Good News--No Bad Side effects to Covid Vaccine

[Alan]

Over this past week 5 of our siblings and their spouses have had their 2nd shots of AZ or Pfizer and none have reported any side effects other than a mildly sore arm for a day or 2.

 

[Freedom56]

I had my second dose of Pfizer on Friday the 30th of April. On Saturday I felt a bit tired with some soreness at the injection site. My blood oxygen was 98 but I had a slight fever of 100.4 so I took two acetaminophen (650mg) tablets. Today (Sunday) I feel fine with no pain or soreness and my temperature is at 97.2 degrees.

 

[mountainsoft]

I'm finally eligible, so I got my first Pfizer COVID shot yesterday. The shot itself was nothing, could barely even feel it. So I went and sat in the post vaccine area for 15 minutes as directed. I had my legs crossed, left foot up on my right knee, just reading news on my phone while I waited. Within a couple minutes my left foot started feeling numb and tingly, like when it goes to sleep. I figured it was the way I was sitting, so I put my foot back on the ground and tried to wiggle my foot and toes to regain circulation. But, the numb feeling remained.

My 15 minutes were up, so I got up and walked around the store to find a Mother's day card. Foot was still numb and tingly, but I didn't give it much thought. Left the store and started driving to the bank, when my left hand started feeling tingly too. That's weird.

So I finally get back home and started work on a small DIY project. My left foot and hand weren't feeling as numb, but now my right foot started getting tingly. What the heck?

I felt fine otherwise, so I figured I would wait it out and see what progressed. It took about seven hours from the time I got my shot, but the tingling and numbness finally went away.

I had not heard of the tingly/numbness on any of the side effect lists, so I assumed it was just coincidence. Of course, when I got home I did a quick Google search and discovered quite a few people experience this side effect, some lasting days or weeks. Funny it's never mentioned in official sources?

Anyway, next day I'm doing fine. Arm muscle is a little sore, but not even worth taking an Advil for. Second appointment scheduled in three weeks.

 

[tmm99]

Maybe mine is different from what mountainsoft experienced, but after my first Pfizer shot, I got a very heavy feeling in the arm I received the injection, similar to the feeling you get after having lifted heavy dumbells repeatedly after a long break. That effect was immediate. I felt the jab and then some sensation in the arm - like something hot spreading in my arm, then the heavy feeling. Maybe she hit a nerve?

The nurse tried to pinch my arm kind of hard before she gave me the jab - I don't have a lot of fat in that part of my arm and I'm small, so maybe she needed to pinch my arm hard enough to give it some height or what, I don't know... I've been jabbed so many times in the past, but I've never paid such close attention when I was getting a shot, so I don't know if this is something they do every time or not...

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

DW and I got the Moderna vax.
Both of us had zero reaction.
Both kids the same. [emoji4]

 

[Aerides]

The nurse tried to pinch my arm kind of hard before she gave me the jab - I don't have a lot of fat in that part of my arm and I'm small, so maybe she needed to pinch my arm hard enough to give it some height or what, I don't know... I've been jabbed so many times in the past, but I've never paid such close attention when I was getting a shot, so I don't know if this is something they do every time or not...

This is a different placement than, say, a flu shot, but your experience is exactly how it works. They inject deep into the muscle. The pinching helps make sure they are in the right area. And yes, the mildly overworked feeling is normal.

 

[tmm99]

This is a different placement than, say, a flu shot, but your experience is exactly how it works. They inject deep into the muscle. The pinching helps make sure they are in the right area. And yes, the mildly overworked feeling is normal.

Oh good! Thanks for the assurance! The heavy arm feeling happened pretty much immediately after my shot, and I didn't see anybody mentioning any effect right after, so I thought it was just me. :laugh

DH just came home after having received his first shot, and his injection site is pretty high up on his arm as well, which made me feel a bit relieved as well.

 

[Aerides]

Oh good! Thanks for the assurance! The heavy arm feeling happened pretty much immediately after my shot, and I didn't see anybody mentioning any effect right after, so I thought it was just me. I think the hot/burning feeling spreading right after the injection, along with the heavy arm worried me a little, so thanks for your post! DH just came home after having received his first shot, and his injection site is pretty high up on his arm as well, which made me feel a bit relieved as well.

