Hi, Just a general enquiry as to whether people on this forum with PMR and on steroids are still wearing masks? I am at present, but seem to be the only one in shops, occasional very short bus journeys etc who is! I'm currently on 6.5mgs. Just wondering how immune suppressed I actually am after 2 yrs on steroids.
Thanks for any insights/opinions.
Hello Pusph! I no longer wear a mask - always had doubts about their efficacy, anyway! But I wash my hands regularly and ask people with coughs and colds not to call around. I see people wearing masks though.
Personal choice I think, and probably depends on what environment. I do still see some mask wearers, but few and far between.. but then I don’t go into large shopping centres nor on public transport.
I still wear one on occasion. Crowded public transport, busy medical settings etc. A hospital near me brought back compulsory mask wearing earlier in the year for a while. I'm a regular visitor to a nursing home so COVID is still very much on my radar.
Masks DO work, a proper FFP2 reduces risk a lot even if it is just you using one. I used one in November while flying to the UK and back. Not just because of Covid but it protects you from the variety of cold and flu viruses that almost everyone always complains about after flying. I carry one - and if hordes of school children invade the bus or train I'm on I will dig it out for exactly the same reason.
Throughout the time Covid was particularly rampant I was on 15mg and above, for the last 2 years I have been on tocilizumab, a further immunosuppressant. I still haven't knowingly had Covid - or any colds/flu after the flights in November .
There are people here in Italy wearing masks but quite random. Certain departments in the hospital still request them.
I can’t remember the last time I wore a face mask but I carry one at most times incase I find myself in a situation that’s crowded or where someone is coughing and from which I can’t easily extract myself. Not much use if I’ve already been coughed or sneezed over though. I also carry a small bottle of anti-bac hand gel.
I’ve always worn one since the covid Outbreak. Haven’t had bronchitis, tonsillitis, flu, or even a cold, etc. used to get them yearly. My husband wears one too, to protect me.
I always have a couple of masks in my bag anyway, plus a hand sanitiser & wet wipes that l have for the Grandchildren.
I went for a Scan recently & everyone in the waiting room had a cough, so on with the 😷
I think it’s best to weigh up the situation, in the end it can’t hurt!
I had an antibody test recently and I am full of antibodies! I have not had a vaccination for quite a while as I reacted so badly to the Pfizer vaccine.
I'm still wearing one whenever I go out, which is mostly to hospital, clinic or pharmacy anyway. Mask wearing where I live isn't common, but plenty of older folks are still using them. If someone like a plumber comes to the house I ask them to wear a mask and I open the windows. Socialising is the same. We mostly have day time visitors, for coffee, and make sure they're healthy and open the windows. That sometimes means we sit around the kitchen table in our puffer jackets but, you'd do that at a street cafe in Florence in winter anyway wouldn't you?
I'm so over masks, but even more over the regular miserable setbacks from GCA PMR. Adding in a case of flu or Covid is better avoided I believe. Plus right now I'm in count down for a hip replacement and I'm not going to do ANYTHING to risk a postponement.
I wear a mask, hospitals, doctors etc around here insist on us all wearing them, it doesn't matter what other do or think, it is you being sensible x
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