Age: 43.0
Sex: F
Vaccine: TDAP
Symptoms: Musculoskeletal pain, Neck pain, Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, Pain in extremity, X-ray
Clinical narrative: T-dap vaccine administered on 03/18/2010. Sudden deep pain in right shoulder and upper arm. Ended up in ER 3 days later. Concurrent neck problems found, so no one is listening to my arm/shoulder pain complaints. I tried to contact Urgent Care, they told me I was wrong. I called back later to get batch number of vaccine, they said doctor would call. He did not. I had had x-rays, and an MRI. I start physical therapy next week. My quality of life is poor right now. If I was not married I would have had to hire someone to help me. I have physical therapy for my neck next week and I will ask for exercised for my shoulder and upper arm. I hope I am wrong and I do not have brachial neuritis, but I will proceed as if I do. 5/13/2010 Follow up: I had a t-dap shot on 03/18/2010.  On 03/24/2010 I expereienced sudden deep pain in right shoulder and upper arm. Right shoulder is drooping. Nothing helped it. It got worse until I went to the ER 03/27/2010. I was given neck x-rays and prescribed meds. They found some congenital problems with my neck, so they ignored my main shoulder and upper arm pain complaints. I don't like pain meds or muscle relaxers, so I stopped them after two pills. I stopped back by the Urgent Care on 03/29/2010 to see if it was brachial neuritis, and they told me that if nothing happened in 48 hours, it was not the vaccine. I knew this was wrong,but I knew I could not persuade them of this. I left. My PCP prescribed me steroids via phone. I was scheduled for a neck MRI. I got the neck MRI done on 04/01/2010. It showed some problems with my neck. My PCP thinks this is all related to may neck. But my neck pain does not seem related, and seems to be a separate, concurrent issue. I did not known the doctor's name at the Urgent Care, so I called back on 04/01/2010. They said he would call, and I was going to get the vaccine information. He did not call. I start physical therapy next week for my neck. I am going to ask for shoulder and arm exercises to do also. I understand the progression of brachial neuritis, so I will address it as best I can at this point. I see a neurologist on 04/07/2010. I sincerely hope I am wrong about the brachial neuritis, but I am filling out this form regardless. I had a t-dap shot on 03/18/2010. On 03/24/2010 I experienced sudden deep pain in right shoulder and upper arm. Right shoulder is dropping. Nothing helped it. It got worse until I went to the ER 03/27/2010. I was given neck x-rays and prescribed meds. They found congenital problems in my neck, so they ignored my main shoulder and upper arm pain complaints. I don't like pain meds or muscle relaxers. so I stopped them after two pills. I stopped back by the Urgent Care on 03/29/2010 to see if it was brachial neuritis, and they told me that if nothing happened in 48 hours, it was not the vaccine. I knew this was wrong, but I knew I could not persuade them of this. I left. My PCP prescribed me steroids via phone. I was scheduled for a neck MRI. I got the neck MRI done on 04/01/2010. It showed some problems with my neck. My PCP thinks all this is related to my neck. But my neck pain does not seem related, and seems to be a separate, concurrent issue. I did not know the doctor's name at the Urgent Care, so I called back on 04/01/2010. They said he would call, and I was going to get the vaccine information. He did not call. I start physical therapy next week for my neck. I am going to ask for shoulder and arm exerises to do also. I understand the progression of brachial neuritis, so I will adress it as best I can at this point. I see a neurologist on 04/07/2010. I sincerely hope I am wrong about the brachial neuritis, but I am filling out this form regardless. 04/12/2010 Update: Thank you for adding my more complete information. Now I have more: Since I reported this event I subsequently went to physical therapy. It did not go so well, and my numbness in my arms and hands increased exponentially. I then went to a neurologist who confirmed the problems as being related to the t-dap vaccine. He said I had the classic symptoms of a prachial nerve plexus event, and that any vaccine can cause this problem. He told me to discontinue my physical therapy. As with any nerve injury, he said that time would be the only thing that would probably solve the pain and numbness. I am now on a 2 week from work. And I just received notice from the insurance tht hey are "delaying" paying my ER visit bill, while they look into it. Do you hve anyone you could refer me to if they refuse this claim, or any other suggestions for this potential insurane problem? I told my insurer that I was misdiagnosed at the ER initially, but I'm not sure if they listened.