#bodymapping — Public Fediverse posts

2026_2_16 “Botox for Migraine” Injection Set #2, and 5 Hour Drive to/from Appt

https://www.illmarks.com/2026_2_16-botox-for-migraine-injection-set-2-and-5-hour-drive-to-from-appt/

#2 #art #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #bodyart #bodymapping #chronicIllness #chronicIllness #chronicmigraine #disability #disabilityart #DisabledArtist #eds #healthcare #heds #longCovid #longcovid #mcas #medart #medical #medicalArt #migraine #MillionsMissing #neurology #POTS #pwLC #pwme #queer #QueerArt #QueerArtist #SciArt #SciComms #trans #transArt #TransPride

2026_2_16 “Botox for Migraine” Injection Set #2, and 5 Hour Drive to/from Appt

https://www.illmarks.com/2026_2_16-botox-for-migraine-injection-set-2-and-5-hour-drive-to-from-appt/

#2 #art #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #bodyart #bodymapping #chronicIllness #chronicIllness #chronicmigraine #disability #disabilityart #DisabledArtist #eds #healthcare #heds #longCovid #longcovid #mcas #medart #medical #medicalArt #migraine #MillionsMissing #neurology #POTS #pwLC #pwme #queer #QueerArt #QueerArtist #SciArt #SciComms #trans #transArt #TransPride

2026_2_16 “Botox for Migraine” Injection Set #2, and 5 Hour Drive to/from Appt

https://www.illmarks.com/2026_2_16-botox-for-migraine-injection-set-2-and-5-hour-drive-to-from-appt/

#2 #art #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #bodyart #bodymapping #chronicIllness #chronicIllness #chronicmigraine #disability #disabilityart #DisabledArtist #eds #healthcare #heds #longCovid #longcovid #mcas #medart #medical #medicalArt #migraine #MillionsMissing #neurology #POTS #pwLC #pwme #queer #QueerArt #QueerArtist #SciArt #SciComms #trans #transArt #TransPride

2026_2_16 “Botox for Migraine” Injection Set #2, and 5 Hour Drive to/from Appt

https://www.illmarks.com/2026_2_16-botox-for-migraine-injection-set-2-and-5-hour-drive-to-from-appt/

#2 #art #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #bodyart #bodymapping #chronicIllness #chronicIllness #chronicmigraine #disability #disabilityart #DisabledArtist #eds #healthcare #heds #longCovid #longcovid #mcas #medart #medical #medicalArt #migraine #MillionsMissing #neurology #POTS #pwLC #pwme #queer #QueerArt #QueerArtist #SciArt #SciComms #trans #transArt #TransPride

2026_2_16 “Botox for Migraine” Injection Set #2, and 5 Hour Drive to/from Appt

https://www.illmarks.com/2026_2_16-botox-for-migraine-injection-set-2-and-5-hour-drive-to-from-appt/

#2 #art #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #bodyart #bodymapping #chronicIllness #chronicIllness #chronicmigraine #disability #disabilityart #DisabledArtist #eds #healthcare #heds #longCovid #longcovid #mcas #medart #medical #medicalArt #migraine #MillionsMissing #neurology #POTS #pwLC #pwme #queer #QueerArt #QueerArtist #SciArt #SciComms #trans #transArt #TransPride

Sequoia Sempervirens can sometimes survive harms like wildfires and keep growing

https://www.illmarks.com/sequoia-sempervirens-can-sometimes-survive-harms-like-wildfires-and-keep-growing/

#art #artwork #bodies #bodyHorror #bodyart #bodyhorror #bodymapping #care #chronicIllness #climateArt #disability #fire #fireArt #fountainpen #healing #health #human #ink #inkart #interactive #light #lighting #medart #metallic #MillionsMissing #penfount #SciArt #shimmer #SymptomMapping #wildfire

2026-1-7 Worst POTS day ever

https://www.illmarks.com/2026-1-7-worst-pots-day-ever/

#anatomy #art #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #bodyhorror #cfs #chronicIllness #CovidIsntOver #Dysautonomia #FediArt #illustration #ink #longCovid #longcovid #mastoart #me #mecfs #medart #medicalArt #MillionsMissing #Patient #PatientLed #POTS #potsie #publicHealth #pwLC #pwme #SciArt #SciComms

