1. < Neuropathy

COVID vaccines and neuropathy

Posted by cue @cue, Feb 15, 2021

I am 85 with small fiber neuropathy that is getting worse. My neurologist thought it would be a good idea for me to wait with the covid vaccine and not be first in line to see how it affected other people with neuropathy. Probably because it is a new technology. Has anyone had a problem with neuropathy after receiving the vaccine? If so, which vaccine?

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wilcy | @wilcy | Mar 19, 2021
In reply to @kathleen123 "I have (small fiber) non-length dependent neuropathy. I had my first Pfizer Covid-19 vaccination 2 1/2..." + (show)
@kathleen123

I have (small fiber) non-length dependent neuropathy. I had my first Pfizer Covid-19 vaccination 2 1/2 weeks ago. It exacerbated my neuropathy symptoms. I’m scheduled for my 2nd shot on Wednesday but I don’t know whether to get it since the 2nd shot is much more likely than the first to have significant adverse effects. I called Pfizer and they claim that Covid-19 vaccination is not related to any neurological side effects although I have read elsewhere it can exacerbate PN. My internist says there is just no data to know whether the 2nd shot is likely to make my symptoms worse.

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You actually believe big pharma?

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maczorro | @maczorro | Mar 19, 2021

Pfizer #1 I had zero side effects.

I got Pfizer #2 on Wednesday mar 17: I felt great that night, but over the next two days my PN leg pain increased drastically, along with my clumsiness; limbs felt like they weighed 100 lbs. FWIW, I have chemo induced PN from 2007. I’m hoping this increase is temporary, but it’s pretty unbearable.

Best of luck to future vaccine patients

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ronmartin76 | @ronmartin76 | Mar 20, 2021

katbaloo100 I'm glad to hear that your symptoms are getting better. What was your timeline from your first event? My first shot caused awful neuropathy. 10 days later it just got manageable then another flare started on its own. How many days have you been going through this ordeal?

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alexgindin | @alexgindin | Mar 20, 2021
In reply to @joeyd5641 "Hi. I have a history of nueropathy that was dormant the last few years. the pfizer..." + (show)
@joeyd5641

Hi. I have a history of nueropathy that was dormant the last few years. the pfizer vaccine brought it back the next day. it went away after a week from the first shot, but like an idiot i went for the 2nd shot and it came back even worse,11 days out and its constant burning and itching.

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Hi, sorry to hear about the aftermath of the second shot! How are you feeling now? Did symptoms get better? I keep delaying my second shot.. wasn’t feeling too great after the first one! Thank you for sharing

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trieste | @trieste | Mar 21, 2021

I'm 71 and received the Moderna vaccine. After the first shot I had a minor increase in pain, however, with the second shot I really reacted. Intense leg pains kept me up all night and the entire next day. Add to that entire body aches, chills, and a strange headache and I felt pretty punk. After a relatively "good" night sleep the 2nd night, I awoke all back to normal. One and a half days down but all worth it! Everyone has a different immune system though and only about 25% react significantly to the second vaccine (if I recall the figure correctly).

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ess77 - Elizabeth | @ess77 | Mar 21, 2021
In reply to @trieste "I'm 71 and received the Moderna vaccine. After the first shot I had a minor increase..." + (show)
@trieste

I'm 71 and received the Moderna vaccine. After the first shot I had a minor increase in pain, however, with the second shot I really reacted. Intense leg pains kept me up all night and the entire next day. Add to that entire body aches, chills, and a strange headache and I felt pretty punk. After a relatively "good" night sleep the 2nd night, I awoke all back to normal. One and a half days down but all worth it! Everyone has a different immune system though and only about 25% react significantly to the second vaccine (if I recall the figure correctly).

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@trieste good for you! I had much the same rections as you, basically nothing after first shot, a bugger after 2nd, with 2 pretty ill days with fever, lots of pain all over, and that strange headache. But, once fever broke, I began to improve and was better in hours. I'm thrilled to think i have all these wonderful antibodies helping me stay healthy, I'm not going to get ill with covid! And, I will get my life back as it was but better!!!! Determined to get better in every way.....You keep up the good work, too. blessings, elizabeth

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tigreyes2004 | @tigreyes2004 | Mar 21, 2021

which vaccine did you get?

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pkagarwal | @pkagarwal | Mar 22, 2021

I had my second jab of Pfizer yesterday. I have pins and needles at night and last night it was, one a scale of 1-10, 7-8 while it is normally at 5.

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athenalee | @athenalee | Mar 22, 2021
In reply to @pkagarwal "I had my second jab of Pfizer yesterday. I have pins and needles at night and..." + (show)
@pkagarwal

I had my second jab of Pfizer yesterday. I have pins and needles at night and last night it was, one a scale of 1-10, 7-8 while it is normally at 5.

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I posted on this thread a couple weeks ago about increased neuropathy symptoms after receiving both Covid vaccine shots. My symptoms have improved somewhat, but haven’t returned to the level pre-vaccine. I had my first visit to a neurologist today. When I asked him about it, he said he wasn’t surprised at all since so many neuropathies are related to autoimmune diseases and that the vaccine is designed to boost our immune response to fight Covid. Makes perfect since now that I think about it. Too bad no one warned us...

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1 reply
martyk | @martyk | Mar 23, 2021
In reply to @jimhd "Hey, everyone. I've been lying low for a few months, and just came across this discussion...." + (show)
@jimhd

Hey, everyone. I've been lying low for a few months, and just came across this discussion. My memory is lousy, but I remember someone was getting a stimulator implant, around the same time as getting the vaccine.

I had an Abbott spinal cord stimulator implant in June of 2017. It was wonderful for the first year. The burning pain in my feet was reduced by 75%. The only medication that had been helping was morphine sulfate contin. I reduced the dosage (big mistake), because the stimulator was helping so much. Year two, I had to have it adjusted by the rep every 3 months. Year 3, it just wasn't doing much.

LastSeptember I had surgery for severe spinal stenosis,, and after recovery, I had the rep recalibrate the stimulator, and it started helping a little, though far from the original 75%. I've been fighting to get the morphine dosage raised back to the pre SCS level, but have only been given a token increase. I'm in the process of finding a way to get a pain pump implant, but the doctor who does it, at OHSU , in Portland, said I need to do a trial of a dorsal root ganglion stimulator first. Yay! Another surgery. But constant pain, at a 5 on a good day, at 8 or 9 on days like today, is a big contributor to the depression and anxiety I've been living with for 20 years.

It's time to let my dog out for her nightly business, and rub lidocaine cream on my feet in bed. I do want to say that I hadn't thought about any possible negative connection between my sfpn and autonomic polyneuropathy and the covid vaccine, which my wife and I are scheduled to have at the end of this month. I'm sure I'll be talking with my therapist about the effect this will have on my mental health at my next session on Wednesday. When you struggle with anxiety disorder, along with depression and PTSD, everything changes. I was never one to worry or to be depressed the first 50 years of my life, so sometimes I'm a stranger to myself.

I hope each of you will stay in touch, so we can be a support team for one another.

Jim

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Hi Jim, I'm considering a DRG, by Abbott. I'm sorry to hear that the DRG is losing or had lost it's effectiveness. Are you considering to have it removed? I to have burning in my toes from 2 prior surgeries. The burning and occasionally shooting pain in my toes is about a 3 before 12 noon but later in the day it goes to a 6 or 7.

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