Why “Morbid Obesity” Still Hurts — and Why the Language Matters

[Kizzie]

So I'm back from vacation and went for my annual physical yesterday. My GP and I talked about Ozempic and agreed I would give it a go. I don't like the sound of the side effects but she was quick to reassure me that the body does adjust over time.  I hope so!

I am interested in trying it not only for weight loss but because it has a lot of other health benefits as per this from the Mayo Clinic:

Ozempic (semaglutide) offers significant health benefits beyond weight loss, primarily by improving glycemic control for type 2 diabetes. It lowers A1C, reduces major cardiovascular events (heart attack, stroke) by up to 26% in high-risk adults, and protects against chronic kidney disease. It may also reduce inflammation, aid in treating sleep apnea, and potentially combat neurodegenerative diseases.

It seems like a win-win if I can just push through the initial period.

I'd be interested in hearing from others who are using Ozempic or a similar medication about how things are going. 

[TheBigBlue]

Hi Kizzie,

Two MDs recommended tirzepatide (Mounjaro/Zepbound; activates both the GLP-1 and GIP receptors) over semaglutide (Ozempic/Wegovy; GLP-1 only) to me.

From the current evidence:

- Average weight loss:
  Tirzepatide appears superior on average.

- HbA1c lowering / diabetes control:
  Tirzepatide generally shows stronger glucose-lowering effects.

- Sleep apnea improvement:
  Tirzepatide currently has stronger direct evidence and an FDA indication for obesity-related OSA.

- Long-term cardiovascular outcome evidence:
  Semaglutide currently has the stronger completed evidence base.

- Kidney outcome evidence:
  Semaglutide currently has more mature supporting data.

- Longest real-world safety experience:
  Semaglutide has been in broader clinical use longer and therefore has more long-term real-world data.


Best evidence-supported summary:
Tirzepatide appears more potent for weight loss and metabolic improvement, while semaglutide currently has stronger long-term cardiovascular and renal outcome evidence.

Of course, results vary from person to person, but I've personally lost about 25% of my body weight over 1.5 years on Mounjaro.

One thing my doctors emphasized was maintaining high protein intake to help preserve muscle mass during weight loss (for me around ~90 g/day), for example with drinks like Ensure Max or Nurri protein shakes.

Fingers crossed that you tolerate it better this time! 🤞💛

[Kizzie]

So far so good but I am only on the lowest possible dose at the moment. In a weird way I think having IBS has 'trained' me for dealing with what minor effects I've had so far. Hopefully, my body will adjust and any side effects will not ramp up from here. My doc has me going quite slowly at first as I am medication sensitive but I am in a better place all around than the last time I tried it.

Anyway, that's quite a big weight loss Big Blue. I imagine you must feel a lot better in a number of ways.       

[dollyvee]

I take this as well and have been for about 10 months though am not clinically overweight. I have lost maybe 5-7 kilos, which is fluctuating as I think I have been gaining muscle and reducing body fat. Something that was my goal, but I couldn't seem to do post covid despite eating a good 1800-1900cals/day and 100-120g of protein a day. The big reason that I went on Mounjaro was to deal with the chronic inflammation and other effects from MCAS likely caused by genetic, mold, and now potentially covid. Again, a lot of connections being made about MCAS and elevated spike proteins and covid (and those who are genetically susceptible).

Once I started, the stiffness in my hip greatly lessened, and my body composition has changed over time. I am still have inflammation I think (excess water retention), but a low histamine diet (also for about 10 months) is helping this. I'm trying to work on next steps (ie do I still have mycotoxins in the body which is causing this inflammation) and where to go from here.

IMO IBS is just a blanket term for gut issues that doctors aren't really familiar with treating such as SIBO, and/or food reactions that are linked to things like MCAS and mold (which also promote SIBO and intestinal permeability). A lot of times people with MCAS present with intestinal issues. 

Hope the drug works well for you,
dolly

[Kizzie]

Thanks Dolly Vee.

I read up about SIBO and I hope the whole process of slowing down digestion (which seems to cause SIBO) by using Ozempic is not going to cause problems for me. I started using an enzyme called FODZYME some time ago to help with my IBS by aiding in the digestion of FODMAP foods, and it has helped a lot. I am now able to tolerate more foods than I did previously, but now I wonder if Ozempic will cause a return of symptoms. Right now I only get symptoms if I eat too much of certain foods (high FODMAP - garlic, onions, certain fruits and veggies, etc), but now if I eat them in moderation I don't have symptoms. Time will tell I guess.