Symptom: Neurogenic Inflammation and POTS Blood Pooling

https://www.illmarks.com/symptom-neurogenic-inflammation-and-pots-blood-pooling/

#art #autonomicDysfunction #AutonomicFailure #autonomicNervousSystem #bloodpooling #BloodPressure #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #bodyart #bodyhorror #cardiology #chronicIllness #dinet #dystautonomia #hypotension #longCovid #medart #medicalArt #medicalart #MillionsMissing #neurogenicInflammation #neurogenicInflammation #neurology #orthostaticHypotension #orthostaticIntolerance #posturalOrthostaticTachycardiaSyndrome #POTS #potsie #pwLC #pwme #SciArt #SciComms #SymptomMap #SymptomArt #SymptomMap #tinitus #tinnitus

Symptom: Assigned Female At Birth

https://www.illmarks.com/symptom-assigned-female-at-birth/

#acog #afab #art #AssignedFemaleAtBirth #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #bodyart #bodydysphoria #bodyhorror #chronicIllness #dysphoria #Dysphoric #genderAffirmingCare #GenderAffirmingHealthcare #gyn #gynecology #healthcare #healthcareArt #invasive #longcovid #marginalizedGenders #mastcellactivationsyndrome #mcas #medart #medical #medicalArt #nonbinary #obGyn #OBGYN #pwLC #pwme #reproductiveRights #SciArt #SoTiredOfGoingToTheWomensClinic #trans #TransInclusiveHealthcare #TransRights #TransRightsAreHumanRights

Symptom: Assigned Female At Birth

https://www.illmarks.com/symptom-assigned-female-at-birth/

#acog #afab #art #AssignedFemaleAtBirth #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #bodyart #bodydysphoria #bodyhorror #chronicIllness #dysphoria #Dysphoric #genderAffirmingCare #GenderAffirmingHealthcare #gyn #gynecology #healthcare #healthcareArt #invasive #longcovid #marginalizedGenders #mastcellactivationsyndrome #mcas #medart #medical #medicalArt #nonbinary #obGyn #OBGYN #pwLC #pwme #reproductiveRights #SciArt #SoTiredOfGoingToTheWomensClinic #trans #TransInclusiveHealthcare #TransRights #TransRightsAreHumanRights

Symptom: Assigned Female At Birth

https://www.illmarks.com/symptom-assigned-female-at-birth/

#acog #afab #art #AssignedFemaleAtBirth #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #bodyart #bodydysphoria #bodyhorror #chronicIllness #dysphoria #Dysphoric #genderAffirmingCare #GenderAffirmingHealthcare #gyn #gynecology #healthcare #healthcareArt #invasive #longcovid #marginalizedGenders #mastcellactivationsyndrome #mcas #medart #medical #medicalArt #nonbinary #obGyn #OBGYN #pwLC #pwme #reproductiveRights #SciArt #SoTiredOfGoingToTheWomensClinic #trans #TransInclusiveHealthcare #TransRights #TransRightsAreHumanRights

Symptom: Assigned Female At Birth

https://www.illmarks.com/symptom-assigned-female-at-birth/

#acog #afab #art #AssignedFemaleAtBirth #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #bodyart #bodydysphoria #bodyhorror #chronicIllness #dysphoria #Dysphoric #genderAffirmingCare #GenderAffirmingHealthcare #gyn #gynecology #healthcare #healthcareArt #invasive #longcovid #marginalizedGenders #mastcellactivationsyndrome #mcas #medart #medical #medicalArt #nonbinary #obGyn #OBGYN #pwLC #pwme #reproductiveRights #SciArt #SoTiredOfGoingToTheWomensClinic #trans #TransInclusiveHealthcare #TransRights #TransRightsAreHumanRights

Symptom: Assigned Female At Birth

https://www.illmarks.com/symptom-assigned-female-at-birth/

#acog #afab #art #AssignedFemaleAtBirth #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #bodyart #bodydysphoria #bodyhorror #chronicIllness #dysphoria #Dysphoric #genderAffirmingCare #GenderAffirmingHealthcare #gyn #gynecology #healthcare #healthcareArt #invasive #longcovid #marginalizedGenders #mastcellactivationsyndrome #mcas #medart #medical #medicalArt #nonbinary #obGyn #OBGYN #pwLC #pwme #reproductiveRights #SciArt #SoTiredOfGoingToTheWomensClinic #trans #TransInclusiveHealthcare #TransRights #TransRightsAreHumanRights

Symptom: October Slide

Here we post on Crip Time.

