Age: 78.0
Sex: M
Vaccine: COVID19
Symptoms: Gastrointestinal hypomotility, Hypotension, Irritable bowel syndrome, Pain, SARS-CoV-2 test
Clinical narrative: Severe abdominal cramps/abdominal cramping; Drowsiness; I had a sore shoulder and fatigue; I had a sore shoulder and fatigue; pain; anxiety; small bowel blockage/He had an intestinal blockage; His peristalsis shut down.; bowels are very irritated; He feels bruised; his guts just feel bruised; His blood pressure actually was low while in hospital; Glucose levels were very high while in hospital/when in pain and anxiety his sugar goes up; This is a spontaneous report from a contactable consumer (patient). A 78-year-old male patient received the first dose of BNT162B2 (PFIZER-BIONTECH COVID-19 VACCINE, Solution for injection, batch/lot number: EL3248) injection to upper left arm just below shoulder at approximately on 29Jan2021 10:00 at age of 78 years old at single dose for vaccination. There were no additional vaccines administered on same date of the Pfizer suspect. Relevant medical history included: for ongoing asthma and adult onset maybe 25-28 years ago. He did not have when he was a kid. He did not have allergies. Part of problem was lives in an area that had a very high allergy problem; a lot of people in that area have allergies; for sleep apnea, used CPAP machine; for diabetes from 2006 and onset date approximate. A1C is where doctors want it to be. Went through half a dozen pills and stuff for diabetes that worked for short time and stopped: Names/Lots/NDCs/Expiries: Unknown, does not have this information to provide. He was pretty good at judging carbohydrate content in meals to make adjustments to Humalog and Toujeo dosing as needed; for ongoing overweight, weight gain started after oral injectable product for diabetes stopped working, he went on different insulin product and gained 30-35 lbs. Oral injectable product: name/lot/NDC /expiry: Unknown, does not have product or this information to provide. Different insulin product: Name/Lot/NDC/Expiry: Unknown, does not have product or this information to provide; modestly high blood pressure; history of intestinal blockages (occurred quite some time ago, no continuing); had operations in the past. The adverse events (AEs) following prior vaccinations: Adverse Event: He was pretty sure he hit the floor before the needle was even out of his arm when he was administered gamma globulin vaccine which he thinks was around year 1972. The company he worked for at the time had a hepatitis break out, a couple of employees had hepatitis, so they had him receive the gamma globulin vaccine. Vaccine/Brand Name: Gamma globulin vaccine/brand name unknown, whatever it was that was available for hepatitis at the time which he thinks would have been 1972. He is pretty sure in those days they used horse serum in the gamma globulin vaccine; the doctors at the time felt pretty sure that the reaction was to the horse serum aspect of the gamma globulin vaccine. Lot/NDC/Expiry: Unknown, he does not have product or this information to provide. Vaccination Date: Thinks would have been in 1972, further details unknown. Patient's Medical History (including any illness at time of vaccination) Provide other relevant medical history including but not limited to these conditions: diagnosed allergies, compromised immune status, respiratory illness, genetic / chromosomal abnormalities, endocrine abnormalities (including diabetes) and obesity: All relevant information documented in formal fields of other conditions. Family Medical History Relevant to AE(s) was reported as none. There was no history of all previous immunization with the Pfizer vaccine considered as suspect (or patient age at first and subsequent immunizations if dates of birth or immunizations are not available). There were not any other vaccinations within four weeks prior to the first administration date of the suspect vaccine. He was supposed to have the Shingrix vaccine but decided to hold off on that until after he got the Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine. He had the Flu vaccine around Sep2020 or Oct2020 when the senior version came out. Ongoing Concomitant medications included: losartan 100mg daily from 2019 for high blood pressure, furosemide (LASIX) 20mg daily from 2019 for high blood pressure causing some fluid buildup, fenofibrate 134mg daily for years for triglycerides, finasteride 5mg daily for years for benign prostatic hyperplasia, multivitamins, boosters of other vitamins (advised by PCP since COVID pandemic started), insulin lispro (HUMALOG) fast acting insulin taken as needed for diabetes, insulin glargine (TOUJEO) slow acting insulin taken as needed