COVID vaccines and neuropathy

By exacerbate I mean I had very little neuropathic problems in my arms until after the 1st shot when I developed burning, pins and needles, coldness and weakness in my arms. On a scale of 1-10 I’d say it went from a 1 or 2 to about a 5 or 6. It’s been 3 weeks and it hasn’t gone away. I’m going to go ahead and get the second shot on Tuesday.

Interesting. My neuropathy symptoms have increased as well over the past week and a half since I got my first dose. I figured it was just the continuing onslaught of Tacrolimus. I wish us both a positive non-symptomatic response to the second shot!

Hi, I got the following info from the technologyreview.com website. It is a description of what is in the Pfizer vaccine and what the implications of these ingredients are, which might be interesting to those people experiencing negative side effects.

link to entire article: https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/12/09/1013538/what-are-the-ingredients-of-pfizers-covid-19-vaccine/

Below I have copied the more interesting and relevant parts of the article. Best, Hank

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Pfizer’s vaccine is the first on the market that consists of actual genetic information from a virus in the form of messenger RNA, or mRNA, a type of molecule whose usual job is to transport copies of genetic instructions around a cell to guide the assembly of proteins. Imagine an mRNA as a long ticker tape carrying instructions. It's fairly delicate stuff, and that's why Pfizer's vaccine needs to be kept at around -100 °F (-73 °C) until it's used.

The new vaccine, delivered as a shot in the arm muscle, contains an RNA sequence taken from the virus itself; it causes cells to manufacture the big “spike” protein of the coronavirus, which the pathogen uses to glom onto a person’s cells and gain entry. On its own, without the rest of the virus, the spike is pretty harmless. But your body still reacts to it. This is what leaves you immunized and ready to repel the real virus if it turns up.

The mRNA in the vaccine, to be sure, isn’t quite the same as the stuff in your body. That’s good, because a cell is full of defenses ready to chop up RNA, especially any that doesn’t belong there. To avoid that, what’s known as “modified nucleosides” have been substituted for some of the mRNA building blocks.

But Pfizer is holding back a little. The spike gene sequence can be tweaked in small ways for better performance, by means that include swapping letters. We don’t think Pfizer has said exactly what sequence it is using, or what modified nucleosides. That means the content of the shot may not be 100% public.

The lipids
The Pfizer vaccine, like one from Moderna, uses lipid nanoparticles to encase the RNA. The nanoparticles are, basically, tiny greasy spheres that protect the mRNA and help it slide inside cells.

These particles are probably around 100 nanometers across. Curiously, that’s about the same size as the coronavirus itself.

Pfizer says it uses four different lipids in a “defined ratio.” The lipid ALC-0315 is the primary ingredient in the formulation. That’s because it’s ionizable—it can be given a positive charge, and since the RNA has a negative one, they stick together. It's also a component that can cause side-effects or allergic reactions. The other lipids, one of which is the familiar molecule cholesterol, are “helpers” that give structural integrity to the nanoparticles or stop them from clumping. During manufacturing, the RNA and the lipids are stirred into a bubbly mix to form what the FDA describes as a “white to off-white” frozen liquid.

Salts
The Pfizer vaccine contains four salts, one of which is ordinary table salt. Together, these salts are better known as phosphate-buffered saline, or PBS, a very common ingredient that keeps the pH, or acidity, of the vaccine close to that of a person’s body. You’ll understand how important that is if you’ve ever squeezed lemon juice on a cut. Substances with the wrong acidity can injure cells or get quickly degraded.

Sugar
The vaccine includes plain old sugar, also called sucrose. It’s acting here as a cryoprotectant to safeguard the nanoparticles when they’re frozen and stop them from sticking together.

Saline solution
Before injection, the vaccine is mixed with water containing sodium chloride, or ordinary salt, just as many intravenously delivered drugs are. Again, the idea is that the injection should more or less match the salt content of the blood.