Yeah I think that's what people mean when they say they were sore. I found lifting my arm sideways above shoulder level, that's where it felt tight, kinda like maybe someone punched me there? And heavy overnight, but better the next day or so. And yes the jab entry is almost more the shoulder/delt muscle, high on the arm.

2nd shot was the exact same experience for me.

 

[tmm99]

Yeah I think that's what people mean when they say they were sore. I found lifting my arm sideways above shoulder level, that's where it felt tight, kinda like maybe someone punched me there? And heavy overnight, but better the next day or so. And yes the jab entry is almost more the shoulder/delt muscle, high on the arm.

2nd shot was the exact same experience for me.

Yeah, close to the shoulder muscle and that was why I thought it might have hit something.

LOL, I wouldn't call what I experienced sore myself, but I guess everyone expresses their pain/sensations differently. The injection site was sore to the touch, yes, the way you may feel if you touched a bruise (which to me is quite normal), but my whole arm felt heavy like it took some effort to raise my arm, which was something I didn't expect.

My arm felt OK within half a day although the injection site was "sore" (like it was bruised).

 

[MarieIG]

Moderna - the administration of the first vaccine did not hurt; but my arm really started to hurt that night; and I had an odd - temporary - side effect for a few hours that night. I felt as if I had fireworks going off in my body. That was scary. Thankfully, that went away and did not return. Thereafter tired and achy joints, and chills on off, for about a week. My arm swelled, and hurt for an entire month and made clicking and crunching noises. Yuck. I didn't want to go back for my second dose, but I did.

By way of background, I have to use the same arm for all vaccines and needles, and the arm took a lot of abuse over the past 14 months. Also, it took my arm a month to recover from each of the two Shingrex vaccines. It did not do that for the pneumonia vaccine.

The second dose for me was not as harsh as the first. I did not have the firework experience again; I did not have the chills; and the body aches were less. I've been a bit tired, did get a large bruise, and am typing this with an ice pack on my arm. Sigh . . .

DH got his first dose of Phizer. (We weren't able to go together because he was out of state helping with the grandchildren and he didn't want me to wait.)

DH had precisely, no side effects whatsoever.

Update: My left arm has completely recovered from the vaccine. (Again, it took about a month, however it was somewhat less painful than after the first vaccine.)

My right arm kindly distracted me from thinking about my left arm with a broken elbow.

Bottom line: There were no lasting side effects for either DH or myself.

I am relieved that DH and I are fully vaccinated. It's a good feeling.

 

[O2Bfree]

Got my second shot, Pfizer, yesterday at 11:40. Noticed a slight headache starting up in the evening, then chills and body aches came on overnight. Feeling pretty awful today and decided to skip the bike ride and picnic we'd planned. Ugh, it's only 4:30 and I feel like going to bed.

 

[scrabbler1]

I am very squeamish about shots, to the point where I have to constantly change the TV channel whenever they show people getting "stabbed," which is very frequent event on TV news shows.

This is why I firmly decided on getting only the J&J shot because, as I told my doctors during my recent "medical month," (a roughly one-month period where I see my doctors and get other medical services every 6 months), "if they're going to stab me, they only get to do it once."

So, last Friday, I made it to my local pharmacy and got the shot around 11 AM. It was quick and nearly painless. So far, so good. right? Wrong. Five minutes later, I felt dizzy, nauseous, and broke out in a cold sweat. Not wanting to pass out, after I took a Tums I made sure to take into the store with me, I got out of the chair and laid down on the floor for close to 10 minutes until I felt better enough to sit up again. No pharmacy staff saw me laying on the floor, although some some other customers did. I didn't seek any help. About 10 minutes later, I got up and left.

I felt okay for the next several hours, able to do some local errands for the next hour-plus. But more side effects awaited me that evening.

Around 7:30 PM, I suddenly had a bad bout of the chills including shaking chills. I also had a bad headache. I put on some warmer clothing and struggled through dinner before getting under the covers with my ladyfriend. I took some Tylenol every few hours and slept through the night okay. The chills didn't reappear although I had a headache through most of Saturday. By this morning, the headache went away.

