Age: 37.0
Sex: F
Vaccine: COVID19
Symptoms: Magnetic resonance imaging head normal, Magnetic resonance imaging neck, Neuralgia, Oral discomfort, Pain in extremity
Clinical narrative: This report is looking back on the buildup of symptoms because initially I explained them away and they didn?t become full blown until two months later. I suspect they probably became full blown when they did due to me getting run done from being very busy and my body just couldn?t control the symptoms anymore. I tested negative for covid before and during the period when my symptoms exploded. Initially I did not suspect that it was possibly from the vaccine. I wanted to find another reason for it and spent a lot of effort trying to find a culprit but looking back on the timeline and buildup of symptoms, the vaccine is the only culprit to be found.  I also want to state that I am very healthy eater- and I don?t mean one of those people that think they are healthy but aren?t. I don?t eat processed foods, my diet is 75% veggies, I source my organic non-factory farmed meat, I exercise daily, I typically sleep 8 hours a night and my health is paramount to me. I rarely ever get sick.   Vaccinated with J&J on March 18, 2021 First week of April 2021 I started to have constant mouth and tongue burning sensations (as if I had burned my entire mouth on something boiling hot but I hadn?t). I also had tingling in both feet.  This was constant for about two weeks and then became intermittent during the day but happened daily. During that time, I also developed some occasional arm tingling but thought it was from sleeping funny or maybe developing carpal tunnel. I had random deep calf pains that would last for days.  I went to get checked for DVTs after J&J announced that side effect- that was negative. I developed weird random itching along the trunk of my body, but it was more annoying than anything else. These symptoms were semi-frequent randomly during each day, but not constant and I explained them away by various possible reasonings. June 8,2021, I developed a bad headache and horrible back pain that lasted a week. I could barely get out of bed or work. I developed weird nerve pain/tingling on the trunk of my body. It felt like the itching I had previously only stronger and slightly painful now. I had urinary incontinence for one day. June 15,2021 the headache and back pain subsided but the nerve pain and tingling rapidly increased.  By June 17th my mouth was on fire all day again and way worse than before. My tongue was sensitive to any form of spice or citrus. I grew up eating chili peppers and can handle a lot of heat but now I couldn?t even handle eating black pepper.  The right side of my face began to feel like I was being electrocuted. My left side had some tingling, but the right side was so strong, and it shot into my eye, through my cheek and jawbone, around my scalp and down my neck. It started as just a couple times a day but within two weeks was almost all day every day.  The electrocution feeling spread from just being my face to down my neck and into my chest. I would have electrical shooting pain through my chest/heart and into my abdomen.  The tingling in my feet grew to tingling up my legs.  The tingling and electrocution roamed through my body and could be happening on both sides at the same time in different locations (ex: right side of face, left arm, and right foot all at the same time). On July 4th I developed a tremor in my right thigh. Both of my feet began to have excruciating pain and it hurt to walk.  I became very afraid of what was happening to me because nobody had answers.  I saw numerous doctors.  The neurologist informed me that the right side of my body was not responding properly to stimulation. He was concerned about me losing my vision because my right eye didn?t respond properly to neurological testing. He ordered MRIs of my brain and C-spine (July 26 2021).  Everything came back normal. I even sent the imaging out for a second opinion. Everything was normal. All my labs were normal for anything that could be causing these symptoms. I tried nerve blocking medication and had horrible side effects from them (they would trigger menstrual bleeding- I tried starting and stopping them a few times to ensure that it was related to the medication. It was.) I started to notice cognitive problems- I would say the wrong word, couldn?t think of a word, and I would mix up my right and my left. I work as an Sign Language Interpreter and there were days that I thought I would have to stop working because of pain, but more so because I felt like I struggled to understand or produce either language I am fluent in.  I became incredibly sensitive to almost everything I ate. I was already gluten and dairy free for the eight years prior, but suddenly became sensitive to corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, bell peppers, tomatoes (all night shades), onions, any form of sugar/honey/maple syrup, and coffee to name some of them. Food gave me so much stomach pain I switched to a diet of chicken soup and green veggie smoothies. I had an abdominal CT done (August 9 2021) and everything was normal.  When an endoscopy was performed (August 25 2021), the doctor found two ulcers that were negative for H. Pylori. I hadn?t taken any NSAIDS for at least two months prior to the endoscopy. I started the ulcer regiment and it provided relief for some (but not all) of my stomach pain. Even after being on PPIs for acid reduction for over three months (and no NSAIDs for almost 6 months), I cannot eat a normal diet without pain. I still predominantly only consume homemade chicken and veggie soup and mashed up avocados to survive. I cannot handle anything hard in texture or processed. My mouth has not stopped burning. I still have some pain in my stomach and intestines every day. I still have wandering full body nerve pain that ebbs and flows in severity but has never fully gone away. The doctors have no explanation for me. Both the GI doctor and the neurologist have said ?possibly the vaccine.? Before the vaccine I would have rated my quality of life at 100%- not to say I didn?t have some minor aches and pains, but my healthy lifestyle kept me feeling great. I was happy.  When all of these symptoms were at their worst, I would rate my quality of life at 40%. I was scared that I would die from the heart electrocution feeling, in severe pain, miserable, and depressed. Now with the improvements I have slowly made, I rate my quality of life at 80-85% depending on the day and the pain. I still fear that I will slip back into what I experienced over the summer. All of these symptoms began building two and a half weeks after my vaccine. Nine months later I am still dealing with them and have no answers or hope that doctors can help me.