Sex: M
Vaccine: COVID19
Symptoms: Hypoaesthesia, Inflammation, Pain, Sciatica, Sensory loss
Clinical narrative: He had numbness in his feet and his right foot had numbness in toes and he couldn't feel anything; Sciatica; inflammation; is in so much pain/ waking up at night and having pain during the day; he couldn't feel anything; This is a spontaneous report from a contactable consumer (patient's daughter). A 76-years-old male patient received first dose of BNT162B2 (PFIZER-BIONTECH COVID-19 VACCINE, solution for injection; Batch/Lot number, NDC number, expiry date: unknown) via an unspecified route of administration on an unknown date in Jun2021 in left arm as a single dose for COVID-19 immunization. Medical history included that prior to getting the covid shot the patient had very bad case of shingles 6 to 7 years ago that was left untreated for 72-76 hours and turned into postherpetic neuralgia, he had terrible PHN. His shingles were across his chest in that area and formed a ring around his chest and back. He had really large blisters and sharp pains in the chest, sharp pains all over the body, all the nerve issues. He had nerve damage. He was on high blood pressure medication. He doesn't have high blood pressure anymore, he was stable. Caller forgets the name of the medication, but it begins with an L. He has been on it about 3 years. History of all previous immunization with the Pfizer vaccine considered as suspect, additional vaccines administered on same date of the Pfizer suspect, prior vaccinations (within 4 weeks), adverse events following prior vaccinations were not reported. Family medical history relevant to adverse events was not reported. Concomitant medication included high blood pressure medication from 3 years. The caller stated that her father got the Pfizer covid-19 vaccine in early Jun2021 and it somehow instigated sciatica, which is part of the nervous system. It was two to three weeks before his flight. He was traveling to visit her two weeks after the vaccine and had symptoms of sciatic when traveling to America. He flew over on 28Jun2021 and started showing symptoms on 26Jun2021. It was consistent for weeks. She was concerned about her father getting the second shot because he had inflammation because of the first shot. It was fourth of July weekend and there was nothing they could do. The following week they went down to withheld and he was still suffering so he went to urgent care. It was the second week of July when he was seen at urgent care. He was put on a course of steroids that he took two a day for 5 days and a muscle relaxant. It helped alleviate the pain. Caller had been giving him Advil before that. It was everything with sciatic. He was waking up at night and having pain during the day. It is not 100 percent gone, but it really helped. It was 70 percent gone. He had numbness in his feet and his right foot had numbness in toes and he couldn't feel anything. At that point caller was concerned about a blood clot or something like that since people have reported that. She rushed him to urgent care, and they were told it was all symptoms of sciatica. The numbness was there but not as pronounced. The pain is not as bad. She was trying to understand if it would be safe to take the second one, could it be a coincidence, a possibility that this was related. It's also new and difficult to determine side effects in patients with post-herpetic neuralgia. It would be interesting to know if any of the patients in the clinical trials had PHN and how did they respond to the vaccine. That's the type of stuff she would like to know or if they even had a sample of people who had PHN and how they responded. That is what she will be looking out for in the next few years. She thinks that is what happened to him. They were given a general practitioner and the doctors are the worst. She stated that the doctors misdiagnose people, they don't see any facts on the ground, and they don't customize treatment for people because they don't need to, they said there is nothing here related to issues. The caller reported if someone had nerve issues with the shot then you should not take the vaccine. The caller reported that where someone like him should know that if you have nerve damage that this is a virus that really attacks the body. This might not be the right approach for you, you might need therapy or something else. She doesn't know she wishes that there was more information to share with his doctor. She thinks at the end of the day he is probably not going to get the second shot, with him having the first at least he had some mild protection. She stated that he has got to take the risk unfortunately. Caller was given the following information from the attached document: The PI does not show inflammation that causes sciatica in the list of side effects, these may not be all the possible side effects of the Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 Vaccine. Serious and unexpected side effects may occur. Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 Vaccine is still being studied in clinical trials. Side effects after your second shot may be more intense than the ones you experienced after your first shot. These side effects are normal signs that your body is building protection and should go away within a few days. Patient was instructed to contact her father's doctor and discuss these side effects further with him and the risk/benefits of getting the second vaccine. No investigation assessment was reported. The patient had to be on steroids, muscle relaxers, and Advil (NDC, lot, and expiry date not reported) to help with inflammation. They were given in the last two weeks. They say there are no symptoms, and they are so definitive in their statements. Her dad kept saying he was worrying about his nerves. The caller reported that It has been hell that her poor dad is going through this, he was in so much pain and was fragile. She had thought maybe he needed a wheelchair for him. The outcome of all the events was recovering.  No follow-up attempts are possible; information about lot/batch number cannot be obtained. No further information is expected.