Age: 68.0
Sex: M
Vaccine: COVID19
Symptoms: Intervertebral disc displacement, Limb discomfort, Lumbar puncture, Magnetic resonance imaging, Oxygen saturation
Clinical narrative: spinal discs had collapsed and it felt like his sciatic nerve was being pinched off; spinal discs had collapsed and it felt like his sciatic nerve was being pinched off; diagnosed with Guillian Barre; lost all feeling from the waist down/he became totally paralyzed from the neck down; lost all feeling from the waist down/he became totally paralyzed from the neck down; hypoxia/pulse oximeter read 60%/oxygen saturation dropped; pulse oximeter showed a heart rate of 188 beats per minute; when he was sleeping his oxygen levels went into the 80s/oxygen saturation dropped; unable to move his lower extremities; back pain; not breathing properly; disoriented; light headed; been without sleep for 36-38 hours; woke up and had no clue he was in his house; went to stand up and fell over; having complaints of a headache; fever; couldn't move of the bed; This is a spontaneous report from a contactable consumer (patient). A 68-year-old male patient received BNT162b2 (PFIZER-BIONTECH COVID-19 VACCINE), first dose, via an unspecified route of administration, administered in arm left on 24Apr2021 12:00 (Batch/Lot Number: EW0153) at the age of 68 years old, as single dose for covid-19 immunisation. Medical history included chronic back problems, cervical stenosis, spinal stenosis, previous back surgeries, prostate cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with lung disorder, heart attack, urinary tract infection, pinched nerves, chicken pox virus, Covid 19 virus infection. The patient was receiving steroids for his spinal stenosis. About every other week he would be taking steroids. The urgent care prescribed steroids many times to calm down his spinal stenosis and also his lung problems. The doctor was calling his lung problems exacerbated COPD due to the Covid 19 virus. He doesn't recall the names of any steroid prescribed. He reports he took some in a pack and some as injections. He estimates 5 different steroid pills and injections. The patient previously took shingles vaccine for immunisation and he ended up in bed for 3 days with 103 degree Fahrenheit temperature and he could hardly move. The patient also previously took a pneumonia vaccine for immunisation. There was no other vaccine in four weeks. The patient experienced diagnosed with Guillian barre, lost all feeling from the waist down/he became totally paralyzed from the neck down, hypoxia/pulse oximeter read 60%, pulse oximeter showed a heart rate of 188 beats per minute, complaints of a headache in Apr2021, fever in Apr2021, couldn't move of the bed in Apr2021, unable to move his lower extremities, back pain, not breathing properly, spinal discs had collapsed and it felt like his sciatic nerve was being pinched off, when he was sleeping his oxygen levels went into the 80s/ oxygen saturation dropped, disoriented, light headed, without sleep for 36-38 hours, woke up and had no clue he was in his house, went to stand up and fell over. The patient was hospitalized twice for lost all feeling from the waist down/he became totally paralyzed from the neck down, diagnosed with Guillian barre from an unknown date to 05Aug2021 (the last discharged date, 2 admissions lasting about 5 days each). Clinical course: 4-5 hours later started having complaints of a headache, fever, and couldn't move of the bed. The patient was unable to move his lower extremities and has been out of the ER and Urgent Care 2-3 times a week since receiving the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine. The patient was diagnosed with Guillian Barre and has a medical history of cervical stenosis, spinal stenosis, pinched nerves, and back surgery. The patient has been treated for Guillian Barre on two separate occasions with dyspnea and was now on home oxygen. The patient has also been diagnosed with exacerbation of COPD and started on steroids (via injections five times and pill). Caller was also given an infusion of bamlanivimab. He stated he has never had a problem with vaccines before until about a year ago, prior to the Covid 19 virus, he had the shingles vaccine and he ended up in bed for 3 days with 103 degree Fahrenheit temperature and he could hardly move. He did talk to his doctor about getting the second shingles vaccine and she advised him not to. He would not have even gotten the shingles vaccine except he was concerned about his mother in law. He reports both he and his wife had the chicken pox virus. He states that the flu virus will target that area, meaning his back. So he expected that with the Covid 19 vaccine. Meaning, he expected to have side effects related to his back, since he had chronic back problems. He called the advice nurse line and she advised him to receive the Covid 19 vaccine. His mother in law who is 85 years old and his wife, who he almost lost, both survived the Covid 19 virus. He thought for the best protection he should get the Covid 19 vaccine. Four to five hours after receiving the Covid 19 vaccine he experienced severe headaches, fever for 4 days, and he couldn't move off the bed. He reported his wife and mother in law returned 15 days later for their second Covid 19 vaccines but he held off because he had a planned surgery for his neck. When probing for information related to his wife and mother in law, he stated he did not have their Covid 19 vaccine information cards. He reported his neck surgery was expedited because he had been to the emergency department multiple times after receiving the Covid 19 vaccine for not breathing properly and severe back pain. He stated the doctor's kept treating his history of spinal stenosis and pinched nerves. He was told his spinal discs had collapsed and it felt like his sciatic nerve was being pinched off. He was treated for 3 months, after receiving the Covid 19 vaccine, for his chronic back history and not for anything caused by the Covid 19 vaccine. Seventeen days ago he couldn't use his legs so he took an ambulance to the hospital. He spent 3 or 4 days in the hospital. He was seen by neurosurgery who evaluated him for possible emergency surgery. The neurosurgeon did motor tests and told him that his problem could not be surgically fixed. He was discharged and was told to follow up for more testing like nerve