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As of April 21, I’m fully vaccinated against Covid-19, meaning I’ve had two doses of the (Pfizer) vaccine and my second dose was on April 7. I had some health issues after each dose that I suspect were long-lasting side effects, and I wanted to share them here because I’ve seen so little written about this. Note that I am not a medical professional; I am just sharing my own experiences.
I had my first shot on the morning of Wednesday, March 17. I started feeling tired that afternoon and took a nap. I slept pretty well that night, and napped again the following day. On Friday I felt pretty good, and I thought that was the end of it. But over the weekend I had a low appetite, some nausea, and some other GI irritation. Going into the next week (of March 22), I started having cold symptoms: fatigue, sneezing, congestion, sore throat and a mild fever (99.1-ish). Those lasted for a few days and I was feeling pretty okay by the end of the week.
I got my second shot on April 7. I felt fine that evening and a little tired the next day, but that was all. But then, on Friday April 9, I developed chills and another mild fever (low 99s), which lasted for about 36 hours. On Sunday I felt good, but on Monday (April 12), I developed GI symptoms again that lasted about 48 hours. Another round of cold symptoms followed: lots of fatigue, runny nose, sneezing, sore throat, and some serious brain fog. These continued through the weekend of April 17-18. I’ve felt a bit better each day since then, but some mild fatigue has lingered, and I’ve slept hard every night, which is unusual for me.
I wouldn’t have thought much of it, except that the pattern of post-vaccine side effects were so similar both times. I wondered if maybe I had a virus, but nobody else in my household had any signs of illness. My instinct tells me that these waves of symptoms were the way my body mounted its immune response to the vaccines.
I asked on Facebook whether anyone had had prolonged symptoms after their shots, and I got some responses in the affirmative. In particular, some of my friends with fibromyalgia (which I also have) said they had longer reaction times, as though the vaccine had perhaps triggered a fibromyalgia flare. Some of what I experienced felt that way, too, especially the fatigue, malaise and brain fog. Anecdotes are not data, but it seems like an experience worth noting.
It’s now three-plus weeks since my second shot, and I’m pretty much feeling back to normal. I’m grateful to have this protection from Covid-19, and don’t regret that I got vaccinated. But my experience makes me wonder how many other people had longer recovery times from the vaccine, especially the second one. Dr. Jen Gunter recently noted that our lymph nodes can remain swollen for four to six weeks after the second dose, so clearly our immune systems are still working hard for weeks after these vaccines.
What about you and your family? Did anyone you know have a longer reaction time to the vaccines?