"Why the Second COVID Shot Makes You Miserable"

[FakeNoose]

(link) https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/04/covid-vaccines-why-the-second-shot-makes-you-miserable.html

When the actress Sarah Wynter got her first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, she didn’t experience any side effects apart from a little soreness in her arm. Dose two was a different story. About 12 hours after she received it, as she was about to go to bed, “it hit me like a freight train,” she says. “I just started feeling very achy, very tired and heavy.”

She woke up the next morning experiencing what felt like the worst hangover of her life. After some Tylenol and coffee, she felt almost better by late morning and was well enough to host a small birthday party for her 10-year-old twins. Then, at bedtime, it was round two, this time including violent chills. A night’s rest helped, but the following day she still felt under the weather.

Wynter’s experiences may not have been exactly typical, but they weren’t unusual, either: The second dose of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines really do pack a wallop. A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that while 30 percent of recipients experienced fatigue and a quarter suffered headaches after the first dose, those figures climbed to 54 percent and 46 percent, respectively, after the second dose. The number experiencing chills or fever climbed from 9 percent to 30 percent.

These unpleasant effects are a result of the way the immune system works. When a pathogen like COVID attacks, it destroys cells and triggers a first-wave response, so-called innate immunity, which results in inflammation and activates a horde of white blood cells. It also triggers a second system, so-called acquired immunity. A small number of white blood cells identify unfamiliar proteins associated with the threat, and over the course of the next ten days or so, these cells multiply so they’ll be ready if it ever returns.

- snip -

People over 55 are less likely to report being steamrolled by either the first or the second dose because their immune systems have faded with time and are less able to mount a vigorous defense. “The adaptive response decreases as you age,” says Matthew Woodruff, an immunologist at Pace University. “That’s why it’s always more difficult to get a good vaccine response in aging populations.” Seasonal flu shots, which provoke a fairly weak innate immune response and so generally don’t kick anyone’s ass, can trigger such a weak response in older patients that they are sometimes made in special elderly-friendly formulations, which include extra adjuvants. If a young person were to take that version, it would more likely flatten them.

-more at link -

Yes we're all different, but it seems that a person's age does make a difference. I felt a little woozy after my second shot, but no temperature and all I needed was a nap. Some people are getting a much harder impact. Still, it beats getting the virus, as we can all agree.

[WA-03 Democrat]

1. I picked Friday and Thursday appointments

Just in case I need time to recover. First Pfizer, felt fine. Round 2 in 2 weeks.

[Ritabert]

3. I had no problem with either Pfizer shot

....aside from a sore arm.

[whathehell]

10. Me either. n/t.

[geardaddy]

11. Me either

[Rebl2]

12. Same here

I am in my mid sixties with an autoimmune disease and that’s probably why I didn’t have much of a response with my second shot. Odd thing is, my 90 year old aunt and uncle got their second shots and they had slight fever and chills, but they also had Covid last year. Maybe that’s why?

[rebe303]

16. same here

glad to hear most recipients of 2d shot ok

[ShazzieB]

20. Same here.

My dh had the Moderna, and his experience was the same as mine.

[yonder]

23. Ditto.

[CrackityJones75]

28. I had some strange sode effects

My wife and I both had fatigue and both felt like we had a stink to us. Also headaches.

[ChazII]

22. That was my strategy as well. n/t.

[Johonny]

55. +1

[Guilded Lilly]

2. Yup. The alternatives to not getting vaccinated...

are far worse than the fatigue and major “sleep NOW” reaction of this grateful, Moderna treated, senior citizen.

[Ka-Dinh Oy]

4. I got first Moderna and I was fine. My arm hurt at night but wa gone by morning.

I still have my second to get.

Now, when I got my first shingles shot I got really bad. I was literally exhausted, my stomach hurt, and every muscle in my body hurt ( hell, even my eyes hurt. ) my second one was nothing.

I talk about this because I prepared myself for this possibly happening from the COVID shot. I will see what the second one does to me.

I hear about so many side effects and some of them like the ones I had for the Shingles shot.

[qazplm135]

6. I have to get shingles

I figured I'd wait until a another month or so has passed from the J&J shot to get that one. Not looking forward to it, but still better than actually getting Shingles!

