I am part of several Long Covid groups on Facebook. I joined these groups with the hope of being a part of an online community of people who understand what life is like living with Long Covid. Unfortunately, they have turned into places where people list their current symptoms and receive hundreds of comments back that most often contradict each other about what medicine, supplement, treatments, etc they should be doing or shouldn’t be doing. Or you get comments about how Long Covid isn’t real and we are all paid government actors… my bank account wishes that was the case!

One comment last week caught my eye in which a user mentioned they get stung by bees 2x a day in the hopes of reducing inflammation caused by Covid-19, which is what causes many of the persistent symptoms we long haulers experience. I read the comment and thought, “There’s no way.” I can’t imagine having a bee sting me twice a day for the foreseeable future all for the “hope” that my symptoms lessen or disappear. As a life long lesbian, I’d honestly rather sleep with a man.

Everyone is entitled to seek out their own medical care, medical advice, treatment options, etc as they navigate living with Long Covid. Because Long Covid is so new there is no set protocol for treating the disease and many institutions are diligently funding research studies in hopes of finding a treatment. I think this creates a unique problem as people are so desperate for answers, desperate to feel better, and desperate to have their symptoms validated they can easily be fooled by doctors claiming to have a “cure.” I personally have spent thousands on alternative medical treatments including IV’s, shots, supplements, etc that were supposed to “cure” me. They made me feel better for a short time as they treated my symptoms, but didn’t truly put me on a path to wellness.

Now, who knows maybe this person getting stung by a bee twice a day will be able to rid herself of all her Long Covid symptoms, but at what cost? What does getting stung by a bee twice a day due to your mental health? I can imagine it raises one’s fight-flight response as Ive never met anyone who enjoyed being stung by a bee. Research has shown that the fight-flight response is already activated in Long Covid patients and causes inflammation, so are the bee stings really helping or are they making things worse? Also, what’s the monetary cost? I can’t imagine there’s a lot of doctors just having bees sting people for free. And there’s no way our lovely insurance industry is covering bee stings when they won’t cover “traditional” medical treatments.

I think it is important to be open to trying new things, but also doing one’s research before trusting a doctor that says they can “cure” you. They may be able to put your symptoms in remission or reduce a flare, but there is no “cure” for chronic illnesses like Long Covid. Also, I sincerely hope once a treatment protocol is discovered it doesn’t include bee stings because there’s no way I’m signing up to be stung by a bee. If that’s the treatment option, I’d choose not to bee.