Sat outside the vaccination centre.. I can’t go in

[Louby08]

I don’t even know why I’m posting on
here.

I’ve been on the phone to 111 and to an NHS mental health support team, but I may as well have not bothered.

I’m sat outside the vaccination centre to get my second AZ and I just cannot go in.
I’ve never felt fear / panic like I am feeling right now. I’m so frightened about getting a blood clot.

I’m so desperate to be fully vaccinated but I’m absolutely petrified to have my second dose.
I feel like walking in there is a death sentence, I equally feel staying out here to catch Covid, is a death sentence.

There’s been such a buzz at work recently amongst colleagues getting their vaccines (we’re all under 40) but all I feed is dread and fear.

I can’t live my life like this. I just can’t.

It’s a terrible fucking situation to be in and I’m not happy with either option I face.
I just don’t know what to do anymore :(

Ok, take a deep breath. Break it down into steps
Go in
Don't think beyond that now, just walk in the door.
They will be prepared to help you.

@WorraLiberty

You've probably missed your slot now anyway so you might as well go home.

See if you can do a bit more research into it then and re-book if you want to go ahead.

No, we are used to folk dithering and plucking up courage. If you change your mind you can still go.

OP is know its hard but you can do this.

I just went for my second AZ today OP, also under 40. It does sound like your anxiety is making the choice really hard for you. Have a chat to your GP

Give up for today and take someone with you next time. My colleague is petrified of needles and they let her take her husband - she buried her face in his shoulder, he held her hand and she got her jab

No, we are used to folk dithering and plucking up courage. If you change your mind you can still go.

That depends entirely on the vaccination centre.

Either way, there's no point in her hanging around and working herself up.

All I can say is that I've had both, and haven't felt either. Literally, I looked the other way, and had to be told they had finished. No bruise, no headache, no sign of anything.

I hope you get through quickly.

I was feeling anxious too. I’m three days post second AZ and I’m aged 32. I only decided on the morning to go ahead with it.

There have been 0 confirmed clots after the second vaccine under the age of 50. There have been 23 clots in over 50s but these are unconfirmed and work out at 1 in a million even for the over 50s.

You do have more chance of a clot with the Indian variant so damned if you do damned if you don’t. Less chance of a clot with the vaccine though.

The first vaccine the risk of a clot is higher for younger people but you’ve already had this jab, the second one defo is safer. Good luck.

Op i dont know if this will help or not.

I have the Pfzier vaccine on Saturday on Monday was sent to hospital by GP and diagnosed with a blood clot through a blood test.

The Long story short I’m fine! Be vigilant if you feel poorly after visit your GP.

I’m 41.

Op take a deep breath, this isn’t you it’s your anxiety talking

You know if you don’t have it you will spend longer than the 4 weeks you think you will worry about a clot for worrying about getting Covid and long Covid.

You can do it!

Life is full of risks. You could be hit by a bus. You've made it to the centre unscathed, please go in

It strikes me that you will be anxious whether you do or don’t have this vaccine. You may as well be anxious and vaccinated than anxious and vulnerable.

Life is all about risks OP. The chance of a blood clot after the 2nd vaccine is minuscule. I was petrified after my first one - the whole blood clot thing had started to get quite scary at that point, end of April. I'm still going for my second on Monday despite being anxious about that too.

Even, in the very rare off chance that you did get a clot, they know so much more about it now, what to look for, how to treat it so if you have any symptoms after you would be taken seriously. Put your big girl pants on and go in.

You said you are scared of death, you are more likely to die of a clot with covid than you are with getting a clot through the vaccine.

Talk to the persons on reception and ask for help to go in.

This was me. Couldn't get any sense out of my gp consultant and others, all just said covid worse than vaccine. I went to my appointment, expliained my fears. Very good gp on duty explained much more about my risk for my condition and about risk of vaccine for me, not just generally. I was reassured. I advise anyone to speak to the doctor in charge of where you are going, you can still refuse afterwards if you want

I’m not scared of clots. I’m scared of death

Covid has killed an equivalent number of the uk population to the entirety of the city of Cambridge since March 2020. In contract the vaccine clots have been a factor in fewer deaths than it would take to fill a small cafe.