For folks in the Southern Hemisphere, maybe this will be in time for your Fall Slides? What month do y’all celebrate your horrors in?

https://www.illmarks.com/symptom-october-slide/

#art #Autumn #BarometricPressure #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #chronicIllness #chronicIllness #chronicPain #CripTime #Fall #longCovid #longcovid #medicalArt #MillionsMissing #octoberslide #pwLC #pwme #Seasons #Spring

Symptom: Mast Cell Itching

https://www.illmarks.com/symptom-mast-cell-itching/

#allergicreactions #Allergies #allergy #art #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #buildingSafety #chonicillness #chronicIllness #claws #eds #ehlersdanlossyndrome #environmentalIllness #environmentalillness #fingers #formaldehyde #heds #hypermobile #hypermobility #hypermobilityspectrumdisorder #immunology #itched #itching #longCovid #longcovid #mastCell #mastCellActivationSyndrome #mastcell #mastcellactivationsyndrome #mastcelldisease #mastocytosis #mcas #medicalArt #MillionsMissing #nails #POTS #prop65 #publicHealth #publicHealth #pwLC #pwme #scratched #scratching #scratchy #severeallergy #vocs

Diagnosis: Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

After self-diagnosing, I got an official diagnosis. The victory of the official diagnosis was upstaged by the foot trauma two days previously, which I now know is a broken bone. However, at lest it’s in the same limb as all my other orthopedic trauma and severe arthritis. That’s really my saving grace right now — it’s a familiar injury. Adding another new mystery set of symptoms would be less welcome than rehatching an old burden.

Anyway, back to the art. I love some of the light interactive properties here that are hard to capture in a scan so:

Reflective properties close up, gold paint in the eyes, green metallic reflection for the dark around and in the eyes. The shimmer (ultra fine glittering particles) in the green ink are vibrant blue, and in the blue zebra stripes are color shifting, right now a rose.

Metallic version of the hardware in my leg — I looked at my own x-rays for reference!

Final close up.

https://www.illmarks.com/diagnosis-hypermobile-ehlers-danlos-syndrome/

#art #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #chronicIllness #connectivetissue #connectivetissuedisease #eds #ehlersDanlosSyndrome #ehlersdanlossyndrome #heds #hsd #hypermobile #hypermobileEhlersDanlosSyndrome #hypermobileehlersdanlossyndrome #hypermobility #hypermobilitySpectrum #hypermobilityspectrum #hypermobilityspectrumdisorder #longCovid #longcovid #medicalArt #MillionsMissing #pwLC #pwme

2025-8-30 Post-Exertional Symptom Exacerbation & MCAS Environmental Illness

https://www.illmarks.com/2025-8-30-post-exertional-symptom-exacerbation-mcas-environmental-illness/

#allergy #art #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #bodymapping #buildingbiology #cfs #chronicIllness #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #chronicIllness #environmentalillness #envrionmentalIllness #healthcare #healthcarereform #healthinsurance #longCovid #longcovid #mastCell #mastCellActivationSyndrome #mastCellDisease #mastcell #mastcellactivationsyndrome #mastcelldisease #mcas #me #mecfs #medicalArt #medicalactivism #medicalart #medicalblog #medicalreform #MillionsMissing #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #pem #pese #pwLC #pwme #SciArt #scienceart #usahealthcare #ushealthcare

2025-8-30 Post-Exertional Symptom Exacerbation & MCAS Environmental Illness

https://www.illmarks.com/2025-8-30-post-exertional-symptom-exacerbation-mcas-environmental-illness/

#allergy #art #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #bodymapping #buildingbiology #cfs #chronicIllness #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #chronicIllness #environmentalillness #envrionmentalIllness #healthcare #healthcarereform #healthinsurance #longCovid #longcovid #mastCell #mastCellActivationSyndrome #mastCellDisease #mastcell #mastcellactivationsyndrome #mastcelldisease #mcas #me #mecfs #medicalArt #medicalactivism #medicalart #medicalblog #medicalreform #MillionsMissing #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #pem #pese #pwLC #pwme #SciArt #scienceart #usahealthcare #ushealthcare

2025-8-30 Post-Exertional Symptom Exacerbation & MCAS Environmental Illness

https://www.illmarks.com/2025-8-30-post-exertional-symptom-exacerbation-mcas-environmental-illness/

#allergy #art #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #bodymapping #buildingbiology #cfs #chronicIllness #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #chronicIllness #environmentalillness #envrionmentalIllness #healthcare #healthcarereform #healthinsurance #longCovid #longcovid #mastCell #mastCellActivationSyndrome #mastCellDisease #mastcell #mastcellactivationsyndrome #mastcelldisease #mcas #me #mecfs #medicalArt #medicalactivism #medicalart #medicalblog #medicalreform #MillionsMissing #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #pem #pese #pwLC #pwme #SciArt #scienceart #usahealthcare #ushealthcare

2025-8-30 Post-Exertional Symptom Exacerbation & MCAS Environmental Illness

https://www.illmarks.com/2025-8-30-post-exertional-symptom-exacerbation-mcas-environmental-illness/

