Covid-19 vaccination experiences

I dont know but when I googled it a lot of people were saying their second jab caused a stronger reaction because the first one primed their immune system.

https://www.healthline.com/health-n...accine-will-likely-have-stronger-side-effects

However these are people who did not have a strong reaction to the first jab and I am hoping that if one had a strong reaction to the first jab then its likely to be because one was already primed by previous COVID infection, so by that logic the second jab will probably be no worse but not likely to be much better either.

Sorry to be the bearer of such news but I thought it best to discuss it.

 

I was at the dentist today, finally after losing a filling the first week of lockdown last year. We were talking about the vaccines and they had both had the second dose of the pfizer a couple of weeks ago. They found they had less problems with this although they were worried as they had heard it was worse.

 

Today is a week to the day since my first dose of AZ vaccine. No noticeable reaction.

IM had his first dose this morning.

 

Covid vaccine side effects: When the most common symptoms show after getting the jab, and how long they last

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/fa...-they-last/ar-BB1eLoNR?ocid=ASUDHP&li=BBoPWjQ

Doesn't specify which vaccine, but since it's a UK site it's presumably either Pfizer and/or AstraZeneca.

 

I'd expect both to be worse after the second dose.

 

It's now five days since my first AZ jab and I have noticed increased energy and mental focus since having the jab. I had experienced a severe drop off in both of these things since mid December when I suspect I had Covid and then ongoing 'Long Covid' symptoms. I now feel as if I am close to returning to my early December levels of energy and focus. I hope this persists and that I am able to return to my 'old normal'.

 

Another list of the most common post-vaccination reactions for the AstraZeneca jab:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/me...-reactions/ar-BB1f2R9H?ocid=ASUDHP&li=AAnZ9Ug

 

IM had a little tenderness around the injection site, both to touch and he could feel it when he moved his arm around. He chose to have it in his left arm as he's right handed but he sleeps on his left side so it was a bit uncomfortable the first night and he tried to sleep on his other side.

He had no other obvious side effects.

Today is day 3 post vaccination and he seems more or less back to normal.

Edit - for those who don't know, IM is my husband and he doesn't have ME.

 

I had AZ vaccine a couple days ago. I had disturbed sleep but otherwise no side effects. I feel more ill today but i think it is PEM rather then side effects of the vaccine itself. Arm didn't really hurt either.

My wife had it the same day as me, healthy, and was floored by it, felt like she had bad flu.

We had it at a local surgery. Five minutes from short queue at the front door to back at the car. Bigger places the queue can be a lot longer apparently.

 

I had AstraZeneca on Sat. No waiting and things run super efficiently. I felt worse as the day went on, and unable to sleep due to joint pain( maybe worse as I am a chronic pain sufferer), and feeling generally fluey.

36 hours later, much improved and feeling very grateful to have been 'done'

 

Merged thread.

I'm aware we have threads on Coronavirus vaccines and threads on our own personal experiences. This thread (and I hope I am not duplicating anything) is for discussion on the long or adverse reactions being experienced by some people with ME to the vaccines.

From the MEA website survey I can see 6% of respondents selected the option "The issues remain unresolved and have led to a relapse in ME/CFS."

and from the "Healthrising" forum on the Astra Zeneca vaccine

Twelve percent reported it took up to two weeks, 9% reported it took up to a month, and 9% reported they were still experiencing them a month later (n=312)

So we have a subgroup of PWME who are being adversely affected for weeks or a month.

Any ideas on what could be going on in this group? (and I am in it BTW)

 

Can we be sure about that? A few percent of people are likely to have had a bad patch by chance and there is certain to be reporting bias in any survey.

Putting people off vaccines is not something one wants to get involved in lightly.

 

Also in the surveys we can not control for extraneous associated factors.

For example for me getting the first vaccine injection involved leaving the house for the first time in over six months, getting somewhat euphoric (not sure if it was going out in good weather, meeting actual people other than my carer, seeing a possible end to the pandemic, etc.), because of closed roads we had to take a detour going to the surgery and because of the good weather took a scenic detour on the way back so the [round] trip took two hours, etc

Fortunately my adverse reaction, though bad, only lasted three days, but I can not tease out how much was the vaccine and how much PEM resulting from the associated additional exertion.

[corrected typo]

 

I don't know how else to determine this. My reaction wasn't anything like a ME bad patch but I have no way of knowing if the people on the MEA survey etc are in the same boat.

How could we find off without putting people of getting the vaccine? If there is a vaccine that causes less long term side effects or a way of mitigating the side effects (i didn't find any of the things online useful) is there a way of finding out.

 

Anecdotally, quite a few people I know (not PWME) are taking to their bed with flu-like symptoms for a couple of days or more following the AZ first jab, and it's becoming received wisdom around here.

My wife had Pfizer on Sunday and is fine.

I heard on "More or Less" this morning that following the AZ jab some people's dishwasher had broken down.

 

I'm hearing the same from people I know.

 

Yep. I've heard this too but I've also heard about plenty of others who have just had an "off" day or two where they were a bit below par or others who just felt a bit tired.

 

I think it's natural that we're more likely to hear anecdotes from people who had a rough time of it than those with no real side effects to speak of.simply because people who have had issues are more likely to discuss them.

This doesn't make the issues any less unpleasant I'm sure.

 

I think it may be very hard to determine without a formal blinded study which would not be practical at this point. Sometimes gathering information we want may just not be feasible.

The reports of 5-% having a worsening of ME are certainly worth taking seriously but I think it is important not to conclude a causal link without more robust information.