I often wonder how much having CPTSD influences things like this. The Big Blue and I wrote an article about obesity and CPTSD recently and the research indicates that trauma changes our physiology, making it more difficult to resist cravings and overeating. See here. That is, it is not simply a psychological response (emotional eating), but is also physical in nature.

We need more professionals in medicine to know about the physical impact of ongoing exposure to complex relational trauma because of the ongoing overproduction of stress hormones in our bodies. We looked at this issue in a healthcare project I co-led in which we produced a guide for both mental health and medical professionals and students - see here. Starting in the 1990's with the ACEs study, it has been very clear just how much we need those in medicine to be educated about CRT/CPTSD. Yet, here we are in 2026 still fighting to be seen and heard in many respects. I just recently attended a medical conference here in Canada and there was not a single mention of CT/CPTSD in any presentation, poster, panel or keynote. I was invited on a scholarship because of the healthcare project I co-led as a Patient Partner and yet there was no avenue for me to share about the project. I felt like a check in the box, as though those in medicine accept the role of Patient Partners in research but don't quite always know what to do with us. Disappointing I must say.

Well, got off on a bit of rant there.  All this is to say IMO there is just so much more we need from the healthcare sector in general, medicine included.   

[dollyvee]

Sorry Kizzie, I don't understand what you mean by CPTSD influences all this? You're saying that CPTSD is the cause of heath disorders?

Mast cells in the body do react to stress, but simply getting better emotionally is not going to heal an underlying genetic susceptibility/condition.

To me, it's actually a great disservice to people with CPTSD perpetuate an idea like that because it keeps people in a state of sickness, believing that "if only they could heal themselves emotionally" everything would be ok.

But yes, the body and mind are connected IMO, but it doesn't erase underlying health condition.

dolly

[TheBigBlue]

Kizzie, I think what you're describing is actually very well supported by current research, although I also understand the concern Dolly is raising.

The evidence does not say that CPTSD is the sole cause of physical illness, nor that emotional healing alone cures underlying medical conditions. But over the past 30 years, research has consistently shown that chronic childhood trauma is associated with measurable long-term physiological changes and increased risk for many physical health problems later in life.

The landmark ACE study by Felitti et al. (1998) showed a strong dose-response relationship between cumulative childhood adversity and adult health problems such as cardiovascular disease, chronic lung disease, liver disease, depression, and risky health behaviors. Since then, prospective and meta-analytic studies have found associations between childhood trauma and elevated inflammatory markers such as CRP, IL-6, and TNF-α, even after adjusting for factors like smoking, obesity, socioeconomic status, and adult psychiatric illness.

Research has also documented alterations in stress-response systems (HPA axis regulation), immune signaling, and brain networks involved in threat detection and regulation. None of this means trauma "explains everything," or that every illness is trauma-driven. Genetics, infections, lifestyle, environmental exposures, and many other factors matter too. But it does mean that chronic relational trauma can have biological consequences, not just psychological ones.

So I think both points can coexist:

- physical illnesses are real medical conditions and should never be dismissed as "just emotional,"

and

- chronic trauma exposure can meaningfully affect physiology and long-term health risk.

That's why many trauma researchers and clinicians argue that medicine still needs much more education around CT/CPTSD and its systemic health impact.

 

----------
Here is what the strongest research shows (for those interested in more details  ):

Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D. F., Spitz, A. M., Edwards, V., Koss, M. P., & Marks, J. S. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(4), 245–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0749-3797(98)00017-8⁠

Summary:
Foundational ACE study of 9,508 adults showing a strong graded association between cumulative childhood adversity and increased risk of many adult health problems, including ischemic heart disease, chronic lung disease, liver disease, cancer risk factors, depression, and health-risk behaviors. The study demonstrated a dose-response relationship but, because it was largely retrospective and observational, it cannot by itself prove causation.

