Mister Dex
He’s still taking the steroid so that’s why he’s still so hopped up.
The president confirmed he is still taking the strong steroid dexamethasone. It’s widely available in hospitals and doctors have highlighted it can make the patient feel better than they actually are, which could help explain some of the president’s unusually upbeat descriptions of how he is feeling over the past several days.
It almost certainly does explain it. That’s not the normal Trump we’re seeing. Normal Trump doesn’t keep telling us he loves us.
Trump downplayed the drug’s strength while sort of describing what medications he is still taking. “They have a steroid, it’s not a heavy steroid, they have that go a little longer. I’m almost not taking anything. I feel great.”
Yes, because of the steroid.
I used to take cortisone shots every three months until they could do my surgery. I felt really good when I had the cortisone shot…until it wore off. Then I hurt like hell.
Steroids are like magic, Donald…except not permanent. And they have side effects.
So you’re saying he’s going to crash.
That sounds dangerous.
Well, I don’t know if crash so much, but symptoms could return. I did usually have some depression after I went off them though, so maybe.
I love the formulation “it’s not a heavy steroid”. Yeah, it is. It’s not Benedryl. And coming off it has to be managed carefully. Even so, psychological effects can last as long as 8 weeks after final dose. So, he’s gonna be nutty (nuttier, I suppose), all the way through to the end of 2020, assuming they’re tapering him off now. And yeah, you gotta be careful. Withdrawal symptoms can be nasty – and worst of all, many of its symptoms mimic COVID19.
As I understand it, it’s not just that the steroids make you feel better, it’s that they actually reduce the symptoms but at the cost of letting the virus run free.
(Warning: this comes partly from an article I read this morning, and partly from what I remember from watching House, M.D. So… yeah.) As with a lot of infectious diseases, symptoms are often the result of the body’s immune system fighting the invader. Steroids suppress your immune system. That can be the right call medically with COVID, because the immune response can itself cause serious problems. But the result is that, while the symptoms are truly lessening (in addition to the psychological effects), it’s because the virus is now replicating more or less unopposed. And that means the viral load escalates, and can eventually do a lot of damage.
So essentially Donald’s doctors have done the equivalent of ordering the troops (the immune system) to retreat from the enemy. Retreat is sometimes the right strategic move, of course. But Trump is doing the equivalent of bragging “we didn’t suffer any casualties today — the enemy didn’t capture or kill a single one of our soldiers!” which is technically true but ignores the fact that the enemy is now advancing unopposed through your territory.
And people have no doubt tried to explain that to him, repeatedly, but he clearly has no idea. He thinks he’s BEDDER THAN EVVER.
He’s still not through the ten critical period, is he? If he crashes from Covid, who takes the rap for his meds “not working?” How many new conspiracies will be launched? He ain’t out the woods yet, and he could still meet up with the Big, Bad Virus. He better keep raking.
“If he crashes from Covid, who takes the rap for his meds “not working?””
Barak Obama, Nancy Pelosi, RBG, AOC, the doctors, the Chinese, all Democratic officials, and of course Joe Biden. duh
I need corticosteroids periodically, too, so I am really grateful for the isolation I’ve been in since March. I only want my immune system suppressed for long enough for at least some of the damage it causes to my body to have a chance to heal a little before I have to face the full-on pain again. While it is suppressed I really don’t need to encounter any pathogens.
Yes, I feel a lot better whilst I am taking them, and I’m only on a very low dose of prednisolone. Lower pain levels are a great blessing. I know the pain will come back when my stupid immune system is able to attack all my faulty connective tissue again and the inflammation returns, but a short reprieve allows me to build up my strength for the next onslaught. It isn’t a cure (something that Trump should be getting told every minute of every day until he gets it); there is no cure. Just damage control.