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 am between a rock and a hard place

OK big deep breath. Sometimes there is no right answer. Sometimes every decision has risk. I know that some of us are very happy with risk. My brain is weird and I LOVE risk. You don't and a situation like this is hard because everything carries risk.

But the important thing is just to decide. Just decide and stick with it. Stop vacillating and discussing and weighing and worrying. Have it or don't have it. But just decide. Then a path is clear.

@MrsTerryPratchett yes you are right- I need to be at peace with my decision-

I believe the risks of complications from covid are higher than that of AZ. The AZ risk is genuinely very small but I know anxiety isn't rational. What helps me is taking control - while you're in between you have 2 things to be anxious about - AZ and getting covid while unvaccinated. The AZ route is the one that will eliminate some of that anxiety within a few weeks, the doing nothing route won't. Personally I would make myself very familiar with what to look out for with AZ - because it is treatable the sooner its caught, take it and be very vigiliant in the weeks after. But it is your decision and only you know if that's right for you.

The advice was to avoid for breastfeeding mothers etc whilst they undertook the studies to ensure if was safe, Simply because you cannot do clinical trials on pregnant women or babies so the data wasn't there yet.

As soon as thousands of cases with real life evidence has become available (from vaccinated pregnant and breastfeeding women getting the vaccine early because of other vulnerabilities and the like) the data was then available to confirm the safety and therefore the guidance was updated.

This is the case for every single drug or vaccine you will ever take.

correction on my comment above - you can technically do some clinic trials on pregnant women but clearly this could go terribly wrong so the vast majority of companies won't do it

I just feel terrified- the clots,blinding headaches, menstrual issues nothing sounds good

But I realise it is my anxiety (mostly) driving my thoughts so struggling to think rationally

And the pressure I was under yesterday was too much and I haven’t yet gotten over that

I still doesn’t know anyone who has anything more than mild discomfort after having the vaccine. I do one day a week as a volunteer vaccinator so discuss with those having their second vaccination whether they had any problems with the first and some had a sore arm, some aches and pains or a headache but nothing lasted more than a day or so and didn’t stop them going out for leisure or to work.