Hi I had both Moderna shots in February/March and never completely recovered from the fatigue following. In addition had enough shortness of breath to end up in the ER ( a first) and have had two herpes outbreak infections since ( another first) Due to the spate of infections, another strange rash and increased asthma ( am now on a daily asthma medication for prevention) my internist ordered a complete blood panel. After reviewing the results, I am now on my way next month to an appointment with a Hematologist due to low RBC and high MCV & MCH. Had not thought of the vaccine but at 68 years old this is a first- no history of anemia. And I regularly get B 12 injections and take a B 12 supplement. I’m still comfortable with my decision to get the vaccine but would like to know if this is a side effect and am very leery of a booster. Thanks!
@honeyb68- Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Those Moderna vaccination shots are brutal, aren't they? I had quite a reaction to the second one but I will get the booster, especially with the Delta variant.
Had you ever had herpes before? Sometimes tight undies and stress can give you a herpes outbreak. It's best to make sure that the medication for it is completed. It does often come back again. If it continues then going on a prophylactic would be your best bet.
I am assuming that you mean herpes simplex?
Both the vaccine and herpes and herpes medication can make you very tired. The vaccine can't, by itself, give you herpes but perhaps your immune system kicked up something that was going on that you were not aware of?
I came across this thread because I started searching low iron linked to Covid.
I also was unable to give blood due to low iron levels - which I have never had. I was told they are seeing an increase in this and the day before, app. 8 out of 25 people could not donate because of low iron.
I was just talking to two friends - and one now has anemia (needing infusion)) and one also was unable to donate due to low iron.
Both have had covid and vaccine. I have not had vaccine but have had covid.
So this could all be coincidence, but the increase is concerning.
Hello @jlv and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Thank you for sharing your experience as a way for members to learn from one another. I am curious if you have made any changes to increase your iron levels and if you have had any success yet?
Hi Tom, I believe you were answering @sueinmn's generally question asking people "Do you have a history of anemia or another blood disorder?" to which you replied that you have no prior history.
Have your blood counts started to climb again? Are the blood transfusions helping? Have your doctors investigated a possible cause besides the vaccine?
Good afternoon and welcome to Mayo Connect. We are a community of people living with a wide variety of conditions and diseases, trying to live our best lives, and to help each other along the way by sharing our experiences. We are not medical professionals, and cannot give medical advice, but we can tell you what has worked for us, point you to resources, and help you to be and informed consumer and your own best advocate with your care providers.
Can you tell us a little more about what led you to ask this question? Do you have a history of anemia or another blood disorder?
Sue
I have not been low in iron since I went through the change of life 10 yrs ago. Since then I have been able to give blood without a problem, and my iron is always good there and when I have had blood work done. I had the Pfizer vaccine at the end of May, and have not felt well since, very tired, loss of energy doing the smallest thing. I had a physical a few weeks ago and now I am low in iron, which is concerning to my Dr.
Hello, I am having a similar issue. I received my 1st dose of the Astra Zeneca on April 29th. On May 15th I went to my doctor as my extremities were numb and white (only for 1 hour), I was feeling very light headed each day and extremely weak and tired. Doctor did blood work and called me back into the office on May 18th to tell me that my iron level was at 6 and my hemoglobin was at 102. She recommended Feramax - 1 a day for 30 days. I went back just after the 30 days for more bloodwork (June 17th) only to find that my iron levels were then at 5 - lower than they were when I started the pills. My doctor then told me to take 2 Feramax pills per day with an orange for 90 days and come back for more bloodwork. Since June 17th, I have been taking 2 Fermax per day. I have also been taking Moringa Oleifera, B-12 1000mcg, Veg-Iron and vitamin C. I have also bee having a spinach shake each day as well as some liver. I started feeling better and my restless leg syndrome even diminished. I then went to get my 2nd vaccination of Phizer on July 4th. In the past 4 or 5 days now, I have again been feeling extremely tired, weak and lightheaded. Please let me know if you have discovered anything?
Hello @kimchiodo77 and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Thank you for sharing a really nice recap of your experience with low iron levels and what you have been doing since finding out. It is certainly an interesting correlation that some people have experienced and it is so helpful to find others who have experienced like outcomes to learn from one another.
I think it is great to hear that you have incorporated iron-rich foods such as spinach and liver... two things that may scare off some people but are so great for iron deficient individuals.
How are you feeling today, almost a week later from your post? Have you up'd your intake of liver and spinach?