#allergy #art #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #bodymapping #buildingbiology #cfs #chronicIllness #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #chronicIllness #environmentalillness #envrionmentalIllness #healthcare #healthcarereform #healthinsurance #longCovid #longcovid #mastCell #mastCellActivationSyndrome #mastCellDisease #mastcell #mastcellactivationsyndrome #mastcelldisease #mcas #me #mecfs #medicalArt #medicalactivism #medicalart #medicalblog #medicalreform #MillionsMissing #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #pem #pese #pwLC #pwme #SciArt #scienceart #usahealthcare #ushealthcare

2025-8-30 Post-Exertional Symptom Exacerbation & MCAS Environmental Illness

https://www.illmarks.com/2025-8-30-post-exertional-symptom-exacerbation-mcas-environmental-illness/

#allergy #art #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #bodymapping #buildingbiology #cfs #chronicIllness #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #chronicIllness #environmentalillness #envrionmentalIllness #healthcare #healthcarereform #healthinsurance #longCovid #longcovid #mastCell #mastCellActivationSyndrome #mastCellDisease #mastcell #mastcellactivationsyndrome #mastcelldisease #mcas #me #mecfs #medicalArt #medicalactivism #medicalart #medicalblog #medicalreform #MillionsMissing #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #pem #pese #pwLC #pwme #SciArt #scienceart #usahealthcare #ushealthcare

2025 September & October: So tired of this same MCAS nightmare

https://www.illmarks.com/2025-september-october-so-tired-of-this-same-mcas-nightmare/

#Allergies #art #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #bodyhorror #bodymapping #buildingbiology #chemicallysensitive #chronicIllness #chronicIllness #GI #immunology #longCovid #longcovid #mastCell #mastcell #mastcellactivationsyndrome #medicalArt #MillionsMissing #pwLC #pwme

Symptom: Environmental Mast Cell Activation Syndrome Hypothesis – Mold

https://www.illmarks.com/symptom-enviro-mcas-hypothesis-mold/

#allergy #art #blackmold #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #buildingBiology #buildingbiology #chronicIllness #evironmental #fountainPen #fountainpen #longCovid #longcovid #mastCell #mastCellActivationSyndrome #mastCellDisease #mastcell #mcas #medicalArt #MillionsMissing #pnw #pwLC #pwme

2025-8-22 Almost a week out of the house stopped me from getting worse, but healing is SO SLOW

The MCAS Environmental Exposure Nightmare Continues

https://www.illmarks.com/2025-8-22-almost-a-week-out-of-the-house-stopped-me-from-getting-worse-but-healing-is-so-slow/

#art #autoimmune #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #chronicIllness #environmental #inktober #longCovid #longcovid #mastCell #mastCellActivationSyndrome #mastcell #mcas #medart #medicalArt #MillionsMissing #pwLC #pwme #SciArt

Symptom: Arthralgia and Arthritis

I need to pick a “job title” to describe the work I do here. I initially tried to make a poll with a plug in, but alas it didn’t work the way I hoped.

Here are some of the options I’m considering. Feel free to reply/comment with any or suggest your own!:

• Health & Care Advocacy Designer
• Mast Cell Artist Syndrome
• Chronically ill-ustrating Health Advocacy
• Plague Artist

Rejected (not great for professional use) options that I’ll share with you because I love you, but don’t tell my PCP about any of these, k?

• Notorious Self-Diagnoser
• Health Insurance Reform Enthusiast
• Creatinine-level Checking Creative
• Medical System Subverter
• Bruh They’re a Totally Sick Designer
• Mario’s Brother Appreciator

https://www.illmarks.com/symptom-arthralgia-and-arthritis-and-a-poll/

#art #arthralgia #autoimmune #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #chronicIllness #eds #heds #hsd #hypermobility #hypermobilityspectrum #longCovid #longcovid #mastCell #mastcell #mcas #medicalArt #MillionsMissing #osteoarthritis #pwLC #pwme #spondylitis #symptom #symptomVisualization #symptomtracking

2025_8_19 The symptoms are coming from inside the house.

2026-3-9 edit: A previous version of this page held steps you can take during the acute infection to lower your risk of Long Covid, or lower the severity of how a reinfection will worsen your existing Long Covid.