Danese, A., Pariante, C. M., Caspi, A., Taylor, A., & Poulton, R. (2007). Childhood maltreatment predicts adult inflammation in a life-course study. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(4), 1319–1324. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0610362104⁠

Summary:
Prospective longitudinal Dunedin birth cohort study showing that childhood maltreatment predicted elevated adult inflammation markers (particularly CRP) at age 32, even after accounting for childhood risks, adult stress, depression, smoking, obesity, and socioeconomic factors. This paper is influential because it used prospective follow-up and objective biological measurements rather than relying only on retrospective self-report.

Danese, A., Moffitt, T. E., Harrington, H., Milne, B. J., Polanczyk, G., Pariante, C. M., Poulton, R., & Caspi, A. (2009). Adverse childhood experiences and adult risk factors for age-related disease: Depression, inflammation, and clustering of metabolic risk markers. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 163(12), 1135–1143. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpediatrics.2009.214⁠

Summary:
Demonstrated that adverse childhood experiences were associated with adult depression, elevated inflammation, and clustering of metabolic risk markers linked to later cardiovascular disease and diabetes. The study strengthened evidence that early adversity may contribute to biological pathways associated with chronic disease risk across adulthood.

Hughes, K., Bellis, M. A., Hardcastle, K. A., Sethi, D., Butchart, A., Mikton, C., Jones, L., & Dunne, M. P. (2017). The effect of multiple adverse childhood experiences on health: A systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Public Health, 2(8 ), e356–e366. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(17)30118-4⁠

Summary:
Large systematic review and meta-analysis covering 37 studies and more than 250,000 participants. Individuals with multiple adverse childhood experiences had substantially increased odds of later mental illness, substance use, cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory disease, and risky health behaviors. The paper is considered one of the strongest population-level syntheses linking cumulative childhood trauma exposure with poorer long-term health outcomes.

Baumeister, D., Akhtar, R., Ciufolini, S., Pariante, C. M., & Mondelli, V. (2016). Childhood trauma and adulthood inflammation: A meta-analysis of peripheral C-reactive protein, interleukin-6 and tumour necrosis factor-α. Molecular Psychiatry, 21(5), 642–649. https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2015.67⁠

Summary:
Meta-analysis of 59 studies involving nearly 15,000 participants showing that childhood trauma exposure was associated with elevated inflammatory markers in adulthood, including CRP, IL-6, and TNF-α. Associations often remained significant after adjustment for psychiatric conditions and lifestyle factors, supporting the hypothesis that childhood trauma may contribute to long-term immune dysregulation and increased physical disease vulnerability.

Teicher, M. H., & Samson, J. A. (2016). Annual research review: Enduring neurobiological effects of childhood abuse and neglect. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 57(3), 241–266. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12507⁠

Summary:
Comprehensive review summarizing evidence that childhood abuse and neglect are associated with measurable alterations in brain structure and function, stress-response systems, immune signaling, and epigenetic regulation. The authors argue that many of these changes reflect developmental adaptations to chronic threat exposure, but that they may also increase vulnerability to psychiatric and physical health problems across the lifespan.

[Kizzie]

Hey Dollyvee:

To me, it's actually a great disservice to people with CPTSD perpetuate an idea like that because it keeps people in a state of sickness, believing that "if only they could heal themselves emotionally" everything would be ok.

I am not saying that CPTSD means we will all become physically ill, but I am saying if the emotional toll of traumatic stress in our lives is reduced (and the earlier the better), it stands to reason that the physical issues will reduce as well or not develop (depending on when this happens, preferably early in the lifespan). However, if traumatic stress goes on unabated then physical issues are likely to develop (as per ACEs) and settle in past the point when they can be treated, only managed.

I don't mean to suggest though that anyone need try to heal on their own. In fact I am advocating for those in healthcare to step up more and educate, treat, support, and link us to services to help us be that in mental health or medicine. 

[NarcKiddo]

I'd be interested in hearing from others who are using Ozempic or a similar medication about how things are going.

My husband has been taking Wegovy (exactly the same as Ozempic but marketed for weight loss in the UK rather than diabetes control). He has been on it for nearly 2 years. His doctor had been suggesting it for ages but we were wary until the other health benefits kept being discovered, and we thought 'what is there to lose, other than weight?'.

