To ask if there is a way to not feel like I've actually had COVID after being vaccinated

[Walkingtheplank]

I've got my COVID booster tomorrow. I've booked it for a Friday so that I can sleep over the weekend. The first two injections wiped me out for a week - genuinely not far off how it felt when I actually had COVID, albeit without months of lethargy afterwards.

So, is there anything I can do to not be wiped out for the next week or so? Any tips would be great.

Fair enough. I am not the OP though and covid was worse for me and left me with long covid.

Really interesting about water and paracetamol, well worth knowing.
I also tried to consciously think ' these side effects are my body building immunity, not me suffering from covid' which helped me get through the couple of days discomfort I had. However, I am a bit of a hypochondriac!

You clearly know nothing about virology or the immune system. When you have an illness or a vaccination it is your own immune system’s response that make you feel ill. Interleukins are chemicals made by the host that enhance our immune response eg interleukin 6 is the thing that triggers a rise in your temperature.

Some people have a very adept immune response towards Covid ( in my case I had severe Covid in the first wave) and each vaccine triggers my well primed immune response. I have had several days of high fever,, aching and fatigue after each of three vaccinations.People have very different immune systems which is why most people die of infectious illnesses like the Black plaque and few will survive.

All you can do after the jab is rest, drink extra water and take paracetamol.

I had covid pre vaccine and I was so unwell for weeks, left with post viral fatigue, headaches and loss of taste/smell for over 6 months.

Im fully vaccinated and boosted and have covid now, other than abit of headache I’m fine. Just frustrated at staying at home and missing out on the Halloween fun this weekend.

Please have your vaccine. FWIW I had awful reaction to my first, but with each jab I’ve been better, the booster hardly knew I’d had it.

I don't need to imagine – I've had Covid, unvaccinated, and it was extremely mild, just as Chris Whitty stressed it would be for the majority of non-vulnerable people. Why are you catastrophising this?

'Known' vaccine is also stretching definitions a bit. This is a new technology vaccine with no long term trial data. People cannot still claim there is long-term data on this because it has literally only been on the market under 2 years - and it is literally licensed under 'emergency use'.

Outcome data for multiple boosted people doesn't look that great tbh.

No I disagree. I had swollen lymph nodes for a month afterwards, and I couldn't just imagine that. The lump at the back of my head caused a headache that lasted for weeks.
Honestly, I felt sicker after the vaccine than with actual COVID.

With each of my 3 x covid jabs, I've been ill in bed for about a week. Fever, aches, chills, the works!
I've had covid twice now and felt exactly the same, so I'm not having the vaccine this time, I'd rather take the chance of getting covid!
Interestingly I can have the flu jab with zero side effects, so happy to accept that one

Yeah, don't see the point either, I only ever did it for the passport/travel
Did you have covid early on? My theory is that we over-react to the vaccine because the original variant was such a shock to the system.
I seem prone to covid - have had it 3 times, plus two vaccines. Only the first time was awful. The other four were about the same in terms of feeling a bit crappy for a week.

"Outcome data for multiple boosted people doesn't look that great tbh."

Please do share your damning "outlook data".

"I've had Covid, unvaccinated, and it was extremely mild"

We know by now that the severity depends on viral load - i.e. How long you've been exposed to the contagious person, whether it was indoors or outdoors, etc.

Your next Covid infection can be a severe one. The people you infect might have severe cases.

Just because you had a mild case of Covid once doesn't mean the pandemic is a joke.

My doctor also advised the paracetamol before and after, the water, and rest. I also take Solgar Immune vitamins- and have been for over a year. I really feel they give me a lift generally.

I had a shocker of a headache after the second vaccine, but that's all. Have never to my knowledge had Covid. (I did work, maskless, with 26 Japanese students this summer, 22 of whom got Covid within 3 days of arriving though. Weird isn't it? You'd almost, you know, believe the vaccine worked, wouldn't you? They certainly wished they'd had it like their 4 friends)

Obviously it's a shame really that everything has gone so well for me given that my "outlook" is so bleak.

@CoteDAzur you'll be waiting a while for anything scientific from that one. The bat signal went out early on this thread as you can see.

Obviously a little late now, seeing as the post is from yesterday - but when I had my third jab, I figured I would get the shot and then make it to the climbing gym before the side effects kicked in. I was hit faster and harder than with any of the other shots. Just had my 4th yesterday, and I took it easy this time. It wasn't half as bad.

Olympicsrock - Thanks for your snarky reply. If you believe your immune system is so well equipped to fight Covid, why are you having a booster vaccine? We are now offered the bivalent booster here, and I just turned it down because a recent antibody test showed that I am still protected by my Covid infection earlier in the year, and the vaccines I had had before it.

"Black plaque" [sic] is neither here nor there.

Sleep, water, paracetamol, vitamin tablet, really healthy diet for a couple of days and rest.
I've had 4 jabs and no side effects. Not had covid yet either.

I felt really rough after my second jab and booster, far far worse than when I had covid. As I only had my jabs so I could travel and now that seems less of an issue, I won’t be having anymore.

"Your next Covid infection." You say that as if it's a given that I'll get it again. I don't believe I will. I suppose it's possible, but I doubt it, with natural immunity, which is superior to narrow, quickly fading vaccine immunity.

Whereas you multiple-vaxxed lot are just sitting waiting for the next time that second little line goes pink – just taking it as read that it will at some point. So remind me the point of the vaccines? And don't give me the "they reduce symptoms" crap, there really is no way of knowing that. The pro-vax narrative is crumbling, and you know it, but won't admit it.

Hope it went ok OP.

I had no side effects after mine. Took paracetamol before and drank plenty.

I don’t think anything can help. I’m on day 13 and still wiped out.

Funny, I have a horrendous response to covid vaccine and pharmacist also said drink plenty of water.

So I've drunk lots of water and taken paracetamol and it definitely feels better than previously - so thank you for the tips.

I was sick twice overnight and have had both hot flushes and sudden chills. My arm is quite swollen too but I'm comforting myself that my immune system is building up antibodies.