First Dose of J&J on 06/03/2021 Lot #1820096
Connecticut
21 yrs old
Michael Locke has opted-in to be contactable by the public and other vaccine injured. No hateful emails, or you will be banned. You can send them messages at michaellocke6321@gmail.com
VIDEO UPDATE ON 07/29/2024:
I have been able to determine exactly what the diagnosis is: Vaccine-Induced Immune Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia.
An autoimmune disorder that attacks platelets and causes clotting around the body. I am in the process of trying to find a competent hematologist to go on anticoagulation and dissolve the clots. Please watch my complete update below:
ORIGINAL INTERVIEW POSTED ON 04/13/2024:
Q: What was your life like before you got the vaccine?
I was a competitive bodybuilder. I was a very muscular 215 pounds. I was squatting 500 pounds and bench pressing 340 pounds. I had my share of issues, like any one else, but the gym was my place to go as an outlet. It was my purpose in life - my "happy place."
Q: Would you like to share your reason(s) for getting the vaccine?
I was mentally unstable after getting COVID in 2020, and I was threatened with being fired from a previous job if I did not get vaccinated. I decided it would be worse to lose the stability of the job than to get vaccinated. However, I did not realize at that time that COVID was the REASON for the mental instability.
Q: What was your reaction, symptoms, & timeline?
I offer this timeline for others to compare. It is intentionally long so full details can be seen:
Timeline:
Part 1 (COVID):
• January – March 2020: I started attending college at UCONN Storrs. First time away from home, so I initially thought what happened next was “anxiety.” In February, I noticed panic episodes and energy fluctuations unlike anything I had experienced before. I also recall telling my mother that my body is “not working” when I was trying to workout at the gym. This was before I knew anything about COVID. I recall being in a mental haze that was worse in the morning and during the daytime hours, and then I would get a sense of a “release” at nighttime along with a surge of energy (where I would feel better). It was miserable, and I had to drop out of school.
• March 2020 – June 2020: I left UCONN (before the school closed for lockdowns) because something was physically wrong. No indication of having the flu or a sickness, but I was having what I thought was a “mental health” crisis. I thought I was bipolar because of the ultra-rapid energy swings and crashes. I saw a psychiatrist, and I started taking Lamictal and Latuda – I was prescribed this after a single visit when I suggested I may be bipolar. For the next 3 months, I slept 10-16 hours a day (mostly during the daytime), lost 20 pounds without trying to, and being awake was physically painful. I did not know how to describe it then. It was a panic and pain I had never experienced – a sense of physically-induced despair and fear that was truly hellish. I almost killed myself. I thought it must be the medications, but this had started before the medications. I did not have an answer.
• June 2020 – June 2021: I enrolled in another school, slowly got back into the gym a few days a week and was somewhat functional. The “panic episodes” stabilized into a predictable cycle of sorts. I would wake up, have a surge of energy/adrenaline, feel groggy and unfocused for the daytime, have the same hellish experience of despair in the late afternoon/evening, then I would experience a physical release for much of the rest of the day. The evening time was the only time of day that I felt decent, so that is when I would exercise. Bodybuilding had become my focus once again and was my outlet for my pain. Note: I was still not recovered from what happened in 2020, but I was functional and able to get by.
• June 2021: I was vaccinated with the J&J shot. I was told I would be fired from work if I did not. Given my instability (which I thought was psychosomatic at the time), I reasoned that it would be worse to lose the structure/schedule that this job was giving me, so I got the injection.
Part 2 (Post Vaccination):
• July 2021 – December 2021: I did not know what, but something was different, and something was wrong. But I pushed on. I began preparing for my first actual bodybuilding competition, which would be just 4 months after the competition. Preparation for the competition started about 45 days after vaccine, by coincidence. My body changed, which I attributed to the prep. I became constipated, had severe trouble focusing, gradually lost the ability to sweat, was fatigued and my workouts were not “there”. But again, I attributed this to the strain on my body for this competition (which was done without steroids or enhancements). After the competition, I was in bad shape. My bloodwork was also quite bad (hormones, A1C, liver enzymes, thyroid) – see attached for 10.2021 bloodwork. I started eating more, but my body was not responsive – I could not exercise like I was before, I could not get a “muscle pump,” I was abnormally cold, and so on. Full symptoms listed below.
