Age: 52.0
Sex: M
Vaccine: COVID19-2
Symptoms: Abdominal discomfort, Chest discomfort, Fatigue, Fear of death, Fear of disease
Clinical narrative: I received my flu vaccine on 11/13/2022 and the Pfizer Bivalent booster on 11/20/2022. Within a couple of days of getting the shots, I felt more fatigued than usual. Whenever I would go for a walk, I would tire more easily. I have anxiety, and it's sometimes hard to tell if my symptoms are caused by anxiety or by the vaccines. With that being said, though, I have noticed that I usually tire more easily after I receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines. I sometimes wonder if I'm going to get so fatigued that I have difficulty breathing, but that could possibly be a product of my anxiety. On about 11/30/2022, I noticed that one of the injection sites was sore again and swollen. Before that, there was no swelling. The area had been sore for a couple of days after the vaccination, but it had gone away before it mysteriously reappeared sometime between 11/30/2022 and 12/3/2022. I had telehealth visits with my doctor on 12/9/2022, 12/12/2022, and 12/13/2022. On 12/9/2022, I told him that I felt tired and run-down more than usual and that I had had an upset stomach off and on during the day. Also, I told him that my legs felt tight and tired. My doctor said that he thinks of symptoms and illnesses in terms of input and output. Whenever symptoms manifest, it is because of the input of certain factors that could be physiological (such as a vaccine), psychological (stress, worries), or dietary. I also mentioned to him about having read a conspiracy theory about vaccines causing blood clots. He then told me that a test could be run to determine if there is a blood clot. I asked him if he thought I needed that for my reassurance, and he said yes. I underwent the blood clot test on 12/12/2022, and I am still awaiting the results. On 12/12/2022, I told him that I had had headaches and warm sensations in the top front corners of my head the day before and that I had felt a bit foggy and felt like I wasn't talking as clear as I usually do. I told him I had had some more sensations since the last time we had spoken. I told him that my OCD had me worried that the symptoms could signal a stroke or a blood clot. I told him that I had told myself that the symptoms were likely just those of a headache with anxiety, but I wanted to know his thoughts. My doctor then asked me if I thought that the symptoms were due to anxiety or due to a physiological change. He said that since I know myself better than anyone else does, I'm the only one who can make that determination. He did acknowledge that COVID-19 vaccines have sometimes been associated with adverse events like blood clots. He said that because of the emergency authorization of the vaccines, there had been no controlled studies of recipients of placebos vs recipients of the vaccines, so our knowledge of the effects of the vaccines is still very limited. He told me that he could run a blood test to see if there was any clotting; he acknowledged that the test isn't perfect, but it can be helpful. It was then that I decided to undergo the blood test. I told him that I was considering going to the ER just to make sure that I wasn't having an emergency. My doctor then told me that it would take a day to get back the results of the test. I then told him that I had gotten the injections 3 weeks prior, to which he responded by telling me that there is still uncertainty about the timing of adverse events following the COVID-19 vaccine injections. He also brought up the fact that the risk for myocarditis increases with every subsequent dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, so there could be a cumulative toxicity effect at play. He also told me that the authorities didn't seem very enthusiastic about trying to get the answers, which he finds frustrating as a physician. He told me that above all, he wants me to be able to make informed decisions about my health with all of the available data. I then asked him if I should also be tested for myocarditis, and he said no. I then told him I was having a panic attack, because I was wondering if I should run to the hospital. He said that he didn't really think that I needed to undergo testing for myocarditis, but if it would make me feel better, he could arrange for me to undergo a D-dimer test. I agreed to the D-dimer test and underwent it on 12/12/2022. I am still awaiting the results of that test. On 12/13/2022, I took my blood pressure, which was 170/103 one time and 173/98 another time. I contacted my doctor and told him about the readings. He asked if I had any fear or anxiety or if I just had a nonspecific bad feeling. I told him that I had a fear of being ill or dying. I also told him that I had taken half a Xanax after getting the blood pressure readings. I told him my chest felt tight after I took my blood pressure, because the readings freaked me out. I also told him that I wondered if tapering off the clonazepam had anything to do with it. I also told him that I felt like I might freeze up that day and be unable to move and that I thought it might be an anxiety symptom. I then took another half a Xanax. I then asked him if he was worried about my blood pressure. He told me that he thought that our society had been conditioned by the media to be overly concerned about serious illness and unrealistically afraid of getting ill. He told me that he wasn't concerned about my blood pressure and that in the past, ER doctors had administered medication to lower blood pressure. In more recent years, it has been learned that it can actually be harmful to drop someone's blood pressure too quickly.