@cids, great point. Sharing personal experiences is permitted on the forum. You're correct, however, that anecdotal evidence is the experience or observations of one person and is not a replacement for empirical evidence. Empirical evidence consists of observations collected systematically by researchers as part of a research study.

For this reason, you will see the moderators, and increasingly members, recommending that people report their suspected side effects to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). https://vaers.hhs.gov/ Through the collection of patient reported outcomes, researchers can study whether effects are temporal coincidences or not.

As outlined in the Community Guidelines (https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/about-connect/tab/community-guidelines/) any post that is not a personal experience and states information as fact or makes a claim that is not properly referenced may be removed. Members are encouraged to report posts that contain misinformation.

I'd advise all members to keep in mind that forums like this one where members share their personal experiences can create a biased observation. It is not to be assumed that the majority of patients taking osteoporosis medication experience side effects or that most people don't recover range of motion after a total knee replacement or that everyone gets neuropathy from vaccines. People who don't experience adverse events tend not to participate in forums because they are not looking for support and solutions.

I also hope that members who did not experience side effects from the vaccine or whose neuropathic symptoms have since resolved will return to share on the forum.

Sadly, this is the reaction by, not only those who have not experienced an adverse reaction to the Covid specific vaccines, but the medical community, governments and the media. Those of us who had never had any adverse reactions to any other vaccines, who were healthy and well prior to the Covid vaccine, and who experienced devastating and long-term injury immediately after the vaccine, know full well the cause. Many of us have spent months or years trying to find 1. Doctors who will believe us. 2. Testing that shows something. SFN seems to be one of the few definitive diagnosis’ amidst the cascade of other ‘typical’ symptoms following Covid vaccination (for those unlucky enough to have an adverse reaction) which also mimics long-covid. Future study (should it take place) may find that those of us so affected are particularly sensitive to the spike protein itself, as opposed to any other ingredient in the vaccine. But until those of us vaccine-injured are taken seriously, there will never be an answer. My personal cascade of symptoms happened within 15 minutes and progressed over the next few days - tremors, facial numbness, brain-fog, cranial pressure, heart pain, lung pain, paresthesia, tinnitus, insomnia, and ultimately neuropathy. 17months on I still suffer from tinnitus, paresthesia and neuropathy. I am still trying to get medical assistance. I am still met with skepticism. Those of us who rolled up our sleeves to do the right thing are, by that very act, demonstrably not anti-vax. We played our part to protect ourselves, our loved ones, and strangers on the street. Yes, adverse reactions are rare, but all we wanted is for those entities who encouraged us to get jabbed to say, “if you’ve had a problem, we’ve got your back.”