• 2022: I decided to move to Florida right after the competition in January 2022. Little did I realize, however, that would be the most painful experience of my life. My body severely stopped working properly. My chest was tight, my fingernails were purple, I got dizzy and had headaches, my bones and muscles felt trapped and tight in my torso, my feet tingling and radiated, and were numb. The left side of my torso, face, and my left leg were frequently numb (same side as the COVID injection). I then attributed this to muscular imbalances because my left leg is nearly ½ an inch longer than my right leg.
• I had “panic episodes” still. Eventually I developed food intolerances and caffeine issues, a pressure in the left side of my chest, discolored hands, and so on. My thoracic spine and back of my head pounded, and I could no longer lay flat on my back when sleeping. Not only was I unsure of what was happening to me, or why, but I was also alone and constantly floating between doctor’s offices while trying to keep myself together. I could not escape the environment, the light, the noise, sleep due to the headaches and physical pain and mental anguish, nor could I escape whatever was happening to my body despite no negative bloodwork or abnormal scans. I turned to food as an emotional crutch, and then I noticed an association between diet and the symptoms but could not determine what it was. It is not blood sugar or insulin related.
• 2023: I went to doctor appointment after doctor appointment, desperately searching for answers including neurological causes, vascular compression, spine injuries or brain injuries, different primary care doctors, jaw doctors, physical therapists, chiropractic, psychologists, sleep doctors, and naturopaths. I looked over my history again and again and again and again and again and again and again, but I could not find a definitive cause for these symptoms, other than the timeline of events established. The compression I felt in the left side of my chest and face led me to a vascular surgeon for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, and I thought the compression there could have caused the numbness and discoloration and headaches and so on, and potentially could have even caused dysautonomia.
• 2024 – Present Day: I discovered on my own that I likely have a form of dysautonomia because my heart rate changes at least 30+ bpm when changing positions (sitting to standing). I had a first rib resection and scalenectomy to relieve the presumed compression of the nerves between my clavicle and first rib, but the surgery did not stop the symptoms whatsoever. Research on dysautonomia led me to POTS, which led me to finding how previously healthy people got COVID and then the vaccine, and subsequently developed nervous system disorders with nothing visible on testing they had done. Their stories are nearly identical to mine in terms of presentation, timeline, lack of other diagnoses, and progression. I began working with a Long COVID/ Long Vaccine doctor and are currently getting bloodwork. We have confirmed (with bloodwork) I currently have both COVID and COVID vaccine spike antibodies (3 years after vaccination).
The Current Symptoms:
• Intense attacks of chest pain tightness/pain. Feeling of hypoxia/inability to breathe. Feeling of being stuck in fight/flight/adrenaline response. Body feels like it is constricting. Unconsciously clenching and tight, depending on time of day (see below on the “Daily Cycle”)
• Daily Cycle: I wake up, stand up, heart rate shoots up 110+ bpm, fingers and extremities get cold/purple and visible arm/leg veins go away, later in the day towards the evening I have a surge/flushing of some kind (possibly triggered by food, MCAS, etc.), then I “release” and I get extremely vascular, warm, and red. No longer tense. Pictures of this available.
• Mental Fog. Cannot focus. Disassociation and derealization. Personality changes.
• Nearly immediate response to food/drink including: left side of face and body tingling and stinging, going numb (same side as vaccine injection). Intense nausea and brain fog. Dizziness. Often flushing and changes in body temperature. Nose starts running.
• Pounding heartbeat/palpitations. Increase heart rate when standing, lowered when sitting.
• Temperature regulation issues: cold hands/feet
• Lost the ability to sweat from arms and other body parts***
• Difficult to recover from any workouts now. Joints hurt. Muscles ache. Endurance is very low.
• Face, hands, and feet tingling, vibrating, and numb. Much worse on left side. Much more notable after eating, and much less notable when fasting. Ketogenic diet is very useful when followed.