He lost 70 pounds in year 1 and 28 in year 2. He started on the lowest dose possible and stayed on that for a couple of months while the doc made sure it was OK for his pancreas etc. Then he moved onto the second lowest dose and that is where he has stayed. He has had next to no side effects - I think there were a few during the first month or so, but very mild and mostly constipation. The doctor initially suggested moving up the doses regularly as so many people do, but he saw no point in doing that while he was still losing weight. He is not in a huge hurry, though he has a lot to lose, and I think that is a very sensible approach. Fast weight loss runs the risk of gallstones apart from anything else. A slow weight loss gives one more chance to establish healthier eating patterns that hopefully will remain after coming off the drug.

Now the weight loss is stalling he is likely to go up to the next dose but I don't see him ever going very high. A big help for him is that he was terribly fond of his beer and alcohol in general but he has cut that down massively. Food-wise the drug has mainly stopped him snacking and has enabled him to stop eating when full even if his plate is not empty. Our lifestyle involves regular eating out and he did not want to spoil that for both of us by being on such a high dose that he felt sick and could barely eat a thing.

TheBigBlue has mentioned protein intake. That seems to have a much bigger profile across the Pond. I am sceptical about quite such a heavy emphasis on protein intake. Clearly it is very important that all calories consumed are nutritious and not wasted on junk. A varied and balanced diet is important for everyone, and if one's dietary habits have not been terribly healthy then the time spent on the drugs is well spent re-training oneself in adopting a healthy diet. However many people who need to lose weight have had a pretty healthy diet - they have just had too much of it and maybe skewed towards high calorie food. The reason I am sceptical about just taking extra protein is that I wonder what the body will do with it. It's all very well to suppose that the body will use it to re-build lost muscle - but if those muscles are not used then the body actually has little incentive to re-build muscle, which is a very hard metabolic job. Just having the building materials does not mean the workforce will use them! I think, therefore, it is vitally important to exercise in conjunction with consuming sufficient protein. I am also very familiar indeed with medics uttering platitudes and general advice on diet and exercise when they get next to no training on the subject and have no clue what they are talking about. I've gone head to head with medics about this when I was in the pneumonia ward and it is a hobbyhorse of mine...

[Kizzie]

This is so helpful Narc Kiddo thanks!!  I took my second shot today and so far so good as far as symptoms go.

That's amazing to hear that he has lost as much as he has and on a lower does at that.  I've been seeing all the skeletal Hollywood types and have wondered if I would have to go to a really high dose to lose weight. No doubt they are all using far more that is healthy by the looks of them.

That's very positive to hear that your H stops eating when he feels full and at an earlier stage than in the past. Huzzah! I've heard all these things about being on the medication but being naturally skeptical... I don't move up in dose for another 3 weeks so I'm interested to see if/when that happens for me. I am not as nervous as I was last week because nothing major happened in terms of symptoms, I just want to get on with it.

I know you have had a bit of a wrestle (to say the least) with your healthcare. How are you doing now? Are things any better?

[BK]

Hi Kizzie,
Thanks for sharing all of the other health benefits from Ozempic, I didn't know all of them. I tried mounjaro for just over a week, but I stopped as I noticed it negatively affected my mood. I am still interested in trying ozempic, but I have read that it can cause the loss of lean muscle mass. I have worked really hard over the past 1.5 years to build muscle, and this has helped me feel stronger mentally and physically, and so I worry about its effect on this.
 
Have you had any nausea?
Have you noticed any changes in your mood? (if you don't mind sharing)

I agree when you say "there is just so much more we need from the healthcare sector in general". I am still shocked by the lack of knowledge health professionals have around cptsd/ptsd. I am a firm believer in many of Gabor Mates teachings, and I do think that childhood trauma/other trauma/emotions can cause many illnesses, but I find most practitioners have little or no knowledge of this and use the band aid approach, instead of getting to the core issue/s.

[Blueberry]

Language won't fix trauma, but it can stop adding new wounds.
The coding system has already changed. The science has already moved.
It's time for clinical language to follow.

I personally would like to see complex relational trauma survivors referred to not as disordered, but as injured. This puts the onus, not on us but on our perpetrators and normalizes our symptoms as responses to abuse/neglect rather than some kind of character defect.