No preservatives
Pfizer makes a point of saying its mixture of lipid nanoparticles and mRNA is “preservative-free.” That’s because a preservative that’s been used in other vaccines, thimerosal (which contains mercury and is there to kill any bacteria that might contaminate a vial), has been at the center of worries around over whether vaccines cause autism. The US Centers for Disease Control says thimerosal is safe; despite that, its use is being phased out. There is no thimerosal—or any other preservative—in the Pfizer vaccine. No microchips, either.

The vaccine is still known by the code name BNT162b, but once it’s authorized, expect Pfizer to give it a new, commercial name that conveys something about what’s in it and what it promises for the world.

Hank, thanks for posting; it’s very interesting but above my pay grade! I guess if we had more time maybe a vaccine with no possible side effects at all would be possible? Probably not, flu shots have proven to be worthless in the past and have even caused serious health issues. And then all drug co.s would have been in a race to come in first. Oh well, it is what it is, take it or leave it, but it does seem my symptoms have worsened since getting the 2 shots but maybe that’s just coincidental and temporary. 🙄😁 Helen

Interesting. My neuropathy symptoms have increased as well over the past week and a half since I got my first dose. I figured it was just the continuing onslaught of Tacrolimus. I wish us both a positive non-symptomatic response to the second shot!

Interesting. My neuropathy symptoms have increased as well over the past week and a half since I got my first dose. I figured it was just the continuing onslaught of Tacrolimus. I wish us both a positive non-symptomatic response to the second shot!

Hello @athenalee and others in this discussion group.

Last year, Sept. 2020, I had Shingles. I was in a great deal of pain for several weeks. By the end of the month, I didn't need to use any more Gabapentin for the pain and felt back to normal. After my first COVID vaccination (Pfizer) in January of this year, I had a slight return of the Shingles-like pain and it was in the same area where my Shingles had been the year before.

I contacted my neurologist and she said that it could be that the Shingles virus (which remains in your body) might have been activated by the COVID vaccine. She said that while this neuropathy pain was not mentioned as a specific side effect of the COVID vaccine the hospital has had other patients reporting these same types of symptoms.

After my second COVID vaccination, I had some similar discomfort but it didn't last very long and I feel back to normal again. I feel that the discomfort was worth the protection I hope to have as a result of the vaccine.

@athenalee I wonder how many that have noted increased neuropathy symptoms after COVID vaccine live in areas of the country that have been experiencing freezing, freezing weather. Does your neuropathy get worse when its cold?

Hello @athenalee and others in this discussion group.

Last year, Sept. 2020, I had Shingles. I was in a great deal of pain for several weeks. By the end of the month, I didn't need to use any more Gabapentin for the pain and felt back to normal. After my first COVID vaccination (Pfizer) in January of this year, I had a slight return of the Shingles-like pain and it was in the same area where my Shingles had been the year before.

I contacted my neurologist and she said that it could be that the Shingles virus (which remains in your body) might have been activated by the COVID vaccine. She said that while this neuropathy pain was not mentioned as a specific side effect of the COVID vaccine the hospital has had other patients reporting these same types of symptoms.

After my second COVID vaccination, I had some similar discomfort but it didn't last very long and I feel back to normal again. I feel that the discomfort was worth the protection I hope to have as a result of the vaccine.

Hello @athenalee and others in this discussion group.

Last year, Sept. 2020, I had Shingles. I was in a great deal of pain for several weeks. By the end of the month, I didn't need to use any more Gabapentin for the pain and felt back to normal. After my first COVID vaccination (Pfizer) in January of this year, I had a slight return of the Shingles-like pain and it was in the same area where my Shingles had been the year before.

I contacted my neurologist and she said that it could be that the Shingles virus (which remains in your body) might have been activated by the COVID vaccine. She said that while this neuropathy pain was not mentioned as a specific side effect of the COVID vaccine the hospital has had other patients reporting these same types of symptoms.

After my second COVID vaccination, I had some similar discomfort but it didn't last very long and I feel back to normal again. I feel that the discomfort was worth the protection I hope to have as a result of the vaccine.