Age: 33.0
Sex: F
Vaccine: COVID19
Symptoms: Muscle twitching, Neurological symptom, Peripheral swelling, Photophobia, Post-acute COVID-19 syndrome
Clinical narrative: Immediately following vaccination (evening)  it was a bad headache and fatigue. 6/17/21 a sudden rash showed up on my foot and joint pain in my knees. In this time of receiving the covid vaccines I also suffered a few episodes of what seemed to be UTI's but no bacteria present. Seemed like kidneys/urinary was aggravated. The joint pain worsened to not only climbing stairs and standing from sitting in tub to standing from a seated position such as a chair, and the rash spread further on my foot and ankle, later diagnosed as Granuloma Anulare. (Blood results revealed no danger of diabetes, the usual cause for Granuloma Anulare.) Blood test results showed no positive result for any of the usual autoimmune suspects/  causes such as lupus or RA. All autoimmune tests came back negative, including one for Lyme. Eczema showed up on my inner arms, and Reynaulds changed the color of my hands and arms to deep purples and fingers white (I never previously had.) (also in this time experiencing brainfog and my migraines increased in intensity and just after the booster in 2022 I had another round of odd urinary discomfort, again no bacteria) The joint pain in knees continued to worsen, until after my Covid booster Jan 7 2022, when It hindered my gait. My PCP sent me for an X-ray that revealed inflammation, and further inspection by the Rhumatologist showed the inflammation was within the tissue, "water on the knee" and no indicator of how it got there. In this time, I had begun having muscle spasms and twitches, as well as pains in other joints such as my elbows hands ankles and feet. During the summer 2022 I began noticing eczema between my fingers, and changes with my eyes becoming increasingly sensitive to light, feeling watery like I got something in them. (I learned may 2023 that is a condition called basement membrane disorder, can be irritated by inflammation. This seemed to improve some when the Rhumatologist started me on plaquinil, and that helped joint pain some but not enough.) Methylprednisolone offers temporary relief, but the jointpain slowly returned some time after treatment. An EMG revealed nothing, but the Neurologist performing said the Covid vaccine has been presenting these symptoms in patients. My Dermotologist thinking along the same lines, with inflammation from the vaccines being a cause, put me on an antibiotic Doxycyclene to help reduce inflammation, and that started helping get everything under control; until I caught COVID in Jan 2023. Everything flared back up and out of control. I developed vertigo, a tapping sound in my left ear (Tinnitis.) and a DVT blood clot in my left calf in May 2023. Swelling in leg and discomfort persist/ thrombotic syndrome. Ultrasound performed on 8/17/23 revealed bloodclot is still there, despite taking eliquis for 3 months did not dissolve the clot.) Now seeing a hematologist for further insight/treatment. Covid Specialist DO states that inflammation (evident in the rash, bloodclot, etc) and neurological symptoms (increase migraines, brainfog, spasms) both occur together and like a concussion and take time to heal with help of COGNITIVE THERAPY (which I have yet to receive). While I have been diagnosed with long covid, my situation is unique in that my inflammation and neurological symptoms began following the 2nd vaccine dose, continued through my booster in Jan. 2022, and still flaring now. Those with inflammatory and neurological symptoms (the brainfog, increased chronic migraine etc) have varied recovery times, can be up to 3 years or chronic.