Covid-19 vaccination experiences

This thread has been split from the Covid-19 Vaccines and Vaccination thread.

I had my Covid-19 jab yesterday (Oxford/AstraZeneca), and thought people might be interested in my reaction to it. However, this should be taken in context:

1. I don't have ME.

2. The day before, I was under a lot of stress/tension, physical and mental, which I think also played a part in my reaction, so I can't be sure that everything I experienced was actually down to the vaccine.

For the first 10 hours or so after vaccination, I felt fine. Then I started feeling cold and shivery, and getting a nasty headache, plus a slightly upset stomach. A lot of muscular aches and pains, especially around the lower back and hips, and legs getting cold below - in fact, I was surprised at just how similar the symptoms were to what I used to get with my period. Had a bad night, what with the head and muscle pain - with hindsight, I should have admitted defeat and taken paracetamol, but I can be stubborn like that. Finally took some paracetamol about 8 am, slept for 3 solid hours and felt much better on waking.

24 hours on from that, I'm concluding that what I'm still feeling is probably what I was suffering from prior to vaccination anyway: nagging, but far slighter, headache (I'd had indications that I might have been heading for a migraine anyway), lower back/hip/back/neck/leg muscle pain (far less) probably down to carrying a heavy backpack yesterday and spending too long working at the computer at home on an unsuitable chair and with a lot of tension in my body the previous day. The only thing I can definitely put down to the vaccine is a certain amount of muscle soreness around the injection site. So whether the vaccine exacerbated other things I was already suffering from or not I really can't be sure.

Now off for a nice hot Radox bath to see if I can do something about the rest of the muscle aches ...

 

I had the AZ vaccine this week due to being in Category 6. The first day I just had soreness at the injection site and a bad headache. I woke up that night with chills and then intermittent fever and the 2nd day I've had muscle weakness, fever, nausea and a really bad headache. I felt like I was too tired to do anything except rest in bed. I tried taking extra steroids (I'm steroid dependent) to see if it would help but the symptoms persisted. Paracetamol helps a bit. I'm hoping it will be better tomorrow.

Does anyone know....

1) Would having stronger "side effects" indicate that you are mounting a stronger immune response and making more antibodies or is there no correlation. My parents had the same vaccine (AZ) a few weeks ago and one had just a sore arm and the other just felt tired for a day. They think their immune systems are weaker due to being older.

2) What exactly is your immune system doing that causes you to have a headache, nausea, muscle weakness. I mean what are the biological mechanisms at work? When I look it up on the NHS website it just says you get side effects because your immune system is responding to the vaccine which is very vague. I'm curious to understand what is going on inside your body that ends up giving you those kinds of symptoms.

@Sly Saint
I was worried about having the vaccine as I've had some bad drug responses in the past (face swelled up, hives, bronchospasm) but I didn't get any kind of immediate bad reaction like that to the AZ vaccine.

 

My whole family have had the Pfizer jab and none of us have had issues. Incidentally, the day after my jab, I woke up feeling really great, except for in the arm where I had the jab.

In my case, I thought getting the jab in my left arm made sense, but forgot that I always sleep on my left-hand side (and roll onto my left if I try sleeping on my right). So if you're like me, and have particular positions in bed that are comfy, take that into consideration!

 

Just a quick update to say that I was able to get the Pfizer vaccine after turning down my first invitation for Oxford/AstraZeneca a couple of weeks ago (my GP surgery had its first delivery of Pfizer this week since the first week of January!). I was a bit worried about asking for a specific vaccine because the public health message in the UK seems to be that there is no choice and that you should take the first vaccine you are offered. However there were no issues with my GP surgery in asking - they are running separate clinics for the different vaccines and were very happy to book me in for the vaccine of my choice.

So I had my first dose of Pfizer vaccine on Thursday. I’ve never had any allergic reactions but I can be sensitive to medications so I was a little anxious beforehand. I was a bit wiped out for the following two days but that could probably be explained by the exertion of getting to the GP surgery and back. I didn’t otherwise notice any side effects apart from a very slight headache and a sore arm. Overall I’m just feeling happy and relieved to have received my first dose of vaccine.

 

I received the AZ/Oxford vaccine 2 weeks ago, I'm included in CEV group 4 due to taking immunosuppressants + cardiovascular comorbidity.

I had the vaccine the day before my fortnightly Adalimumab injection was scheduled. I then delayed the Adalimumab dose by a few days on the advice of the hospital Rheumy pharmacist. It seemed as though this was just to not double-down on side effects, rather than due to any expectation of changing efficacy of the vaccine - not clear to me if there is any data on this either way yet.

As commonly reported I had mild temperature & felt rough the day after, but it lifted and I felt OK within a few days. Interestingly about 5 days after I had an unusually significant flare in pre-existing neuropathic pain and sensory issues in my foot. Largely back to my normal now though.

 

Had my jab today. The only unforeseen snag was being asked to remove the FFP3 mask I'd bought for the visit and had put on a few seconds earlier, and replace it with a clean surgical mask.

