I’m terrified of the vaccine

[Icantbebrave]

I’ll start off by saying I have severe health anxiety and have done for many years.
I think I had covid last March and I was ill for a couple of days.
One of my big triggers in my health anxiety is a racing heart. Whenever I get a fever, I get tachycardia.
I’ve heard from friends and family who have had the vaccine that they got fever and a fast heart rate as a side effect.
I feel like by having the jab I’m willingly putting myself in the position where I’ll feel like this.
I’m not in an ‘at risk’ category, but I feel a lot of peer pressure to get the vaccine.
Especially when reading about the vaccine passports too, I’m scared I’ll be left behind and won’t be allowed to have a life due to my fear.

I’m not an anti vaxxer by any means and I don’t think it’s a conspiracy theory or a microchip or anything like that.

Does anyone else feel like me? I don’t think I’ll actually be able to force myself into the surgery to have it done when it’s my turn.

I’m 31 and no underlying health issues, so I’ll be way down the list anyway.

Bored2death there are so many misrepresentations in your post I don’t know where to begin. For a start, none of those are proven side effects or fatalities from a vaccine... they are reports.
Some of the fatalities recorded are clearly nothing to do with the vaccine (diahorrea reported as a side effect which also happened to be in someone who died, most likely from another underlying condition as the MHRA has clearly stated is the case with some elderly people).
Regardless. OP is worried about her health anxiety and one symptom she has, none of which relates to your anti-vaccine tirade

I think the OP has a right to read different opinions and not just yours to make sensible decisions, don't you think?

Opinions are one things, but you sure as hell don’t have a ‘right’ to pull so-called facts out of your arse just to stir trouble.

@Bored2death2020

A survival rate of 99% is a mortality rate of 1%. 1 in 100. To put this into perspective, measles has a mortality rate of 1 in 5,000 of 0.02% and only the tin foil hat brigade think we don’t need vaccines for that.

Please be aware that there are organised and highly funded campaigns to spread misinformation about vaccines.

China and Russia trying to undermine cohesion in west

Very good report on weaponised health misinformation that predates Covid

@Bored2death2020 You've hijacked a thread which was not about pro or anti-vaxx arguments to intimidate the OP with your fruitbat opinion. We're past all that kind of nuttiness now, and the vast majority of the population are taking up the vaccine gladly for their own sake and that of their loved ones. If you persist in believing all the anti-vaxx crap that's your prerogative (got a science qualificatiom by the way?) but you'll get short shrift here, as it's not the place for it and not what the OP was asking about.

I am a current breast cancer patient. I'm also having Herceptin which impacts the heart. I am currently ECV. I had the AZ vaccine and didn't even get a sore arm let alone anything else. No side effects whatsoever.

@Biscuitsneeded
I have not hijacked anything. Read my perfectly polite response to the OP. It's actually YOU who did not like my response and started all this nonsense accusing me of lying.

And who do you think you are to decide what the OP wants? Just chill and stop the panic. Everyone can make their own decisions on whether to take a jab or not, jump of a cliff or not or get fat by eating biscuits or not. Sharing opinions and advice is perfectly fine; ignore my posts and carry on.

My parents are in their 80s, both with heart conditions/stents, mum has SVT. Neither of them had any side effects.

I have atrial tachycardia and one trigger is fever. So I know what you are afraid of. I have learned from experience and my cardiologist has repeatedly told me though that tachycardia is seldom life threatening however unpleasant it is. So I don't get too hung up about it now.
You may get a fever after the jab, I didn't but it's very common. If you do it wont ladt long, you can rake paracetamol and if you get tachycardia just monitor it.

Sorry typos.
I will add that the side effects seem massively more common in young healthy people. I am older and in poor health (CEV due to breast cancer treatment and several other underlying problems). I had zero side effects.

I have awful health anxiety, had the vaccine on Tuesday, felt crappy Wednesday (though made worse by my panicking), right as rain now.

Seems to fit with what people are saying about younger, healthier people getting side effects with AZ. But rather that than covid.

OP, sorry that you are struggling with this. Would it help to tell yourself that you don’t have to have the vaccine? Are you feeling trapped or backed into a corner? The truth is you really don’t have to have it done. I hope thinking that makes you feel less panicked. It’s awful to feel you have no choice about something you’re so worried about.

@TheSockMonster your numbers for covid are well off!

