Anyone had a problem with neuropathy after receiving the vaccine?

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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Profile picture for mcd2021 @mcd2021

@littlenoise Sedimentation rate blood test can measure inflammation also. I had a normal CRP test result but my sed rate was high/out of range which indicates inflammation. You could ask your doctor to run both tests. I believe you can even order/purchase them yourself if you prefer through Quest and they will send you and your doctor the results.

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Thank you for this information! You're a star!

So sad that I have to do this research to find possible solutions on my own

I'm sorry to admit that both my PCP and Podiatrist are reluctant to admit this could be from the vaccine. They simply shrug, look at me like I may be a conspiracy theorist, and say we just don't know much about the ramifications at this time.

Or maybe I'm projecting because I feel like a conspiracy theorist. It just seems too coincidental.

I talked to a neighbor yesterday. His father, who had recently had a stroke, but was recovering well four at home therapists, his health plummet after his first vaccine. So much so that they bought a new house with a mother-in-law suite, moved. Because of the at home visits with the multiple therapists, his doctor recommended he still get the second dose. His condition worsened and about a month to the day of purchasing the new house, his father passed. No doctor would say that the vaccine was responsible for his decline and/or death.

It's like the medical establishment has signed some secret pact letter to not bad mouth the vaccine. The standard being risk vs reward is tremendous, collateral damage be damned.

Ugh! I do sound like a conspiracy theorist... just not an extreme one that thinks I've been injected with a monitoring device of some sort.

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Profile picture for mcd2021 @mcd2021

@littlenoise Sedimentation rate blood test can measure inflammation also. I had a normal CRP test result but my sed rate was high/out of range which indicates inflammation. You could ask your doctor to run both tests. I believe you can even order/purchase them yourself if you prefer through Quest and they will send you and your doctor the results.

Jump to this post

It is preferable to get your doctor to run the tests if you can. Out of caution, fear of malpractice or for other reasons, most docs will order the same test again, even if you bring a result from an outside lab (except another doc, clinic or hospital.) It can also save time, not waiting on the mail to send sample and get results before seeing the doc.
Sue

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Profile picture for littlenoise @littlenoise

Thank you for this information! You're a star!

So sad that I have to do this research to find possible solutions on my own

I'm sorry to admit that both my PCP and Podiatrist are reluctant to admit this could be from the vaccine. They simply shrug, look at me like I may be a conspiracy theorist, and say we just don't know much about the ramifications at this time.

Or maybe I'm projecting because I feel like a conspiracy theorist. It just seems too coincidental.

I talked to a neighbor yesterday. His father, who had recently had a stroke, but was recovering well four at home therapists, his health plummet after his first vaccine. So much so that they bought a new house with a mother-in-law suite, moved. Because of the at home visits with the multiple therapists, his doctor recommended he still get the second dose. His condition worsened and about a month to the day of purchasing the new house, his father passed. No doctor would say that the vaccine was responsible for his decline and/or death.

It's like the medical establishment has signed some secret pact letter to not bad mouth the vaccine. The standard being risk vs reward is tremendous, collateral damage be damned.

Ugh! I do sound like a conspiracy theorist... just not an extreme one that thinks I've been injected with a monitoring device of some sort.

Jump to this post

Sorry to hear your doctors are not supportive. My ortho and PCP were both accepting of the possibility that the vaccine caused my reaction. But both took the position that no matter what caused it, we needed to try to fix it and move on. It was reported to VAERS (as was the flu shot reaction before it.)

My daughters both had significant but temporary reactions as well, but found the need to be vaccinated to live their lives (both nurses) a compelling reason to get the second shot, and for one she now has the third (with minimal reaction.)

I hope you continue to improve.
Sue

REPLY
Profile picture for littlenoise @littlenoise

Thank you for this information! You're a star!

So sad that I have to do this research to find possible solutions on my own

I'm sorry to admit that both my PCP and Podiatrist are reluctant to admit this could be from the vaccine. They simply shrug, look at me like I may be a conspiracy theorist, and say we just don't know much about the ramifications at this time.

Or maybe I'm projecting because I feel like a conspiracy theorist. It just seems too coincidental.

I talked to a neighbor yesterday. His father, who had recently had a stroke, but was recovering well four at home therapists, his health plummet after his first vaccine. So much so that they bought a new house with a mother-in-law suite, moved. Because of the at home visits with the multiple therapists, his doctor recommended he still get the second dose. His condition worsened and about a month to the day of purchasing the new house, his father passed. No doctor would say that the vaccine was responsible for his decline and/or death.

It's like the medical establishment has signed some secret pact letter to not bad mouth the vaccine. The standard being risk vs reward is tremendous, collateral damage be damned.

Ugh! I do sound like a conspiracy theorist... just not an extreme one that thinks I've been injected with a monitoring device of some sort.

Jump to this post

I think a lot of doctors just don’t know or want to know if there is a correlation, because in reality there are a relatively small percentage of us having these non-life threatening reactions. And, we definitely need people vaccinated. But, it doesn’t make it right that there are providers who do not take the symptoms seriously. My hope is that research can lead to a Covid vaccine that doesn’t cause such reactions. As a transplant recipient, there is little chance that I and many others are protected even though we’re fully vaccinated.

I have autoimmune disease caused neuropathy, which increased significantly after I was vaccinated. I saw my neurologist shortly after my second shot and he said he wasn’t surprised at my body’s reaction since the vaccine is designed to spark an immune response. So, at least in my case, it triggered Sjogren’s to go even more in hyperdrive and increased my neuropathy symptoms.

