
12 Likes
Right?! I want to run around grabbing people’s faces and shouting THE FUTURE IS NOW!
I won’t…but I want to.
16 Likes
Second Pfizer shot done! So far I feel fine, just a sore arm.
21 Likes
2nd Moderna done for us!
16 Likes
Day after first Pfizer shot and no side effects other than a slightly sore arm. Highly recommend working out if you have a sore arm after any shots, btw! It almost always helps! I’m mentioning because one of my friends told me her arm hurt so she was ‘keeping it still’ and I was like ‘ohhh, yeah do the opposite’. She texted me like an hour later telling me she had been lifting weights and didn’t have arm pain anymore, so figured I’d drop that little tip here.
ALSO. The vaccine site in my city was so huge and well run and sci-fi that I was freaking out with nerd excitement the entire time. The military guy who checked me in was playing Rubik’s cube and asked if I was an Aries, which just added to the surreality. A+
25 Likes
Yeah at the very least do some swoops and press motions and stuff, keep it moving around! Even if it’s not under load/a “real” workout. Def helps.
9 Likes
Headache, and arm hurts worse than with the first shot. I’m still laying in bed, where I’ve been for over 12 hours. I felt like I had a bit of a fever last night, but I couldn’t be bothered to get up and get the thermometer. No sweats or chills, just felt like my skin was really hot.
I need my morning caffeine. This is late for me to have it, but I don’t want to risk a migraine on top of this headache! I’ve been good about drinking water.
11 Likes
We have our second shot on Tuesday. Should I be fasting (no water/drink) day before? Day of? After?
I’m thinking I won’t fast the day after at least.
Yes I will be asking my doctor. But I crave immediate gratification so I can plan.
(Ramadan)
15 Likes