[Ka-Dinh Oy]

7. Yeah, I was told my side effects were nothing compared to shingles.

[gldstwmn]

25. The shingles vaccine took

Me out last year. Still, it's better than getting shingles.

[luvtheGWN]

35. I had both Shingrix shots last year.

Only side effect was a sore arm for 2 or 3 days.

Everyone reacts differently, but be optimistic that you'll have the same experience as I did!

[smirkymonkey]

40. Same here. I didn't really have much of a problem with the two Shingrix shots, but this year

the flu and pneumonia shots completely wiped me out.

[liberal_mama]

33. My husband got a bad case of shingles on his face/eye 8 days after the Pfizer shot

Our very pro-vaccine doctor says he believes it was a side effect of the vaccine and he has seen several other cases of shingles among recently vaccinated patients. On the shingles subreddit, a lot of people have reported getting shingles after Covid vaccination. He had to miss 2 weeks of work, unfortunately. It's going to be hard for me to talk him into a booster shot.

[pamela]

53. If they start giving J&J again, he could get that as his second shot.

Before the suspension, they were offering that as an option to those who had a bad reaction to their first Moderna or Pfizer vax. Of course, if he's feeling even slightly vaccine hesitant, the J&J option probably wouldn't be particularly reassuring.

[liberal_mama]

54. He had both Pfizer shots, It was after his 2nd dose, he got the shingles. I meant the booster they

were talking about needing in 6 to 12 months. He never gets his flu shot and told people that he only got the Covid vaccines because I insisted so he's mad at me now. But if we do have to get boosters every 6 months or a yearly shot, I doubt he would get it again.

[Ka-Dinh Oy]

65. Yikes, that does not sound good.

I hope you can get him to do a booster shot also. I hope he is doing better.

[ProfessorGAC]

47. I Got Both Moderna Shots

First one nothing.
Second one, I had a fever & achiness in the upper back for around 14 hours. No chills, though.
Lasted from around 5:30am until 7:30 that night.
But, I functioned all day so it wasn't all that bad?

[qazplm135]

5. almost zero symptoms from the J&J shot for me

maybe slight fatigue but I'm also moving into a house and was doing a lot of packing and cleaning at the same time so it's not clear my fatigue wasn't due to that.

Otherwise, nothing, not a sniffle. I'm 51 and my immune system is usually pretty decent as I don't get sick much.

[StarryNite]

29. I got the J&J and felt like I had the flu that evening

and through the night. It actually started with swollen glands in the back of my neck on the way home from getting the shot. That evening/night I was hit with chills, fever (101.5) and slight headache. I took two aspirin at 4:00 am and went back to bed. I felt pretty good when I got up at 9:00 am but not 100%. That evening I had a slight fever but was pretty much back to normal the following morning. That was over three weeks ago.

[sinkingfeeling]

8. Had my second Moderna shot over 3 weeks ago and had no side effects

except slightly sore arm with either.

[meow2u3]

9. I had my second Moderna shot Wednesday

and I felt--and am still feeling--as if a boxer clocked me with a right hook, flattening me. I started feeling sick in the evening of my shot.

Dull headache? ✔

Fever? ✔ (as high as 101.2)

Chills? ✔ (I woke up in the middle of the night with chills making me feel as if I were in the midst of an earthquake)

Light-headedness? ✔

[Silver Gaia]

43. My daughter had essentially this same reaction to her 2nd Pfizer shot.

In fact, her temp even went a little higher, to 101.9. She was very ill for about 36 hours. I was starting to worry, then suddenly she felt normal. She is 40 and has a pretty strong immune system from years of working with kids.

My husband, over 75 with a compromised immune system, had virtually no reaction to either dose of Pfizer. My reaction, also to the 2nd dose of Pfizer, was between that and her reaction. I had a temp of 100.9, and felt achy, headachy, and fatigued, but no chills. I'm over 65, and also have a fairly strong immune system from working with the public.

[Buns_of_Fire]

13. Fatigue, aches, pains. *yawn* Okay. What else ya got?

Hell, I'm 70. What doesn't already hurt doesn't work anyway. I'm looking forward to the shots. The side effects sound like an improvement.

The thing to remember here is that, whatever the temporary discomfort, the alternatives are potentially much worse.

[Skittles]

60. some of them do sound a bit much

I've donated 57 gallons of platelets so I am used to having a needle in my arm for 100 minutes at time

sore arm? poor babies!