REPLY
Profile picture for mcd2021 @mcd2021

@littlenoise Sedimentation rate blood test can measure inflammation also. I had a normal CRP test result but my sed rate was high/out of range which indicates inflammation. You could ask your doctor to run both tests. I believe you can even order/purchase them yourself if you prefer through Quest and they will send you and your doctor the results.

Jump to this post

Yep, ESR Test (Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate)

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Profile picture for Sue, Volunteer Mentor @sueinmn

It is preferable to get your doctor to run the tests if you can. Out of caution, fear of malpractice or for other reasons, most docs will order the same test again, even if you bring a result from an outside lab (except another doc, clinic or hospital.) It can also save time, not waiting on the mail to send sample and get results before seeing the doc.
Sue

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Actually, they will usually take labs from lab corp or quest. And these are not home tests. You have to show up at the facility to give blood and/or urine samples. Results are quick, within 24-72 hours, usually.

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Profile picture for athenalee @athenalee

I think a lot of doctors just don’t know or want to know if there is a correlation, because in reality there are a relatively small percentage of us having these non-life threatening reactions. And, we definitely need people vaccinated. But, it doesn’t make it right that there are providers who do not take the symptoms seriously. My hope is that research can lead to a Covid vaccine that doesn’t cause such reactions. As a transplant recipient, there is little chance that I and many others are protected even though we’re fully vaccinated.

I have autoimmune disease caused neuropathy, which increased significantly after I was vaccinated. I saw my neurologist shortly after my second shot and he said he wasn’t surprised at my body’s reaction since the vaccine is designed to spark an immune response. So, at least in my case, it triggered Sjogren’s to go even more in hyperdrive and increased my neuropathy symptoms.

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Thank you for joining the discussion. You are correct, side effects like neuropathy (new or increased) are exceedingly rare after vaccine (1533 reports of all types, 435 were mild enough to result in no medical care). That shows reports of new or worse neuropathy in the range of 340/100,000 reports, or .7/100,000 people vaccinated (or .4/100,000 doses). Keep in mind that the report only means the 2 events occurred somewhere around the same time, not that the vaccine was the cause.

Compare that to reported estimates of new or worse neuropathy in the range of 5 - 10% of hospitalized Covid patients (between 120,000 and 250,000) or 350 - 700/100,000 of all Covid patients. So far 11% of the population has had confirmed Covid, about 7% of those have been hospitalized (almost 2.5 million).

If the neuropathy estimates on the low end at 5% are even close, that means over 100,000 people have new or worse neuropathy from 35,000,000 Covid infections compared to the report of 1533 from 350,000,000 doses of the vaccine in 201,000,000 people. That doesn't begin to take into account all the other risks of a Covid infection.

What we read here on Connect and in the media are reports from the minority who have bad reactions to the vaccine, not the majority of the 200,000,000 million plus who were safely and uneventfully vaccinated. Even among the 465,000 VAERS reports, over 300,000 reported events mild enough that they never sought medical care.

These are all things to keep in mind as we decide whether or not to get vaccinated. The fact that individuals have not been infected up to now does not mean they will never get Covid, unless they choose to live in a bubble for the foreseeable future. NOT my personal choice - I am vaccinated, wear a mask, and stay away from crowds. But I can safely interact with the precautions I have chosen to take.

Sue

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My PCP has a Quest Lab and Technician in their office. The PCP has offered to order an arsenic level test on me because my derma tologist suggested that a rather rare form on pre-skin cancer that I had removed several years ago could have been from arsenic exposure. Go figure? I looked at the reports of arsenic in my water, but didn't know what to do with that information. It wax below whatever authority says it's safe nationally, but above what would be safe in Califormia (what would be?). Anyway. I think I read somewhere that arsenic levels can also contribute to neuropathy. One of the many rabbit holes I've gone down.

I guess I'll ask for the two tests y'all suggested and the arsenic one and go from there.

Thanks for all the responses! Y'all have been more than helpful and welcoming.

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Profile picture for Sue, Volunteer Mentor @sueinmn

It is preferable to get your doctor to run the tests if you can. Out of caution, fear of malpractice or for other reasons, most docs will order the same test again, even if you bring a result from an outside lab (except another doc, clinic or hospital.) It can also save time, not waiting on the mail to send sample and get results before seeing the doc.
Sue

Jump to this post

I didn't mean a home test. Of course it's preferable if her doctor orders these tests for her but if he won't, she can schedule and pay for them herself at her nearest Quest lab and go get it done. Easy, fast and reliable. No test kit through the mail.

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Profile picture for littlenoise @littlenoise

My PCP has a Quest Lab and Technician in their office. The PCP has offered to order an arsenic level test on me because my derma tologist suggested that a rather rare form on pre-skin cancer that I had removed several years ago could have been from arsenic exposure. Go figure? I looked at the reports of arsenic in my water, but didn't know what to do with that information. It wax below whatever authority says it's safe nationally, but above what would be safe in Califormia (what would be?). Anyway. I think I read somewhere that arsenic levels can also contribute to neuropathy. One of the many rabbit holes I've gone down.

I guess I'll ask for the two tests y'all suggested and the arsenic one and go from there.

Thanks for all the responses! Y'all have been more than helpful and welcoming.

Jump to this post

That's great! Hope he will be willing to do the CRP and Sed Rate tests for you also. Both are ideal at detecting inflammation. Hope you will post how it goes.

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