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Was there an uptick in autoimmune conditions after COVID vaccines?
A few years ago I experienced intense vaginal itching. I tried various over the counter creams, none of which helped. In desperation I went to a walk-in clinic (I was unable to get in to my primary care doctor) and I was examined by a Medical Assistant who prescribed a steroid cream. She said that there was a stronger one that she hesitated to prescribe because it can cause thinning of the skin. The cream was not successful and eventually I was able to see my PCP who said this was Lichen Planus and prescribed Betamethasone cream. That, thankfully was effective. The following year when I had my yearly health check I complained that my legs were very itchy. My PCP looked at them and said that I could try an OTC steroid cream. This was shortly after I had a COVID booster. I then made an appointment with my dermatologist and asked if he thought I was having a reaction to a new medication that I was taking for blood pressure. He said "this isn't a drug reaction, I think this is Lichen Planus!" He prescribed Betamethasone and it was effective although I still get occasional red, itchy bumps. I have learned (from Mayo Clinic Connect) that this is an autoimmune condition and wonder now if an uptick in autoimmune conditions has been seen since the administration of COVID vaccines.
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Note from the Community Director
The vaccines that help protect against COVID-19 are safe and effective. Clinical trials tested the vaccines to make sure of those facts. Healthcare professionals, researchers and health agencies continue to watch for rare side effects, even after hundreds of millions of doses have been given in the United States.
Side effects that don't go away after a few days are thought of as long term. Vaccines rarely cause any long-term side effects.
If you're concerned about side effects, safety data on COVID-19 vaccines is reported to a national program called the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System in the U.S. This data is available to the public. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) also has created v-safe, a smartphone-based tool that allows users to report COVID-19 vaccine side effects.
If you have other questions or concerns about your symptoms, talk to your healthcare professional.
From Mayo Clinic: COVID-19 vaccines: Get the facts
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bettyhase, thanks for your post.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10883027/
Aside from believing your rheumatologist (three years is really specific to your bout with Covid), do you have any personal sense that RA is a consequence of having Covid.
Do you get sick more often or are you constantly ill.
This is a fallacy! My cardiologist and electrophysiologist said before the Covid Vaccine was released in the journal of cardiology it talked about patients getting cardiac autonomic neuropathy as a side effect. Mine stated the day after my second injection. Cardiologist printed out the article for me to read. They knew the side effects that’s why they had us sign the piece of paper saying we could not take legal action. I was advised never to take the shot again. I was given eight years left to live. The arrhythmias have gotten worse along with my bp going up and down. This was documented before being released to the public as a known side effect. All these doctors are pro Covid shots but it has been documented that it changes your dna.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9876036/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X25003196
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9876036/
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000001290
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4 ReactionsWhere are your references? I at least attached mine and the last reference involves the journal of cardiology. I know what I live with from those shots and given eight years to live from the time of diagnosis stinks. I did not ask for this the federal government mandated it.
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2 Reactions@artemis1886
https://www.science.org/content/article/rare-dangerous-side-effects-some-covid-19-vaccines-explained
Artemis 1886, I'm so sorry you are in this situation. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9175153/
I know many people who suggested that getting COVID or the vaccine resulted in my EPI, SIBO, and so on.
Fair, but they discount the medications I took for ages that have been attributed to the same
problems; confirmation bias is a real thing.
Causation is often attributed to many things. I worked in two countries that neighbored each other, and had a 1000 years of mistrust. Country A had good medical care, and people from Country B would travel to seek out help. Many people said their parents had been killed by racist doctors, as they went there and never got better. However, their parents were often over 70, and some were in their nineties, with a long history of heart problems, diabetes, and so on.
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1 ReactionI had 4 doses of the Moderna vaccine for Covid. I was referred to a rheumatologist approximately two months after the last vaccine I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. I spent two years on methotrexate and prednisone and would continue to have flareups about every 2 to 3 months. I had a case of Covid that lasted approximately five weeks before the symptoms started calming down. I developed pneumonia twice over the next two years, I had a sinus infection. I had a bacterial infection in my sinuses another in my lower salivary gland in my mouth. I was diagnosed iron deficient anemic. I underwent infusions several times for this. I finally stopped using the methotrexate and the prednisone and I have not had a flareup of rheumatoid arthritis since then however the blood work still says it’s there.
I am personally CERTAIN that the vaccines I received for Covid were the cause of this autoimmune condition I now live with. Good luck to all who suffer this. I feel certain research will eventually tell us the true story.
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7 ReactionsI have celiac since birth. The only issue I have ever had w auto immune was gut related, celiac symptoms. I got the COVID vaccine and 1 booster… in short order I started to experience a very odd skin issue on my hands, and only index finger and thumb on the inside of those as well as those fingernails: subcutaneous deep small blisters, surface larger blisters, nail cracking. I have had been to a 2 separate dermatologists in NY and FL both of whom took biopsies, an auto immune Dr at Cleveland clinic, a functional medecine Drs and current DO. The condition has been lessened w an LDN as prescribed by the functional medecine Dr but not eradicated. My current Dr attributes this odd reaction, certainly not life threatening tho very uncomfortable and quite painful at times, to the addition of “toxins” in the shots. I have had no prior health issues and took no medicines, at 65. I will not take another vaccine. I never did get COVID, and 100% regret taking the jabs.
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3 Reactionsthese are current photos, I keep clipping the nails back, scaring visible from prior ‘healed’ blisters.
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3 Reactions@admeliora
I got my scleroderma with multiple food allergies and autoimmune symptoms one year post COVID vaccine manufactured by Pfizer. Other 3 people reported similar experience in a different discussion. There are reasons to believe that vaccines caused it. Possibly all COVID vaccines trigger autoimmune disease 1+ year post vaccination. COVID itself may have the same effect, as the vaccine is based on the virus and has its components.
@admeliora the vaccine was pushed through (I seem to recall they called it "operation warp speed") and not fully tested for sure. I have to believe the intentions were good, with millions of people dying and becoming gravely ill so quickly, there was no way to out the vaccines through a standard test schedule. I also agree that the virus itself changed many peoples' immune systems (for sure it did mine) and the vaccines may in some cases have added insult to injury (also in my case). I had a "mild" case of covid.. after having had 2 vaccines. I was in bed for about a week, had the worst headache and sore throat of my life, but no breathing problems. Miserable, but nothing life threatening. Once I recovered, I had a headache every afternoon around the same time, for almost 3 months, I also could not shake the fatigue. Then after my last booster, GI symptoms started to kick in, along with more fatigue, red eyes, skin issues, shortness of breath, pelvic and back pain.. it was a perfect storm of misery. When I got the shots and got covid, I was in excellent health, not yet 65 but close. Anyway I believe in my case, it was a combo of both., getting the virus, and then getting that final booster. I have not (and will not) take a vaccine for anything since.
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