I had my second COVID vaccine a week ago today, and though I had very few side effects from the first shot a month ago, I’m afraid I can’t say the same for this one. Long-time readers have probably noticed that I very rarely get sick, but when I do my body tends to go all “HOOOOOOOLD THE BUS!!!” and I get extremely ill for about 24 hours, then almost immediately back to normal. It’s as though my immune system has only two settings, “standby” and “full throttle”. So I’m never suprised when I have strong reactions to vaccines, but since the first shot gave me nothing but a sore arm for two days, I expected nothing this time either. Alas, such was not to be. I got the Moderna shot about 7:15 Tuesday evening, went to bed with a sore arm, then woke up next morning feeling just slightly icky. By noon I decided not to get dressed; I had chills and brain fog, was weak as a kitten, and had no appetite at all. The culprit was obvious so I just took it easy, went to bed early, and was fine by Thursday morning. I thought that would be that, but then Friday morning the left side of my jaw hurt so badly I could only barely eat cereal, and then only by chewing solely on the right side. I assumed it was some kind of dental pain and I’m overdue for a checkup anyhow, so I just made an appointment and decided to make soup for dinner. But by dinnertime the pain had spread up the left side of my face to the temple, and it hurt every time I opened my mouth far enough to admit a spoon; I was also incredibly thirsty all day (which is very unusual for me) and my hearing seemed oddly acute. A little research pointed to a culprit: a transient condition called “Bell’s palsy” caused by inflammation of one of the facial nerves, which is sometimes a side effect of a number of vaccines (including the COVID vaccine). Everything I read said it would clear up on its own, so I felt better about that, and Saturday morning the pain had changed into more like numbness and moved up the side of my head, running from my upper teeth to my scalp, leaving me with only minor chewing pain; by dinnertime that, too was mostly gone, though it has returned in spells. The info I read said this is only experienced by about 25 vaccine recipients in 100,000, so yay me for being so exceptional. But the experience did remind me of how much I dislike the way the medical community uses “benign” to mean “not fatal” rather than actually benign; by that standard, a truck accidentally dumping 6 tons of horse manure in your driveway would be considered “benign” because it can eventually be cleared away without destroying your house.
Diary #571
June 8, 2021 by Maggie McNeill
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I never got any negative reactions when I got my shots, including my last tetanus shot in ’06. Twenty-five out of one-hundred thousand is still less than one percent, which leads me to believe that the anti-vaccine movement can’t even do simple math. (Contrary to Jeremy R Hammond and James Lyons-Weiler, the vaccine industry isn’t anywhere near as profitable as pharmaceuticals or alternative medicine.) Come to think of it, a lot of skeptics are guilty of the same sin. For example, The Skeptical Raptor still denies the high survivability rate of this virus, which, as Dr. Peter Hotez said on Joe Rogan’s show, is basically SARS II.
I also got both Moderna jabs. No major side effects from either one, but was a bit drowsy a few hours after the second. Maybe that was a side effect, or maybe it was because I awoke earlier than usual the day of the second jab.
Your side effects are among the more extreme that I read about before taking the vaccine. Their onset and duration are about the same as those I’ve read about.
The side effects are apparently from the immune system gearing up to attack any particles which it recognizes as the COVID19 spike protein.
The more extreme side effects tended to happen to people aged about 55 years or younger. Effect severity increased with decreasing age and decreased with increasing age.
So from what you described, your immune system is ready to kick ass and take names if any Covid19 virus shows up.
My second dose was much the same as yours: I didn’t feel any unusual symptoms, but I did sleep for about twelve hours upon getting home. That may simply have been a result of having to go to the other side of the county to get it.
The mRNA vaccines like Moderna and Pfizer use a new method to produce immunity. Here is Rose Bear Don’t Walk of Scishow describing how they work. She doesn’t describe the side effects symptoms. But she does describe what is happening during the time that people have the symptoms, about 1 to 3 days after the jab.
It’s a week for me today and I’m still experiencing the jaw pain, though reduced from the intensity of Friday and occurring sporadically (Sunday night, this afternoon).
Hello Lady,
My second Moderna shot got me down for 8 days with symptoms similar to those You described, and I don’t usually get that sick for that long from a vaccine. My partner had similar symptoms and She was feeling weak for almost exactly 8 days Herself. W/we B/both came out of it on the same day and never looked back. We B/both hope You are feeling better now!