Delayed Pfizer side effects?

[Osakasunset]

Wondering if anyone has some wise words re. my current dilemma. I usually take up vaccines without any hesitancy. I get my flu vaccine annually (already booked in for this) and, so far, I’ve had 4 x covid vaccinations – all Pfizer.

I will be eligible for the next booster, but feel in two minds about having it, especially if it will be Pfizer again, due to strange episodes of illness that may (or may not) have been delayed reactions to the two previous boosters. My primary doses were both totally fine except for a slightly painful arm and some tiredness.

For both boosters, 2-3 weeks after I had the jab I became really quite ill. On both occasions I was practically bedbound for about a week, with symptoms such as constant nausea, dizziness, and some gastro issues. Both times felt really strange, and like nothing I’d experienced before. I did do LFTs in case it was covid but these were negative (though of course may have been false negatives). I was working from home FT with very limited mixing when I had them.

The first time, I assumed I must have caught something around the same time or shortly after the booster date, but then when it happened like clockwork the second time I started to wonder if it could be my body reacting to the vaccine itself.

For context, I coincidentally had both boosters early on in my menstrual cycle and then the symptoms coincided with my next period. The second time it happened was much worse than the first, which makes me worried that it could happen again and I’d have an even worse reaction (which I can't quite imagine as the second time was so awful).

Has anyone else experienced or heard about anything like this?

after my first Pfizer jab I had a very weird period of depression/headache/fatigue/malaise exactly 2 weeks afterwards that lasted about a week.

after my second Pfizer exactly 2 weeks afterwards I got long covid symptoms which lasted about 3 months. Nerve pain/fatigue/malaise/headaches/joint pain etc.

I haven't had a vaccine since. I have had Covid twice since and had similar symptoms but t lasted for 10 days only. I'd rather go with 10 days than 3 months.

I only had 1pfizor booster and 11 days later had a brain hemorrhage that had changed my life forever....and it's NOT a good change

I had side effects from the boosters so I won't have them , my husband and others were unaffected . I still have the flu vaccine as flu is always awful .

I have previously been very happy to delegate vaccination decisions to the NHS allowing my kids to have all their flu sprays etc. After all that happened in covid, not so much.

It is only 2 years since we were told teenagers wouldn't be allowed into night clubs without a covid vaccine, now they can't buy it. If you feel wary I would encourage you to think about the risks v the benefits of the vaccine for you personally. Stats on the likelihood of death are available for various age gaps and you can speak to your doctor about your personal risk.

Just bear in mind that if anything the benefits of the vaccine will have been oversold and risks minimised (see Pain Hustlers on Netflix for how big pharma play the game). People are quick to forget what we were initially promised the vaccine would do and we now know people have died as a result of it and compensation has been paid.https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/astrazeneca-royal-london-hospital-london-romford-ilford-b2198025.html

These are extremes and the vast majority seem fine (both with and without the vaccine). Personally I decided that I would rather take my chances with covid and have no regrets, but each to their own and it isn't a decision I would make for anyone else (apart from my children).

Don't worry about being the kind of person who turns down a vaccine, there isn't a definitive line one crosses into crazy, there is lots of grey and people making different decisions for different reasons.

@AreYouVeryAnti

When you say “delegate vaccination decisions to the NHS” you make it sound like the Covid vaccination program was some sort of ill thought through scheme implemented purely by our country. It was happening globally. Unless you are trying to say that every country across the globe was making dubious decisions about vaccinating their citizens?
Would you rather global science didn’t produce vaccines when faced with a pandemic?
No benefits have been oversold, and risks minimised : there is far too much regulation and peer reviewed studies to stop that happening. Except you seem to be intent on minimising benefits and maximising risks in your own unregulated way.
I think everyone is well aware that there have been deaths/bad reactions to vaccines but these side effects are very rare.

It feel like your whole post is to pounce push an agenda when someone is feeling vulnerable.

I was hospitalised within days after my fourth Pfizer vaccine last year with a heart rate of 180. I then struggled for months with inappropriate tachycardia and had a cardiac ablation for afib several months later. I still have palpitations even now.
Maybe unrelated but I won't be having any more.

I agree that the NHS did the same thing as other countries. In many cases the NHS is more conservative (I think USA currently recommending vaccines for everyone age 6 months up). My comment on delegation of decisions to the NHS was intended as a compliment, I hold the NHS in far higher regards than systems in countries with privatised medicine where I think decisions are probably more likely to be made on a commercial basis.

I think it's quite fair to say it's unlikely we've been oversold risks of vaccines and undersold benefits, and that if anything it's probably the other way round. For example, the effectiveness of the vaccine is certainly not higher than we first expected, and new side effects continue to be added to the list.

I'm not trying to push an agenda, just to encourage everyone to weigh up their individual position. We were not provided with individualised risk benefit information. We can now see risk to all from covid was not the same (and some side effects seem to particularly affect the young).

I hate to see any agenda being pushed on the vulnerable, and for that reason I'd fully encourage OP to make up their own mind.

Life is full of risks and everyone can choose which risks they prefer (at least for now, thank goodness).

@AreYouVeryAnti

There has been no overselling or underselling going on. It’s such a highly regulated industry and there are studies into effectiveness and safety being carried out all the time. No one ever expects a vaccine to be 100% safe and every drug has a risk. And I’d say safety etc is very well reported - there is less opportunity than ever to ‘cover up or hide’ on a global media stage, and regulation is more stringent than ever. The risk of complications from Covid are far higher than risk from the vaccine. This is the key in the decision making. Nowhere in your post are you acknowledging the risk of complications from Covid. In fact you are downplaying that risk.
The OP needs to discuss her concerns with a qualified medical practitioner.