[crickets]

14. Got the second Pfizer shot a couple of hours ago.

So far, my arm is very slightly achy, which is about all I felt after the first shot. I'm in my late 50s and hoping for little to no reaction - fingers crossed. Whatever symptoms come will be worth it to avoid the potential hospital stay and/or death. Thanks for the informative article, FakeNoose.

[BornADemocrat]

15. 2nd shot of Pfizer this week, kicked my butt @ 60 years old

Apparently my immune system still functions rather well.

16 hours after my 2nd shot:

Chills, fever (101), nausea, headache, elevated heart rate (98 BPM @ 2AM, should be 55), aches and insomnia (who can sleep when their heart is racing?)

I was fine the 2nd night though, slept like a baby. 3rd day just a little soreness in arm.

[pamdb]

17. 2nd shot

My husband and I (age 69 and 68) had our second Moderna shot March 23rd and it
was exactly the same as the first shot-a day and a half of a sore arm. That was it. Same
as the Singles shot. I've heard that the older you are, the less bad effects you have. So,
good for getting old!!!!!

[wnylib]

18. I have heard and read that even if you

have no side effects from the shot, the vaccine is still working. But this article makes it sound like the lack of a robust immune response means seniors' immune systems are not capable of mounting a response. So are we more likely to have "breakthrough" infections?

With my first Moderna, I felt dizzy within 20 minutes of the shot, as soon as I left the vaccination center. The sore arm got progressively worse for the next 10 hours. By the next day, it felt inflamed. The soreness lasted 3 days.

With the second shot, I felt a surge of energy after the shot that lasted the rest of the day and part of the next day. Just the opposite of thecfatigue that other people had. Next morning there was slight achiness in my upper back muscles. My temp went up half a degree. I had no appetite. Overall feeling was like the early stages of a very mild case of flu. Slightly uncomfortable, but not really sick feeling. By evening, I felt better, but not "normal" yet. The next day I was fine. No fever, no chills, no fatigue. Sore arm lasted 3 days again and this time there was a perfectly round pink spot on my arm about the size of a tennis ball, but it was flat, not 3D. It was on the same arm as the shot, but a few inches away from it.

So was immune response too weak to provide much protection?

[NH Ethylene]

42. I also have read that the absence of side effects does not mean it's not working.

So I find the premise of the article to be puzzling and perhaps wrong.

[Tree Lady]

45. It is very confusing

This article makes me feel good as a almost 65 yr old who had pretty bad second shot reactions that it means my immune system is better than I thought.

But then when it says my husband 71 who had no reaction to either shot is just as safe its a question mark.

[ProfessorGAC]

48. Good Point

It does say the side effects go UP TO around 50% for each of the vaxxes.
That means roughly the same fraction have no such reaction.
A 50% effective vaccine would not likely have received such rapid emergency use authorization.
There's likely little correlation between efficacy & side-effects. There's a pretty big dataset now, and if that were the case it would have been huge news & been a major drumbeat of the antivax crowd.

[Ilsa]

19. If she didn't have to go to the doctor,

then I think she got a good deal.

[AwakeAtLast]

21. The first Moderna hit me harder

I must be an anomaly.

[KT2000]

26. Me too -

I just slept for about 30 hours and then a switch happened and I felt great. Second was nothing really.

[AwakeAtLast]

31. Yes!

Very tired for three days and then fine.

[IronLionZion]

24. 2nd Moderna shot took me down for a day

but it sure is better than getting COVID.

I get the seasonal flu shot every year and have never been taken down by it.

[Mrhyde719]

27. Might as well add my 2 cents

Got my 2nd Pfizer shot 2 days ago. Side effects from 2nd shot was exactly the same as effects from the first. Sore arm for 1 day like someone slugged me then nothing else. I have a few relatives who think anywhere from it’ll kill you to it’s just a government plot to manipulate you! No matter what I say to reason with them. By the way I’ll be 62 this year.

[Delphinus]

30. It was a bit

before 24-hours after the second Pfizer that I got a fever. The digital forehead thermometers don't recognize it - the oral one does. Forehead 98.0 - oral 100.7. I know when I have a fever, which is why I found the oral one. Age is 62.

