Age: 60.0
Sex: F
Vaccine: FLU4
Symptoms: Acoustic stimulation tests, Balance disorder, Blood test, Chest injury, Contusion
Clinical narrative: She got her vaccine, had the normal stuff, her arm was a little bit sore, maybe felt a little bit off, nothing major.  The next day, same thing, sore arm, but nothing unusual from previous vaccines.  Five days after she had the vaccine on 9/6/23 she was heading home from town and told her husband that something was wrong, her eyes would not focus on anything.  She got home, she got out of the car, picked up her purse, took about 3 steps and the world started spinning and she hit the ground.  She did not loose conciousness, , lost balance, facial awareness, everything was just going all around her and her balance was gone, her eyes would not focus on anything.  She immediately became severely nauseous and crawled into the house.  This lasted for quite a while, had a really really bad rest of the evening, and she sought treatment the next morning.   The nausea and vertigo were extreme so she went through her medicine cabinet and took some Meclizine and took Phenergan that she had on hand.   They symptoms were not resolved by morning, she called her PCP who she could not get into him, and had a NP that she can go to as well and saw him the next day.  He looked at her ears and felt that it possibly was her inner ear and did not want to do steroids as she had just had a flu shot to mess with that.  She was put on antibiotics, finished that course on 9/17/23.  She could tell that she was still having issues, so she made an APT with her regular PCP for 9/20/23.  She went in and saw him, let him know what was going on and they still felt it was inner ear.  She was given a steroid shot as she had time for it not to interfere with the flu shot.  Since then she has been referred to see a vestibular specialist, and had to get a hearing test before that.  She saw the specialist, saw his NP and they ordered an MRI of her brain with contrast.  She went back (long trips).  In the meantime the symptoms were coming and going, and then the day after she saw the vestibular specialist she was hit in the car by a drunk driver in a head-on collision.  She was transported by ambulance to the ER, some rib damage, sternal bruising.  In the course of that she was started on Dexamethasone and other medications to work with the sternum and bruised ribs.  Because she was not getting up and moving around a whole lot, was chair bound a little bit during this time.  When she started moving around again the vertigo started coming back with a vengeance.  Had ocular issues, perception issues, everything looks funny and if there is too much stuff, objects and if she starts to dart around looking for something, the vertigo gets worse.  They were still in the process of looking at the inner ear, vestibular nerve.  Off and on had problems, and then she went back to the vestibular specialist on 11/8/23, had the hearing test.  Then she went in and had the MRI with contrast on 12/22/23.  They did a full contrast MRI of the brain that came back OK.  The next thing they wanted her to do was a VMG test.  She attempted to do that on 1/25/24, got there, equipment was down and could not do the testing.  The 1/28/24 she became sick, went into her regular doctor on 1/30/24 and found out she had pneumonia.  They started her on antibiotics, steroids again, and it was pneumonia on the left lobe.  She is supposed to FU with that doctor the first week in March to make sure the pneumonia has been resolved.  On 2/28/24 she has a new scheduled apt to a vestibular specialist to have VMG to see if there is any nerve damage and induce the vertigo to see what is causing it and go from there.   She had been researching some things, her medications, and the only thing new was the vaccine.   She had just had a physical prior to the vaccine including eye exam and everything was normal.  She may also go to the optometrist who just did the testing prior to the vaccine and see if there is any change from the previous vaccine.  When it comes to taking vaccines or medications she opts for something that has been on the market for a while as she does react to stuff and she tends to lean on things that she has had in the past that she hasn't had problems with the past.  She has always taken the egg-based flu shot and will not take any of the new stuff.   Her cholesterol has gone up but prior to the vertigo she was exercising, walking and watching her dietary intake and has been on medication.  When all of this happened in the last several months she became a couch potato as she gets dizzy and risk of falling and does not walk at this point and is being babied by her husband who is bringing home things.  She is trying to get up and move around more.  The vertigo is not as extreme as it was when it started, it is slowly getting better, sometime manageable and states that she is still not right.  She is still dealing with a lot of issues with her facial perception, dizziness and some periods of vertigo.