Spirits were high. One by one, co workers, friends, and my family were getting vaccinated. There were the range of reactions. Some people were incapacitated by their flu-like symptoms, and others felt almost nothing. But one thing that everyone had in common, is that the second dose was an intensified version of the first. 

Regardless, we finally felt as if things were moving forward, towards an end to this devastating pandemic.

Read about the first vaccine dose. 💉

The first vaccine was administered indoors 😷 and precautions were taken seriously. Side effect was body pain, but luckily no fever, or feeling sick. 

After my initial dose, the department of health  informed me once the booster became available. The email came more quickly than I expected.  

The Department of Health scheduled my appointment at the same location as the first shot. It was within the 28day range; I didn’t even have to do the math! Easy peasy. 👍

Saturday

Although it was the same location, the set up was different. It was a drive through, when the initial dose was administered indoors.

Drive through vaccine?! I thought, What an age we live in! 👏

Two separate lines of cars filtered through two tents, ending at 4 people administering the vaccine. It was much more relaxing, being in my own space, with the comfort of our SUV’s heated seats.

As we pulled up to get the shot, I immediately wished I had put more thought into how to get my arm in a place where she could access it.

In a quick decision I draped my arm out the window so it would be easier for her to get to. It was a terrible decision. 

The angle of my arm left my muscle in an award position, and didn’t let it relax fully. She inserted the needle and it ripped through a bit of muscle. As the plunger was pushed, the liquid shot too deep and I could feel fibers of my muscle separating. I knew I was doomed for a long recovery for the arm pain. 

It was not her fault at all. It was all me, because I didn’t plan ahead, or simpler yet, let her guide me. 

A parking lot adjacent was the area for the 15 minute waiting period. A nurse gave us the batch lot number to fill in my vaccine information card. The other cars in the waiting area probably thought I was dancing the YMCA because I was trying to work my muscles, hoping it would make it feel less terrible the next day. 🕺

Sunday

04:30 am. Woke up with terrible whole body pain. The CBD cream wasn’t enough. It was time to bring out the heavy hitter: 200 mg of Ibuprofen. Laying down was terrible, but I could hardly hold up my own weight if I stood. The minutes crawled by as I waited for the IBU to kick in. When it did, I was able to fall back asleep. 

My partner woke me up at 8 to take another pain reliever, and I immediately fell asleep on the couch. I woke up again just to go back to bed. A bit of food and maintaining the pain reliever schedule helped enough to be able to sit outside and enjoy the lovely day. I took a few more naps that day; my body was working too hard to expect any more from it.

Monday

02:30 a.m. The dog went out to pee and one of our neighborhood skunks was in our yard. After that adrenaline rush subsided, I realized that although I felt significantly better, my elbows, hips, and knees were still very sore. So much so that a Tylenol was needed to let me fall back asleep.

09:00 a.m. Thank goodness work started late today. The morning shower definitely took longer than usual just because my body was still not 💯. It was a staff meeting Monday, meaning zero physical exertion, just mental. Apparently that was too much. I had to turn my video off and lay on the couch and just listen to the meeting, twice. My boss knew I was struggling with the after effects of the vaccine, and has been so understanding to all of her staff as we struggle with our shots.

Tuesday

A bit of sore knees, hips, and elbows, but nothing tylenol couldn’t help. By the afternoon, I was giddy just because I felt like me again! 

Overview

As expected, the symptoms were the same with the first dose, but with more intensity. Sticking to a pain reliever routine was greatly beneficial. I pushed fluids to help defend against possible fever.

Overall, I am very thankful for my opportunity to receive the vaccine. This is a small step towards a common, world goal. Being vaccinated has me daydreaming even more about what thing I am going to do when things get back to “normal.” 

Have you gotten your COVID 19 vaccine first or second dose? Did you have a different reaction the first and second time? Let us know in the comments.

Phase 1a of implementation of vaccine is available to healthcare workers. This is a category that I happened to fall under. The following is my experience as a person living with uncontrolled, medication resistant epilepsy, and recommendations based upon that experience.

Consulting with my neurologist, he assured people with epilepsy who are receiving the vaccine are not experiencing any new/different side effects than those without the condition. 

Fever, fatigue, and pain are triggers to my seizures and they are the most common side effects of the vaccine. My nurse requested that I monitor my temperature and any symptoms and report back. She asked if she could share my experience to others with epilepsy if they had questions. (Of course I said yes. That is the purpose of this blog: to share my experience in hopes it helps at least one person.)

We made a seizure action plan. 

The vaccine appointment was scheduled as early in the day as possible. That way if any symptoms arose, or I had questions, I would have my primary care & neurologist available.

My partner was lucky enough to get the day of the vaccine (Friday) off of work so that he could monitor my well-being. Having fatigue be a concern, I appreciated having the weekend to be able to recover.

We also made sure we had a fresh refill of my rescue medication. It would be on standby in the event of increased seizure activity with the development of any side effects.

Although allergic reactions to the vaccine are rare, we had the epi pen at the ready. There are many medications that I have developed an allergy to, but no vaccines. 

But when I say the allergic reactions are rare with the vaccine, I mean rare. Out of the 1.9 million people who got the Pfizer vaccine in December, only 21 people developed anaphylaxis. * 

I kept in mind my “why”

It may have seemed like I had everything under control with all the planning, but sadly that was not the case. Sleep was difficult because of my anxiety. My ambivalence almost caused me to cancel the appointment. I second guessed myself on if it was safe with my epilepsy to get it in phase one. Expectation and anticipation of the unknown were the key to my misery (it always is).