[liberal_mama]

32. I'm 52 and didn't have much of a reaction to either dose, but my 74 year old mother was very sick!

She had a high fever, chills, fatigue, nauseous, headache, and her body hurt so much she could barely get out of bed to go to the bathroom for 3 days. She even had shortness of breath. My sister and I were worried that she actually might have had Covid because the side effects were so extreme, but she didn't.

My husband is also 52, and he didn't have any immediate side effects from either dose, but 8 days after the second dose of Pfizer, he got a nasty case of shingles on his face/eye and had to miss 2 weeks of work.

[PCIntern]

34. Pfizer:

After first, five days later 8 hrs fever about 99.8
After second, 1 day later four hours low-grade fever.

[extvbroadcaster]

36. No real reactions

Age 62, male. Moderna. First shot, sore arm. Second shot, sore arm and fatigue. Not bad.

[2naSalit]

37. I'm hoping that after getting my second dose today...

I won't have anything worse than the first.

I had a really sore arm for about 18 hours, went away when I had coffee the next morning. I was a little lethargic for a couple days and was fine until day 8 when I woke early with a mild fever and vomiting for a couple hours, then I was really tired for a few days and all my front teeth started aching, especially with hot or cold foods. Kind of annoying but less of a problem than getting covid. And the slight headache comes and goes but that may also be partly due to arthritis in my C-spine.

So 6 hours after shot #2, Moderna, I have a slight headache and was a little light headed for a couple hours until I took a little nap, now I can feel my arm getting sore.

[SheltieLover]

38. Whatever the temporary effects may be, the vaccine still beats ICU on a vent!

I had virtually no reactions at all from my 2 Pfizers - now several weeks past the 2nd one.

[Big Blue Marble]

39. I had what I call the Goldilocks effect after second Pfizer.

Just enough to know that my immune system took it seriously. Headache, sore muscles, low grade
fever 12 hours after shot. Just felt strange. Next several days fatigue and some headaches plus
little nausea.

[ananda]

41. I got second Moderna yesterday morning.

I have a very sore arm, and today I've felt
cricked up around my neck and a bit sluggish.

I hope tomorrow is better, but indeed it's a lot
better than getting Covid.

I decided not to medicate and just tough it out.

[nuxvomica]

44. The second Moderna shot hit me pretty hard

I had the aching, chills, fever (100.2) and zero appetite for two days. By 4 pm on the second day I felt well enough to go to the supermarket but was still very tired. Then that night I got such a severe cramping pain all down my left side that I had to take a Tylenol to be able to sleep and I usually don't have muscle pain severe enough to take something. So I should at least be happy to know I reacted like a young'un.

[Tree Lady]

46. I am wondering why she would plan

A birthday party for her twins the day after second shot? Was she counting on zero reaction?

I would have picked a different date than day before party.

My daughter did same thing she is accountant and her second appt was April 15th, not final day anymore but they are still busy. I would have tried for a Saturday shot. She was sick second day also on busy work day which is 10-11 hrs during tax season.

[Xavier Breath]

49. Perhaps she wanted the perfect excuse

to stay in her bedroom and avoid a house full of screaming, 10-year-old lunatics (assuming anyone still has packed birthday parties)? But, that may just be the cynic in me responding

I am glad to hear that the after effects I experienced with Moderna #2 means that it's working. After getting the shot at 3:30 Saturday afternoon, I awoke Sunday morning feeling horrible. I slowly made my way to the bathroom, where I stood leaning against the counter as a wave of nausea washed over me and I sweated profusely from my minimal efforts to move. I whipped off my t-shirt and lie on the bed under the ceiling fan, and oh my God, did that feel good. I was fine by evening.

[Tree Lady]

51. Lol could be reminds me of the slumber party

Years I somehow survived 😜

[TexasBushwhacker]

56. The tax deadline got extended to May 17th

All the way to June 15th for Texas because of the MEGAFREEZE! The IRS is so understaffed because of budget cuts they have a backlog of 2 million returns to do for 2019!

[Tree Lady]

57. My daughter works at home now for large

Firm in San Antonio. She does taxes for banks.

She just remodeled a new office area with tons of plants, stand up desk, frig, microwave and its daylight basement so separate from house. Has a whole wall of windows to back yard that because of way yard goes she can see outside.

I sent her some zen pics for walls and little yoga porcelain figurines.

They told her in August when they all come back she can stay home 3 days a week.

