Age: 32.0
Sex: F
Vaccine: COVID19
Symptoms: Musculoskeletal stiffness, Myalgia, Nausea, Neck pain, Nerve conduction studies
Clinical narrative: A few weeks after taking the 2nd dose of the Pfizer vaccine in June 2021, my speech became slow. I also developed brain fog and would faint every time I would get in a steam bath or go near the waterfall where there would be steam. After some time, I started to have back pain and severe shoulder pain. I took Advil for pain relief thinking this would be a minor muscle pain. Last October, I started to experience loss of sensation in my right pinky and ring fingers followed by pain in my right arm. This went on for about 2 months and I thought that one of my nerves may have been pinched, so I visited a neurologist. The neurologist performed an EMG test on my right arm and the results were normal. The neurologist prescribed 1 Gabapentin 300mg/day for one week and recommended to take 600mg after that. I took Gabapentin for about 1 ½ months and noticed that the loss of sensation has spread to the rest of my limbs. I couldn't walk for a very long distance due to stiffness and numbness in my legs, dizziness, tiredness and feeling fatigue. My fingers would lock in the morning after waking up and would take a few hours to unlock after stretching and putting my hands under hot water. With the neurologist's supervision, I withdrew from Gabapentin. The neurologist prescribed Cymbalta, but I didn't agree to taking it. The results of my MRI for cervical spine and brain with/without contrast were showing white matter but the neurologist said it was insignificant and ruled out any neurological diseases. The neurologist also performed a Lyme disease test, blood tests, and lumbar puncture. My lumbar puncture results were showing 2 oligoclonal bands. Again, the same neurologist ruled out any neurological diseases. My blood test returned lower Vitamin D level (17 ng/ml). During this time, I went to the ER 3 times because of severe back and neck pain, feeling weakness in my body, heart palpitation, and experiencing head spins. I visited rheumatologist, endocrinologist, gastrologist, cardiologist in the meantime trying to get to the bottom of my health issue. The rheumatologist wrote a few blood tests, and the results were normal. I am yet to follow up with my endocrinologist, gastrologist, and cardiologist. My endocrinologist prescribed Vitamin D2 50000 IU/week and the urgent care doctor prescribed Vitamin B12 injection/week. To accelerate the recovery process, I started taking supplements such as Magnesium, Zinc, Omega3, Glutathione, Turmeric, NAC, and Quercetin. I also have been going to physical therapy, acupuncture, and cupping. I went to three other neurologists. The last neurologist I visited, diagnosed me with GBS and recommended IVIG. On my second visit, the doctor voided the request for the IVIG without any known reasons. The loss of sensation is still there, and my fingers still lock in the morning after waking up. Lately, I have noticed that drinking coffee and consuming some other foods make me nauseous, dizzy, cause developing of mucus in throat, and fast/irregular heartbeat. The above adverse events started after taking the second dose of the COVID vaccine.