First Dose of Pfizer on 5/01/21
Charlestown, Indiana
Lot #EW0164
Q: What was your life like before you got the vaccine?
My life before the vaccine was full and vibrant. I was an active and fit 36 year old Mom of three beautiful children (13, 10, and 3 months at the time). I was a licensed mental health counselor in my state of Indiana and owned my own private practice that I had built from the ground up. I loved being active and outdoors; my passions were kayaking, long distance hiking (hoping one day to hike the Appalachian trail), trail running, exploring nature with my kids, traveling, and anything to challenge myself physically (Shaun T was my idol).
Q: What was your reaction, symptoms, & timeline?
Almost immediately, I tasted a metallic taste and had lots of drainage in my throat and heart was racing. The attendant was called over and said this was all par for the course. I left after 15 minutes and it was about 10 minutes later that I noticed a huge red rash that covered my entire left thigh. It didn’t itch or burn, but was hot to the touch; if I hadn’t been wearing shorts I would not have even known it was there. It disappeared after about 15 minutes. I came back home and rested as I felt pretty tired. Before six hours after the shot I began to feel nauseous, had diarrhea, and developed a headache. Before 12 hours after the shot I began to have a sore arm and my headache increased in intensity, and I just felt pretty icky. However I knew these were all things that were reported to be “normal” after the vaccine so I just rested and kept up my fluid intake. Before 24 hours hit I begin to have chest pains, face pressure, and I was shaky. The day after my vaccine I begin to notice a much more robust response, including significant anal bleeding, spotting (I was only 12 weeks postpartum at this time and was exclusively breastfeeding and had not yet had a period), red streaks near injection site, and random rashes on legs that would come and go, stomach pains, increased heart rate, all over itching, sharp back pains, and pain in my jaw. I rode with my husband on an errand and began to feel very lightheaded with racing heart, so much so that we called 911 and the paramedics took vitals and said all vitals were fine besides blood pressure being elevated. I didn’t want to incur a huge hospital bill and since vitals were okay decided to not go to ER. The next day all of these symptoms continued. I began to experience extreme bloating and side pain along with pelvic pressure. I decided it was time to get help and went to urgent care. There were no significant findings; blood work was good and vitals were good. I was advised to follow up with my primary care doctor. Five days after the shot I began to experience numbness in my toe for hours and tingling and dullness in my left calf. The next day I put a call into my primary care doctor and she stated that my toe “must’ve just fallen asleep” and she did not believe it or any other symptom I was having but the fatigue was from the vaccine. As the days wore on I continued to have these symptoms plus more: increased blood pressure, tingling on head and an icy hot feeling on head and face, food sensitivities that I never had before including a slight allergic reaction to peanut butter, trouble swallowing, brain fog, Tinnitus, ear pressure and fullness, internal tremors, lightheadedness, intense neck pain, blurry vision, rashes, chest pain, tachycardia, flushing, ear pain, shortness of breath, increased anxiety and depression, extreme fatigue, joint pain, body aches and pains, dizziness and numbness and tingling on/in all extremities, face and tongue/lips.
Q: What was your life like after you got the vaccine?
Since receiving my vaccine, my life is not my own anymore. It consists of managing debilitating symptoms daily. I have had to refer all of my clients out and abandon my practice. I cannot be the active mother and woman I once was. I have to lay down with my baby when she naps throughout the day just so I can have enough energy to make it through the next few hours before I get another break to rest. The fatigue is so great some days I struggle with just putting one foot in front of the other. I struggle to open jars and water bottles, for example, because the joint pain is so great in my fingers. My brain fog is so bad I often stop mid sentence because I cannot think of a word or I cannot remember what I was even saying. I do not feel alive, I feel as though I am just barely living.
Q: Share your experience with any medical care and any diagnoses you have received:
The only official diagnosis I have received is post vaccine arthritis by an osteopath I was seeing for a while in a city two hours from me. My general practitioner said I was “experiencing too many symptoms in too many different areas of my body” for them to be caused by the vaccine and instead prescribed me buspar and told me to report to VAERS myself. My functional MD said it “sounded like peripheral neuropathy and should go away”. I have been waiting or see a rheumatologist since May and the soonest they could get me in is December. I see a gastroenterologist next week. I am not hopeful that either of these doctors will be open to exploring if my symptoms are related to the vaccine. My best medical care has come from my acupuncturist, manual lymphatic massage therapist, and chiropractor.
Q: Was your reaction reported, and what was the response?
I self reported to VAERS and got a confirmation email and that is it.
Q: Is there anything that has helped, and have your symptoms improved?
Because I am breastfeeding and I am traumatized in putting any other pharmaceuticals into my body, I have not tried any Western medicine or supplements. I do weekly acupuncture and biweekly manual lymphatic drainage massages. I have also tried osteopathy and chiropractic work. I’m not sure that anything helps as my condition is still deteriorating. Symptoms have changed but not gotten better.
Q: What do you wish others knew?
I wish others knew that these are very real reactions and that lives are being possibly forever changed without help from the medical community, society, or our government.