[TexasBushwhacker]

58. Yeah, I predict a YUGE crash in commercial real estate

The year long COVID-19 quarantine has proven that yes, in fact, people can be just as productive working from home as coming into the office. Not only will the demand for office space go down, but imagine the impact on rush hour traffic and air quality.

[Tree Lady]

61. It's a win win especially for parents

She has 2 boys 13 & 15 they are back at school but she is able to be home if they need her.

[Native]

50. Had my 2nd Moderna shot on Tuesday morning.

With the 1st shot I got "Covid Arm" on day 7. I had the initial pain, redness and swelling on day one, and it started to dissipate gradually until I figured I was over it on day 6. The swelling was down, the pain was very mild, and only experienced when I touched my arm near the injection site, but the next day, BOOM! It started all over again, and this time there was greater swelling, a larger area of redness, greater soreness at the injection site, and a lovely new symptom - intense itching. I'm talking itching that would only get worse when you scratched your arm. Itching that persisted regardless of prescription strength itch creams. Itching that made you want to claw your freaking arm off, and the only thing that would knock it out was Benadryl which unfortunately also knocked me out. This covid arm crap lasted for an additional full week.

I had my second shot at 9:00 a.m., and I came home and actually got in a cardio workout and a bit of weight lifting at home. Other than soreness in my arm I was good to go until the next morning when I woke up with a headache that was unlike anything I had ever experienced. I've had migraines, and this was definitely not as painful, but it was as if somebody had placed a helmet on my head and cranked up the intensity of the pressure. I felt the pressure equally on every part of my head. I've spoken to a few people who have had covid headaches, and they told me their headaches were exactly like what I described. It was the strangest feeling I've ever experienced, and I can't imagine having to go through that for like two full weeks or more as they did. I also started to get more and more tired as the day progressed. By early afternoon I was completely wiped, had crazy ass chills (I was actually thinking about putting on my winter coat), absolutely no appetite, and I couldn't think straight. It was kind of funny because I'd start to do something and then stop midstream and start on something else all day long. I spent my entire day shivering and trying to decide if I should retrace my steps to figure out what the hell I was just doing or just give up and go lie down. Yesterday morning I woke up feeling considerably better and was able to make it to a doc appointment, but today I was pretty much out of it again - only minor chills off and on, but GI issues kicked in. As I write this, I feel like I'm going to be back to my old self tomorrow, but after the Covid Arm thing, I'm kinda preparing myself for some new symptom to pop up or old ones to assert themselves again. Oh, I'm 63.5 years old.

[USALiberal]

52. It doesn't always!!!!!!

[roamer65]

59. The 2nd Moderna took my elderly dad for a helluva ride.

But he is still glad he got it.

We are hearing of people here in his area of MI on ventilators, etc, etc.

[GulfCoast66]

62. Had not real effects from either of my Pfizer jabs.

Slightly sore upper arm, but nothing like a tetanus shot.

[mackdaddy]

63. 2nd Moderna shot, and was just sleepy 48 hrs later and took a nap, that was it.

First had some slight soreness and a little joint pain. But at 63 this is normal anyways.

Second shot had nothing noticeable but just felt tired and took a nap. No real pain or chills.

I did take the two shingles shots about a year ago before Covid got going. I also took the flu shot last summer as I did not want that with Covid running rampant at the time.

I am glad to be fully vaccinated and I was just able to visit my 87 year old mother in her assisted living apartment for the first time in a year since everyone is vaccinated. She did get the actual COVID infection in January and somehow survived a month of hell that puts you through.

[MissB]

64. The first Pfizer shot walloped me

I feel like I had allll the side effects.

I got the second one this week. Very low grade fever the day after and felt off, but somewhat functional. Noting like the first. Which is good because I’ve spent the last two days taking a relative to two different hospitals. Gla di could be there for them.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

66. I got my second Moderna shot

On the 5th of April
I was so tired after the shot, I got a few chills a headache. A bit of gastrointestinal stuff..

But the tiredness remains. I get winded easier.

Apparently my doc told me this tired and winded stuff from the 2nd moderna shot can last a month or so.

I'm slowly getting my energy back. Still take naps but they are shorter now.

Still get sudden tiredness,not as often as before though.

I really don't like the sudden tiredness. That tiredness lasts 5 minutes or a few hours. Than it just stops and my energy returns. It's weird .