Now you can see why I don't want any part of a 2-shot vaccine. Once was bad enough.

 

[MarieIG]

I am very squeamish about shots, to the point where I have to constantly change the TV channel whenever they show people getting "stabbed," which is very frequent event on TV news shows.

This is why I firmly decided on getting only the J&J shot because, as I told my doctors during my recent "medical month," (a roughly one-month period where I see my doctors and get other medical services every 6 months), "if they're going to stab me, they only get to so it once."

So, last Friday, I made it to my local pharmacy and got the shot around 11 AM. It was quick and nearly painless. So far, so good. right? Wrong. Five minutes later, I felt dizzy, nauseous, and broke out in a cold sweat. Not wanting to pass out, after I took a Tums I made sure to take into the store with me, I got out of the chair and laid down on the floor for close to 10 minutes until I felt better enough to sit up again. No pharmacy staff saw me laying on the floor, although some some other customers did. I didn't seek any help. About 10 minutes later, I got up and left.

I felt okay for the next several hours, able to do some local errands for the next hour-plus. But more side effects awaited me that evening.

Around 7:30 PM, I suddenly had a bad bout of the chills including shaking chills. I also had a bad headache. I put on some warmer clothing and struggled through dinner before getting under the covers with my ladyfriend. I took some Tylenol every few hours and slept through the night okay. The chills didn't reappear although I had a headache through most of Saturday. By this morning, the headache went away.

Now you can see why I don't want any part of a 2-shot vaccine. Once was bad enough.

Sorry to hear you had such a tough time Scrabbler!

 

[Alan]

Wow scrabbler, that sounds really tough Hope you are fully recovered now.

My sister had her 2nd Pfizer shot on Friday afternoon after work and it wiped her out for most of the weekend. Reckons she was only awake for a few hours on Saturday and Sunday but was back at work okay today. No other symptoms, just extreme tiredness. With the first shot it was fairly typical with a sore arm and flu-like symptoms.

 

[PageTwo]

I am very squeamish about shots [...]

Five minutes later, I felt dizzy, nauseous, and broke out in a cold sweat. Not wanting to pass out, after I took a Tums I made sure to take into the store with me, I got out of the chair and laid down on the floor for close to 10 minutes until I felt better enough to sit up again.

That first part is not related to the vaccine itself but to the act of the injection. It's called the Vasovagal Syncope: https://www.healthline.com/health/vasovagal-syncope

Looks like you know how to address it with the Tums and the laying on the floor

 

[scrabbler1]

That first part is not related to the vaccine itself but to the act of the injection. It's called the Vasovagal Syncope: https://www.healthline.com/health/vasovagal-syncope

Looks like you know how to address it with the Tums and the laying on the floor

If the symptoms I described had occurred either before or during the injection, I'd be inclined to agree with you. But they didn't begin until 5 minutes afterward. I never saw the needle, thankfully. The shot was very quick and without any real pain. The pharmacist was long gone. I was reading my book for several minutes without any problems, so my mind was sufficiently distracted. Then, while I just sitting in my chair quietly, all those symptoms hit me at once.

I'd have difficulty claiming it was some kind of delayed reaction.

 

[REWahoo]

I'd have difficulty claiming it was some kind of delayed reaction.

Page Two diagnosed your situation/condition accurately. The mind can - and does - work on its own schedule.

 

[Alan]

We talked with DW’s sister in Edinburgh yesterday. She said she got an urgent call asking if she could come look after her 2 grandchildren as her son and his wife were both incapacitated after having had their first jab. Her son actually passed out in the bathroom. Very surprised as they are both extremely fit, regularly run marathons and extreme distances, over 100 miles. Both early 40s, AZ vaccine.

 

[Boho]

There are so many ways to crunch the data. Now I want to know how many long distance runners had bad side effects to the vaccines. And how many sedentary people, etc.

 

[MrsHaloFIRE]

DH is a distance runner. No side effects from either pfizer but first shingrix knocked him on his butt. 2nd was fine

 

[Gumby]

There are so many ways to crunch the data. Now I want to know how many long distance runners had bad side effects to the vaccines. And how many sedentary people, etc.

