“Vigorous writing is concise.” William Strunk Jr.
“Atomic newsletter” this week on my immune system as a direct beneficiary of my good gut. This will be brief and to the point.
Since we’re entrenched in a presidential election season here in the States, I thought I’d borrow a line from every Presidential State of the Union Address, slightly adapted to my immune system at this moment
Think of it as my State of “Immunion” Address.
“I report to you today that the state of my immune system is strong!”
How do I know that? Sure 70% of our immune system resides in our gut and I’m the owner of a good gut, but some cues will tell you in no uncertain terms that things are working as advertised.
One of these cues is the body’s reaction after a vaccination.
Pull up a chair.
A couple of days ago I received the latest Covid booster. I’ll remind you this discussion is about my immune system, not a Thanksgiving Day dinner table discussion with crazy Uncle Jeff about my feelings on vaccinations.
But in case you’re wondering about my personal vaccination history…
Any hesitations I might have had about vaccinations left my brain matter after the U.S. Army was done with me. Basic training saw me walk between 6 medical personnel, 2 by 2, each with an immunization gun in their hand.
I took a step to the first two and they blasted me with a shot in each arm. The next step rewarded me with two more shots. The third step left me with aching arms and 6 vaccinations on board.
Some 8 years later, there was a series of Anthrax deployments by nefarious actors so we were hustled through for Anthrax vaccinations. If I was ever destined to be a constituent of the anti-vaxxer movement, it probably would have been before I had remnants of a lethal biological agent introduced subcutaneously.
Back to a couple of days ago.
It was an uneventful 4PM shot in my arm. (even if the tech needed to be reminded there was a bone that prevented her from going any deeper) Sure the arm ached a bit initially but the next 12 hours or so was peaceful.
I awoke the next morning around 5AM to another normal day, roughly 160 lbs of golden retrievers in my personal space. By 8:30 AM, it felt similar to my initial Covid infection in March 2020. Chills and body aches came on with a vengeance. Thankfully the respiratory distress didn’t make the journey from the 2020 experience.
But don’t take my word for it. Here’s some good reading from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (a division of NIH) on vaccine side effects and signaling their effectiveness
But wait…there’s more!
If a refresher is needed on the gut and immune system connection, here are some thoughts I had on this subject from about a year ago in The Gut Pilot archives.
And as always, thanks for reading,
Jeff
