I feel so trapped by these decisions 😭 I can’t cope

[Mrshirst11]

I’m 34. High BMI, asthma, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis. (Not medicated for psoriasis / arthritis)

Group 6 for the vaccine. Had my first dose of AZ 6 weeks ago.

Second one booked but I don’t think I can go ahead with it.

I’m petrified of a blood clot, literally petrified.

Since the announcement last week of a different vaccine for under 40’s, I haven’t stopped thinking about it.

I can’t sleep, I’m not able to concentrate at work, I’m snappy, I’m eating rubbish to make myself feel better.
I feel utterly down in the dumps.

I feel like I’m trapped, I either have the vaccine and risk a blood clot / death, or I don’t have the vaccine and risk being severely ill / death with Covid.

I can’t see a way out. I feel like I’ve lost all motivation.

I felt happy after my first dose, I felt like there was light ahead and I started to feel like life was going to be good, hopeful, normal.

Now I just honestly feel numb, life feels hard, I don’t see the light and I feel utterly miserable with this decision I have to make. 😭

I honestly understand where you’re coming from I’m in my 30s and I’m due my second dose next month and I’ve felt very similar. However you’ve listed several medical conditions that make you higher risk for covid so I would assume that the risks of the vaccination far outweigh the risk posed by the vaccination. You also have another 6 weeks before your next dose is due so the data regarding the risks associated with the second dose should be clearer by then. If all else fails the first dose provides protection for at least 16 weeks and in Ireland they have changed the gap between doses to 16 weeks for people under 60 who aren’t high risk so you could wait for another 10 weeks before making a decision and without loosing the immunity from the first dose. Try and put it out of your mind for a little while as you don’t currently have all the facts you need to make a choice as so much could change between now and when your second dose is due so hopefully you’ll either feel far more reassured or a different plan will be in place re second doses. Right now you are far better protected from covid than you were and everything is ok. In five weeks you can assess the data and current situation and make a more informed decision but you don’t need to do anything right now.

Aww, OP, try and breathe. From what you have said, you have several conditions that singly could put you in group 6. From memory, group 6 were started well before me (I am 54, no underlying conditions) - that means your risk from covid complications is higher than from the vaccine. Yes, prevalence is low right now but cases may well rise as we re-open, or in the future. There isn't a zero risk option (as in juch of life) so take the lowest risk one for you. The news about the clots broke a week or two before my first dose of AZ - one of the factors that influenced me (because the numbers were less clear then) was that it was a very small risk, I could look out for signs and get help if needed, and once that period was over I could relax and enjoy my life more, as the vaccine effects last much longer.

I’ll make the decision for you:

Get your 2nd AZ jab and don’t give it any more thought.
The chances of anything happening to you are absolutely tiny.
Think of it as one of those things you simply cannot control.
And think of the way out of this: once you’ve had the jab and you’re OK, you need not worry any longer. However if you don’t have the jab, you’ll be worrying about covid. So the best way to get rid of worry is to have the jab.
Did you know that the incidence of blood clots from birth control pills is about a hundred or a thousand times higher than blood clots from the AZ jab?

OP - if you have the jab, you’ll maybe ‘need’ to worry for 4 weeks & then you are as protected as you possibly can be.

If you don’t, you’ll have endless worry about covid.

The jab, while maybe increasing your anxiety for a short period, will overall serve to reduce it long term. Covid is FAR riskier too you than the vaccine. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Mrshirst118 you poor thing, I sympathise. If it's any help absolutely EVERYTHING I've read (and I read a lot about all this) indicates that if you are going to have a really problematic adverse reaction to the vaccine it'll be on the first dose, not the second. I know nothing's sure but I defintely believe this - it makes total sense to me. If your body coped with the first dose it will surely cope even better with the second, and if it's not going to cope that'll show up first time. Is how I understand it. So as you've had the first I personally think your chances of being hurt by the second must be utterly infinitessimal, whereas your chances of being hurt by covid are quite defintely real.
So if I was you I'd do my best to have the 2nd jab. Best of luck. You are going to feel massively, massively better if you can do this!

Mrshirst118 you poor thing, I sympathise. If it's any help absolutely EVERYTHING I've read (and I read a lot about all this) indicates that if you are going to have a really problematic adverse reaction to the vaccine it'll be on the first dose, not the second. I know nothing's sure but I defintely believe this - it makes total sense to me. If your body coped with the first dose it will surely cope even better with the second, and if it's not going to cope that'll show up first time. Is how I understand it. So as you've had the first I personally think your chances of being hurt by the second must be utterly infinitessimal, whereas your chances of being hurt by covid are quite defintely real.
So if I was you I'd do my best to have the 2nd jab. Best of luck. You are going to feel massively, massively better if you can do this!

