I thought I was out of the woods when we drove home from Gillette Stadium after I got my second Moderna vaccine. Again, I was blown away by the efficiency: in and out in 20 minutes including 15 minutes waiting after the shot, including a quick look again at Gillette Stadium. This time, the grass the workers were planting a month ago had come up. High school students (or maybe college?) were playing soccer on the field (I forgot to snap a pic this time).
Jeff drove me home, though this time, I probably could have driven the 60 miles each way myself. When we got home, I worked on my last blogpost, made dinner, and told Jeff he should go home and do the work he needed to do.
After 5am, I woke up sweating, with what felt like a fever, a terrible headache, and muscle and joint pain. What the heck was that? I thought I was finished. Two friends, including one who is a nurse, told me not to take any pain killer for at least the first 24 hours, so I tried to go back to sleep. The next time I woke up, I took my temperature, and it was 101. My normal temperature is about 96.5 so that was quite a few degrees above normal. No wonder I felt lousy. I decided to tough it out rather than risk the efficacy of the vaccine, and because I was so tired, I went back to sleep on and off for several hours. Eventually, I couldn’t sleep any more, but my fever, headache and pains still continued. I talked to one of the friends who told me not to take ibuprofen but she thought acetaminophen was OK. I didn’t have any. Then Jeff texted me about something, and I tried to reply. I realized that I couldn’t put together a coherent sentence to answer him. I couldn’t remember the right words to use. Scary. At that point, I managed to call my doctor’s office and I asked if I could take ibuprofen. The woman on the phone didn’t know, but said she would have a Covid nurse call me back. When the nurse called me, she asked me a lot of questions which made sense, and I could understand her, but like before, I couldn’t answer very well. I had aphasia. I managed to get across what I had to, and she told me to take the ibuprofen and not to stay by myself. So I called Jeff and asked him to come back. A few hours after taking the ibuprofen, my speech returned, thank goodness, and my temperature went down a couple of degrees. I was still really tired, so I went back to sleep and woke up the next morning feeling better but still not normal.
On Friday, I still have a headache but in a different spot on my skull and no energy. Nevertheless, I managed to get out of bed, take a shower and get dressed, so I was on the mend. As the day progressed, I realized that food and the smell of food make me feel sick to my stomach. I haven’t felt like that in decades. I hope by Saturday, I will be completely recovered.
In spite of my carping, I am still thrilled to have gotten both of the Moderna shots and to be on the way to being fully vaccinated/protected in a couple of weeks. Yahoo!
I don’t know what it is about me (a really good immune system, hopefully?), but I had a bad reaction after the second Shingrix shot too.
I hope you got your shot or shots already or will have the opportunity to get the vaccine soon. Jeff and my friend Sue as well as her husband and also my friend’s 95 year old mother had no reactions whatsoever, so I think I’m the weirdo 😉 Not having to worry as much about getting Covid will be well worth it for me to have some discomfort for a couple of days. Yay!
And now, here’s this week’s Beauty Spotlight Team weekly roundup:
Are you using EXPIRED beauty products? If you are not doing a yearly Spring Cleaning, you are. Find out when your beauty products expire and how to prepare our beauty stash for Spring as Barbies Beauty Bits shares HOW TO SPRING CLEAN YOUR BEAUTY PRODUCTS!
Jen over at Laugh, Love, Contour has really thrown herself into the Spring season this week, and it shows! One of her posts this week features nail art using shades from Zoya’s new Darling Collection for spring. If you’re hunting for nail art suggestions, be sure to check out her Impressionist painting inspired floral look for a quick and easy nail art design!
Red Eyed Lacquer released her Think, Think, Think Collection this week and Kristi over at BeginNails has swatches of her Winnie The Pooh inspired collection.
Have you ever had a hot flash? If so you’ll really appreciate Hot Girls Pearls. Prime Beauty shows you how pretty they are and how very useful especially with warmer weather heading our way.
Lola’s Secret Beauty Blog gave you a preview of Boxwalla’s April Beauty Box: Spring in Spain featuring Twelve Beauty, and now you will want to read the full review. This is an amazing value featuring two ultra-luxe, and highly effective, products!
Are you interested in makeup subscriptions? Ipsy has grown through the years and the boxes are no longer just samples. Allison from Never Say Die Beauty found some keepers in her latest bag. Would you?