Information on supporting a FULL recovery from SARS-CoV-2 is now more accessible on its own permalink page here, or from the top bar: Information > Got a Covid Infection?

https://www.illmarks.com/symptoms-are-coming-long-covid-prevention-tips/

#allergy #art #backToSchool #backtoschool #besafe #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #cdc #chronicIllness #covid #covidIsAirborne #covidIsNotOver #covid19 #covid19 #covidcompetent #CovidIsntOver #environmental #health #healthcare #longCovid #longcovid #maskUp #maskup #mastCell #mastCellActivationSyndrome #mastCellDisease #mastcell #mcas #medArt #medart #medblog #medicalArt #MillionsMissing #pwme #SaltingTheVibes #SaltingTheVibes #sarsCov2 #sars2 #sciArt #SciArt #WearAMask #WearARespirator

2025_8_18 I booked a hotel to try to identify/isolate variables. As soon as I walked in the hotel room, I felt my head swell.

https://www.illmarks.com/2025_8_18-i-booked-a-hotel-to-try-to-identify-isolate-variables-as-soon-as-i-walked-in-the-hotel-room-i-felt-my-head-swell/

#art #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #chronicIllness #chronicMigraine #chronicPain #chronicmigraine #covidIsNotOver #CovidIsntOver #longCovid #longcovid #mastCell #mastCellActivationSyndrome #mastCellDisease #mcas #meCfs #mecfs #medArt #medart #medblog #medicalArt #migraine #MillionsMissing #neurology #POTS #pwLC #pwme

2025_8_14 I feel better out of the house, which is incongruous with ME/CFS Long Covid.

https://www.illmarks.com/2025_8_14-i-feel-better-out-of-the-house-which-is-incongruous-with-me-cfs-long-covid/

#art #autoimmune #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #cfs #chronicIllness #longCovid #longcovid #mastCell #mastCellActivationSyndrome #mastCellDisease #mcas #me #meCfs #mecfs #medArt #medart #medicalArt #medicine #migraine #MillionsMissing #neurology #pwLC #pwme #rheumatology

Symptom: MCAS Brain Fog

This post comes to you with a reminder that while “Brain Fog,” is an apt descriptor, it should not be used to undermine the severity of the condition.

“These are fairly identical functional symptoms that people with Long COVID have, to the symptoms that people within a traumatic brain injury have,” says Dr James C Jackson, psychologist specializing on cognitive rehabilitation and Long Covid.

“Strictly speaking, this is not a traumatic brain injury (TBI) because there’s no external trauma. Which is why if we go down deep, this will be not a TBI that people experience. It would be something called an ABI, the lesser-known cousin of a TBI. Acquired Brain Injuries (ABI) happen often due to internal processes, not external medical processes, inflammation, the 101 other mechanisms that drive these injuries. And when we look at the brains of some Long COVID patients, we see brain damage on MRIs, we see indicators that are not dissimilar from those of people with mild cognitive impairment or a mild TBI.“

Dr Jackson is the author of Clearing the Fog: a book on navigating life with the cognitive and mental health impairments that often accompany Long Covid.

Quotes from Dr Jackson’s appearance on the Me Myself & TBI podcast, edited for clarity & brevity.

https://www.illmarks.com/symptom-mcas-brain-fog/

#abi #allergy #art #autoimmune #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #brainFog #brainfog #chemicallySensitive #chronicIllness #cognitive #cognitiveImpairment #cognitiveImpairments #longCovid #longcovid #mastCell #mastcell #medArt #medart #medical #medicalArt #MillionsMissing #neuro #neurology #neuropsych #psychiatry #Psychology #pwLC #pwme #tbi

2025-8-17 The water isn’t the whole picture… but what is?

https://www.illmarks.com/2025-8-17-the-water-isnt-the-whole-picture-but-what-is/

#allergen #allergy #art #autoimmune #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #chronicIllness #chronicPain #chronicIllness #chronicPain #dermatology #longCovid #longcovid #mastCell #mcas #meCfs #mecfs #medart #medical #medicalArt #medicine #migraine #MillionsMissing #pwLC #pwme #rash #rheumatology #SciArt #sciartseptember #water

2025-8-17 The water isn’t the whole picture… but what is?

https://www.illmarks.com/2025-8-17-the-water-isnt-the-whole-picture-but-what-is/

#allergen #allergy #art #autoimmune #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #chronicIllness #chronicPain #chronicIllness #chronicPain #dermatology #longCovid #longcovid #mastCell #mcas #meCfs #mecfs #medart #medical #medicalArt #medicine #migraine #MillionsMissing #pwLC #pwme #rash #rheumatology #SciArt #sciartseptember #water

2025-8-17 The water isn’t the whole picture… but what is?

https://www.illmarks.com/2025-8-17-the-water-isnt-the-whole-picture-but-what-is/

#allergen #allergy #art #autoimmune #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #chronicIllness #chronicPain #chronicIllness #chronicPain #dermatology #longCovid #longcovid #mastCell #mcas #meCfs #mecfs #medart #medical #medicalArt #medicine #migraine #MillionsMissing #pwLC #pwme #rash #rheumatology #SciArt #sciartseptember #water

