First Dose of Pfizer on 01/18/21
Richmond, VA
Q: What was your life like before you got the vaccine?
My life before the vaccine was great. I am a 45 year old with no existing health issues. I am a mom and work full time. I was active and prided myself on running around with my kids, playing on the trampoline, and also painting and doing photography in my spare time.
Q: What was your reaction, symptoms, & timeline?
I got sick 4 days after I got the vaccine. It is hard to describe. I went down pretty hard very quickly. And there was nothing I could compare it to - didn't feel like the flu or anything that I have had before. My best description of it was basically that I felt like every cell in my body was angry. For 2 weeks I felt like my whole body was buzzing, I had headaches, body pains, couldn't regulate my temperature. I had severe gastritis. I could barely eat. I could barely get out of bed. After about 2 weeks I started to get better and thought I would just continue to improve but unfortunately, I got worse. February and March were an absolute blur as I was having such intense brain fog and fatigue. I somehow muddled through being a single parent and working from home (i don't know how I did it). Symptoms continued to come and go and new ones popped up along the way. I have had everything from swollen lymph nodes for weeks, dizziness, POTS, fatigue, muscle twitching, brain zaps, shortness of breath, joint stiffness in hands and ankles, muscle pain and fatigue, insomnia, stuffy head and left ear continuously clogged, blurry eyesight, heart palpitations, numbness in legs, arms and face, and extreme stiffness in whole body upon waking up. And this was constant for months on end. I really did not start to feel like I was getting better until July 2021.
Q: What was your life like after getting the vaccine?
I have to pace myself now. In the beginning, I could only be up and do stuff for about an hour at a time and then I would crash for 2 hours just to recover from that. Slowly over the months my fatigue has gotten better but it is still very much an every day part of my life. I have exercise intolerance still but I can take longer walks now. Some days though I have shortness of breath and I can't do as much. I still work from home most days but on the days I do go to the office I do find it taxing and have to rest more in the evenings. This experience has been terrifying. I feel quite lucky that I have recovered as much as I have but knowing I don't have the energy like I use to to do all the things I want is frustrating. I have had depression and anxiety all along the way trying to deal with all the symptoms. I feel like my body has literally age at least 5 years in less than one year.
Q: Share your experience with any medical care and any diagnoses you have received:
I have very luckily had a few doctors that believed me from the start which was so validating. Nobody knew what to do for me though and I certainly felt all alone. I did a bunch of bloodwork, saw multiple doctors in different specialties to rule stuff out. I have bought and taken hundreds of dollars of supplements to give my body the extra support it needs. I tried the FLCCC protocol and another doctor's protocol. Some of this helped but not completely. I think acupuncture has helped me a lot as well.
Q: Was your reaction reported, and what was the response?
Yes I reported it to Vaers in February. I completed a very short survey and only received an email at one point weeks later that they received my report. No follow up from them at all.
Q: Is there anything that has helped, and have your symptoms improved?
Supplements, acupuncture, support groups, my chiropractor/functional Neurologist who has believed in me from the beginning and still reading the research on how to help me and his other patients that are suffering.
Q: What do you wish others knew?
We need transparency. I am not an anti vaxer. I have received all my other vaccines and have not had any issues. Drug companies and the government and other corporations need to stop censoring and hiding this information. While the number of people that have been injured by the vaccine may be fairly small we still need to be heard and need support.