• Complete loss of feeling in arms: I have woken up before and had both arms completely numb. When I walk, my arms also go numb. They feel like limp noodles. Nothing I can do when this happens other than wait.
• Notable spots on the body are very painful and sore to the touch, especially when having an episode. These include under the armpits or the lat muscles, in the front of my neck muscles, and my calves/legs.
• Lights and sounds bother me immensely when having an episode.
My Life Now:
I am working full time in a job I very much enjoy, but I must not stand up too long. I must follow a strict diet (ketogenic and red meat) along with regular fasting because food triggers a large response. I no longer weightlift, and I am struggling, but having answers on what caused this and potentially how to "fix" myself is my goal now. There are answers. We just have to find them.
Q: Tell us about any tests, diagnoses, and/or Medical Care received:
Cardiology:
• echocardiogram, EKG, stress test, full blood panel: normal
• Tilt Table: Not enough of heart rate increase to be classified as POTS
• Neurologist:
• EMG laying down: Normal
• Brain MRI laying down: Normal
• Rheumatologist:
• Blood work: Normal (attached)
• Orthopedic Spine Doctors, Chiropractor, & Physical Therapist:
• MRIs of all three spines: minor disc issues, nothing noted as remarkable
• Notable joint/muscle tightness in neck and upper spine
• Vascular surgeon:
• Ultrasounds of upper extremity and arms: Suggested Thoracic Outlet Syndrome
• First rib resection and scalenectomy to relieve nerve compression (02/19/2024): Unsuccessful after 5 weeks.
• Jaw Doctor:
• Suggested TMJ, but debatable. Nothing that would suggest universal symptoms
• Men’s health clinic (Marek)
• Hormones are now back in normal range. Prescribed enclomiphene briefly in 2022 to increase testosterone.
• No abnormal liver function, cholesterol, thyroid, etc.
• Blood markers, namely platelets, low
• Orthotics/shoe lifts – to compensate for longer left leg
• COVID-specific Doctor – getting detailed bloodwork, confirmed I currently have both COVID and COVID vaccine spike antibodies (3 years after vaccination)
Q: Where has your reaction been reported, and what was the response?
I have reported it to VAERS with FULL details.
Q: Are there any treatments that have helped or hurt your health?
Fasting is staggeringly useful. As is ketogenic diets and especially just red meat. Again, this cannot be overemphasized.
Compression socks/leggings are essential for the dysautonomia.
Sitting down more than you think you need to.
Sleeping with an elevated upper body, like reclining in a chair. This one took me a year of horrid sleep to figure out.
"Supplements" including nattokinase, NAC, Vitamin D, Magnesium, Quercetin, and so on. FLCCC is a useful website. I have donated to them too.
I am experimenting with antihistamines (Allegra and Pepcid).
Finally, I am going to be trying Ivermectin, Aphaeresis, and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in the future.
Q: Have you had Covid before?
Yes. In Early 2020 with the first wave. It was horrendous. Please see above for the full timeline.
Q: What do you wish others knew?
1. This is NOT a "mental disorder." This is a full-body assault that results in mental changes. It is not a choice.
2. Even though it is not a choice, there are options available like I listed above. It took me nearly 3 years to conclusively determine this hell I have gone through was because of the vaccine, and I have found useful tools now that I know what battle I am fighting.
3. We are often told that it is "anxiety" as the cause. It is not. With this said, I have learned that if I allow myself to get angry at this situation or emotionally overwhelmed, it only makes symptoms and the situation worse. We must approach this rationally - regardless of the fact that it was given to us against our will.
4. There must be acknowledgement by the federal government and the vaccine companies. We must recover, and justice MUST be served.
5. Use FLCCC as a resource. Contact your congressperson and tell them. This is not a partisan issue. Republicans and Democrats have pushed vaccines. Your political beliefs are irrelevant on this issue.
6. People must be able to admit they were wrong to take the vaccines, and they must acknowledge the elephant in the room. I did not want to accept that I was poisoned by my government and my country, but I was and so were the people on this website. We must tell the truth to others and ourselves. The only way is forward.
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