I have come across this calculator for covid risks:
www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/news/coronavirus-and-your-health/how-to-find-out-your-risk-when-it-comes-to-coronavirus

[quote Bored2death2020]@TheSockMonster your numbers for covid are well off![/quote]
I was quite literally using the numbers you quoted on your earlier post.

Agree about the Valium. I had that for laser sight correction and it worked well. If you suffer a lot of anxiety generally you could consider longer term meds to help with that.
.

I have severe anxiety OP and had my vaccine yesterday.

Sore arm and a headache today and that's it, they were really lovely at the centre I went to and it's a great feeling knowing that I'm going to be protected.

It's worth it.

@Icantbebrave I completely understand your anxiety.

I'm group 6. Two weeks ago, totally out of the blue, I got a text saying to go and make an appointment. I was the first one in a large group of carers (all group 6) to be called up. I am very pro-vax in general and not scared of needles in the slightest.

I spent 48 hours in a terrible state. Convinced myself I was going to have an allergic reaction and die. Kept looking at the DC and wondering if I'd see them again. At the same time, I was completely aware of how irrational I was being. I can't even explain it. I don't believe the conspiracy theories and I spoke to my DB who has a pHD in this field and he reassured me about safety, procedures etc, and explained that actually this tech has been around longer than the public realises. I don't know why I was so worked up or anxious.

On the morning of the jab, I was in floods of tears. Made myself go and have it because I don't want to catch COVID and leave two disabled children without a mum.

And actually, I feel bloody amazing that I had it. So relieved to have the protection and just so grateful that I was given the chance to have it.

What helped me a bit is if you get some mild cold/flu type symptoms after the vaccine is to remind yourself that you're not actually ill. You will experience this for a very short time only, and you will be completely fine again in a day or so. Also, I found it helpful to remind myself that the side effects I noticed were actually the result of my immune system jumping into action. It isn't a virus or an infection, but a result of my body diverting attention elsewhere to kick ass. Thinking of the side effects as proof of how strong and fit my body was in fighting off what it perceived as an intruder really eliminated the anxiety.

That might not work for you, but consciously shifting my mindset really helped a lot. I have literally zero concerns about having a second dose now.

And yes, I have health anxiety too. I panic over new meds etc. So I totally understand it's horrible. I've had counselling and am still working on myself.

Remember: the choice is yours. You decide. I was more scared of getting COVID and dying. I thought to myself, if I got COVID and ended up in hospital, I would absolutely kick myself for not taking the opportunity to get protected. I've got some health issues of my own, so for me, the idea of COVID really scares me. Again, understanding that you are in control, you have all the power to make the decision that's right for you. For me, understanding that helped me gather my mental resources to go and have the vaccine.

@Oly4 your reply does not make sense at all. I used official data to support my opinion; you simply disregarded everything and decided that it was all bullsh*t.

...none of those are proven side effects or fatalities from a vaccine... they are reports.

YES, reports from people who have had jabs and then suffered side effects and REPORTED them.

Some of the fatalities recorded are clearly nothing to do with the vaccine ...
And you know this how? Deaths have been reported following a vaccine. Tell your opinion to relatives of those who died following a jab that it had nothing to do with their deaths.

Overall, interesting logics (followed by our gov as well): so a person who dies from cancer but who had a positive covid test within 28 days before their death died 'from COVID' and not the underlying condition. And the person who dies after receiving the jab - dies not from the vaccine but from the underlying condition??

We'll discover more in the future years once the trials and studies end (Jan 2023 in case with Pfizer vaccine, for instance). They are called EXPERIMENTAL for a reason.

Thank you bored2death - those links are really helpful. Like OP I’m struggling to make a decision about this.

Bored, it’s well known that there are always FAR more reports of supposed side effects from vaccines than are actually true side effects from vaccines.
A percentage of these reports are coincidental.
That’s what a yellow card scheme is - it’s to report suspected side effects. So a carer in a care home may have a client have the vaccine and feel ill a day later and die. Out of an abundance of cation they may flag it as a possible result of a vaccine. That doesn’t mean it is, they are quite sensibly reporting it to the MHRA in case investigators start to notice any patterns that could be true side effects (the MHRA has not spotted any patterns of concern so far by the way). That’s how it works.
Not that I’m going to convince you. But thankfully, most sensible people are aware that Covid could do them harm but that the vaccine is highly, highly unlikely to harm them.