2025-8-17 The water isn’t the whole picture… but what is?

https://www.illmarks.com/2025-8-17-the-water-isnt-the-whole-picture-but-what-is/

#allergen #allergy #art #autoimmune #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #chronicIllness #chronicPain #chronicIllness #chronicPain #dermatology #longCovid #longcovid #mastCell #mcas #meCfs #mecfs #medart #medical #medicalArt #medicine #migraine #MillionsMissing #pwLC #pwme #rash #rheumatology #SciArt #sciartseptember #water

2025-8-17 The water isn’t the whole picture… but what is?

https://www.illmarks.com/2025-8-17-the-water-isnt-the-whole-picture-but-what-is/

#allergen #allergy #art #autoimmune #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #chronicIllness #chronicPain #chronicIllness #chronicPain #dermatology #longCovid #longcovid #mastCell #mcas #meCfs #mecfs #medart #medical #medicalArt #medicine #migraine #MillionsMissing #pwLC #pwme #rash #rheumatology #SciArt #sciartseptember #water

2025-8-11 My migraines are triggered by drinking water

https://www.illmarks.com/2025-8-11-my-migraines-are-triggered-by-drinking-water/

#art #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #chronicIllness #chronicMigraine #chronicPain #disability #disabled #longCovid #longcovid #mastcell #mcas #medBlog #medart #medicalArt #medicalBlog #migraine #MillionsMissing #neurology #pwLC #pwme #sciBlog #SciArt

2025-8-9 I almost went in to anaphylaxis from drinking water.

https://www.illmarks.com/2025-8-9-i-almost-went-in-to-anaphylaxis-from-drinking-water/

#allergy #art #autoimmune #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #chronicIllness #immune #immunology #longCovid #longcovid #mastCell #mastcell #mcas #medArt #medBlog #medart #medicalArt #MillionsMissing #pwLC #pwme #sciArt #sciBlog #SciArt

2025-8-9 Is this MCAS anaphylaxis, anxiety, or anaphylaxis from anxiety?

I almost didn’t want to share this one, because I’m in a bit of a nervous state, and I was worried about the people who think people with Long Covid are psychological malingerers, etc. When I had to leave work, and filed for US Social Security Disability, I kept my Generalized Anxiety Disorder out of my initial application, afraid of getting the dreaded “just anxiety,” dismissal that many complex chronic illness kin are familiar with. (I was later told this was a bad move, and to definitely include all mental health and neurodivergence things, which I did for the ongoing process.)

Even as I’m having less anaphylaxis risk, it’s taking time to recover psychologically. I told my therapist how I felt like I backslid over a decade in mental health work overnight from the first recent anaphylaxis episode. She kindly said that while I might feel as scared and threatened as I often did back then, that the trigger was different. I was not feeling that anxious about an email, I was feeling that way about a literal life and death situation, one which I still don’t fully understand the triggers of.

A decade ago, de-stigmatizing mental healthcare was really important to me too. Now, I’m especially aware of how much these issues intersect, so heck yeah, publishing the medical art about anxiety.

Lastly, I wanted to include few examples of the ways in which these issues intersect. These are absolutely the tip of the iceberg.

• Mast Cell Activation Snydrome (often MCAS for space, in my art) can trigger so, so many pyschological symptoms. Mast Attack has a great overview of the topic, and while I haven’t been able to read the study fully because of the severe brain fog, Prevalence and treatment response of neuropsychiatric disorders in mast cell activation syndrome caught my eye.

• Anaphylaxis, or near anaphylaxis, has many symptoms in common with anxiety, from chest tightness to clammy skin, and “a feeling of impending doom”. While MCAS is not allergies, All Things Allergies has an easy intro to anxiety & anaphylaxis, and here’s a study The impact of anaphylaxis on the quality of life and mental health of adults.

• Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome co-occurs with many mental health issues, and I really appreciate how this article lists suspected mechanisms, misattributions, and related factors.

• Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, or POTS, is a form of autonomic dysfuntction (when things your body normally does automatically stop behaving normally), and is a part of my Long Covid. It involves a high heart rate, and often symptoms like room spinning or lightheadedness, trembling or shaking, shortness of breath, and poor bloodflow. POTS is often misdiagnosed as anxiety, and The Disabled Ginger wrote about it here.

Theories that diseases are caused by mental states and can be cured by will power are always an index of how much is not understood about the physical terrain of a disease.

Moreover, there is a peculiarly modern predilection for psychological explanations of a disease, as of everything else. Psychologizing seems to provide control over the experiences and events (like grave illnesses) over which people have in fact little or no control. Psychological understanding undermines the ‘reality’ of a disease. That reality has to be explained.