for diabetes. It was reported patient stated, he had his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine a week ago Friday 29Jan2021 at 10am. He had a sore shoulder and fatigue. At midnight he suffered abdominal cramping by 7am. He took himself to the ER and called his doctor who met him there. He had an intestinal blockage. His peristalsis shut down. He spent a couple days on an NG tube, had x-rays and imaging study, they found a small bowel blockage. It seemed very coincidental within 18 hours of the vaccine. He had them when he was younger. His physician who was an GI specialist said he had 2-3 other patients with similar reactions. He spoke to the safety team regarding this. He was due for his 2nd vaccine a few weeks. Right now his bowels were very irritated, not consistent to bowel movements. He was still on a low fiber diet. Asked if there was any evidence people are having gastrointestinal reaction. He had had blockages in the past, that was his weakness. Asked what to do about 2nd dose. He had asthma, diabetes type 2, mildly hypertensive. This consumer had his first dose of Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine 29Jan2021 at approximately 10:00. On 29Jan2021 at about 23:30, he had went through usual drowsiness and took a nap. Around midnight 00:00 30Jan2021 he started having abdominal cramps that became very severe. He was taken to the Emergency Room where he was admitted to the hospital from 30Jan2021 until discharged home evening of 03Feb2021. Severe abdominal cramps: His peristalsis stopped, just shut down. As a result he had an intestinal blockage. He had nasogastric tube placed for 4 days. He was scheduled for surgery with a gastrointestinal surgeon who he happens to know personally. He had called that gastrointestinal surgeon before he was admitted to the hospital. The gastrointestinal surgeon thought he heard some sounds, so he delayed the surgery. That night the intestinal blockage broke up. He was discharged from the hospital before they normally would have released him to get people out as quickly as possible due to risk of contagion in hospitals. Both he and the gastrointestinal surgeon are very concerned about him having the second dose of Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine as scheduled which is due in like 1.5 weeks. The plan at this time is for him to go on a liquid diet 2 days before the second dose so that there is nothing in him to create intestinal block. Outcomes of events: Bowel movements are irregular because just starting to get back into eating really for a few days. The first few days home he was on a soft diet of basically jell-o pudding and broths. He is on an ultra-low fiber diet right now so it's a different diet than he is accustomed to. Some of what he is eating goes right through, other times there is no bulk to come out; he kind of feels like he is constipated but it is just that there is nothing there. Doctor later this week will determine how much he can normalize his diet. Metamucil which a lot of diabetics do, doctor did not want him to take that until everything settles down. He feels bruised; his guts just feel bruised; he thinks from just the pressure there and getting in and out of the hospital bed was horrible. When he called doctor before he went to the hospital 30Jan2021, doctor told him this is coincidence, that this patient was the third that he has had who in 24 hours has had significant intestinal or bowel reaction; that he is not the first who has dealt with severe gastrointestinal problems following the Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine. Caller clarified he has no first hand knowledge of those other patients/events/products, this was just mentioned to him by the doctor over the phone. He had no further information to provide for this report; but doctor might be able to provide further information. Relevant Tests: they did a COVID test when he was admitted to hospital 30Jan2021, gave results when he left the hospital-took them 6 days-unknown result. They did X-rays and scan of his abdomen to monitor intestinal blockage-results unknown. Blood work done but nothing remarkable there-results unknown. His blood pressure actually was low while in hospital-specific results unknown. Glucose levels were very high while in hospital which he is sure was because they had him on an IV drip that must have had glucose in it because he was not eating anything and when in pain and anxiety his sugar goes up-further details of results unknown. Patient had no further information to provide regarding testing/investigations/lab work, blood work, imaging, x-rays, etc for this report. Outcome of events were reported as unknown.