My mom got her first Covid vaccine a few days ago. She got the Pfizer vaccine.
As background, she had Covid in November but did pretty well with it. She had fluctuating fever, mostly at night. But the fever would come and go. It lasted 2 weeks. She did not have any coughing or anything horrible, she just felt kind of crappy for 2 weeks. She is 92 years old.
Here is what she told me about the first vaccine. She felt really bad the day after. Had a fever of 100.8. Felt weak and tired and the injection site hurt pretty bad. But 2 days after the injection, she felt fine again.
She said it was about the same as the infection in terms of how she felt.
But she also said that her friends who live in the same community who got the same injection on the same day did not have any symptoms.
So it’s interesting that her infection symptoms were relatively minor compared to many, but the shot was worse for her compared to others.
BTW, her community has had a very high compliance, about 90%. So in about 2 months after the 2nd injection has had time to work, they will be maskless when they eat together and hang out together, so that will be very nice for them.
I was actually glad to hear she had some reaction because it let’s me know the vaccine was doing something. Like it didn’t get ruined in transit or anything.
So glad your mother is doing well after the injection. I hope the 2nd dose goes well, too.
My sister’s partner has had both doses of the Pfizer vaccine already. The first dose he only experienced a bit of soreness in his arm. The next dose though caused him to get very ill. He had a fever and felt really awful. Thankfully that only lasted a few days.
I just (Monday) received my second dose of the Moderna vaccine. No symptoms at all with first dose. Second dose I felt a bit sick overnight with aches and mild chills. Next day still sore and achy but it didn’t prevent me from mild activity. Wednesday felt all OK.
I usually don’t feel much from vaccines - not even the sore arm.
I’ve heard a theory that people previously exposed to covid show a stronger reaction when they get the vaccine. I work at a pediatric hospital - out of my coworkers, 3 felt pretty ill after getting it and 3 of us did not. The 3 who felt sick were (IMHO) more likely to have been exposed to covid than the rest of us. Who knows! I’m getting my second shot this afternoon (Moderna).
We all got our second shots last week - only had a slight headache and sore arm for 2 days. My coworkers who previously had reactions had the same reactions, either the same or slightly worse. We’d all do it again to avoid getting covid, though!
I’ve had so many friends get it, due to having many in the medical field, and a number have gotten really sick for 1-2 days following the second shot including fever/chills; all of course still say preferable to getting COVID and none regret it. I expect to possibly need 1-2 days off with the second shot though, and most people I know in my field at this point are planning for that possibility when it’s their turn if they haven’t gotten there yet.
I have heard that antihistamines like benadryl may help with some symptoms, since it may be driven by mast cell reactivity at least in part. As someone with aberrant mast cell function to begin with, my plan is to pre-game with benadryl in addition to my usual daily antihistamine cocktail for both shots, and then to continue taking it if I have more symptoms after the fact. It doesn’t affect T-cell functioning, so shouldn’t affect how well the vaccine itself works.
So I had my first Pfizer dose today and the insertion site is a bit sore. Has anyone observed much effect on his/her BG after getting the vaccine? I am asking because unfortunately the transmitter of my Dexcom failed this morning AND I had a problem with my Pod at lunchtime so my BG went high and is still high (244 at last fingerstick) despite a 4 unit Afrezza 30 minutes ago. I am trying to figure how much is likely attributable to the Pod problem and how much to the vaccine. Thanks!
I guess that makes some degree of sense? Her strong immune system was able to protect her well from serious illness also generated a strong immune response that made her feel lousy after the vaccine?
A non-D friend got the Moderna vaccine and experienced headache and fever on day 2 and hives today (day 3).
ETA 2/8/21: Turns out she ended up with full-body hives and a trip to the ER! She has a history of bad reactions to sulfa drugs and a few other instances of severe reactions to the Moderna vaccine for this reason have been reported.
I just got my first vaccine earlier this afternoon, as a healthcare provider. My partner got hers on Thursday. We both got the Moderna vaccine, and second shots are scheduled a month out. She had a slightly sore arm, that’s still a bit tender to the touch, that’s all. So far nothing really for me yet—will update re how it goes. No blood sugar effects yet either.
Ok now my arm hurts a fair bit. Tender to the touch, hurts to flex at all. On par with some of the flu vaccines on the more severe side of localized pain side effects (I find the flu shots pretty variable year to year), so nothing terrible and no resting pain, but definitely there. Blood sugars still seem normal.
Isn’t the pain just a function of having stabbed a needle into a muscle? Wouldnt it likely be the same if the needle was stabbed into your arm and nothing injected at all?
Definitely not. Some IM injections are painless or nearly so afterward, including some flu shots I’ve had. When they hurt like this, it’s a totally different type of pain than the aftermath of a shot—the whole muscle gets this achy swollen feeling like you just did the hardest workout ever. As someone all too well versed with different types of somatic pain, it’s very clearly inflammation from an immune response.
Also in my experience, different vaccinations have different tendencies toward inflammatory responses—some years the flu shot causes much more pain in almost everyone, other years, most people say it’s no big deal. COVID vaccines seem to be causing localized pain for most people best I can tell, on the more significant side for a vaccine.
Yeah… it’s hit or miss every year… which since it’s 99.9% the same solution other than a few differences that couldn’t possibly make any difference each year with the flu shot—- I’ve always just assumed the sore arm or lack of was a result of how the muscle was or wasn’t injured