conduction. Twenty four hours after being discharged from the hospital he lost all feeling from his waist down. He stated he had prostate cancer and wanted to get on the schedule to get the prostate cancer out of his body so he called his prostate doctor's surgical coordinator. He mentioned his symptoms to the coordinator who asked him if he had been treated for Guillian-Barre syndrome. He clarified he had prostate cancer prior to receiving the Covid 19 vaccine. He called the hospital and mentioned his symptoms of losing feeling from the waist down and he was told to get to the hospital so a spinal tap could be done. The spinal tap results were not conclusive. He became totally paralyzed from the neck down. By midnight that day he had started treatment for Guillian-Barre syndrome. He spent 5 days in the hospital getting treatment. He was then discharged from the hospital and he was able to walk out. Three days after being discharged he had a relapse and went back to the hospital by ambulance. A neurologist was called back in and he was restarted on a 5 day campaign of plasma, he doesn't know the name, he stated the plasma is from healthy people's immune systems and it was given to him to stop any attack on his spinal column. This last hospitalization was last week and he was discharged on Thursday, 05Aug2021. He doesn't recall all the dates of his doctor's appointments, urgent care visits, emergency room visits or the exact dates of his hospitalizations. He also reportd that while in the hospital every time he dozed off he would set off the monitors. The nurse would come in his room and reset the monitor and put him on oxygen just in case he fell asleep. When he was awake his oxygen level was 95-97% but when he was sleeping his oxygen levels went into the 80s. He was told his motor nerves aren't healed from the Guillian-Barre syndrome. When he got home from this hospitalization, he was able to get an earlier appointment for his neurologist because Guillian-Barre is a very scary disease. He laid down on the couch at 2:35PM trying to relax and get rest before seeing his neurologist. While laying down he experienced hypoxia. He felt disoriented and light headed. He told his wife, who works from home, that he was going to the urgent care because his pulse oximeter showed a heart rate of 188 beats per minute and an oxygen level of 97%. The doctor at the urgent care was confused. While laying on the gurney at the urgent care his oxygen level dropped and his heart rate dropped. When he got off the gurney and walked the length of the urgent care, the pulse oximeter went up in oxygen saturation. The minute he was resting again his oxygen saturation dropped. He does have a history of COPD. He was told to go to the emergency room so he could have oxygen sent to his house. He explained to the urgent care doctor that he also had an appointment with his neurologist that day. He went to the appointment with his neurologist and explained what was happening with his oxygen level and the neurologist advised him to get the oxygen. The urgent care doctor said she was going to follow up with him and she did call while he was having dinner. She advised him again to go back to the emergency department to get the home oxygen ordered and delivered. He went to a different hospital, at 8:00PM that night. While at hospital he was put on the oxygen monitor and nothing was wrong. He was discharged at 3:53AM the next morning. He went home and didn't get to go to sleep and he got a phone call from the oxygen distributor. The urgent care doctor was able to get his oxygen ordered. He was sitting in his garage in 101 degree heat waiting for the oxygen to show up. At this point he had been without sleep for 36-38 hours. His wife told him to come inside the house and he fell asleep. After he fell asleep, he woke back up and he had no clue he was at his house. He went to stand up and he fell over. He put the pulse oximeter on and it read 60%. He took several big breaths and his oxygen went into the 80s. About that time the oxygen showed up. While he was sitting down having the oxygen hooked up, his oxygen levels went back to the 93-94% range.  As much as he researched the Covid 19 vaccine, all brands of the Covid 19 vaccine, no where did he see Guillian Barre listed as a side effect. He's confused as to why this information isn't out there. His neurologist told him the Guillian Barre was caused by the Covid 19 vaccine. He asked about getting the second Covid 19 vaccine and he was advised not to get the second dose. He provides the following information in a historical context. His mother in law broke her femur on 16Dec2020. When his mother in law was discharged, the patient asked for a Covid 19 virus test to be done on his mother in law before he picked her up. Her rapid test came back negative. He picked her up and brought her home on 15Jan2021. He and his wife were the caregivers until his mother in law recovered completely. Seven days after picking his mother in law up from rehab, he was not feeling good, his wife wasn't feeling good. He received a call at that point that his mother in law's Covid 19 virus test was positive. He told his wife to go to the drive thru Covid 19 virus testing site because she was feeling bad. The caller went to the urgent care and he was tested for the Covid 19 virus. He had some elevated cardiac enzymes with that blood work so he was sent to the emergency department for a possible heart attack. He was placed in the Covid 19 ward at the hospital and was tested again for the Covid 19 virus. He adds this information because with some blood work he did have Covid 19 antibodies show up. This occurred prior to him receiving the Covid 19 vaccine in Jan2021. He reported when he was seen in the emergency room in the beginning he wasn't being treated for anything Covid 19 vaccine related. He was being treated for his chronic back pain with Fentanyl and Morphine. He was in the urgent care or emergency room 2 to 3 times a week because of not breathing well or extensive back pain after receiving the Covid 19 vaccine. The urgent care and emergency room doctor's were also treating his COPD and supposed allergies brought on by his previous Covid 19 virus infection. The outcome of the event Guillian-Barre was not recovered, of the other events was unknown.  Follow-up attempts are completed. No further information is expected.