Age: 34.0
Sex: F
Vaccine: TDAP
Symptoms: Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging spinal normal, Radiculopathy, Winged scapula
Clinical narrative: I was pregnant with my first child at the time of receiving the TDAP vaccination. I don't remember anything strange immediately following the vaccination. However, I had my daughter (6 lbs, 7 oz). A week later, I began having severe pain in my right shoulder and all along my shoulder blade. The severe pain lasted for about a week or longer. I was breast-feeding so I attributed the pain to holding my daughter in a breastfeeding position. While the severity of the pain did decrease, it was persistent. Then, I started to notice that I did not have full strength in my right arm and was unable to lift my arm and extend it fully directly above my head, which was obviously concerning. In addition, I was experiencing severe winging of my right scapula. As such, I made an appointment to see an orthopedist. Dr. provided a preliminary diagnosis of Parsonage-Turner syndrome, and referred me to Dr. to conduct an EMG, who confirmed that the Parsonage-Turner syndrome diagnosis was correct. From there, I went to Physical therapy and had multiple sessions over multiple weeks. While the therapy did help to strengthen the muscles around the injury, I didn't find that it was producing ANY progress in terms of being able to lift my arm above my head or the strength I had to do that motion or lift things above my head. Additionally, it was not improving the scapular winging, and I was still having some pain so I decided to stop PT. Dr. said that it could take up to 2 years to heal the injury, so I waited and watched. Around Oct/Nov 2018, I also went to see Dr., Neurologist, to get a second opinion as well as Dr., Neurosurgeon. Both suggested that this is a brachial plexus injury, and also effecting the long thoracic nerve. I also got a neck and spine MRI, they confirmed that I did not have any tumor. At this point, I decided to go back to PT from Nov-Dec 31 of 2018 because I was not seeing any marked increase in strength or ability to raise and fully extend my arm above my head, or decrease in scapular winging. The muscular pain I had been feeling pretty consistently for the past 2 years was slightly reduced so I was thinking it may have healed slightly. Unfortunately, while the PT did increase the strength of the muscles that had atrophied all around the long thoracic nerve/brachial plexus region of my right shoulder, it really did not solve any of the core issues/symptoms I continue to experience. I am still experiencing problems today related to this incident and the prognosis from my doctors is that it may never fully resolve itself, and could potentially stay the same or get worse. They predict that the horizon for it getting better is greatly diminished at this point. I realized that the TDAP shot could potentially be related to my Parsonage Turner syndrome/brachial plexus region/long thoracic nerve injury when I was at my OBGYN and about to get ANOTHER TDAP shot 2 weeks ago (3/2019) because I am now pregnant with my second child, a boy (due 4/25/19). I noticed that the paperwork I had to sign before I got the TDAP shot had a specific warning calling out brachial plexus nerve injuries. Since that is exactly what I have, I called my nurse and my OBGYN Dr. into the room to consult with them about whether I should go forward with getting the TDAP shot. They said NOT to proceed and to forgo having the shot. At that point, I decided to submit an adverse reaction report to the CDC. While I see that "pregnancy" could be a potential cause of the issues and long term disability I am experiencing, I am wondering if that could be because many pregnant women get the TDAP shot just before they have the baby so that some of the effects of the shot will pass to the baby. Please contact me with any questions.