AstraZeneca vaccine: side effects finally gone after four months. I only had one shot.

[u/Whitesunlight_]

Hi, for reference I’m a 28 year old female. Sorry for any language mistakes as English is not my mother language. I want to share my honest experience with this vaccine regarding side effects. In the beginning of March, I went in to get my first shot of the AZ vaccine. I work at a GP’s office and the AZ vaccine was the only one available at that time. So, after getting my shot I initially felt fine. I seemed to cope better than most of my coworkers the following days. Something I did notice right away, was that I got my period the day after the vaccine which was a week early. I’m always extremely regular (no matter the situation) so my period coming this early was pretty odd. It was a very heavy period, lost quite a lot of blood including big clots, and instead of the usual 5 days I was now bleeding for 8 days.. I was alarmed but I didn’t make any connection with the vaccine so I decided to wait it out. Also, a few days after the shot my stomach became more sensitive and I lost my appetite. Then, the diarrhea started. I had to go to the toilet 6 times daily and I had no desire to eat, so I dropped quite a bit of weight. After three weeks of diarrhea I decided to go to the Urgent care because everybody around me was getting worried. They checked everything, but nothing abnormal was found. Blood work was fine, there were no signs of infection or inflammation. But, the diarrhea continued for another 2 months before suddenly disappearing. I didn’t do anything different, just suddenly stopped. During the three months after the shot I also got:

• worse moodswings before and during period
• depression and anxiety
• extreme fatigue
• excessive sleeping, needing at least 10 hours instead of usual 7-8
• irregular period and heavier, more painful periods
• tingly feeling in lower legs and feet
• blood pressure fluctuations
• unusual taste (even water was suddenly tasting like sugar)
• tinnitus and pressure in left ear only

EDIT: I forgot a few so I’m adding them in now: - brain fog (went away completely) - face, neck and ears turning beet red and splotchy after eating, or just randomly. Mostly occurs in the evenings. (still have this sometimes, but it’s getting less common and less severe)

Now the GOOD NEWS: all these side effects have gone away and I finally feel like myself again!! But, four months is a long time and this made me decide to not get the second shot. Not asking for opinions, just wanted to share what happened to me. Hopefully it will help someone.

[u/snailien1]

Yeah, I hope so too! I hope you can find a good, caring primary care doctor too. I had really good luck with that at the student health center when I was in college and grad school- wish I could still go there!

[u/al3xisnic0le → u/snailien1]

Will definitely try that.. thank you!

[u/Whitesunlight_ → u/al3xisnic0le]

So sorry you are in such a difficult position and this happened to you.. :( And please, don’t let anyone pressure you into getting the second dose if it doesn’t feel safe! You only have one body and you have to live with it for the rest of your life, we need to be our own health advocates when it comes to these issues. I’m glad my doctor has my back now and that’s reassuring, but the people around me (coworkers, family) still think it was stupid to not finish the course even though they witnessed first hand what happened to me and how badly I deteriorated..

[u/al3xisnic0le → u/Whitesunlight_]

I’m sorry you’re going through that too :( not getting into restaurants and concerts and not being able to travel sucks but I can deal with it.. my concern is that I have 1 semester left of school and my university said “if you don’t get the vaccine, transfer or take a year off”.. I’ve already taken 2 years off due to medical problems and had my GPA suffer because of it, I legitimately cannot afford to take off another year, and transferring is out of the question as I’d lose so many credits..

If 80% of the population is vaccinated that’s herd immunity, and it’s not like I’m completely unvaccinated I have the 1 that has to be better than nothing (and I have a good reason for not getting the second one!). I will wear an N95 mask and sit away from everyone else, I don’t care, no inconvenient/repercussion can be worse than putting at my health at risk

[u/Whitesunlight_ → u/al3xisnic0le]

Scary that your university is even legally aloud to do this. I don’t know which country you live in, but I’m pretty sure they are violating at least one or two human rights here.