Age: 42.0
Sex: F
Vaccine: COVID19
Symptoms: Insomnia, Joint swelling, Pain in extremity, Peripheral swelling, Sensory disturbance
Clinical narrative: I started to notice a couple days after receiving my first Pfizer vaccination that my legs were very achy, and my hands and feet felt swollen. I have dealt with varicose vein issues in the past, so my legs can become achy if I stand on my feet for very long periods of time. But this has been different. It is the same type of vein pain, but much more intense, and it starts very quickly upon being on my feet. When I had leg achiness before, it was a general pain which was stronger in the lower legs. Now the pain I am having is in the lower legs, but also extends up into my left inner knee area, and goes up into the left inner thigh. (The pain is stronger in the left leg than the right leg) The feeling of swelling is also odd. Sometimes I am actually swollen in my hands and feet (I have had to remove my rings because they suddenly got really tight), and sometimes my feet/ankles feel very swollen, but when I check them, they appear to be fine. I?ve also had the odd sensation of trickling fluid coming out of my left ankle, just above the ankle bone. I?ve looked and almost expected to see trickling blood or water dripping (I kept thinking maybe I had dripped water on myself), but there was nothing there. It?s a very weird feeling. I?ve also been unable to wear shoes and socks comfortably since being vaccinated. Usually the achy leg feeling used to get better for me if I elevated my legs. Since being vaccinated, the achiness is much harder to relieve. Sometimes I will elevate my legs and not get relief, or only get a little bit of relief. I frequently go to bed and have a hard time falling asleep because of the persistent pain. In those cases, usually my legs feel much better by the morning, with perhaps only a small amount of pain left. Then standing on my feet again for a few minutes will start the whole process up again. I have had a few days when I have felt much better, and my legs haven?t bothered me. Maybe perhaps I wasn?t standing as much, and everything settled down? But for the most part, I have had extremely bothersome pain most of the time since being vaccinated nearly 6 weeks ago. I?ve even tried putting on a pair of compression stockings to help relieve the pain and help with circulation, and that only created more intense and odd pain- I ended up having to take them off because they hurt so bad. I went to see a general practitioner at my local health center on 7/22/21. He checked my legs by squeezing them and said there doesn?t seem to be a blood clot. He did, however, write me a referral for an ultrasound if I wanted to get that done just for peace of mind. He also gave me a referral for a vein doctor. In the first few days after being vaccinated, I remember commenting to my husband that my legs were hurting so much more than usual, and that maybe my leg veins had suddenly just gotten so much worse, and that I should see about going back to a leg vein doctor to be checked out. It was not long after that I realized this was so much more than just my usual varicose vein issues. I was hopeful that my symptoms would improve and resolve with a little bit of time. The doctor mentioned that most side effects due to vaccination resolve within about 7-10 days. But it has been nearly 6 weeks now, with no sign of improvement. I am definitely holding off on getting a second dose, as I am very nervous about what the first one is doing to my body, and scared that a second dose could be even worse.