Having long covid and getting the updated vaccine: side effects?

I am going to try the Novavax booster instead of the MRNA shots. It performs about as well as the MRNA shots but is a very tried and true technology with the potential of less side effects.

Do what you think is right for you. I contracted Covid in December of 2022 and had all the symptoms most have, fatigue, tremors, joint pain, balance issues, loss of taste and smell, anxiety/PTSD, headaches, stuttering. I still have no taste or smell after having 7 Stellate Ganglion Block injections, but they helped with tremors and anxiety a lot. I also still have occasional balance issues and headaches, but time seems to be healing other symptoms except taste/smell. I TOLD my doctor that I will not be getting any more boosters as when I received my very first Covid Vaccine, I detected a metal taste in the back of my throat. That, I believe, was the beginning of all of this! Do what’s best for you!

I have chronic Lyme disease or, as some refer to it, late stage Lyme plus co infections. After I had the two shots in March of 2021, my Lyme symptoms increased 10 fold. I’m not anti vax nor do I think this will be everyone’s reaction to the vaccine. But in my case it seemed to increase my neurological symptoms immensely. I’ve been advised to take no more of the boosters. To this day I’m still dealing with the strong uptake in my Lyme symptoms

I recently got another Moderna booster. My arm was pretty sore and I didn’t rest well that night…..felt unwell the next day, but I worked anyway, as I had appointments I had to keep. I slept very well that night and was fine the next day. Nothing about my LC changed. I’ve been steadily improving so……I’ll keep getting the boosters.

@klavierman my Lyme disease seemed to "reactivate" after I got covid. I had the first few boosters, but my reaction was so bad, my doctor has advised against getting further vaccines. I'm sorry for your struggle.

@klf58
It sounds so familiar. It’s been explained to me that the vaccine by nature causes inflammation and, to an immune system already compromised, unleashes whatever infection is dormant

I contracted COVID in 2021 and twice subsequently. I've had Long COVID since the initial infection: loss of hearing right ear, vertigo, fatigue, brain fog, joint and muscle pain, and neuropathy in my feet. The hearing loss was permanent, and I now wear a hearing aid. The vertigo was severe, but eventually lessened to dizziness and disequilibrium that also eventually went away. The brain fog is hard to measure, but mostly gone. The muscle and joint pain persist, as does the neuropathy. The fatigue was the overarching symptom. It is much less now, although I tire easily and cannot exercise as I would like. I had all the vaccines before getting COVID and had several boosters after, during my Long COVID. The last booster was in Oct 2023, and it set me back terribly for many months. I have been researching the 2025 boosters (Pfizer, Moderna, and Novavax), because I will be taking a trip to Europe in the Spring 2026 and I am terrified of contracting COVID again. Nevertheless, my research and all the comments here and elsewhere have convinced me not to get the booster. The fear of suffering a terrible setback outweighs the fear of contracting the virus again. I wish there were a better way forward. Thanks to everyone on this forum. You have all been simply wonderful.

@klf58 Epstein Barr virus reactivated in me after I got Covid. I never even knew I had EBV. I did not get the first vaccine and will not be getting the new ones. I have little trust in the FDA and pharmaceutical companies. I find that to be sad.

@diverdown1 oh gosh, I am so sorry. I had Epstein Barr back in the early 80s. I had Lyme in around 2014 and both flared up after covid.