I also can’t understand this notion that science is rigid, and that all information about any drug/medication should be known at a point in time - and that should remain static - otherwise there has been some kind of misleading cover up. Of course recommendations are going to change : it’s fluid. And that’s how it should be! And then you follow the latest advice from the consensus of global opinions.

I'm not taking any vaccines at all. I'm still wearing my mask. Last time I had flu vaccine was 2019. Whenever I took the flu jab, I immediately got terrible flu worse than I've ever had it before. Since 2019, I have not had flu. I will carry on as is.

whale but did we know enough in order to recommend to low risk groups? We now know they didn’t help on transmission. So how was that decision made. This isn’t science changing - it’s about proper decision making on an issue which could hugely change someone’s life

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/11/08/oxford-astrazeneca-covid-jab-defective-claims-legal-case/

clearly the decision can and does go wrong. Catastrophically wrong if you are unlucky.

remember that care workers were forced to take this. As were Scots who wanted to attend large events. Yet we knew early on there were harms - grave harms.

@BeethovenNinth

My understanding is that we needed to develop our hybrid immunity as a population. When there was excessive pressure in terms of hospitalisations and deaths, then the vaccine was offered to more groups (including lower risk groups). As the pressure passed, and we developed our immunity : then it wasn’t necessary to immunise certain groups. Similarly:the need for mandates.

For every story you find - there are at least hundred-fold more about complications from Covid itself.

In terms of likelihood : I don’t think it’s right that you potentially persuade a vulnerable person to take their chances with Covid rather than take their chances with the vaccine. Particularly as you are not presenting your view with balance.

OP needs a qualified medical professional to explain the risks without that bias : risk from the vaccine v’s risk from Covid itself.

@BeethovenNinth just read that article. It includes the paragraph "Data published by the Winton Centre at Cambridge University, using figures supplied by the MHRA, suggested that as of April 2021, at a time when there were just 42 cases of coronavirus per 100,000 people, the risk of anyone under 30 ending up in intensive care from the vaccine was almost 10 times more likely than doing so from Covid. The numbers are small – just 1.9 people per 100,000 – but the effects on each individual life are devastating."

I'd be pretty miffed if my family member under 30 was harmed by the Astra vaccine as I'm pretty sure this info wasn't given out at the time.

@WhalePolo I don't mean to minimise risks from covid, but we have known for a long time that for many the risks were small, and that all interventions carry their own risks. My fear is that by the time the global consensus moves on it is far too late for many. Fine to follow the global consensus, but be aware that it can change. The truth doesn't change because our understanding of it does. Less name calling of those who prefer to wait and see would be a good starting point.

I had the first 3 doses of Pfizer, I have refused to have any more even tho I’m high risk. I’ve been so ill after each one to the point I was bed bound and I’ve constantly been ill the last 2 years with different symptoms. I’m not saying it defo the jab that has caused ongoing illness but I know a few people who have been the same. I have no issues with the flu jab!

@AreYouVeryAnti

But Covid isn’t a small risk to certain groups, and it’s those groups that are advised to get boosted!

A family member of mine is CEV, and in the past has been quite vaccine wary (flu), I’d rather rely on my own immunity etc. But after the various scares she’s been through I just know - we all know as a family - that an unprotected, bad case of Covid would hit her very badly : likely hospitalisation or worse. I’m aware of the vaccine risks - the stories in the media that you’ve linked are known : but I know proportionally that her risk from Covid is far greater.
If she came to social media for advice, I wouldn’t want her to read a post that would potentially dissuade or scare her. Of course it’s fine for you to make your own choice, I have nothing against that. And no - you shouldn’t be called names.
But I don’t think it’s right to go against what consensus global science is saying at this point in time. Or to encourage a random CEV on SM to do the same - they need a qualified professional who can see their medical history.
I agree things can change, but it’s what is most likely to be the healthiest choice. I strongly, strongly doubt that the Pfizer vaccine will classified as unsafe in the future - it will be improved to make it even safer, but that doesn’t mean that it was ever unsafe - or that it’s risks outweighed it’s benefits.

I think the case against Pfizer is the tip of the iceberg. We will be seeing I suspect in time class actions against all of these vaccine manufacturers. I completely disagree with the notion there has been no cover up. I think there has been a massive massive coverup and it will all come out in time. But time will tell.

This one is against Astra zeneca at the moment, but one against P isn’t far away imho.
I was branded an antivaxer for asking questions about Astra Z vax and refusing it, due to me having a thrombosis already and antibodies from desease as well

I think the case against Pfizer is the tip of the iceberg. We will be seeing I suspect in time class actions against all of these vaccine manufacturers. I completely disagree with the notion there has been no cover up. I think there has been a massive massive coverup and it will all come out in time. But time will tell.

" I suspect " doing lots of heavy lifting there. 😁

All these billions of people that have been vaccinated . Still waiting.

I stopped getting my covid vaccines as they made me more unwell than covid ever has.

Heart palpation were just the tip of the iceberg, whereas for me covid has been nothing worse than a stinking bad cold. Don't get me wrong, not fun for sure, but way less than the weeks I spent unwell after the vaccines every time I had it.

I take it you're not in the UK @loulouljh? What do you think has been covered up exactly, and by who?

I don’t think it’s worth engaging. Sweeping statements about all vaccines - and then - where do you stop?? …any medication ever produced by a drug company?? It just doesn’t make sense.

Tbh a Persistent queen of anti vax sweeping statement and general nonsense.

But a friend of mine had Covid prior to vaccination being available and is still having heart issues. It seems you can get this with vaccination and without.