Josh Packham – aka one of the hot twins from The Block and Love Island – has revealed on an Instagram Story that he’ll be following the Joe Rogan method for recovering from COVID-19, which very much feels like a bad idea.
Packham confirmed he caught COVID-19 after a trip to Melbourne, where he was watching his twin Luke compete in a celeb boxing match.
He jumped on Insta Stories while in isolation to answer fan questions, where he was asked about having COVID-19.
Packham said that his symptoms were mild, before going into a slightly weird spiel about government recommendations for recovering from COVID.
“What I am concerned about is there’s no early prevention methods put in place by the government,” he said.
“They basically just say have a vaccine and if you catch it, stay in isolation for 14 days and if you’re a really really bad case, you’ll go to hospital.”
“I’m gonna listen to Joe Rogan [and] Dana White, they had Azithromycin, Monoclonal and Ivermectin. I’ve got those three on the way for myself today.”
So, it should be noted: Ivermectin is a drug which is used to treat infections by lice and worms. It’s not been approved for COVID-19 treatments (no matter what famed talking meatball Joe Rogan says).
In fact, the FDA has a whole webpage dedicated to why it’s bad for you to take it unecessarily.
You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it. https://t.co/TWb75xYEY4
— U.S. FDA (@US_FDA) August 21, 2021
According to the FDA, Ivermectin can give you vomiting, diarrhoea, low blood pressure, dizziness, seizures, balance issues, allergic reactions, a coma, and potentially even death.
In his vid, Josh Packham continued, “the government for some reason don’t want people to take [the drugs].”
I wonder why!
“Apparently they’re dangerous….but I’m gonna take it, we’ll see if it works for me, I’m sure it will”.
I won’t lie, it’s giving real ‘I’m just built different’ energy, sorry Josh.
The reason the government doesn’t want you taking random drugs to treat COVID is because those drugs haven’t necessarily been proven to help. In fact, something like Ivermectin is actively dangerous if you take it wrong.
Azithromycin, one of the other drugs cited by Packham, is a type of antibiotic. In the US some doctors have trialled it as a treatment for COVID, but according to a study by the University of California San Francisco, it didn’t prevent or treat symptoms.
Catherine E. Oldenburg, the lead author of the study, said that their “findings do not support the routine use of azithromycin for outpatient SARS-CoV-2 infection”.
Using the antibiotic for COVID-19 could also potentially lead to antibiotic resistance among patients.
It’s important to remember that there isn’t a fix-all cure or treatment for COVID. Your best chance of being protected against the virus is still getting vaccinated and when you can, getting your booster jab.
In the World Health Organisation’s very handy COVID-19 FAQ, the explicitly say not to try and self-medicate.
“WHO does not recommend self-medication with any medicines, including antibiotics, as a prevention or cure for COVID-19.”
Tell it like it is, WHO!
So please god, if you get COVID, take your doctor’s advice and stock up on paracetamol, not a drug for horses.
