Age: 53.0
Sex: F
Vaccine: FLU4
Symptoms: Exostosis, Injected limb mobility decreased, Loss of personal independence in daily activities, Pain, Periarthritis
Clinical narrative: I received a flu vaccine at a drive-thru vaccine clinic on Friday, October 9, 2020 at approximately 5:15pm, sponsored by my insurance provider. I was sitting in the driver?s seat of my car and the nurse who administered the shot was standing up outside of my car. I received the shot in my left arm. By Sunday afternoon, October 11, 2020, I had a very sharp stabbing pain in my left shoulder. I first noticed it when I was outside with my son and we had to stop the activity we were doing. It hurt so much when I moved that I screamed out in pain. It felt as though part of my shoulder was out of place, and I kept asking my son what injury I was not remembering. I also remember specifically wondering out loud with him if my vaccine may have had something to do with it. Over the course of the next two weeks, the pain intensified greatly, and little by little I seemed to lose my ability to move it. I started icing it, and was working on massaging it, thinking I could move whatever was out of place back where it should be. A week or two after my vaccine seemed to be the height of the pain ? I am not a medicine person at all; however, I was taking ibuprofen several times a day hoping for some relief. At that time, I was only able to lift my arm as high as the kitchen counter and had a lot of difficulty getting dressed. For the next couple of weeks, I continued to medicate and massage, and I started to do my own stretching. My son often helped me as I couldn?t move my arm very much on my own. Sometimes it seemed to offer some relief in the moment and there were hours of time when I thought perhaps things were getting better. Finally after weeks of trying to assist through my pain and lack of movement, my son convinced me to reach out to my doctor?s office to get an appointment. It had been a month since the beginning of symptoms at that time. There was a height of pain and ?frozen-ness? at about week two, followed by a plateau. The pain and range of motion have not changed since that time, despite my self-recovery attempts. PRESENT CONDITION: There is a constant throbbing pain in my shoulder, with intermittent stabbing pain depending on how I move and which direction my shoulder is facing at the time of my movement. Because I have been in pain for many months, the muscles and nerves in my entire upper body are on high alert and are also constantly throbbing ? from my neck, down my left arm, and across my entire shoulder blade area. With my arm out straight, I can only raise it to shoulder level at this time (whether in front of me or to the side). I can only raise my left hand about 6 inches above my head. If I am trying to reach behind my back with my left arm, I can only reach as high and as far as my left back pocket. I had an in-person with a doctor on Friday, April 30, 2021 and was diagnosed with adhesive capsulitis (commonly referred to as frozen shoulder). I have my first appointment with physical therapy on June 1, 2021, so until that time I am continuing to exercise my shoulder as I am able to, treat it with heat and topical ointments, and using hot water and ibuprofen to ease the pain. I am taking cyclobenzaprine periodically to ease my muscles at night and help me sleep.  It is unknown at this time whether the pain will subside and I will regain mobility, or if this is something I will be dealing with for the rest of my life.