Age: 35.0
Sex: F
Vaccine: COVID19
Symptoms: Headache, Impaired work ability, Insomnia, Myalgia, Pain in extremity
Clinical narrative: After the first shot on 12/22/2020, that evening I had a sore arm and was a little tired the next day. About 5 days after that I developed an itchy rash at my tailbone and underneath my breasts. I've always had sensitive skin and thought it was in response to a new body wash I was using. I switched back to my old bar of soap and the rash started to go away.  After the second shot (received on 01/19/2021), on 01/20/2021 I woke up feeling dizzy but went into work. I ended up leaving early because of the dizziness and developed a low-grade fever. I also had muscle aches, fatigue, chills, and my taste was off. I also had a headache that lasted two days. In total, I lost 1.5 days of work. About 5 days later my rash at the tailbone and breasts came back. I thought it maybe was a yeast infection, so I bought some OTC fungal cream. The rash got way worse and started to spread all over my trunk. At this point I was having trouble sleeping and scratching myself awake at night.  On 01/29/2021 I went to my PCP office and saw  who said it was an allergic reaction to the vaccine. He gave me a IM injection of Kenalog (I think it was about 1mL) in my butt and instructed me to take 2 Pepcid AC 180 twice a day and 2 Zrytecs twice a day. He also suggested buying some anti-itch lotion with 1% Pramoxine. I left work early for this appointment. This helped for about 5 days. On 02/12/2021 I visited  employee health clinic to get a second opinion since I was not seeing any relief. The rash had spread to my arms, hands, and legs. The CNP thought I had scabies, but referred me to  in dermatology later that day.  confirmed it WAS NOT scabies and said it was definitely a reaction to the vaccine and I was the 4th person with he had seen with this rash. He prescribed 0.1% triamcinolone and upped the Zyrtec to 3 times a day.  I continued taking the Pepcid AC 180 twice a day. He also suggested oatmeal baths.  I left work early to go to this appointment. This helped for about 5 days. On 02/22/2021 I was still very miserable and itchy.  called in oral Prednisone 10MG. I started taking it that evening.  On 03/01/2021 my skin had started to get worse from the triamcinolone. Mostly my legs, but my skin looked red and burnt. It was swollen and very tight.  called that night and instructed me to discontinue both the triamcinolone and the oral prednisone.  On 03/03/2021  took a skin biopsy. Those results came back showing a drug hypersensitivity. In addition to the Zrytec 3 times a day, the Pepcid AC 180 twice a day, he added 180 Allegra in the AM. I continued with the oatmeal baths as well.  I missed an entire day of work for this appointment.  On 03/09/2021 I was feeling better. The itchiness was still present but it was not as extreme and I was finally able to sleep.  On 03/31/2021 I repeated my chemistry labs. the rash was gone at this point and I was tapering off the Allegra, Pepcid AC, and the Zrytec. I asked about following up on the biopsy results. Being a living kidney donor and not being able to take steroids would be a problem in the future.  On 04/08/2021 a request for patch testing was referred. By this time the rash had totally cleared, except for scars from scratching.  On 05/10/2021 the allergy patches were placed and read on 05/14/2021. The dermatologist  noted there were multiple irritations (was not told what those were) but overall everything was negative. She referred me to  Allergy to rule out a true allergy to prednisone. I missed a half day of work on 05/10/2021 and a full day on 05/14/2021. My appointment with allergy is 07/01/2021.