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If there’s a one in a million chance of getting a weird side effect from the Covid vaccine? You know it’s going to be me.
.
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So I got my second dose of the Pfizer vaccine Friday morning. By Friday afternoon, my arm was sore and I had a slight headache…. which was no big deal and to be expected. I went to bed at 10:00 and called it good. Until I woke up Saturday morning with body aches, sluggish fatigue, a bigger headache and an odd tenderness under my left arm. I was pretty useless all day, went to bed at 7:00pm but couldn’t sleep for the pain. By Sunday morning? I had a rock hard grapefruit in my armpit.
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I admit I was a little freaked out and immediately hit the computer for some medical research. Yes, it is a possible side effect… though it’s rare and only hits 0.3% of the public. It usually lasts a week to ten days, but can be sore for up to a month.
.
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Ironically, I had a routine doctors appointment scheduled for today and I just got back. They told me they hadn’t seen a patient present with it yet, but they did have a male nurse with a bad case. Of course he didn’t have to worry about wearing a tight bra, so my sympathy only went so far.
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The doctor told me our lymph nodes are part of our body’s immune response system and they swell when they’re fighting infection. So the fact that mine are inflamed is actually a positive reaction to the vaccine.
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Maybe so. But I’m here to tell you, it’s not a pleasant feeling.
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River's world..... 
I have this mental picture of your immune system sitting quietly reading the newspaper, and then when you got the second jab it huffed, slammed the newspaper on the floor, rolled it’s sleeves up, stood up, and shouted “COME AT ME!”
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Ha! For all the pain it’s causing me right now, I think that’s the least it can do.
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Well River, your one of the lucky few. One of the nurses in the Dept of Family Medicine here got the same side effect. She said she couldn’t lift her arm up and the big ball of whatever was making it hard to keep her arm at her side…..FUN TIMES….that’s exactly what she said. Of course with a sarcastic tone to it.
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I’d say I’m glad I’m not the only one, but carrying a hard grapefruit in your armpit is not for the faint hearted….
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I’m sorry. It’s not fair, but there you go. I trust you’ll be doing better every day going forward. Stupid virus
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Just when I thought it couldn’t screw with me anymore than it already had…. bam!
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“hit the computer for some medical research. ” BIG MISTAKE!!!! Don’t you know whatever you may have according to the Internet it will kill you?!?!
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Time will tell….
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I had a similar reaction, complete with inflamed armpit lymph node, to my initial dose of vaccine. I can only assume the 2nd shot will be that much worse. But also: go immune system!!!! Woohoo!!!!
Deb
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Wow. I can’t imagine having it twice. Good luck with that.
🥴
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I decided to wait until walk-in clinics and single doses arrive … but then, I have a passel of new medical horrors that should keep the crisis teams busy for a bit, and can leave Covid decisions up to them …
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We have clinics giving the J&J here. Even our senior center right up the road.
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I’m sorry for your discomfort but as noted above, it means you have an active immune system fighting for you. A 95-year-old friend had no reaction at all to either shot, and I suspect his immune system would have a hard time fighting off anything.
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The strange thing about the vaccine seems to be the older you are, the less side effects you have.
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Ugh, who wants to lug a grapefruit around in your armpit?! For the second shot, I had slight vertigo, but the fatigue has lasted a week. That’s a win for me.
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I’m still a little tired, but it’s getting better.
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Please tell me HRH Dudley is curled up with you. It’s the least he can do for you.
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For all his stellar character traits, lap sitting isn’t one of them. It only happens on rare occasions.
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😢 that’s one of the best things in life! A purring kitty on my lap is divine.
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He just can’t seem to get comfortable. I love it when he does… but even then it’s only for a short time.
🙁
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Man. Talk about the pits!
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Literally, yes!
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I hope you start feeling better very soon.
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Thank you.
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Take it as a sign that you’re tough as nails!
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I’d like to, but right now I’m too sore.
😉
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My husband also didn’t have a fun reaction to the second shot. But since he’s a man, his was worse -lol
Thinking of you!
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I’m trying to whine. Maybe I should wine instead….
🍷
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Here’s a comparative analysis, not that you asked for such: First Covid Shot (Pfizer), slight headache, a little fatigue, basically over it in 24 hours. Second Covid Shot (still Pfizer, natch), ditto on the results. Three weeks after the Second, I’m at my doctor’s office for a regular check-up, and he notes that I haven’t had my Tetanus booster.
Oh? Okay, let’s do it. If the Covid vax didn’t take me out, we should be good.
I was wrong. No grapefruits, but I was completely out of it for a good three days, loopy and tired and cranky and not happy at all. In the midst of this mind haze, I called my dermatologist’s office to schedule my “every six months mole-patrol” appointment (history of skin cancer, gotta keep on it, right?). In the midst of the call, I completely forgot why I even called or what I wanted.
I’m sure the lovely assistant on the other end of the line thought I was drunk off my ass (I was actually slurring in a full-on Britney Spears meltdown), but she talked me down and eventually scheduled the appointment.
End tally? Covid 1 and 2? Meh. Tetanus booster? Total smackdown.
And there you have it…. 😉
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Apparently our bodies have inherited our twisted senses of humor. Damn them.
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