I Got my Shot

Recently, I received an email from Sobey’s Grocery stores in response to my request to be waitlisted for the vaccine.. They said, I was eligible for the COVID vaccine, for the AstraZeneca vaccine. Finally!!

^{AZ Vacvine}

I went & signed up. It turns out the closest location for the shot was in the city a Gerrard & Vic Park. I’m sure there’s not a lot of you familiar with the geography of Toronto but from my home it is approximately 50 km or just over 30 miles ( just under an hour away) to that specific grocery store for my shot. But I was going to be going into Scarborough (East Toronto) anyways because of Lilly’s surgery. I figured I’d would kill two birds with one stone.

My Shot, Thursday

So my appointment was on Thursday, at 11:30am. It was super quick. By the time my brain registered the sensation of the needle, she was already putting it syringe into the sharps bin.So, even if you don’t like needles, it’s not that bad. I stayed the required 15 minutes. No reaction initially other than some moderate nausea.

^{Waiting n the cubical for the pharmacist to give me my shot}

The nausea stayed with me for the day. I was a little tired afterwards & had a short nap which helped me feel a little better. Even went for walk with my sister in the evening.

My Reactions – That Night

By 2:00am the nausea was worse, so much so that I had an empty bucket beside my bed, just in case.

Shortly after that I noticed I was cold. I was eventually shivering despite pj’s and warm bedding. My temperature at this time was 38 & change in Celcius .

My arm was sore, but most people have that reaction. My fibro was triggered and my pain was climbing everywhere. At worst I’d say 5/10.

By 5:00 this morning my body had switched from shivering to sweating. I was also having a headache kick in. I took some Tylenol with codeine and was finally able to get back to sleep.

My Reactions – Next Day, Friday

I was abruptly woken up by my Mom at 10:30am for a temperature check. It was 36.8, completely normal. After checking Lilly & giving her meds (see her surgical post if you are interested), I went back to bed. Fortunately in the morning, the body wide pain had taken a step back and no more shivering or sweating. I did still have the headache, and the nausea but it was not as bad.

As the day wore on I’d flip from chills to overheating, but no temperature. The nausea kept up and I did rush to the bathroom with dry heaves. The body-wide aches went back up by bedtime.

My Reactions – Day 2 Post Vaccine, Saturday

Still has ongoing flipping between chills & hot flashes. Left arm still sore.. Ongoing body aches all during the day.. Still nauseous, but not actually vomiting..sent alot of my time resting.

My Reactions – Day 3 Vaccine, Sunday.

Chills & hot flashes completely abated by the evening and the nausea aswell. Still had body-wide aches & pains.

My Reactions – Day 4 & 5, Monday & Tuesday.

I think by this point I was completely finished reacting to the actual vaccine, whoever my fibromyalgia decided to react to the vaccine reaction. Oh so fun. So by the time I woke up on Monday I was in a lovely little fibro flare that has lasted several days. Only thing I accomplished was the opening & closing of my Tuesday Night Cub meeting.

So, by this point my actual immunoreaction to the medication in the vaccine was done, but not the end of this saga of my vaccine.. Read here for more on this story.

I’m A Human Pincushion

About 8, maybe 10 years ago, I was referred to The Centre for Pain Management to help get the fibro under control &, if I’m lucky, off all the drugs.

I was initially getting weekly injections of Marcaine. This is an injectable medication that is a numbing agent similar to Lidocaine..

Where do I get them? Lol, everywhere! hence the pincushion reference.. They are primarily in my back. I get nerve injections & trigger point injections. The nerve injections, I get 4in the lower back on each side of my spine & the sciatic nerve the goes down the leg. I get two in the neck on each side. And a final pair at the top of the shoulder. So that’s 16 to start, pretty much every visit. The number of trigger point injections depends on what’s been flaring (FM? CFS? OA? MPS? Stress?) Initially she was giving me upwards to another 20-30 shots. That means up to 45 shots in my back neck & shoulders.

About 5 years ago we started to see improvement & extended the time between visits so that unless I was in a flare I was going every other week. This progressed to three weeks, then four.

Just before COVID hit in March, I was just starting & doing well on an appointment every 5 weeks. While I was still usually getting the basic 16, I was only getting 10.. 15 max other injections in my back. I was doing well.

Unfortunately due to COVID & the loss of many of my other treatments, my pain levels have jumped back up.. However, not as bad as when I initially met her.. so I’m currently going every other week.. getting the base 16 & maybe another 15. With my other treatments slowly becoming available, I am hoping I will be able to return to the levels I was in the spring.

Currently, I visit my Doctor at CPM every other week. However, I will be away when my next appointment shows up & I’ll be trying every 3 weeks. Hopefully it’ll be ok. There is no way I’d be able to drive home in that kinda pain.