Age: 53.0
Sex: F
Vaccine: COVID19
Symptoms: Dizziness, Dysarthria, Headache, Hypersensitivity, Magnetic resonance imaging head abnormal
Clinical narrative: Bells Palsy/ little bit more droopier than usual/facial droop; allergic reaction; blood pressure went up to normal, which was not normal for her, as its very low/ 120/70, which was normal, but not great for her and was high for her; dizziness; headaches; tingly feelings/still just felt a little tingling still; got the shot in her left arm and it was swollen; slurring of speech; face got swollen and definitely impacted her speech; This is a spontaneous report from the contactable consumer (patient herself) and physician via Medical Information. A 53-year-old female patient received BNT162B2 (PFIZER-BIONTECH COVID-19 VACCINE, Solution for injection), via an unspecified route of administration, administered in the left arm on 12Mar2021 at 10:30 at the age of 53 years old (Batch/Lot Number: en6208, Expiration date: unknown) as the 1st dose, single dose for COVID-19 immunization. Relevant medical history included brain surgery in 2014 and facial reconstruction in 2015, further reported as transplant or transfer from her thigh in 2015 for her left cheek, so her face after brain surgery in 2014 was reconstructed in 2015 and she could have a symmetrical face; and vestibular condition from an unknown date and unknown if ongoing. The patient's concomitant medications were not reported. The patient was asking for accommodations Pfizer would provide to advocate for people working from home to minimize their risk of exposure to COVID-19. The patient was a teacher, who taught languages and she often had students with hearing disabilities and had to take her mask down so they could see her lips. She reported that she was fully vaccinated but was concerned about being exposed to people who haven't been vaccinated and asked if there were any recommendations or accommodations being offered by Pfizer to assist her with trying to work from home. The patient received her second vaccine dose on 02Apr2021 at 10:30 AM with lot number: ep7533. The patient reported experiencing Bells Palsy after being vaccinated on an unspecified date in Mar2021 and was asking how long or much protection she had against COVID-19, because her understanding was that because she reacted to the vaccine in this way, if she got COVID-19, she might experience the same type of reaction to COVID-19 and she didn't want to experience Bells Palsy again. The patient reported that she had "distinct reactions" to both the first and second doses and was told by her neurologist that because its a live virus and she had a reaction to it, she had the potential to get the same symptoms from COVID-19. The patient further asked if the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine could shed the virus and was provided with references. Upon follow up, the patient stated that she was one of those people who had an allergic reaction to Pfizer, she had both doses. The patient stated she thought she was better off vaccinated. After the first dose, she did have the characteristic symptoms and people thought she was having a stroke; she was fine, but it freaked out her husband. She stated she should know as she has had facial reconstruction and did have it in the left arm. The patient got vaccinated at a clinic in a neighboring area and called her primary care doctor. The patient stated her blood pressure went up to normal on an unspecified date in Mar2021, which was not normal for her, as its very low. She stated she had the characteristic dizziness, headaches, tingly feelings, and Bells palsy on an unspecified date in Mar2021. She stated her primary care doctor asked her where she got the shot, she said in her left arm and it was swollen on an unspecified date in Mar2021. The patient stated she did go to the emergency room, which was scary. She stated she spent a year and a half trying to stay away and stated everybody got to see her at her baseline, which was a semi-symmetrical face. The patient stated after a while, the doctor said yes the patient might want to consider getting the second dose. The patient stated that because of the brain surgery, she was able to quickly write an email to many doctors who could weigh in. The patient stated that the doctor said the benefits outweighed the risk, but the other recommendation, which was brilliant, they said to get it in her leg. The patient stated she did have an allergic reaction to the second one, but not the same way and stated it was the characteristic tiredness on an unspecified date. The patient stated her husband got Moderna and was out a whole day. The patient also stated she had the slurring of speech, the face, and it took a couple of days to go away, but it did and then she was back to her as-symmetrical face as she could have. The patient stated the second time though she went a week and a half later, she thought it was too much zoom fatigue, but the doctor said it sounded like annular fissures. The doctor then asked if she did get her vaccine and she told the doctor she did. The patient didn't know if that's a thing; she thought she would bring that up, because her back became inflamed. The patient further stated that for the first dose, her face got swollen and definitely impacted her speech, which promoted her to go to the emergency room. She stated she felt dizziness, headaches, she knew what to expect, but she got worried when she was getting a little bit more droopier than usual. The patient stated that for the second time (dose), it took about 12 weeks to recover and she had been able to recover; she stated her back was inflamed and fortunately, there was no slipped disc or bulging discs, it was just annular fissures. The patient stated that a doctor in the area said that it made sense; it was locally the right thigh (second dose) - lower back, left arm (first dose) - left side of the face, and its kind of thematically and spatially related. The patient stated she got this at the hospital way back in Mar2021. The patient stated they did a brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computerized axial tomography (CAT) scan, and diabetes test. The patient stated that to live the pandemic, she was worried that she had eaten too many cookies, but everything came back normal, as normal for her. She stated clearly she had got issues, but they were issues long before the vaccine. The patient was one of those people who definitely had something happening and people were saying no that can't be. She stated it was evident that yes, it was Bells palsy, she had never had. She stated she had had facial paralysis that was taken care of by Gracilis surgery. She stated it was experimental when she did it, but it's not so experimental anymore