I have not been low in iron since I went through the change of life 10 yrs ago. Since then I have been able to give blood without a problem, and my iron is always good there and when I have had blood work done. I had the Pfizer vaccine at the end of May, and have not felt well since, very tired, loss of energy doing the smallest thing. I had a physical a few weeks ago and now I am low in iron, which is concerning to my Dr.
Welcome to Mayo Connect, a community of people living with a variety of conditions and diseases. We work to support one another but are not professionals, so we cannot give you medical advice.
If you read the earlier posts in this discussion, you can see that a few others have experienced this after the vaccine, or after a Covid infection and the vaccine. Part of my mission in this crazy Covid pandemic is to search out the latest science and research based information to share. At this time, this is such a new phenomenon, that there just isn't much evidence of who will have certain side effects and why.
Searching all the literature and the VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) data shows there are fewer than 1000 reports of decreased hemoglobin or ferritin out of 500,000 adverse events and over 340,000,000 vaccine doses. Even if this is underreported in VAERS, you can still see this to be an extremely rare side effect. That is not to say it is not concerning, but by comparison, low hemoglobin has been known for over a year to be an effect of a Covid infection, in much greater numbers than in the vaccine.
As with all things Covid, stay tuned for further developments. As published data becomes available, I will report it here. In the meantime, you can read through this discussion to see what treatments other people are using, and speak to your provider.
If you have more questions, feel free to ask here.
Sue
Connect
Connect
Like
Helpful
Hug
I replied numerous times on my original post tom1952
I did 2 original post
Hi Tom, All of your responses are being posted. Can I help?
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionI was trying to answer questions sent to me about my post
@honeyb68- Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Those Moderna vaccination shots are brutal, aren't they? I had quite a reaction to the second one but I will get the booster, especially with the Delta variant.
Had you ever had herpes before? Sometimes tight undies and stress can give you a herpes outbreak. It's best to make sure that the medication for it is completed. It does often come back again. If it continues then going on a prophylactic would be your best bet.
I am assuming that you mean herpes simplex?
Both the vaccine and herpes and herpes medication can make you very tired. The vaccine can't, by itself, give you herpes but perhaps your immune system kicked up something that was going on that you were not aware of?
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionHello @jlv and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Thank you for sharing your experience as a way for members to learn from one another. I am curious if you have made any changes to increase your iron levels and if you have had any success yet?
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
2 ReactionsHi Tom, I believe you were answering @sueinmn's generally question asking people "Do you have a history of anemia or another blood disorder?" to which you replied that you have no prior history.
Have your blood counts started to climb again? Are the blood transfusions helping? Have your doctors investigated a possible cause besides the vaccine?
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
2 ReactionsI have not been low in iron since I went through the change of life 10 yrs ago. Since then I have been able to give blood without a problem, and my iron is always good there and when I have had blood work done. I had the Pfizer vaccine at the end of May, and have not felt well since, very tired, loss of energy doing the smallest thing. I had a physical a few weeks ago and now I am low in iron, which is concerning to my Dr.
Hello @kimchiodo77 and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Thank you for sharing a really nice recap of your experience with low iron levels and what you have been doing since finding out. It is certainly an interesting correlation that some people have experienced and it is so helpful to find others who have experienced like outcomes to learn from one another.
I think it is great to hear that you have incorporated iron-rich foods such as spinach and liver... two things that may scare off some people but are so great for iron deficient individuals.
How are you feeling today, almost a week later from your post? Have you up'd your intake of liver and spinach?
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionWelcome to Mayo Connect, a community of people living with a variety of conditions and diseases. We work to support one another but are not professionals, so we cannot give you medical advice.
If you read the earlier posts in this discussion, you can see that a few others have experienced this after the vaccine, or after a Covid infection and the vaccine. Part of my mission in this crazy Covid pandemic is to search out the latest science and research based information to share. At this time, this is such a new phenomenon, that there just isn't much evidence of who will have certain side effects and why.
Searching all the literature and the VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) data shows there are fewer than 1000 reports of decreased hemoglobin or ferritin out of 500,000 adverse events and over 340,000,000 vaccine doses. Even if this is underreported in VAERS, you can still see this to be an extremely rare side effect. That is not to say it is not concerning, but by comparison, low hemoglobin has been known for over a year to be an effect of a Covid infection, in much greater numbers than in the vaccine.
As with all things Covid, stay tuned for further developments. As published data becomes available, I will report it here. In the meantime, you can read through this discussion to see what treatments other people are using, and speak to your provider.
If you have more questions, feel free to ask here.
Sue
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
4 Reactions