Susan Sontag, illness as metaphor (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1977), p. 55.

p.s. mental health is physical health and physical health is mental health. you got a literal brain in your body and all of your body is involved in everything that you do. please take care of yourselves and each other. <3

https://www.illmarks.com/2025-8-9-is-this-mcas-anaphylaxis/

#allergy #anaphylaxis #anxiety #art #autoimmune #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #chronicIllness #gad #generalizedAnxiety #immune #longCovid #longcovid #mastCell #mastCellActivationSyndrome #mastCellDisease #mastcell #mcas #medart #medblog #medicalArt #medwriting #mentalHealth #MillionsMissing #pwLC #pwme #SciArt #sciblog #sciwriting #symptom

2025-7-30 I woke up to the migraine spreading. What is it and how do I stop it?!

https://www.illmarks.com/2025-7-30-i-woke-up-to-the-migraine-spreading-what-is-it-and-how-do-i-stop-it/

#art #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #chronicIllness #chronicPain #longCovid #longcovid #mastCell #mcas #medart #medicalArt #migraine #MillionsMissing #pwLC #pwme #SciArt

Symptoms: Photosensitivity and Venous Insufficiency

https://www.illmarks.com/symptom-photosensitivity-and-venous-insufficiency/

#art #autoimmune #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #cardiology #chronicIllness #immunocompromised #longCovid #longcovid #medart #medicalArt #MillionsMissing #pwLC #pwme #rheumatology #SciArt

Symptom: MCAS Bucket Explosion
Triggers Include: Drinking Water, Brushing Teeth, Being Inside

Seattle area folks who can attend IRL events:
I will be teaching a respirator-required art workshop related to this project, Bookmarks on the Body, at QTBIPOC Arts Space The Fishbowl on August 27, 6-9pm. I would love to see you there.

While this is not a hybrid event, I am creating virtual-only and disability-focused workshops! I will be using what I learn from this first workshop to improve the format, structure, and content.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me illmarks @ nyx mir dot com

https://www.illmarks.com/symptom-mcas-bucket-explosion/

#allergy #art #autoimmune #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #chronicIllness #chronicPain #longCovid #longcovid #mastCell #mastCellActivationSyndrome #mastcell #mcas #medart #medicalArt #migraine #MillionsMissing #pwLC #pwme #SciArt #seatac #seattle

https://www.illmarks.com/2025-7-25-poor-posture-in-car-ride-home-from-neurology-2-hours-away/

#acne #art #body #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #brain #chronicIllness #chronicPain #disability #fountainPen #fountainpen #ink #longCovid #longcovid #medicalArt #MillionsMissing #neurology #pwLC #pwme #shimmer

Symptom: Guilt that a treatment is working.

When I was trying to wrap my head around this new experience, I learned about AIDS Survivor Syndrome. As I’ve referenced in earlier pieces, and said in interviews, I often find kinship as I learn more about the HIV/AIDS pandemic. I see highly politicized, post-acute viral illnesses, which disproportionately impact queer people. I see pandemics which are ongoing yet treated as finished, and have their important social supports threatened or dismantled.

It’s important to note that my Long Covid has not jeopardized my life explicitly, and there are differences in how these illnesses are/were stigmatized. And yet I think this kinship matters less to me in easily defined traits than in the murky, isolating ones. Chronic illnesses don’t always fit in sick/healthy or get better soon/terminal dualities. There’s a wide range of symptom presentations and severity in Long Covid: from the people who have it for a few months and recover, to those of us whose illnesses are expected to be lifelong. Even for people who have “mild” Covid and “fully recover” without Long Covid, there are increased risks to their hearts, brains, lungs, and more, regardless of age.

And perhaps most on-theme for this blog, the overlap of these two pandemics mean we can create our own version of the art activism which changed the course of the AIDS Pandemic, and we should.*

* email illmarks @ nyx mir . com if you want to make a long covid ACT UP together

I was glad to learn this weird feeling was not just me, and because it might also be someone reading this blog’s too, here are a few quotes from Understanding “Post-AIDS Survivor Syndrome”: A Record of Personal Experiences by Stacy N. Broun, PhD. The situations are different, Long Covid today has nowhere near the efficacy of treatments as those for HIV in 1998. The medication which is helping me with the severity of my ME/CFS doesn’t help with the aggressively chronic migraines, joint pain, and many other symptoms.

I hope that there will be more effective treatments for us, and hopefully this blog will still be around then. If anyone feels some kind of way about having an effective treatment at long last–maybe they’ll be able to end up here and feel less alone.