I told the volunteer doing the welcoming that I was too scared to go into a busy building without a filtering mask. I explained that I'd only just put the new mask on, showed her the sterile wrapper that was still in my lap, and asked if I could put the surgical mask over the top instead. She didn't really know, so that's what I did. Most other people were wearing cotton face coverings, and I can understand why those running the centre might want to ask them to replace them, as they've no way of knowing how effective or even clean they are – it just hadn't occurred to me beforehand.

After that, it was very organised and straightforward. Hugely busy, but people were being very careful to maintain at least two metres distance, and it's a large building. Disabled parking and wheelchair access had been carefully worked out, and there were even wheelchair spaces as well as chairs in the waiting area where you sit after the injection.

Even though I'd entered my NHS number in the app when I made my booking, I was asked for it twice. As it happened I had a repeat prescription form in my purse, but for those in the UK who get their confirmation via a brief SMS rather than with a letter, it's worth knowing that you might be asked for it.

 

I’ll give this one a read @Binkie4

just had my first Oxford jab a couple of hrs ago so hopefully the couple of days off work I’ve taken will be sufficient (ever hopeful/in denial)

queuing was just about manageable (10 min wait) and no waiting around afterwards

we are all relieved tbh.

 

Good luck with the side effects, if any, @arewenearlythereyet . The data is showing reduced side effects after second jab for oxford which is good. We had Oxford and Mr B had no side effects for his first dose - I should correct myself- he had a sore arm for 10 minutes. I was not so lucky.
Webinar/ Q and A is interesting.

 

I heard that astra zeneca side effects are more common in younger people.

 

Here in Quebec the chronically ill and the disabled have not yet been called to be vaccinated. The focus has been on the over 80s, and presently the over 70s. The 60 year olds come next I believe but I am not sure when that will begin, and then it is the turn of the chronically ill. So, a few more weeks of waiting for those with ME, and other difficult illnesses.

I am a caregiver, so I am not suffering from ME. I qualified for a jab on Friday, as I am the caregiver of a very elderly Mother. I must say, the side effects of the Moderna Vaccine were not pleasant. Upon returning home, I collapsed on the chesterfield and was unable to move my body for several hours; the arm was sore also. There was a general feeling of being unwell. During the night, even yesterday, the discomfort continued until I took Ibuprofen again, as well as Robaxin and believe it or not, 1/4 tablet of Propanalol. I feel alright today. The second jab is scheduled for the end of June--3 months from now. I am not sure if that is good idea or not, but the policy here seems to be to vaccinate the majority of the population with at least one shot. My friends, those who have had 2 jabs, are reporting that staying in bed for several days to one week was not unusual--fever, sick feeling, nausea. They all had the Phizer.

I hope that when my daughter receives her vaccination, things will be bearable.

 

— mods, please feel free to move if this post is in the wrong thread —

Is there any tally of reactions to the 2nd Pfizer dose? Scuttlebut and also the nurse who administered it say to expect a greater reaction to the 2nd shot. I had the 1st one on Friday and so far, I don’t feel much worse than the round trip to the administering site and slog though its block-long hallways would have done on their own. I did have a greater reaction with this one than to any other vx (I get zero from most others). I suspect this is by design.

So I’m now thinking that the first may be enough, as it seems to prevent severe cases by itself. Of course, I don’t want to catch the bug and possibly get post-viral syndrome after a moderate run-in with the virus. Brain fog and language imprecision are a problem right now, so I won’t make any decisions until that at least partly clears.

 

There's a Facebook group where people with ME/CFS share their experiences with the vaccines. It may be a bit hard to follow but I've been a member since almost the beginning and my impression is that indeed the second dose of Pfizer tends to give you a greater reaction. Here is the group if others are interested in following it: https://www.facebook.com/groups/226441995768222
There are some weird posts here and there but the admins try to keep it scientific.

Also, there was a poll on Health Rising a couple of weeks ago and I think the results were similar there too.

 

Welll, FWIW, whatever aftereffects the vax had over what would have been caused by the several hours of stuff involved are now gone, so I’m back to my usual state of semi-zombification. So if the 2nd shot is 3x more, it’s still not a big deal. The site itself and the walking, sitting, waiting and more walking involved may be a problem. I don’t use a wheelchair.... too demoralizing. Maybe I should get one.

Edit: That improvement didn’t last. It’s a week later and now I believe I’ve improved to about the level indicated in this post. So around 10 days of being wiped out after the 1st shot & associated travels.

 

Finally vaccinated. Very tired from stimulation. Taking paracetamol and going for a nap.

 

- Is the the correct thread to post/ask about Covid-19 vaccine reactions? -

 

J & J one and done—no probs at all.

 

Just a quick report back on my Oxford jab.

the side effects for me were short lived and minor. Took about 12 hrs to see any real effects. Initially slightly achy arm then after 24 hrs a bit of nausea (nothing I couldn’t handle). Main issue was I couldn’t sleep at all the following night so rested fully following day. All symptoms resolved after 3 days.