Age: 55.0
Sex: F
Vaccine: FLU3
Symptoms: Insomnia, Joint swelling, Limb discomfort, Lymphadenopathy, Musculoskeletal pain
Clinical narrative: On September 25, 2012 - my husband, my mother and myself, went to our regular Physicians office to receive the flu shot. Once there, the nurse informed me that because of our ages my mother (who is 82) would be receiving the regular shot with the regular needle. However, my husband and myself would be receiving a "new" shot that the needle was shorter and it was called the intradermal shot which is placed under the skin instead of in the muscle tissue. The nurse gave me the shot on my left side upper arm. At the time the nurse explained that the shot would leave a bump that looks like a bug bite. Later that day, my site was sore, hot to the touch, and red. The next morning I woke up and my arm was very swollen, the site was very red. At first the swelling was only up to my elbow but by the next day, it was swollen all the way into my wrist and hand and fingers and it was a little painful. There was a feeling of pins and needles on the tips of the fingers. Since this was a new shot, and I have not experienced any trouble with any flu shot before, I waited and treated my pain with some pain medication and some antibiotic that I had left over from a foot procedure that was done about a month previous to the shot. I also saw my chiropractor to see if the tingling was related to anything that she can do something about. There was no improvement and I was advised by the chiropractor to go to my regular physician as soon as possible. I started to run out of the pain medication and decided to see Doctor regarding my arm and the pain also was experiencing numbness in my fingertips. I saw Dr on October 4, 2012 at 4:20 pm. She looked at the arm and expressed concern and gave me more pain medication. On October 8, 2012, I was in so much pain that the medication that Dr. gave me was not responding. Because of the stress of extreme pain, I was experiencing ANGINA attacks also the numbness in my fingertips had gotten stronger and also felt like pins and needles. Pain was in my left chest and under the arm. I went to the Hospital, Emergency Room, at the hospital I saw two doctors who ordered an X-ray and a Doppler of the arm looking for a blood clot, which none was found. They gave me stronger pain medication and told me to see my regular doctor. On October 11, 2012 - I saw Doctor again. This time she prescribed Prednisone along with the strong pain medication. She also sent me to get a MRI done. Since I have claustrophobia, I need to go to an open MRI, which there are none in our area. I referral was done to have an open MRI done at another city on October 22, 2012. Prednisone has not had any effect and had to stop taking it as it upset my stomach. As of this point I have had the following medications with no improvement: Cephalexin 500mg - from the foot doctor, Tramadol 50mg - from the foot doctor and my regular physician, Prednisone 50mg - from my regular physician, VICODIN 500mg - from the doctor at the hospital and regular hospital. Using ice and head pad - gives little relief and doesn't last. Swelling has gone down and the arm does not have the "fever" that it had. But is still very painful. At this point in time I am still experiencing the following: Severe pain in neck, shoulder, arm, and wrist, hand. Loss of feeling in fingers (no longer tingling now it is complete loss of feeling) hard pain when moved and cannot get a comfortable placement for arm. Pain underarm and swollen lymphoid. Had to increase pain medication from one every 4-6 hours to 2 every 4 hours. Have had loss of sleep to only short "nod offs" and maybe a total of an hour at night. I did not have any of these symptoms prior to receiving the flu shot, nor have I had trouble with shots like this.