Today I was able to witness a session of Brainspotting (which is a method that developed out of EMDR) being used with somebody who described herself as following a sedentary lifestyle and feeling stuck regarding movement. Sounded a little bit like my allergy to exercise in fact. I really wish practitioners could witness this kind of work and understand how complex this all is. How deep a process may go. I'm affected by it, I can tell because the words are not there for me to describe what went on. My writing and organisational skills feel less than normal, it's been a struggle.

Maybe practitioners of physical health would watch something like that session and think "So what?" My ability to feel so much and to notice how much the client (herself an LMFT - Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist) was going through may have something to do with the amount of therapy sessions I have under my belt...? Plus observing others going thru deep processes at those intensive healing retreats i go to where they do trauma-informed work with people who need it.

For anybody here on the forum who might be interested, I'm going to give the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqtomL8IfoU  I will add a TRIGGER WARNING. Maybe not so much about the content as watching and hearing somebody go through such an intense process, where the client is told to say whatever comes up - because all that comes up is neurologically connected. Of course the client reacts physically and emotionally to it too. Dr. Grand ends the session by saying everybody who has watched it will go away affected in some way, the session will keep working within everybody. So, I, Blueberry, say if you're not too stable and grounded atm, maybe better not to watch or at least be willing to shut it off the moment something feels difficult... Don't allow yourself to get overwhelmed.

I don't know how long it will be available for. It was from one of those freebie thingies I sometimes post about, that took place on Thurs. and here I am watching on Saturday. I found it on Youtube. This freebie session from Dr. Grand and Dr. Poole was aimed at professionals in trauma healing who are interested in brainspotting as an additional method. The beginning is quite technical - about brains and different nerves and so on. I did get the general drift though. And some comments were certainly interesting from a trauma-healing perspective.

About the 30 minute mark, Dr. Grand does a demonstration of brainspotting on somebody who was chosen in advance. Her backstory is having been in feet and leg casts as an infant. Medically necessary, but traumatising and a source of developmental trauma, so it followed her through childhood and further and got worse. The trajectory didn't surprise me sooo much, although I couldn't have predicted it either, but for somebody like practitioners of physical health with maybe only a vague idea of how mental health plays into obesity, this could be an eyeopener. The client here isn't talking so much about being obese, and there's certainly no "morbidly obese" label, just being sedentary and stuck. I hope anybody reading can figure out why I'm writing about it on this thread anyway.


ETA - dollyvee, I think this might help you understand what Kizzie is saying,

Hey Dollyvee:

To me, it's actually a great disservice to people with CPTSD perpetuate an idea like that because it keeps people in a state of sickness, believing that "if only they could heal themselves emotionally" everything would be ok.

I am not saying that CPTSD means we will all become physically ill, but I am saying if the emotional toll of traumatic stress in our lives is reduced (and the earlier the better), it stands to reason that the physical issues will reduce as well or not develop (depending on when this happens, preferably early in the lifespan). However, if traumatic stress goes on unabated then physical issues are likely to develop (as per ACEs) and settle in past the point when they can be treated, only managed.

I don't mean to suggest though that anyone need try to heal on their own. In fact I am advocating for those in healthcare to step up more and educate, treat, support, and link us to services to help us be that in mental health or medicine. 

[dollyvee]

Dear Blueberry,

I get what Kizzie is trying to say, I just don't think there is a thought out framework for how this exists and/or is linking everything physical to trauma, which is medicalizing and relating everything that happens to one's body to trauma. To me, as I stated above, is an overreach.

Kind regards,
dolly

[Kizzie]

BK - The only thing I have noticed are very mild headaches at first gone now.  I also  noticed I was more tired than usual and felt a bit 'flat', both also gone now. No nausea or any of the other nasty GI issues I've read about but we shall see when I up the dose.  I guess the approach of starting with a very lose dose and slowly increasing is meant to help your body adjust.  I did do a bit of reading at Reddit and at medical sites and it seems like it is more common not to have symptoms than to have them. The nasty stuff is what tend to gets coverage though.

DollyVee - I did not mean to say that everything medical that happens to us is the result of trauma. What is clear from the ACE study and research since then though is that protracted exposure to complex trauma has very real impacts on us physically (development of one or more of the top ten leading causes of death, far moreso than the general population). See The Big Blue's post above.

