How can I overcome this?

[CrossRoads5]

I know this has been done to death- I’ve also booked a call with the gp.
I’m shit scared of getting the vaccine but so want to..I’m convinced AZ will give me clots and MRNA is too new

1 in 50000 for clots seem too high for me as a risk factor.

How can I get over this and go and get the vaccine?

Please be kind

I got a really weird headache (for me) 5 days after the AZ jab. It was a very mild headache, but got quite a bit worse when I lay down. Painkillers didn't make it go away, when they usually do for me. Under normal circumstances I would have just carried on, but given the timing, and what the nurse said at the jab, I phoned my GP, and she sent me to A and E immediately! They didn't let me go until they'd done a blood test (for platelets) and a head scan, with really, really frequent observation for BP/ reactions/ oxygen and so on throughout. (The whole thing felt like absolute overkill to me given the mildness of the headache and other things happening in A and E at the time, but all the staff confirmed I'd done exactly the right thing...) I was fine - it was just a headache - albeit a really weird and unfortunately timed one!

I'm not particularly anxious about my health at all, and wasn't worried about clots happening beforehand, but I must just have been hyper-aware that this headache didn't seem normal to me, and it was made really clear to me what to look out for and what to do in that case. I assumed it would be severe, too, but the "lying down" thing alone was sufficient for the NHS to take it seriously and start on their protocol.

This anecdote may not help your situation at all, but my experience was that the NHS do take the risk very seriously, and act very quickly to investigate it, and treat if needed. And I'm pretty lax about noticing when something probably should be seen by a GP - but in this case, it wasn't something that I missed, purely because of the emphasis put on the symptoms.

@ResilienceWanker that is somewhat reassuring that if I do present myself to the a&e I won’t be fobbed off…thank you

Could I please ask if the a&e was Covid safe? Another worry for my anxious brain is going in to get a clot checked and then contracting covid

@CrossRoads5 hospitals are still retaining precautionary measures.
Nowhere else is going to be 'Covid safe' soon, people will be walking about having been in close contact with positive cases and only 'advised' not required to take PCR tests, no masks, no distancing. The Government approach is that the only barrier to Covid will be vaccination. If you aren't vaccinated (or unfortunately for those that can't be) the risk of becoming seriously ill and potentially needing hospital treatment due to Covid is higher.

In other words the risk of not having the vaccine outweighs the risk of having it.
47,036,796 million people have had a first vaccine in the UK 39,429,468 million have had a second vaccine

They honestly didn't all have side effects or need to visit A&E

@Aposterhasnoname where on earth did you get that figure?

I’m fully vaccinated but in the UK the chance of dying of covid for a healthy 30 year old is 1/250,000

@Aposterhasnoname unless I’m being slow?

If you have the vaccine you will worry for a finite period about side-effects.

If you don't get the vaccine you will be worried for much longer about community Covid transmission and about the vaccine.

You are going to be on high alert after the vaccine so unlikely you will miss any remote chance side effect symptoms.

What else can anyone say?

From the omni calculator here:

www.omnicalculator.com/health/covid-mortality-risk

@Aposterhasnoname I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure it's not as high for a fit 30 year old woman! I am a fit 27 year old and my risk of dying from covid is 1 in 33000. I used the qcovid.org website to calculate my risk. I am currently just recovering from covid and have had one jab so far and 100% support and agree with the vaccine.

@Aposterhasnoname From the QCovid tool (Oxford & NHS) for a healthy 30 year old with a BMI in the normal range.

[quote pixietinsle5]@Aposterhasnoname I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure it's not as high for a fit 30 year old woman! I am a fit 27 year old and my risk of dying from covid is 1 in 33000. I used the qcovid.org website to calculate my risk. I am currently just recovering from covid and have had one jab so far and 100% support and agree with the vaccine. [/quote]
You’re probably right, but thats what the calculator says. Even so, a 1 in 33,000 risk of dying from covid is still much higher than 1 in 50,000 for blood clots.

@Aposterhasnoname definitely! So worth getting the vaccine 😊

[quote CrossRoads5]@ResilienceWanker that is somewhat reassuring that if I do present myself to the a&e I won’t be fobbed off…thank you

Could I please ask if the a&e was Covid safe? Another worry for my anxious brain is going in to get a clot checked and then contracting covid[/quote]
My mum had her vaccine months ago (she's almost 70) and went to the GP two weeks ago with a sore leg, she was sent straight to hospital. As her GP appointment was at 4pm, she was kept in overnight and had scans on her leg and chest for blood clots. She was out the next afternoon with the all clear, they were very thorough.

The chance of a blood clot on birth control is usually said to be between 3 and 12 in 10000 so much, much higher than with the vaccine.

[quote CrossRoads5]@ResilienceWanker that is somewhat reassuring that if I do present myself to the a&e I won’t be fobbed off…thank you

Could I please ask if the a&e was Covid safe? Another worry for my anxious brain is going in to get a clot checked and then contracting covid[/quote]
Phew! Glad it was a bit reassuring. Obviously I was a tiny minority even needing to go to A and E in the first place, but definitely no fobbing off, given I was there!

Re covid safe - that's a bit tricky. Obviously hospitals are very aware of the risks of transmission, there were plenty of signs warning people with symptoms through a different way, I assume the ventilation was pretty good for infection control, and the interactions with the staff were as safe as could be (gloves, sanitiser everywhere, keeping distance when just speaking, masks galore, thorough cleaning of cubicles between patients... ). But there were obviously a lot of the general public around! When I was there, people were doing a pretty good job at keeping a distance in the waiting area, just through politeness/ respect - and I'd say 90-95% had masks (though I'm in Scotland so it is still law here, and those not wearing them had an obvious reason not to!). Anyone being admitted to a ward was given swabs beforehand, but there obviously wasn't testing immediately of everyone coming through the door, and people were being moved around on trolleys and whatnot, understandably not all with masks. So yes, pretty safe I'd say, but definitely not at the expense of them actually treating people as necessary.

Thank you all for being kind and understanding- it’s helping reduce my anxiety a bit

I’ve never used tampons or been on birth control- it’s my risk averseness which is partly the issue

I’m a terrified of flying as well - that’s a whole another story

I’ve become so anxious around my health - that’s the problem

I’m viewing the whole vaccine like a super mario video game, get jab, anaphylactic shock, death, escaped? Ok then clot and death, in hospital to get it checked, get Covid in hospital and death.
It’s awful

It must be hard to be so anxious, you have done the right thing in contacting your GP. Do you think you could even make an appt for the vaccination as the thought is worse that the reality? Once you have your vaccine at least your anxiety about getting Covid can reduce.

We can protect ourselves from risk but not entirely - you walk down a road, you drive in a car, you eat food (without choking) all activities with risk involved but you do them routinely so don't become anxious about them.

Honestly there are not people dropping dead of anaphylactic shock from the vaccines, otherwise none of the rest of us would have had them either! Your fear is making you focus on incredibly unlikely worst case scenarios. You are still more at risk of getting severe disease from Covid at the moment as you are unvaccinated but there is something you can do to prevent that potential nasty outcome.