Vaccine Anxiety

[VaccineAnxiety]

I’ve name changed for this as there are posters who come to threads like this with no empathy and post rude comments

I cannot have Pfizer/Moderna due to allergies- so only one left is AZ

I’ve just turned 40 - have a family history of clots

I know I HAVE to take this vaccine, mainly driven by fear mongering about the unvaccinated and coercion but I’m very very scared and uncomfortable

How can I go through the ‘motion’ and get this dreaded thing into me without having a complete breakdown? I suffer from anxiety and panic attacks

I know after having it every second will be a living hell for me/ almost like waiting to die but once it’s in I will have to deal with it…

I’ve looked at the walk in centres and I have an option today or Friday so I’ll have to force myself to do this this week

For every poster who is going to come shouting about how silly I am..I am not anti vaccine but this vaccine has got issues which are just coming to light - menstrual issues, vertigo and so many others which the GPs/medical professionals are dismissing because they don’t know what to do..

I have booked my vaccine appointment but I am terrified of it. I genuinely believe I am going to drop dead after I have taken the shot. I am counting the days with my infant daughter because I believe that after Saturday she will no longer have a mother. I am crying, I cannot sleep, my stress is sky high. The only reason I am even considering taking the vaccine is because I need a vaccine passport to see my family, including my oldest daughter. I miss them all so much. I am not sure I can go through with the vaccine despite never seeing my family again. I am that afraid. ☹😔

And yes, if I do get vaccinated, I will stop breastfeeding my baby which also devastates me. I know that vaccines are now recommended for breastfeeding women, BUT they were not recomended in the begining. So...the advice has changed based on what exactly? It's not like breastfed children whose mothers took covid vaccine were monitored short or long term.
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Surely, if it's so clear that vaccine contents cannot end up in milk, and that babies cannot be negatively affected, that should have been the advice from the start?!
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Emmmie I hope you have someone with you who can look after you as you sound very anxious, its hard when you have just had a baby. The baby will be fine bottlefed if that is what you go for.

Re the vaccine if its just AZ you are worried about and its your first there are some centres if you are in England you can get different vaccines. You can also take someone with you, just tell them you are anxious. It's really rare for people to get a blood clot and even rarer to die - maybe let your doctor know how anxious you are.

If you don't want it then don't get it.
Your body, your choice. Trust yourself, maybe you're not "just anxious."
If the anxiety is worse than the desired effect then don't do it. You'll be in bits after overthinking it.
Do it later.

Are you totally sure you cannot have Pfizer / Moderna? Or could it be worth double-checking with your doc?

At the beginning of vaccine rollout there were some concerns and press reports about allergic reactions with those two, but they seem exceedingly rare and now that those risks are known, they can treat most allergic reactions even where they do occur (I think using Epipen or antihistamines but am not totally sure).

This may be totally unhelpful and inapplicable to you but I thought it was worth asking just in case it’s useful.

@Emmmie I’m sorry you are going through this but word for word of your post could be written by me- except my daughter is older so breastfeeding concerns.

Yes this is one of the reasons why I am not comfortable with this magic vaccine- yes I understand medicine comes with risk - but usually the ones you get on the market has a clear list of the adverse reactions printed- when I buy paracetamol it doesn’t come with a note saying these are the known risks but if you have anything other than this go and document it-

They are still studying this vaccine - first the clots were ignored, now yes it is a problem, as you pointed out the breastfeeding advice changed but no clear view of why? Same with Pfizer-it was all fine but now yes probably causes heart issues in some

I feel the same way-I’m trying to spend a lot of time with my daughter as I feel pretty soon she will not have a mom-

@YankeeDadif I’m honest I don’t want any of these vaccines for now-but sine I have to ill go with AZ

@Aldilogue it’s getting pretty difficult to live my life- my gut has served me well so far but there is so much pressure from family etc saying that I’m being silly and taking choices away from others re: travel etc
Also the daily scare from the government doesn’t help

Who cares what they say?
They are being very unreasonable to put their demands and expectations upon you.
If they want to see you they can come to you surely?
The intolerance on people's personal choice is disgusting. If we did this with any other issue, you'd be slammed for bullying and coercion.

"Vaccine anxiety"...I am so sorry you are in this predicament. I have made a decision this morning to go with my gut. I will not be getting vaccinated yet which means I will not be seeing my family. My first daughter will be celebrating her 20th birthday without me being there 💔. This hurts a lot.

However, at least I can still breastfeed my baby girl without wondering and when I hug her I am no longer thinking :" I have only 5 days left with you" 😢. I am at peace with my decision.
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What ever you decide, I wish you the best of luck and hopefully no side effects if you do decide to get vaccinated.🌷

Just tell people your body your choice. Freedom of choice. Good for them that they've had it, they have their protection and you have made a choice.

Depending on the types of allergies you have you might not be able to have any. Contras start on page 20

www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-the-green-book-chapter-14a

Agree with a number of PPs that you absolutely do not have to have this vaccine. For various reasons, I've not had it yet. I am being very careful, and not doing indoor stuff with others. I'm dosed up with vitamin C, D, K2 and zinc. I feel guilty about not being vaccinated, but that'd be eclipsed by intense worry and distress about other things if I did.
I'm appalled by the coercion to take the vaccine. Nobody should feel forced. I wish you peace of mind with whatever you decide

@Aldilogue agree I shouldn’t be forced however if I get it and end up with long Covid or something similar I don’t think I’ll ever live it down- it’ll be seen as I asked for this to happen without the vaccine

I am between a rock and a hard place

@Emmmie glad to know that you made a decision that works for you- and I’m sorry about you having to miss your daughters birthday

It is sad what this coercion has done to the society

Just to add more 'data' to the conversation to help you. You don't have to get the vaccine (I'd strongly advise you do, if nothing else it helps lessen the general covid anxiety).

