Covid vaccine experience

Similar experiences with my first (Pfizer) shot on Saturday morning. From reading about experiences here, I went down 1 unit on my Tresiba beginning Thursday night in preparation. Saturday no major BG events, but my arm freaking hurt! And my BG shoots very high in response to pain. Sunday, not so much pain, and was running a little lower than expected, esp with skipping my normal morning workout. Took half my usual Humalog with food. Worked out very well. Today, Monday, freakin CGM woke me up at 4 am, was at 53. No big deal, grab a few sugar packets. Didnā€™t budge it. Get up, have a juice box, I know Iā€™m overdoing it, but just want the stupid alarm to stop, and know Iā€™ll be working out later. Shoots up to 170, not unexpected. Have some coffee. About 10 minutes later, its down to 110, which is odd, cause I did nothing to cause that. Now Iā€™ve been chasing odd lows all day. Nothing serious, just seems like Iā€™ll need to watch it with bolusing later, or just have small meals. Still down on the Tresiba, which Iā€™ll most likely go back up tonight or the next, depending. Btw, I did check the numbers on my meter.
Now Iā€™m wondering, can I get a shot like every 4 days? :rofl:
Thank you to everyone who posted about this! Helped me prepare a lot.

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Thanks! Had a bunch of tests done, and in addition to my usual positive ANA, was positive for anti-dsDNA, which hasnā€™t been positive for me before and is typically a Lupus marker that rises in times of acute attacks. Unclear at this point if that means I have Lupus or not or if this is part of a chronic condition or not, but will be trying plaquenil, starting today, to see if that helps.

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Oh, no, I hope it is not Lupus! I have Lupus so know how painful it can be. I donā€™t take the plaquenil because I was afraid it would damage my eyes. But on the plus side, it is one of the drugs that some say helps prevent or helps with recovery of covid? I really hope it helps with your symptoms! :pray: :crossed_fingers:

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It would be really lovely if you could catch a break, this must be so frustrating. Sorry. Hopefully the plaquenil works wonders for you.

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Thanks! I hope itā€™s not the start of something chronic. I honestly donā€™t feel like it quite fits Lupus symptoms, but itā€™s hard to tell with my other stuff all in play too, since I have lots of other sources of chronic pain. The plan is if the the plaquenil helps to stop it after maybe a few months or so to see if the flare is temporary, and I checked with my ophthalmologist who said plaquenil toxicity takes at least a few years and usually higher doses, so short term should be fine. If I end up needing longer term treatment, will re-evaluate whether to continue with plaquenil. It does seem like none of the COVID stuff panned out for that, so not sure if it actually helps on that front, but hereā€™s hoping it gets the autoimmune stuff to settle down, and Iā€™m glad at least thereā€™s no longer a massive run on it in pharmacies due to all that ill advised over hyping last summer. Apparently lots of Lupus patients who need it couldnā€™t get it then, which is awful, and turned out to be for nothing.

Thanks, I appreciate it! It certainly is frustrating, and Iā€™ll let you all know how it goes.

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It sounds like you have a good plan. I really hope it is only a temporary flareup. Lupus is very difficult to diagnose so hopefully it is not lupus. Yes, I worried that there would be a shortage of plaquenil after it was broadcasted as a potential solution to COVID. I am also debating if the the vaccination is safe for lupus patients. I was debating this even before your post though. I will probably get it but am a bit worried about a reaction.

Good luck with the plaquenil. Please keep us posted. Maybe it will help your other chronic pain, too. :pray:t3: :hugs:

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I had my first Moderna dose at Krogers today. Got there early (about 30 minutes) to shop first, but stopped at pharmacy to let them know I was there, and see if on schedule. Instead, they said come this way, you can get it right now!!

BG did run low afterward, but I also walked around Kroger after my 15 minute wait, and then stopped at another store. But fine since then.

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So apparently plaquenil dramatically reduces insulin need! I went from 20-21u of Tresiba to 14u then 16u (was planning to hold at 15-16u for another day), and I still keep running lowā€¦ might end up having to reduce further. Itā€™s listed as a side effect, though some articles claim itā€™s due to increasing insulin production, which obviously canā€™t be it, since Iā€™m not the only longterm T1D to report this. Apparently other theories include reducing the breakdown of insulin and reducing inflammation-driven insulin resistance, though itā€™s worth noting that the rheumatological effects tend to take 1-2 months to really kick in, and this was instant.

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Wow, interesting! That is sure a great benefit!