after her brain surgery. The patient stated Pfizer might want to hear her happy ending. The patient stated her daughter got Pfizer a few weeks prior reporting, so she's fully vaccinated and they had their first hug since 2020 and it was just an emotional thing. The patient stated she followed up with a neurologist and she was going to see him in the middle of June, she sees him every couple of months, mostly for work accommodations. The patient stated that the idea being if Bell's plays was her reaction from a dead form of the virus, even getting sick with it would indicate that this could happen to her in a different context. She stated that since she's a teacher, it's a good thing for her to know as she went back to work, she'd been able to work online, she'd probably not going to be able to argue for that unless her doctor argued for her. She stated her neurologist would know more of the story. She stated she saw her primary care doctor for her annual physical after she was fully vaccinated. She stated the follow-up was with a neurologist. The patient further stated she was fine and was not fine at the time of the reported events, but it was better to get the vaccine than to get COVID-19. She stated her mother and sister were all vaccinated. The patient further stated that on her 1st dose, she felt like someone had taken a hammer to her head and was headachy and not feeling great and was taken to room to wait; stated her blood pressure was taken and it was 120/70, which was normal, but not great for her and was high for her as she normally had a very low blood pressure. She went home and might be an hour after getting home, she realized her face was swelling and got the 1st dose of the vaccine to the left side of her upper arm and her face started to swell and she did have brain surgery in 2014 and stated in 2015, she had Gracilis free flap of her right thigh and had a new cheek and had calf nerves grow back together again and had to learn to walk again at that time, because they spliced the nerves, which was not a transplant but a transfer. The patient stated the flap made her face back symmetrical as possible and used her face and able to drink coffee, smile and keep food in her mouth; stated her face kind of drooped anyway, but this was more than that. The patient stated her husband said she had been traumatized and just to relax and she kind of got Bell's Palsy, which she had never had before and got diagnosed with it and was swollen and started having slurred speech; stated she had facial droop and got to the hospital, which was emotional and getting the Pfizer COVID vaccine was emotional and she was trying not to add to her issues. The patient stated was able to see formal field and everyone thought she was having a stroke, but she was not having a stroke and everybody said it couldn't be the Pfizer vaccine; it had to be something else. The patient stated her healthcare professional (HCP) asked about her baseline and her husband had photos of her and she was not normally symmetrical in her face. They did scans, MRI brain and everything checked out normal, which was a blessing and several HCPs were getting results and she did not have diabetes. The patient stated she was trying to be careful during the pandemic with her health and they kept her in the emergency room from 11-12 pm to 8:00 pm and she was saying she was hungry and thirsty and did not know they did not want her to eat or drink and wanted to make sure she could swallow and she was ok swallowing, but had dribble on the left side of her face with the drooping. She stated she saw her primary HCP before she went to the emergency room and he asked which side she got the Pfizer COVID vaccine on and that was kind of where he had the idea that this could be related to the vaccine and the reported events occurred so close to when the vaccine was administered and the reported events occurred immediately after the vaccine; she stated her blood pressure was ok and she ate a cookie and maybe had not enough breakfast and got worse. The patient stated her slurred speech and Bell's palsy lasted a day or two and everything went back to normal, stated because she had brain surgery, which saved her life; the HCP said maybe she should rethink going for the 2nd dose of the Pfizer COVID Vaccine; she followed-up with her neurologist and everybody weighed in the benefits outweigh the risk and she got the 2nd dose. She did the 2nd dose of the Pfizer COVID Vaccine in her right thigh and had inflammation in her lower spine after that; stated how the shot felt like a shot in the arm or a horse kicked you; stated she felt like the Pfizer COVID vaccine felt like a shot in the arm, but never felt that pain and had swelling and had a half an apple sized swelling in her leg for a couple of days; stated she also did not feel the face drooping, because the 2nd dose of the vaccine was done in her leg. With the second dose, she started to get really bad lower back pain and went to the HCP and was maybe sitting down too much; stated she did not have proper posture sometimes and did not want to stand. She stated she saw a holistic HCP, which was a chiropractor and that HCP did not touch her spine; stated she saw that HCP on 14Apr2021 and she was diagnosed with annular fissures and they thought she had a slipped bulging disc and never had that before, but had a tingling sensation and they said to take a few weeks to recover. She stated she kept seeing her HCP and had recovered and had to say as soon as they said this was probably related, because she thought the Pfizer COVID vaccine targeted places that were weak and that was the weak part in her body regarding her spine; stated her left side arm was weak and the weak side of her face that was where the transfer of nerves was and that had gotten swollen and did not work. She stated she was fine and would say she was better and thought she was completely recovered and from time to time still just felt a little tingling still and did not have that before; stated because of her brain surgery, the neurologist said she could tingle independently and she did not normally tingle in that area, but she was better and 90 percent better; stated the HCP said to give 12 weeks to recover and she would see her again next week and would see the HCP every 2-3 weeks so this; said they needed the discs to get fluid in them so they were healing; stated her daughter got the Pfizer COVID Vaccine and is doing well. The patient underwent further lab tests and procedures, which included Brain MRI, CAT scans, and diabetes test, which were all normal on an unspecified date. The patient was recovering from the event "tingly feelings/still just felt a little tingling still," while she recovered from the rest of the events on an unspecified date.