Left-handed, Inuit, long distance runners.

 

[MrsHaloFIRE]

I think vasovagal is very common after vaccines and those with medical anxiety self select the J and J shot for exactly the reason of it being 1 shot. So its was no surprise that the first mass vacc clinics paused when they had a TON of ppl flake out with vasovagal syncope.
This group is prone to it. DM and DH get a touch of it at times. Took DM to a nice piercing parlor to get her ears pierced and she flaked a bit. Needed to lay back and have a candy bar but we warned going in and the piercer was all over it. DH had a touch during a nasty deep leg excision. Looked down and saw too much hole and not enough skin and flaked. Luckily im a snacker and made him eat my purse granola and he snapped out of it

That first part is not related to the vaccine itself but to the act of the injection. It's called the Vasovagal Syncope: https://www.healthline.com/health/vasovagal-syncope

Looks like you know how to address it with the Tums and the laying on the floor

 

[braumeister]

Just to throw an additional monkey wrench into this, I think vasovagal syncope can also be fairly random. I've had it exactly twice in my life. Here are the situations, so draw your own conclusions.

First time was over 50 years ago. I had received the Typhus vaccine while at school (AFROTC requirement) and I keeled over about two hours later on the subway going home. It was a typical NYC experience -- the other passengers just carefully stepped around me and within a couple of minutes I came out of it and people were kind enough to offer me a seat.

Second time was a little over two years ago. We were in Norway and had taken the train from Oslo to Bergen (a delightfully scenic and relaxing ride). Then we checked in at the port, walked around downtown Bergen for a couple of hours, boarded a ship, and settled into our cabin. Went to the buffet dinner, chose our food, sat down and began to eat. Within a couple of minutes I keeled over and the next thing I knew I was flat on my back on the floor with DW and three ship's officers looking down at me. The only thing out of the ordinary beforehand was that I had a rather fierce and mysterious stomachache as I was sitting down at the table.

So I can sort of understand about a vaccination causing a delayed reaction, as in my earlier experience. But the second time I was having a wonderful, relaxing, pleasant day and the syncope came right out of the blue. I know what it was because the Norwegian doctor at the Bergen clinic I went to specifically called it a vasovagal syncope. He said that it's precipitated by a great many things, and is not that well understood, but there was no need for me to be concerned about it. As he described it, there was such a strong call for blood to my digestive tract that it was taken away from my brain and that caused the faint. Putting me flat on the floor fixed the problem.

 

[O2Bfree]

I think the second shot I had Saturday may have contributed to me nearly passing out Tuesday night. The worst symptoms were over by Sunday night, but I still felt a bit odd and woozy Tuesday. I was removing the door panels from our van when I sliced my knuckle on a sharp metal edge inside the door. You'd think I'd cut my finger clean off by the way it was bleeding. Left a trail and had a palm full by the time I made it to a sink. Gave it a good washing and DH rushed in with some gauze and tape and wrapped it up. Then the buzzy vagueness started, and suddenly I realized that it was time to lie down, and quick! That was weird because the sight of blood has never bothered me before.

A coworker of mine nearly passed out during a first aid class when the instructor was describing how large a pool of blood can be made from a scalp wound. No pictures, just words. He started to say how so much blood could make some people faint, then poor coworker meekly raised his hand and said he was feeling faint. The instructor calmly helped him lie down and he was fine after a while. Doesn't take much sometimes.

 

[tmm99]

A coworker of mine nearly passed out during a first aid class when the instructor was describing how large a pool of blood can be made from a scalp wound. No pictures, just words. He started to say how so much blood could make some people faint, then poor coworker meekly raised his hand and said he was feeling faint. The instructor calmly helped him lie down and he was fine after a while. Doesn't take much sometimes.

Wow, the mind is such a powerful thing, isn't it. I don't think I would ever have a fainting spell from listening to a story, however (not enough imagination, I guess?) But I can work myself into a frenzy just by thinking about some worrisome thoughts! It's kind of like self-hypnosis, isn't it.