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Itā€™s amazingā€“down to 14u Tresiba, still trending hypo. Will probably hold it there for another day to give it time to catch up since it is so long lasting, but otherwise will lower again. So thatā€™s about a 1/3 decrease so far. I donā€™t have exact numbers, but I know that my TDD was on the lower side for my weight before this (especially given that Iā€™m fairly sedentary) likely thanks in part to metformin, so Iā€™m very surprised it lowered this much. In researching it, it is being considered as a T2D medication, potentially as an adjunctive one, and I found a recent pub that also was investigating the possibility of Plaquenil as anti-inflammatory medication for T1Ds to reduce risk of complications caused by inflammation (beyond glucose control). They found that it reduces a broad range of inflammatory cytokines in an in vitro study using cells from T1Ds, which is as far as it has gotten. So now Iā€™m kind of fascinated to see how this affects my health more broadly.

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Wow, it sounds like Plaquenil is actually a good companion drug for Ds. I was always under the impression that it was not, esp for the eyes. I am going to ask my endo about it at my next appt later this month. I am shocked that is reduces insulin needs so much for T1. This is such a great side effect! I hope you are finding it is helping the pain, too! :crossed_fingers:

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@cardamom phew, you are going through the wringerā€¦ I hope you are able to quickly figure out what is going on OR, even better; it all just calms down and disappears. I will keep fingers and toes crossed for you and send my best thoughts your way.

I have a couple of silly vaccine questions for everyone. Even sillier b/c I have ZERO timeline for getting the damn vaccine in my damn state (sorry). I am trying to determine which arm to get the shot in. I have had frozen shoulder for almost two years now (it is much improved, but still my nemesis). My other shoulder gives me a lot of trouble b/c of overuse; I also occasionally feel a twinge of what might possibly be the start of FS in that damn shoulder (Iā€™m holding back ā€“ my vocabulary could be much worse) ā€“ I desperately hope that FS does not set in there. Iā€™m not sure what I would do if it did. So. Would you have them give the shot in the recovering FS arm? Or in the overused, possibly ripe for new FS arm?

ALSO - I only wear my Dexcom on my non-FS arm, so if I get the shot in that arm, could that be an issue?

Finally, I have researched the possibility of getting the shot in my rear end/hip and it appears that it would probably be too unseemly for the mass vaccination sites. And it hasnā€™t been tested anywhere other than arm/shoulder. But, I could possibly figure out a way to ask about itā€¦maybe?

Pondering on a Saturday night while the rest of my family watches a stupid movie downstairs - Jessica

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@JessicaD Personally, having very painful osteoarthritis in my left shoulder, I always get shots in that arm. I donā€™t want both arms to be useless. I also wear my dexcom on my right arm, as I only sleep on my left side (after spinal fusion, Iā€™m in the habit of rolling out of bed carefully, and my left shoulder wonā€™t support me).
I think, once eligible, it might be possible to go through whatever hospital your PCP uses, if you really need a rear end shot, and its okā€™ed. Depends on how flexible/receptive your dr is, most likely. :crossed_fingers:

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I had my first moderna injection, and chose to have injection on arm without dexcomā€¦ just in case. I didnā€™t have any discomfort after shot, or sleeping on injection site side.

I had frozen shoulders in late 1980s, with steroid injections followed by PT. No treatment since then, although probably donā€™t have 100% mobility. I donā€™t think the vaccine would matter relative to frozen shoulder, unless you end up limiting use of that arm due to discomfort from vaccine.
But if you decide to get treatment for frozen shoulder, , be sure to let them know your vaccine dates.

Maybe opt for the single injection JnJ vaccine.

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3 posts were split to a new topic: Covid Vaccine - Second Dose Punch

Has anyone had the AstraZeneca vaccine yet? Looks like Iā€™ll be getting this one in April. So relieved!

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That one has not been approved in the U.S. yet.

Or I guess Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) is the better way of saying it, because none of the vaccines actually have FDA approval in the U.S. yet.

The Moderna, Pfizer, and J&J vaccines are the only ones to have EUA so far in the U.S.

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True, but maybe some in Europe or elsewhere may have received it.

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I donā€™t know which my UK family members have received but I havenā€™t heard any comments yet (either good or badā€¦) The UK is using Pfizer and AstroZeneca; Moderna has not delivered yet. (The UK seems to have contracts with everyone except JnJ, but most are neither approved nor available.)

I just posted a link to a BBC radio programme about experiences with vaccines on the ā€œsecond dose punchā€ thread, but it seems relevant here too. I donā€™t think the show distinguishes between the Pfizer and AZ vaccines, I didnā€™t listen beyond the first 7.5 minutes but there was more about AZ in there because of the current blood clot curfuffle, Putin at work I suspect.

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@Jen, I had my AZ first shot yesterday. Painless, no side effects whatsoever. Slept comfortably on the jabbed side. Blood sugars perfectly normal. The worst part was the two-hour wait at the pharmacy.

My British and Swedish relatives and friends whoā€™ve had AZ also report no side effects beyond a few having discomfort at the injection site.

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