Age: 43.0
Sex: F
Vaccine: COVID19
Symptoms: Migraine, Mood swings, Nausea, Nervousness, Photophobia
Clinical narrative: Following the booster shot on Thursday, Nov 4, I had some minor symptoms including chills, fatigue, and mild headache which resolved within 2-3 days.  Later on Sunday Nov 7, I noted some peculiar mood swings, almost like anxiety or sadness for no reason, and on Monday, Nov 8, I began noticing some light sensitivity or visual disturbances (which sometimes occur prior to my migraines).  On Tuesday, Nov 9, I woke up with a migraine that felt similar to previous migraines at first (significant head pain, sensitivity to light and sound) but as the day progressed, the symptoms intensified.  I had lost my appetite by afternoon and felt nauseous, the headache progressively got worse (stronger pain ? maybe around a 8/10 with 10 being most intense which is up from a 6-7/10 earlier in the day), and vomited twice in the early evening.  This level of nausea and vomiting is really uncommon for me.  After trying to eat something plain and drinking some fluids, I went to bed but couldn?t sleep well (Oura ring noted I woke up at least 6 times during the attempted 9 hours of sleep and moved a lot during the broken sleep).  On the morning of Wednesday, Nov 10, when I attempted to get out of bed, I struggled to walk around the house with intense head pain (9-10/10) and was feeling unsteady or shaky while walking (maybe off balance or weak).  I could not eat much as the nausea continued, couldn?t work even from home as I had trouble looking at any electronic screens without feeling ill, and basically just kept attempting naps or laying in bed between efforts to eat / drink something (dry cheerios in the morning and some ginger ale, plain pasta and electrolyte sports drink mix to help with dehydration plus more water later in the day).  I felt warm at various times, but did not have a fever.  This entire episode is highly unusual for me, as I am not usually this depleted by the migraines, and I never take naps.  Since I was taking beta blockers (metoprolol) I wasn?t sure what pain killers I could safely take simultaneously, so by late afternoon, I spoke with a pharmacist and took my usual Excedrine migraine which helped a little (or it may have just coincided with a slight improvement in the symptoms).  That evening I was barely able to lead a discussion on a web meeting during the few hours when feeling better, but then started feeling worse again.  Since I was still not feeling well by Thursday morning (Nov 11), I made an appointment to go to a HCF to ask what else I could potentially do for the migraine (pain improved to maybe a 6-7/10 although I appreciate my scale may be skewed when I noted this following the intense pain the day prior).  The details of this visit are indicated in my answer to question 19.  My sleep at least improved over the next few days, and I continued to work from home on Thursday (Nov 11) but was able to get to work on Friday (Nov 12).  The headache was lingering through Saturday, but at more manageable level and taking additional amounts of Tylenol was helping.  The general fatigue and reduced headache continued through Sunday as well.  Side note ? Over the past 1-2 years my migraines have coincided with the timing of my period.  Usually my period starts on a Tuesday/Wednesday and the migraine will start the same day.  This time, the migraine began a day prior to my period starting (period began Wed, Nov 10), but they still both occurred simultaneously for the remainder of the week.  Following this incident, I started reducing the metoprolol to a half pill daily (12.5mg) as I was planning to switch back to propranolol (10mg taken 1 hour prior to exercise instead of the extended release, daily metoprolol pills).  I have also stopped using the combination progesterone/estradiol birth control pills due to potential stroke risk.  I was able to make an appointment with a Neurologist (earliest available - March 2022).  I had been completing the online V-Safe reports following each vaccine dose, and after indicating I received medical attention for this migraine, they encouraged me to submit this report.  I completely understand there may have been many factors contributing to this intense migraine, but wanted to mention the incident in case it helps someone else!