Op in the gentlest kindest way this isn’t Covid or vaccine fear it’s your anxiety talking.

If you have the jab or not your anxiety will move onto something else. Time to see your gp?

There’s a higher risk of blood clots with covid than with the vaccine. I’ve just had my second dose and I’m forty and have high BMI. I was fine the first time, and so far I’m fine. I would rather be vaccinated. I’ve not felt anxious about it all, every medication/vaccine has side effects.

Sorry double post was getting glitches.

Mrshirst118 you poor thing, I sympathise. If it's any help absolutely EVERYTHING I've read (and I read a lot about all this) indicates that if you are going to have a really problematic adverse reaction to the vaccine it'll be on the first dose, not the second. I know nothing's sure but I defintely believe this - it makes total sense to me. If your body coped with the first dose it will surely cope even better with the second, and if it's not going to cope that'll show up first time. Is how I understand it. So as you've had the first I personally think your chances of being hurt by the second must be utterly infinitessimal, whereas your chances of being hurt by covid are quite defintely real.
So if I was you I'd do my best to have the 2nd jab. Best of luck. You are going to feel massively, massively better if you can do this!

There’s a higher risk of blood clots with covid than with the vaccine. I’ve just had my second dose and I’m forty and have high BMI. I was fine the first time, and so far I’m fine. I would rather be vaccinated. I’ve not felt anxious about it all, every medication/vaccine has side effects.

I'm 34 and had my second jab on Sunday just gone. I ended up being vaccinated due to being added to shielding due to GD in my last pregnancy which in turn turned out to be incorrect.

Anyway I was nervous on Saturday and Sunday morning. I decided to go ahead with it anyway and the vaccinated discussed everything with me, gave me a sheet with vaccine risks vs covid risks for each age group and it also said what to look out for between 4 days and 4 weeks following the vaccination I thought I'd be fretting for the full 4 weeks but I keep forgetting I have even had the second dose.

@aiwblam

I’ll make the decision for you:

Get your 2nd AZ jab and don’t give it any more thought.
The chances of anything happening to you are absolutely tiny.
Think of it as one of those things you simply cannot control.
And think of the way out of this: once you’ve had the jab and you’re OK, you need not worry any longer. However if you don’t have the jab, you’ll be worrying about covid. So the best way to get rid of worry is to have the jab.
Did you know that the incidence of blood clots from birth control pills is about a hundred or a thousand times higher than blood clots from the AZ jab?

This!

I was on the pill for over a decade and had no idea there was a blood clot risk that is way higher than from the AZ vaccine and I bet almost all women are the same.

I sympathise with how you feel, but the chances of being killed in a car accident are way, way higher, and you don't let worrying about that ruin your life.

As I understand from the programmes I've listened to the people who have suffered the clots have had low platelets so if you don't your risk is even lower than it would be if you did (which is still tiny)

I very much sympathise, I feel I have been pushed in to this vaccine by my parents and family who were constantly asking when I was going to have it as I was in Cohort6. I hate the pressure, I am a hermit so don't see anyone anyway. All I can say to you is that given you have had dose 1 then dose 2 has a VERY VERY tiny chance of clot, much smaller than dose 1 to the point of almost being insignificant. So given this is dose 2, feel relieved and go for it.

There is a miniscule chance of you having a clot. You are more at risk from the virus than a clot.

It is entirely voluntary. If you don't want it don't have it. So far I have chosen not to have it.

The science currently indicates that the risk of blood clot is with the first jab not the second. If you didn’t get a clot from the first jab then you can safely have the second jab.

I feel EXACTLY the same as you do OP. Kind of feels like someone's just pinched all your hole.

The anxiety is absolutely all consuming isn't it.

@Xenia

It is entirely voluntary. If you don't want it don't have it. So far I have chosen not to have it.

This. It is sad to see so many people tie them self up in knots and making themselves ill for something that is a free choice.

I am sorry you feel like this. You are not the only one but if there is some consolation with one doses you have quite a good level of protection with AZ. I seem to remembered it was 80 percent.

Why are you so worried about jab, OP, when all your other health conditions don't tie you up in knots & make you depressed?

the risk to your quality of life has to be worse from those other things -- I'm not trying to encourage you to be depressed, just noting that you've managed to dismiss possible anxiety about all the other things. What is different about the vaccine that you obsess on it?

You survived the first vaccine without a clot, therefore getting one after the 2nd dose is literally zero to zero.

Get the jab.

I know someone who’s just had a stroke post covid and she’s in her mid 30’s...get the vaccine

I randomly had a stroke on my 40s for no reason 🤷🏽‍♀️