Was there an uptick in autoimmune conditions after COVID vaccines?

It was not my intent to cast aspersions on the COVID vaccine when I posed the question about an uptick in autoimmune conditions. It was an honest search for information since I had two 'events' following two vaccine doses. I want to be as informed as possible before making a decision about my health. I don't believe the vaccine actually caused my lichen outbreaks. I had done considerable research after my diagnoses and learned that lichen planus is considered to be related to autoimmune conditions under the heading Rheumatoid. I have had ridges in my fingernails for many years and I understand that it is also related. I have not gone to a Rheumatologist, nor had extensive testing done in that regard. What I have come to suspect is that COVID vaccines and perhaps getting COVID changes things in our systems which then might wake the sleeping dog. I am very surprised at the responses that my question has caused and because of those I will think harder and longer before getting another booster, but I probably will continue to get them. I have been able to avoid getting COVID so far but my daughters and husbands have all gotten it. Some got the vaccine, others not. Thank you all for contributing to my question and I hope you can find relief.

@creondave I had no heart problems prior to the vaccine. The only thing I took was an occasional Tylenol. So no other meds could be attributed to my diagnosis of cardiac autonomic neuropathy. I was on no other meds. I am not in my 70’s. I am a lot younger than that. So out of the eight years I have two left. If what they say is true I will be leaving behind two kids for my husband to raise.

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

@blinken == I've made the same surmise, that the vaccine (maybe any vaccine) can, as you say, "wake the sleeping dog." When I look back on my life, I remember how my gums became inflamed in my mid-20s and how dentists would denigrate me, assuming my hygiene was inadequate--even though I brushed, and flossed!, daily, and was having cleanings twice a year. Two hygienists over the years expressed dismay and one actually told me I had OLP (back in 1999). The dentist pooh-poohed the idea.

After my Covid shot, I developed lesions. I knew. Went to the dentist, told him I thought I had OLP, and he looked at me like I was a stupid woman enamored of Dr. Google. Then he examined me, pointed to just one lesion, and said yes, that might be OLP. So he sent me to an oral surgeon who took the confirming biopsy. Vindication!

So, yes, the autoimmune response spurred by the vax probably threw a condition on a low boil into a rolling boil. The same thing happened when I contracted Covid itself a year later, because disease itself causes an autoimmune response too. We've got an autoimmune disease and may have had autoimmune conditions in the past that weren't noticed. E.g., I've had autoimmune responses to spider bites in the past, with RH factor turning up in my blood work. I also never had problems with my gums until I got a couple of gold fillings back in the 1970s. They may have been the trigger.

It's hard to know for sure about these things. Recently I read an interesting article pointing out that people want to look for an ultimate cause of their conditions when, in fact, there may be multiple causes.

Good luck, everyone, and maybe try not to be tortured by what-ifs and whys. ❤️

@blinken == I've made the same surmise, that the vaccine (maybe any vaccine) can, as you say, "wake the sleeping dog." When I look back on my life, I remember how my gums became inflamed in my mid-20s and how dentists would denigrate me, assuming my hygiene was inadequate--even though I brushed, and flossed!, daily, and was having cleanings twice a year. Two hygienists over the years expressed dismay and one actually told me I had OLP (back in 1999). The dentist pooh-poohed the idea.

After my Covid shot, I developed lesions. I knew. Went to the dentist, told him I thought I had OLP, and he looked at me like I was a stupid woman enamored of Dr. Google. Then he examined me, pointed to just one lesion, and said yes, that might be OLP. So he sent me to an oral surgeon who took the confirming biopsy. Vindication!

So, yes, the autoimmune response spurred by the vax probably threw a condition on a low boil into a rolling boil. The same thing happened when I contracted Covid itself a year later, because disease itself causes an autoimmune response too. We've got an autoimmune disease and may have had autoimmune conditions in the past that weren't noticed. E.g., I've had autoimmune responses to spider bites in the past, with RH factor turning up in my blood work. I also never had problems with my gums until I got a couple of gold fillings back in the 1970s. They may have been the trigger.

It's hard to know for sure about these things. Recently I read an interesting article pointing out that people want to look for an ultimate cause of their conditions when, in fact, there may be multiple causes.

Good luck, everyone, and maybe try not to be tortured by what-ifs and whys. ❤️

I agree, wholeheartedly, after talking to my immunologist and my primary care. I developed a very rare syndrome, parsonage Turner syndrome, which has left my right arm with very limited mobility, accompanied by extreme pain. It took months to diagnose. The doctors had no idea and I did massive massive research and contacted the doctor at John Hopkins who told me which test to get in indeed I did have it… Many mistakes were made along the way that didn’t help with my recovery. Had an orthopedic surgeon operate, thinking it was a rotator tear when I kept telling him it was severe nerve pain., It was my mistake for forgetting The Surgery. My axillary nerve is severely damaged. All from two Covid vaccines. Even before we knew, I had this My immunologist said you should not have gotten any of them. Live and learn, I suppose but it’s a hard lesson for many of us isn’t it? I’m so sorry for everyone else’s troubles..

I agree, wholeheartedly, after talking to my immunologist and my primary care. I developed a very rare syndrome, parsonage Turner syndrome, which has left my right arm with very limited mobility, accompanied by extreme pain. It took months to diagnose. The doctors had no idea and I did massive massive research and contacted the doctor at John Hopkins who told me which test to get in indeed I did have it… Many mistakes were made along the way that didn’t help with my recovery. Had an orthopedic surgeon operate, thinking it was a rotator tear when I kept telling him it was severe nerve pain., It was my mistake for forgetting The Surgery. My axillary nerve is severely damaged. All from two Covid vaccines. Even before we knew, I had this My immunologist said you should not have gotten any of them. Live and learn, I suppose but it’s a hard lesson for many of us isn’t it? I’m so sorry for everyone else’s troubles..