16 Comments
Oh my gosh! I am so glad you are okay! Those side effects were scary! Still, I am very glad that you are now fully vaccinated! Take care and pamper yourself, okay?
Thank you, Gabrielle xoxo I feel better today still, but lack my usual energy and feel a little sick to my stomach. By next week, it will be but a distant memory, lol. If we need boosters in the future, I think I’ll try for Pfizer or something else 😉 Have a good weekend. next week, I will make it to the post office (I’ll let you know).
I am concerned about YOU, not the package. I just want you to be back to your old self again!
Thank you, Gabrielle! I am feeling better this evening, much more like my normal self again. yay! Were you able to get the vaccine yet?
I am SO glad you are feeling better! As for me, there are no appointments available where I am. *sigh* I shall keep on checking.
I am so sorry to hear that. I spoke to my cousin this evening who told me that “no one is waiting for their turn”, they’re jumping the line and making appointments since other than a driver’s license and an insurance card if you’ve got one, nothing is required to show that you are indeed eligible. I am really upset about that. I guess I think there are rules for a reason. But anyway, my cousin says that CVS posts the new available appointments between 1-3am. I don’t know if that’s on a certain day, or everyday at this point. But if you can’t sleep, try to go onto the CVS website and see what you can find.
Thanks so much for that tip!
Good morning Allison, Wow, You really got hit hard with the after effects. I am so sorry but glad you are doing better now. chag kasher v’same’ach
Thank you, Sandy! I feel better today but still lack my usual energy and I feel slightly nauseated still. But yay, we’re in much better shape vs. covid! What will you be doing for Easter?
WOW it kicked your butt! Sounds like you are working your way to feeling better. I didn’t get sick but I have the aches and pains really bad. I called my hand dr for a appointment and they asked if I had the shot yet. I have to wait for 2 weeks to get a shot because the covid shot stops the cortisone from working. Learning more ever day. Rest and relax enjoy the weekend doing nothing or something 🙂
Thank you, Gloria. Except for sore joints, lack of energy and slight nausea, I am much better today. I had no idea that it could affect the way that cortisone works. So interesting. A friend had to get a mammogram so she has to wait a while before she can get the vaccine, and I now am waiting to get a mammogram because I have slightly swollen lymph glands on the side where I got the injection. But at least for now, we are in better shape vs. covid than we were before, yippee!! Take care and have a good weekend
Sounds like you had perfectly normal, common side effects. I did too. You will still get side effects with the other vaccines and switching may not make any difference. Many have noticed that subtle side effects can last around two weeks. Don’t be surprised if you notice a few “out of the normal” things. That’s still way, way better than getting and possibly dying from Covid!
Thank you, Mary, for filling me in. To be honest, I didn’t read about vaccine side effects because I was afraid I would be suggestible 😉 I had no idea that even subtle side effects could last that long, ugh. I entirely agree with you about this temporary inconvenience being far better than getting sick!! I hope you’re feeling 100% at this point xo
So sorry you had such bad side effects from the 2nd vaccine. I just got my 2nd dose on 3/23 (Pzifer) and experienced extreme achiness, mild fever and severe pressure in my head that lasted only 24 hours. I did take Advil the day following the vaccine and it helped a lot. I also googled info about take OTC’s after getting the vaccine. The CDC says it is fine to take Advil or Tylenol to relieve symptoms. But congratulations on being fully vaccinated!
Thank you, Diana! And thanks for letting me know how you fared. I guess my hypothesis about Pfizer having fewer side effects was wrong. My symptoms were similar to yours though they lasted longer. The aphasia was the one that scared me. I have gotten it with migraine in the past, and I think it was the result of the bad headache that I had. Thanks also for reinforcing my decision to take ibuprofen the next afternoon. I kept getting mixed messages from friends and online sources, and the materials given to me at the vaccine clinic just said call your doctor. Clearly, the ibuprofen helped a lot since my temperature went down by the next day, the aphasia went away, and my headache wasn’t as bad. Yay for modern medicine! I’m glad so many of us are fully vaccinated now, though there’s still a good chunk of our population to go. Stay well and have a good weekend!
Yes, I seem to think that those who got the Pfizer vaccine got less side effects than the Moderna one. Though, I’m hearing a lot of people are getting pretty bad reactions to the Johnson & Johnson one. My friend has an autoimmune condition and she developed vertigo after getting the shot. She’s still suffering with it and I think it’s been 2 weeks.
Hope you are having a great weekend!