Some excerpts from Understanding “Post-AIDS Survivor Syndrome”: A Record of Personal Experiences:

• “For those HIV/AIDS affected persons, who have lived past 10 years or so and have been preparing to die, have not been working, have been viaticating life insurance policies, etc.—what happens to those people when they suddenly feel, as one patient put it, ‘sentenced to live.’ I have chosen to call this post-AIDS survivor syndrome.”

• “The good news is that you may live, bringing with that hope, better health, new relationships, and fresh starts. The bad news is that you may live, bringing with it fear of change, fear of loss of support, new responsibilities, and compromised health. It is quite a paradox, one that for many has forced a reevaluation of their lives, sometimes bringing about a severe depression. The fear and uncertainty mixed with hope and the prospect of a long life has produced clinical symptoms of depression in many HIV-impacted patients.”

• “There is survivor guilt; these people have watched friends and lovers die, and now they may not. While feeling grateful, they are angry that their loved ones did not have the same chances.”

This is a lot of what I feel with regard to having a helpful medication for my ME/CFS-like Long Covid symptoms. So many people I know and love, have ME/CFS and have been sick for much, much longer, and are significantly more severely impacted. We have also (CW suicide!) lost many in our communities.

• “One of my patients, a woman, has been through so many wonder drugs that she does not comply with her medications because she does not want to get her hopes up and then have them smashed again.”

• “I was interviewed by Laura Beil with the Dallas Morning News. She asked me […] How can anything that is so clearly good news be met with anything other than joy? My patients talk about living in the world of AIDS and, that if you are not there, you simply cannot understand.”

I think that is another aspect, less so about the specific art upthread, but a larger and more difficult issue. My pocket friends, you are such wonderful company. Most people understand, here, maybe because you are already covid conscious, or because the art is helpful, or something else. I’ve also built a world and literally filled it with hundreds of bodies, each impacted by the ongoing pandemic.

When I muster the ability to go do a thing, most of the bodies I see do not behave as though there is a pandemic. They also do not understand that I am sick, and have very different expectations of me. I often do not have the words or energy to explain either, which furthers the disconnection.

• “As David Levithan wrote in Utne Reader: ‘At first when my T cells went up, I was ecstatic. Then I got scared, because now I have more to lose. I’ve survived the experience of almost dying, then come back as healthy as before. But sometimes I wonder if I have the strength to go through that loss again. Moreover the loss cuts both ways: Even when things change for the better, there’s a sense of loss. As much as I want to recover, part of me got attached to an image of myself as fragile and needy. I was afraid of losing the support I’d gotten being sick.'”

We are not yet at this place in Long Covid and related conditions, and many of us are still indefinitely ill. But when different treatments are effective and accessible, I hope people won’t blame themselves for feeling grief when losing an identity they had no choice but to accept to survive.

“So, where do we go from here. I imagine that everyone with HIV wants answers and direction. Of any population that can deal with these new developments, you can. You have learned to live for today and in doing so, live your future. You have felt less control and lived with that too.”

https://www.illmarks.com/symptom-guilt-that-a-treatment-is-working/

#actup #aids #aidspandemic #art #bodyMapping #chronicIllness #covid #granfury #hiv #hivpandemic #longCovid #longcovid #meCfs #mecfs #medart #medicalArt #MillionsMissing #Pandemic #pwLC #pwme #queerArt #sarsCov2 #SciArt #survivorSGuilt

Treatment: The ER’s Embrace

https://www.illmarks.com/treatment-the-ers-embrace/

#bodyHorror #bodyMapping #chronicIllness #ER #longCovid #longcovid #medArt #medart #medicalArt #pwLC #pwme #sciArt #SciArt #scienceArt

Symptom: Peripheral Neuropathy

https://www.illmarks.com/symptom-peripheral-neuropathy/

#anatomy #anatomyArt #art #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #chemo #chronicIllness #chronicPain #longcovid #medart #medical #medicalArt #MillionsMissing #nervousSystem #neuropathy #peripheralNeuropathy #polyneuropathy #pwLC #pwme #SciArt #science #scienceArt #sideEffects

2025-2-12 Starting imatinib for resistant mast cell symptoms.

https://www.illmarks.com/2025-2-12-starting-imatinib-for-resistant-mast-cell-symptoms/

#art #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #chemo #chronicIllness #chronicIllnessArt #disabilityArt #gleevec #glivec #imatinib #invisibleDisabilities #invisibleIllness #invisibleIllnesses #longCovid #longcovid #mastCell #mastCellActivationSyndrome #mastCellDisease #mastcell #mastocytosis #meCfs #mecfs #medart #medicalArt #MillionsMissing #nausea #pwLC #pwme #SciArt #scienceArt #tki