Based on the research evidence it's not overreach, it's something we and those in healthcare need to be more aware of. If I were a twenty something survivor and knew about this I would be talking to my GP about whether and how I could do to protect myself against illness/disease now known to be associated with complex trauma exposure.   

[dollyvee]

I often wonder how much having CPTSD influences things like this. The Big Blue and I wrote an article about obesity and CPTSD recently and the research indicates that trauma changes our physiology, making it more difficult to resist cravings and overeating. See here. That is, it is not simply a psychological response (emotional eating), but is also physical in nature.

You didn't say that everything is tied to cptsd specifically, but said how much having cptsd affects influences things like this, which at face value is linking the condition to trauma. I also missed Big Blue's post as it was a busy week at work, but I don't disagree that there is a link between trauma and illness to a degree. Without further research into the genetic composition of people studied IMO (as to why some people get sick and some people don't as you said and is documented) and to how and why these things show up (ie illness factors in childhood, infections, genetic susceptibility) and don't, it's just a big maybe and is not fair to say to people that maybe x condition might have been caused by trauma because of all the cortisol floating around without solid evidence.

As I said in the metabolism post, I have genetic issues breaking down histmaine, which then if my histamine bucket is full (ie food wise, mold wise), it's going to kick my cortisol into action.  So, for me, and for others, there are other reasons why we have chronically high histamine (and cortisol) in the body that then influence how trauma shows up in the body (but again, this link needs to be studied and fleshed out).

I also agree that the medical system lets us down, but not in the same regard. If I had chronic IBS, I would get a GI map done through a functional practitioner to see if they could pinpoint something that might help. Again, it's not saying that it's not not because of trauma, just that there are other alternatives to be explored, and perhaps there's a vested interest in the trauma narrative rather than exploring a physical root cause, which is my issue. Because again, I had "emotional" issues show up that could very easily be linked to trauma --short temper, irritability, anxiety, lethargy/depression, brain fog etc, but as I started to work on the various physical issues (food sensitivities, methylation, gut health, environmental health and detox) these problems lessened. So, had I kept on thinking it was my emotional reactions that were the source of this, or that if I just kept at therapy because it was all in my head as the doctors suggested, I would feel no where near as good as I feel now, which is actually helping me deal with the real trauma underneath.

My other question about what are you expecting doctors to do and why I think is also valid. I'm not having a go at you, I think these things needs discussion and outlining as to what exactly the intentions are and what one hopes to achieve through this, and I mean detailed because I think that with the solid evidence linking the ACEs to trauma there is still more research to be done. For example, do we have specific ages as to when these things start showing up or when the most impactful changes occur in the body? (IMO no, because it's going to be different genetically for everyone which is a major stumbling block) If so, is having a doctor explain to you in your twenties the risks of increased stress already too late to mitigate some of the impact? How does one test for these things --ie what is the probability that I will develop these an illnesses after having lived x number of years in a "stressful environment" (and then what is a stressful environment -- how is this measured in the body etc)? Then would I live life in my twenties in a risk of what might happen, but don't know for sure if it will?

So, just going to doctors and asking more awareness of the cptsd without a plan for how this is going to change things, or be enacted, is not beneficial and needs more research etc IMO. I also think that given the current medical system, docotrs are more than happy to label certain conditions as all in one's head because they are treating symptoms rather than root causes, or systemic issues. If it doesn't fit in their view, it must be in your head. Not all doctors of course, but it worries me that people with underlying conditions that aren't researched enough yet would be diagnosed or dismissed as having an emotional condition because of "trauma," which brings me back to SIBO and IBS. Without further testing, one doesn't know what one has. One can choose it's emotional/trauma related and maybe it is, or maybe there is an imbalance of gut flora because of years of antibiotics/diet etc, and perhaps further research and testing would address that.

So, back to my original post which you responded to where I was explaining why I was taking Mounjaro because it was (a test) to help reduce inflammation in my body, which I had read about on MCAS forums. I have a very specific before and after regarding environmental changes and how my body responded before covid, and moving into a moldy environment (unbeknowst to me) during lockdown. However, these are genetic susceptibilities that were then amplified by the environment and potentially having covid twice. This is not just elevated inflammation from childhood trauma, which one can dismiss it as. Again, why I think these issues really need to be fleshed out and detailed.