First Dose of Pfizer on 07/19/21 Lot #ew0180
Indianapolis, Indiana
Q: What was your life like before you got the vaccine?
I was a normal, active, HEALTHY 38 year old. I worked full time for the federal government. I loved to travel and go out on weekends with my husband and friends. I also played in a volleyball league every week.
Q: What was your reaction, symptoms, & timeline?
My reaction was immediate. Within 5 minutes of receiving my first (and only) dose, my arms and legs started tingling and going numb. My heart started racing and I began to feel dizzy and short of breath. By the time the pharmacy tech came out with an epi pen, the symptoms started to pass. I waited another 30 minutes and felt ok, so I left and went back to work. Within an hour the tingling and numbness in my extremities returned. My heart rate became extremely elevated and I felt like I couldn't breathe. The symptoms passed again and I felt ok. Then over the next few hours, I started getting a severe headache and I developed floaters and blurry vision in my right eye. I thought this was just a normal reaction so I went to bed early that night and figured I would feel better within a day or two. However this was not the case... Four months later, I am still not fully healed. Over the next few weeks, I had a constant headache. My visual disturbances continued and I would wake up in the middle of the night with shortness of breath and tachycardia. My arms and legs kept going numb and felt like constant pins and needles. I was constantly dizzy and my blood pressure kept spiking. I also developed severe brain fog and fatigue. By the three week mark I was so dizzy and weak, that I ended up in the ER. They thought I may have had a stroke so they ran some tests which came back normal so they sent me home. Two days later, I woke up so dizzy that I could barely stand up. I took an ibuprofen and went back to bed. When I got out of bed my legs collapsed. I stood back up but was so weak that I needed help walking down the stairs. My husband took me back to the hospital. The doctor there said I was probably having an overactive immune response to the vaccine. He prescribed me a steroid and said I should feel better within a few weeks. The following week things got worse and I was back in the ER. They referred me to a neurologist, then a cardiologist and a rheumatologist and an optometrist. The list goes on and on. I've seen more doctors in the last 4 months than I have in my entire life. The first 5 weeks were the worst. I had to use a lot of sick leave and was barely able to work. Between weeks 5 – 8 I started to slowly see some improvements and felt at least semi-functional. Between weeks 8-12 I saw more improvements. I felt mostly functional and the more severe side effects started to dissipate. From week 12 – present (16 weeks), I am finally starting to feel like myself again. I would say I’m about 85% back to my normal self. During the first 8 weeks my symptoms included: Paresthesia, numbness and tingling in extremities, tachycardia, extremely high blood pressure, severe dizziness, shortness of breath, difficulty walking up stairs, blurry vision, eye floaters, headaches, brain fog, fatigue, weakness, cognitive dysfunction and exercise intolerance. During weeks 8 – 12 my symptoms included: Episodic numbness and tingling, tachycardia, shortness of breath on exertion, eye floaters, fatigue and exercise intolerance. During week 13 – present: My eye floaters have still remained unchanged. However, episodes of numbness/tingling and tachycardia are becoming farther and farther apart. My fatigue and brain fog is getting better and I am able to do minimal low impact exercise.
Q: What is your life like now, after getting the vaccine?
My life has been turned upside down. For the first two months, I rarely left my house. I was unable to exercise, play volleyball or do basic chores around the house. There was a five day period where every night that I went to bed I wondered if I would wake up the next day. There were moments when my heart was racing so fast that I thought I was having a heart attack. My body was so weak and numb I wondered if I would ever be able to function normally again. I was fortunate to be able to work from home when I was able to, but my performance suffered. My job involves a lot of research and I could barely comprehend what I was reading. My visual issues were also making it hard to read my computer screen. My social life was also greatly affected. I wasn’t able to go out on the weekends because I felt too ill. I had a trip planned to Greece which I had to cancel because I wasn’t functioning like my normal self. While I’m now back to being functional and taking part in most of the activities that I used to, I am still not 100% recovered. It’s still difficult to complete tasks that I easily did before. I also continue to have “flare ups” when I take part in too much activity or exertion.
Q: Share your experience with any medical care and any diagnoses you have received:
I had 3 ER visits which included full bloodwork, a head CT scan and two ekg’s. The blood work and CT came back normal. The EKG’s showed sinus tachycardia and possible left atrial enlargement. One ER doctor acknowledged that it was a vaccine reaction. He prescribed me a steroid and said it should get better within 2 weeks – 2 months. Unfortunately the steroid did not help. The other 2 ER doctors told me it was “anxiety.” My primary care doctor told me she’s never heard of such a reaction and that it must be “anxiety.” I know what anxiety feels like and I can assure you this is NOT from anxiety. I saw a neurologist who luckily believed me and ran a bunch of tests. I had a brain MRI done, additional bloodwork and a 48 hour holter monitor. The MRI came back normal and the bloodwork came back normal except for I had a positive ANA test. So he sent me to a rheumatologist for follow up. The heart monitor showed sinus tachycardia, so he also sent me to a cardiologist. The follow up tests from the rheumatologist ruled out any sort of auto-immune issues. The cardiologist sent me for a cardiac MRI which also came back normal. I also saw an optometrist in regards to the blurry vision and floaters. She dilated my eyes and did a retinal scan that again came back normal. After consulting back with the neurologist he has determined that I had a severe reaction to the vaccine as all other medical possibilities have been ruled out and the symptoms started and progressed immediately after the vaccination.
Q: Was your reaction reported, and what was the response?
I have reported to my doctors and to VAERS. Other than an email verification that VAERS received my submission, I have not heard anything else.
Q: Is there anything that has helped, and have your symptoms improved?
In addition to the steroids I was prescribed, I have also tried ibuprofen, low dose aspirin, antihistamines, vitamins and supplements. Unfortunately nothing has helped. The only thing that has really helped was time. My symptoms seem to be (very slowly) getting better over time as my body fights this.
Q: What do you wish others knew?
I could write a book on what I’ve been through and what people should know. But to keep it simple, I just want the government and the medical community to acknowledge there is potentially severe side effects and reactions from these vaccines. If you are going to mandate them, then you need a treatment plan in place for those who have reactions. Where there is risk, there should be choice. I know it’s easy for the majority of the world who had no issues to brush us off or look the other way, but when it happens to you or a loved one, I can assure you will think differently. Although rare, my symptoms are real. I want to be heard.
