COVID vaccine

I finally made the decision to get the vaccine. I go tomorrow for the phizer first dose. Now I’m second guessing myself. I do not have any active disease anymore since I had j pouch surgery 10 years ago. I’m just so afraid this may trigger some other autoimmune thing in me. Looking for reassurance!!

i guess it's been about 3 weeks since i got my J&J/Janssen vaccine - kinda kicked my butt, headache and fatigue the next day, but no UC issues -

you should be fine -

TT

BBye, finally got scheduled for tomorrow, too, with Pfizer #1 at location near my main MD. Fingers crossed! We need to stay well-hydrated & hope for the best-- in spite of the constant media hype, ugh. The #2 shot seems to cause most problems. Try to stay calm. / Old Hat (40 yrs with left-sided UC; in remission taking Colazal)

Hello. I completely understand feeling stress about the vaccine. I was fearful of having a UC flare and GI symptoms, as well as cardiac symptoms, as I have CHF as well. I had the 1st dose of pfizer on March 21, and had slight nausea, some arm soreness & felt tired the next day. My second dose was on April 11. I had no symptoms for about 10 hours, then had fairly intense body ache, headache, chills and fever that reached just under 103. I did not have any GI or cardiac symptoms, and and am now 2 days out, feeling fairly ok, with no fever and a slight headache. I talked to my GI doc before the 2nd dose, who recommended being hydrated at least the day before, and she prescribed anti-nausea rx, to have on hand, just in case. This is not medical advice for anyone as we are all different, just a note that it was helpful to talk to my doc right before. I am glad to be on the other side of this, as it has been difficult, but have been relieved to not have any GI symptoms. By the way, I found the staff at the vaccine clinic-I went to a huge one at a local university-to be great and very compassionate re feeling nervous.

You are very welcome!

I got Moderna 1st dose on March 15. Next day, I just slept: too tired to do anything. Okay the following day. No affect on UC.

2nd dose yesterday. Not quite as tired this time.

I'm on Stelara, btw, since December 2020.

I have had both doses of the Pfizer, other than feeling tired after both doses and having a really bad headache after the second dose I was fine. I did cut my work schedule in half the day after my second dose and had to take tylenol to make it through that day, but no other side effects at all.

Soon an adult stem cell therapy will be available for creating a Covid-19 vaccine. This company, Aivita Biomedical, has successfully used stem cells for spinal cord injuries and is currently finishing up clinical trials for its cancer therapy.

Phase 1 Covid-19 vaccine trials have just finished in Indonesia and phase 2 trials are about to begin. So far this vaccine has shown very few, if any, side effects and its efficacy rate is about a 100 percent.

This sounds like it may be too good to be true but below is the podcast which recently aired on National Public Radio (NPR). This is a 59 minute podcast which describes Aivita Biomedical's therapy for spinal cord injuries, cancer, and Covid-19. Covid-19 vaccine discussion begins after the 34 minute mark:

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/technation/episodes/2021-04-13t11_52_47-07_00

Old Hat said...
How are you doing, BBye? Had 1st Pfizer 4/14 & got a quick reaction within 10 minutes of injection. It was similar to what I felt starting an hour after Pneumovax 23 shot last fall: flashpoints of heat occurring at different places in torso as the chemical glop travelled around! This time I also felt a short-time left side ache in the back of my head that then hurt briefly in right side before dissipating. I brought water with me and kept drinking; then the observation team suggested eating some of their graham crackers to raise my blood glucose. That really did help. They kept me under observation for an hour, and I was able to register for shot #2 before departing the vaccination site. Today I have minimal soreness in injected arm, but needle entry spot burned & itched a bit after I removed bandage so I dabbed some Neosporin with Pain Relief on it. TG, King Colon has behaved well. / Old Hat (40 yrs with left-sided UC; in remission taking Colazal)

I made out fine. I went on Wednesday and just had a sore arm and a little tiredness the next day that’s it. I’m glad your reaction was short lived. That’s a little scary! My brother had is second dose the other day and felt pretty lousy the next day. Hopefully we will have an uneventful second dose! Take care!!

Glad you're doing well so far, BBye! I hear 98% good news from non-UCers RE Pfizer #2, including a senior guy age 73 with pacemaker for last 2 yrs. In contrast, I've heard bad news RE Moderna shot 2, including nausea the following day. So, basically, I think we are lucky to be in the Pfizer queue, all things considered. (BTW, I agree with you RE annual flu shot, but I did catch the 1968 pandemic influenza, HongKong or whatever they called it I forget now. It was a knocker-outer that, I think, still gives me some protection against its variants.) *** Did your 2nd shot get scheduled? Mine was-- so if that falls on schedule I should have the 95% protection around 5/20. It's supposed to kick in by 14 days post-shot #2. / Old Hat

Old Hat said...
Glad you're doing well so far, BBye! I hear 98% good news from non-UCers RE Pfizer #2, including a senior guy age 73 with pacemaker for last 2 yrs. In contrast, I've heard bad news RE Moderna shot 2, including nausea the following day. So, basically, I think we are lucky to be in the Pfizer queue, all things considered. (BTW, I agree with you RE annual flu shot, but I did catch the 1968 pandemic influenza, HongKong or whatever they called it I forget now. It was a knocker-outer that, I think, still gives me some protection against its variants.) *** Did your 2nd shot get scheduled? Mine was-- so if that falls on schedule I should have the 95% protection around 5/20. It's supposed to kick in by 14 days post-shot #2. / Old Hat

Yes, my second appointment is scheduled on 5/5. Funny you say that about the Moderna versus Pfizer. My brother had the Moderna one and his second shot he felt really bad. Anyone else I know who had the Pfizer said it didn’t bother them.

My choice is to protect myself and others from this senseless disease in whatever way I can. If there is a correlation between the different vaccines and after effects I don't see it. My doctor and many others in her group took one day off with fever after Pfizer or Moderna. Another couple got the same lot number of Moderna at the same time and one got slammed, the other had zero reaction. So it goes with many stories from friends and family. Once the personal decision has been made to be vaccinated don't worry about the brand.

I just want to say this post has been really helpful for me! I haven't been in here for a few years, but still remember many of you who have posted in this thread. My UC has been in remission for over 10 years and over on the UC Facebook group all the posts are of people flaring up after getting the vaccine. I'm not an anti-vaxxer and always get the flu shot (which doesn't really affect me at all, maybe a small sore throat for a day). But started getting wary of getting this shot as I have no desire to start bleeding again after 10 years. I only take Colazal and mealamine enemas. I rarely get any sort of virus either and if I do it lasts about 1 or 2 days, sore throat then running nose - that's it. My husband will get sick with the same virus for a week. But any virus ALWAYS upsets my gut - no blood but just diarrhea for a days.

I almost don't want to get the vaccine buy my company is really pushing it on us (airline) and also I love to travel and know I won't be able to do that really without the vaccine (not internationally anyway). So I know I need to get it.

Thanks to all of you I feel a little better now, but do think I'll search out the Pfizer vaccine over the others. My niece (totally healthy) just got the J&J one yesterday and is throwing up today.

Glad to see so many of you are still doing well!