First Dose of Pfizer on 4/14/21
Michigan
Lot # EW0150
Q: What was your life like before you got the vaccine?
Before the Covid vaccine I was a very healthy and active 55-year-old woman. I usually walked 3-4 miles per day, interspersed with jogging, and square dancing was one of my hobbies. I loved to hike, and I was eager for square dancing to start back up after Covid.
Q: What was your reaction, symptoms, & timeline?
On April 14 I went to the Kalamazoo Expo Center and received my first (and in the end, only) dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine. During that night my ears started itching and tingling and the back of my scalp started itching, like an allergic reaction. During the next few days I also had the expected symptoms of extreme fatigue and generally not feeling well. But within a few days the generally “allergic” feeling began to spread to nerve pains at my waist. For about two weeks these nerve pains showed up all over my head and body but weren't unbearable. Between three weeks and a month after the vaccine, the pain and other symptoms became much worse. These included severe tailbone pain, lower back pain, pains running down my right leg to my right heel, and weird facial tingling and “zinging” in my eyes, nose, and sometimes inside the mouth. Anything that involved sitting became extremely challenging. I developed digestive symptoms with severe gastric bloating.
Q: What was your life like after you got the vaccine?
Six and a half months later, these symptoms (and more) are still here, with some days “only” difficult and other days extremely painful. The pain interferes with sleep, and I find it hard to stay active at all. My right leg is weaker than my left leg. I have dizziness, tinnitus, and neuropathy in my hands and feet. I've lost a lot of weight. Some days I can walk a bit in the neighborhood. Some days I can only walk around the house to do the bare minimum. I can drive, but only for short distances. Sometimes I go to the woods and walk a very short distance, just to see the beauty. I try to avoid activities that involve sitting in one place for a long time, such as traveling, sitting at the computer, eating out, or going for coffee with a friend. I spend a lot of time reclining on the couch.
Q: Share your experience with any medical care and any diagnoses you have received:
Doctors are baffled. I've seen a number of specialists. I have not responded well to prednisone, which is the "go-to" treatment for inflammation. The second time it was prescribed it seemed to make my symptoms worse. I have been told by two different doctors that I probably have some kind of autoimmune issue causing inflammation, but my bloodwork has mostly appeared normal. I've been diagnosed with various things that are basically just a description of symtoms, such as idiopathic neuropathy. There are a few more doctors to try, though waiting lists are long. I am losing hope of a medical cure.
Q: Was your reaction reported, and what was the response?
I have reported my reaction to VAERS and to Pfizer. VAERS asked me to fill out a follow-up form recently, and Pfizer contacted my primary care doctor.
Q: Is there anything that has helped, and have your symptoms improved?
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Q: What do you wish others knew?
I am a fairly widely published epistemologist--that is, a specialist in the theory of knowledge. I have been astonished after coming into contact with other people injured by these same vaccines to see the independent reporting of similar symptoms. There are variations; these are not copied from one another. I kept track of my own symptoms for months before learning that there were others out there with such similar symptoms. This sort of independence with similarity is very important evidentially. I wish others knew that these very serious adverse events are much more common than they are being led to believe. When you receive one of these new Covid-19 vaccines, you cannot be at all sure that you will have only a mild or brief vaccine reaction. Please think twice and more than twice, especially when it comes to giving it to a child or to any person for whom you are responsible. Where there is significant risk, people need to be much more careful, and they must have a choice. These vaccines do carry a much more significant risk than I ever realized before this happened to me and before I learned of the many others who have been injured.