Should I wait for more people to get it before I am willing to subject myself to this new thing? What is more frightening, the vaccine or COVID itself? (Answer: Getting COVID unprotected)

The day before the appointment, I had a breakthrough in clarity. I have a responsibility, to myself, to my family, to my friends, to the WORLD, to keep us all safe. Getting the vaccine would be my small contribution. Not everyday do I get to help save the word. 🌎

Thinking about it that way, helped me feel empowered, and thankful that I had the opportunity to receive the vaccine. It would be selfish of me to wait. Next, I had to help calm my anxiety.

I did research 

Both vaccines are made from messenger RNA. This mRNA is a generic blueprint given to your body. You can imagine it works kind of like giving a mugshot to your immune system of the bad guy (COVID-19) it needs to protect your body from. Once your immune system recognizes that bad guy, if it interacts with it later, your immune system is prepared. Even though it’s genetic material, the vaccine itself does not alter your genes, and turn you into the next *insert you preferred genetically modified superhero here*. However, it does encourage your body to pump some new security codes into your system. 

The beauty of using the mRNA method is that your body does the work to protect itself. Because of that, the vaccine can be produced much faster than other methods. For example, the flu shot viruses have to be grown in chicken eggs, then harvested, then deactivated, then purified. That all takes 6 months before ever getting close to you. And that method had been refined after decades of experience. 

Moderna had an efficacy of 94.5% and Pfizer of 90% during phase 3 trials. ** Those efficacy numbers are outstanding. Comparing back to the flu shot, it usually only reduces risk about 60% (but there are many strands of flu we are working against).

Day of the vaccine 💉 (Friday)

Appointment time was 08:30. It was 31 farenheit and there were not enough portable heaters. Dallas, my medical alert dog, was shivering as if to shake the frost off his body. My co-worker was ahead of me in line. Just being able to wave goofily at each other was surprisingly comforting. 

The line moved smoothly, and much more quickly than I was anticipating.My husband stayed with me in the line outside until I got inside with only 4 people ahead of me. The makeshift space was entered through an emergency exit door. A line of chair backs was used as a check in space. The normal check in window had make shift protection on the openings. I let out an audible giggle as to how awkward, but oddly efficient everything was.

The nurse giving the injection was so skilled that I didn’t feel the needle, only the pressure of of the fluid entering my body. I had to reassure nurse Crystal that I had my epi pen, rescue med, and inhaler. She emphasized the importance of staying the full 15 minutes for monitoring. 

I noticed others leaving early. But it is important to be honest with reporting all symptoms and drugs (prescribed or otherwise) so healthcare providers can make suggestions to keep you safe. I stayed the full 15; I felt fine.

My goal for the day was to push fluids and monitor myself. A few hours later my arm started to feel sore, but no more than a flu shot does.

By the end of the night my arm was so sore it’s range of motion was at 80% it’s usual. The only irritation around the injection site was from the band-aid (and it wasn’t even a cool power ranger one 😞).

Day after the vaccine (Saturday)

I woke up feeling like I had climbed Everest the day before. My body was sore, my joints ached, there was no using my right arm. Sitting hurt, so I would stand. Standing hurt, so I would walk. Walking took so much effort that I would get tired and have to sit right back down. Fatigue is not a stranger to me, but that was different. 

I didn’t want to use any pain reliever, especially a fever reducer. My body was working hard to help me against COVID-19, and there was no way I was going to interrupt that process by introducing other chemicals.

However, suffering wasn’t a requirement. Out came the CBD balm. If we could have drawn a bath of it, I would have dipped myself in. Every joint and muscle, and even the tender right arm was covered. 

CBD is magic. By the end of the day I was able to do dishes with little pain (darn, didn’t have an excuse to avoid them anymore). We have no dishwashing machine, so I was able to scrub with vigor thanks to the CBD. 💪

Day 2 after vaccine (Sunday)

Woke up after quite a restful night. The tenderness in the vaccine arm was negligible; about as much as a flu shot. The fatigue I experienced was easily cared by having a relaxed, no chore Sunday. Overall, a darn good day even by my epilepsy standpoint! 

Day 3 after vaccine (Monday)

My neuro nurse anticipated this would be the last day of any extra soreness or fatigue. Soreness only was noticed when squeezing my arm. There was some fatigue that seemed more than my usual. Being back at work in addition to the fatigue caused an increase in my seizure activity. Feeling so well the day before caused me to disregard the possibility of needing to take it easy. However, I considered myself in the clear from the possibility of detrimental side effects. 

Now it is just a matter of waiting the 28 days for the booster! 

Summary/ Recommendations

• Consult with your physician about your health condition when considering the vaccine.
• Having a specified seizure action plan helped with managing anxiety as well as preparing for the physical.
• Keep in mind your reasons for getting the injection.
• Extreme soreness was able to be controlled by topical pain creme.
• No behavior/medication change besides extra intake of fluids.
• Increased fatigue can be treated/managed in the same ways as you do with your normal amount of fatigue. 
• If working during the recovery days, allow yourself extra breaks, and don’t forget to monitor yourself.

Are you planning on getting vaccinated? Any questions on the experience that you would like to ask? Let us know in the comments.

As a reminder, I am not a certified medical professional. The above is not intended to be used in place of professional medical advice. You should always consult with your healthcare physician prior to making any medical decisions.

Resources:

*CNBC: CDC says severe allergic reactions to the Covid vaccine run 10 times reactions to the flu shot but they’re still rare. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/06/cdc-says-severe-allergic-reactions-to-covid-vaccine-run-10-times-the-flu-shot-but-still-rare.html

** https://theconversation.com/how-mrna-vaccines-from-pfizer-and-moderna-work-why-theyre-a-breakthrough-and-why-they-need-to-be-kept-so-cold-150238