I've caught covid last year (so not delta as AFAIK), it was mild - think bad cold. 1 in 5 people don't even get symptoms with Covid-19

I've had 2 jabs, the injection site was very sore for a few days but now totally fine. Having the jab has helped my anxiety surrounding covid as well.

@thenakedmolerat

"I’ve known 3 colleagues who were not happy about the vaccine but were on the fence like me- went to the centre and yes they were supported etc but all three said the message was just do it it’ll be ok- it’s almost like they are trained to get this vaccine into you which concerns me"

Exactly what i said. they will reassure you that it's all fine. They won't tell you that the risk:benefit ratio for you as an individual may mean you are safer not having the injections.
I know of lots of people who have regretted having it after awful and long lasting side effects.
Don't let yourself be bullied into giving up your body autonomy.
if you don't want it, then don't have it

I was reminded of this thread, and in particular this post while at the vaccine centre this week.

A lady came in, very, very anxious about the vaccine and seeking support. The vaccinator supervisor, the lead nurse and the pharmacist sat with her for over 40 minutes talking to her and answering her questions. In the end she left without having the jab, but I hope that she felt better informed, heard and more peaceful about her decision.

Clearly no one 'bullied' her into having the jab, or assured her 'that it's all fine'.

@amicissimma thank you and I’m very happy for her that she got to make the decision- my husband in the other hand us insisting that we go today and get it done. I don’t want this now but I’m very very afraid I’ll give in to the pressure. He keeps quoting data but if I end up with a long term issue which the experts are yet to ‘discover’ doubt the experts will be helping me to live my life…I’ll be another data point

Hate the pressure to get this vaccine

@VaccineAnxiety

Hate the pressure to get this vaccine

Don't have it then. Once you have read the scientific research (not social media shares) and spoken to your doctor. If facts cannot convince you then go with your anxiety and let it win. Don't have it if you don't want it.

I totally understand where you are coming from. Every part of my body didn’t want the vaccine but I am the main bread winner, I have to travel , it won’t be looked on favourably if I am isolating because of not being vaxxed.

I have been super anxious about it and to be honest came to the conclusion the anxiety in the uncertainty was worse plus the points above so I got it yesterday. Also there was so much bullying from family and even the dentist wanting vaccination status I just couldn’t cope anymore

I cried at the appointment , I shared many of my concerns and they talked me through some of these . I am petrified I have just signed my death warrant and I hope I am wrong and that the anxiety dissipates . I am now at least not stressing about the hassle I was getting and the worries about how i will be segregated and it affect my work

@Nerdygirl I’m so sorry to hear this- I understand where you are coming from and how you feel. I ended up being driven to the vaccination centre/ didn’t want to go in and ended up being told by my husband that I’m going to lay at home dying with Covid and not to expect any help…amongst other things

I had a thread which was deactivated as mumsnet hq thought it was not helping my anxiety

I’m lying in bed hating myself and welding awful

I may have ho go and get this thin into me as well and as you say every bone in my body will say no but I’ll have to force it one day and ‘live’ ( if I pass the blood clots and multitude of other ‘rare’ issues) with the consequences

I hate the anxiety too. It feels all consuming. I have had one dose 13w ago but cannot bring myself to go for the 2nd one. Still have side effects so I feel between a rock and a hard place too. And all this talk of vaccine passports. My MH has hit rock bottom

I completely understand we can’t control what we get anxious about (I’ve suffered with anxiety off and on, and it’s not a choice). I think if it were me, and I had a history of family blood clots, I would be more anxious of COVID than the vaccine since the chance of blood clots with COVID is eight times higher than with the AZ vaccine, even in those under 30:
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2021-04-15-risk-rare-blood-clotting-higher-covid-19-vaccines
BUT, as I said, I’m aware that we don’t get to choose what we’re anxious about. That’s the point of clinical anxiety - it’s not logical. No logic can overcome it; no science can countermand it. The appropriate treatment can help you deal with it, if you find it’s affecting you in other areas besides the vaccine (you mention you’re scared of flying too, so I don’t know if you just happen to have two fears, or if you have a lot of anxiety). I really wish you luck, OP. I understand this is not just a difficult decision but an extremely difficult period for a lot of people all together. But don’t feel that you “must” do X or Y immediately. As upsetting as it might be, both COVID and the vaccine are going to be around a while, so if you need an extra week to get through this or seek something that would help you with it, then take the week.

@RightYesButNo thank you for the link I’ll have a read when I feel a bit better mentally

Yes it is all encompassing/ I feel guilty that I cannot be a good mum to my dd- I’m always carrying this weight around with me

And today episode has me so scared that I’m going to die with Covid-

It’s not just the clots- the other more ignored side effect also scares me- the issues with menstrual problems. Clotting, bleeding for weeks, haemorrhaging - and I know if I call my gp surgery with concerns re bleeding I’ll be asked to ‘monitor’ it and come back if it’s worse- monitor it for how long? Until I haemorrhage?