vaccine

[cellio]

After the first vaccine dose, my arm was sore and I was a bit tired that day, but that was it.

This second dose is kicking my butt. I got it Thursday, and my arm is still sore and I'm still feeling tired and a little fuzzy-brained. Fortunately no other symptoms, but I do hope the ones I have abate soon! (Friday was not one of my more productive days at work.)

Weird thing on Thursday: after giving me the shot (which hurt more than the first one), the person commented that my skin was really tight. I said "you saw me relax my arm as instructed, yes?". Yes, I did. She was commenting on my skin, not my muscles. I've never heard of that before. She wondered if it was because it was pretty cold that day. Shrug? (I don't know if that accounts for the extra pain.) I was deliberately not looking, so it's not like I saw the needle coming and had an instinctive reaction.

Comments

[outofwater]

I had pretty much nothing after the first dose. The second dose, I felt the injection site for about 36 hours, and didn't like when I raised my arm.

My wife has also had "a time of it" since her second dose, but it is difficult to tell whether that is related or not, since it is all symptoms she's had before for "pre-existing conditions," I'll say.

I also wonder about differences between people giving me the shots: the first one was really good. The second person, I didn't get an instruction to relax my arm (though, perhaps it was because I was recalling the instruction from the first time and attempting to do it without being prompted). But I also actually felt (and was surprised by) the second dose injection, when I almost didn't feel the first one.

[goljerp]

Huh. Interesting - neither time was I told to "relax my arm". On the other hand, I made it very clear from the start that I am nervous around needles, and so I was going to look away from the very start, and I didn't want to know when they gave the shot -- I didn't even see the needle at all. In both cases they mentioned they were cleaning the site with rubbing alcohol (I presume) (which obviously I felt). Maybe my arm was already relaxed?

Anyhow, sorry about the symptoms. Hopefully they're better today.

[madfilkentist]

It's common for reactions to the second shot to be more severe than to the first. Anthropomorphizing a bit, I think the first time, the antibodies are going, "What's this intruder? We need to figure out what to do about it!" and the second time, they go, "Hey, we've seen this before and know what to do. Let's get it!"

[cellio]

Good point about differences in the people giving the shot. I told both of them I'm kind of phobic about needles, wouldn't be watching, and didn't want to know when the jab was coming. I felt the second one more than the first one. The second one was also a couple inches higher on my arm than the first; don't know if that affects things.

(I have a mole on my arm that I can use as a landmark, so I noted the location of the first one with respect to that, so I could compare it to the second one three weeks later.)

[cellio]

I have a thing about needles too, and warned both people about it. Maybe I was tensing up the second time and that's why I got the instruction (this was before the alcohol swipe, not during the shot), or maybe they tell that to everybody but the first one didn't? Don't know.

[cellio]

This makes sense. One hopes this means the antibodies would also be able to organize a rapid response to an actual infection. :-) (As opposed to "oh, you again? oh all right...".)

[minoanmiss]

Your skin could just happen to be dense -- humans vary.

*sends you feel better vibes*

[goljerp]

OK, I think I have to include the XKCD link for this:

https://xkcd.com/2425/

(Warning: spoilers for Star Wars )

[cellio]

Good one. I thought you were going to link to https://xkcd.com/2443/.

[goljerp]

Ah, that is a good one, too. :-)