Does it make you feel better that I'm 28 and had both AZ without issue?

Even if you were the one in 20 million that got a blood clot it's such a small chance it would kill you.

If you've had the first one without a clot the second one is very very very unlikely to be harmful in any way. In fact you're more likely to be hit by a car or lightening sat outside the centre than getting a clot from the vaccine.

I really urge you to go and get the vaccination. This is a mental health issue around anxiety not a physical health issue / concern. I hope you get the help you need, I've lived with Anxiety and solidarity that it's absolute torture.

🙄

OP most people on here aren’t going to understand. There are so few people in our position who are young and have had a dose of AZ before they knew it was too dangerous. The comments are well meaning but they just don’t get that when we had our first doses they said it was totally safe and if swiftly emerged that it wasn’t. No wonder we don’t trust that the same won’t happen with second doses in younger groups. It’s such a hard decision and I fully understand. I don’t know what your risk factors are so can’t comment but I was jabbed as a carer so no personal risk and so not having my second.

Those 4 weeks are going to pass regardless of if you have the vaccine or not. You can not have it, and spend the 4 weeks worrying about both catching Covid and whether you should get the vaccine. Or you can have it and spend the 4 weeks worrying about clots.

At the end of the 4 weeks with the second option, your worry will be over.

At the end of the 4 weeks with the first option, you will still be in the time position.

Time passes - just think which position you would rather be in, in a month’s time.

The odds overwhelmingly in your favour that you won’t get a clot. However IF you have symptoms or concerns - you can get them checked out and doctors know what to look for and how to treat. Your hyper vigilance means there is no way it would go undiagnosed to the point of being deadly. No one has died from a clot after the second dose. There’s no reason to think you would be the first.

Please try to get your second dose and in a month’s time think how free you will feel 🌺

I am nervous of my second jab, the first knocked me out like a bad dose of flu. I had my appointment booked and two days before the text came through cancelling it. So annoying, I had been building myself up for nothing. I will book another one, like you it will be 14 weeks gap.

I'm in the same position OP - had four weeks of constant stress after the first jab thinking that any slight headache was the start of something (and of course I had a stress headache most of the time leading to a nice vicious circle). I'm now almost one week past when I was scheduled for my second dose, which I'm embarrassed to say I cancelled a few days before.

I too am well aware that the risk is very small and that my fear is irrational, but knowing that doesn't make it any better, as you know (because it's irrational!)

It should be pointed out that your protection from requiring hospitalisation if you catch COVID is quite good even after just one dose of AZ - 72% as I understand it - so you should feel re-assured that you have reduced your risk of serious COVID by having the first jab, and that was definitely the right decision in retrospect. Your chances of a mild case are more seriously affected without the second dose though.

Personally I am hoping that at some point there will be the option to have Pfizer as a second dose, as is already the case in several countries as I would not have the same four weeks of stress with that (though I know there are still potential side effects with Pfizer too). In the meantime, I'm keeping an eye on the figures and the risk from COVID as I'm aware that, if things get worse, there is a point when I think my fear of that will outweigh my fears of blood clots and I can force myself through the door.

Don't feel bad - there are plenty of people in our position and while some people will ridicule us for our anxieties, I'd like to hope most people, as seems to be the case here, will be supportive and understanding.

I understand @Louby08. I'm nervous about my 2nd AZ dose too. It is too early to say that the VITT is only after the 1st dose and there is a well publicised case after a 2nd dose.

It is not comparable to the risk of DVT with the pill for many reasons. DVT is nowhere near as deadly, there are other alternatives to the pill, pregnancy carries a higher risk of DVT than the pill, you can mitigate the risk of DVT by keeping weight down, not smoking and staying active.

I struggle that there is no known mitigation of the risk, I would feel a bit more in control if I could mitigate the risk somehow. The risk is from blood thinning, I believe, and the platelet reaction that follows. After the first vaccine I didn't take paracetamol or ibuprofen, as painkillers cause internal bleeding. I thought that may help slightly, but really I have no idea.

You have some protection from the first dose. Don't beat yourself up.