Age: 36.0
Sex: F
Vaccine: COVID19
Symptoms: Headache, Injection site pain, Joint swelling, Mobility decreased, Pain in extremity
Clinical narrative: Lot number on card (003B21A) differs from digital Othena record (046A21A). I am not sure why this is and only noticed this as I was reporting in this system.    I was vaccinated in the passenger side of my car in the left arm. As such I had to twist around (with difficulty due to some of my conditions) and the vaccinator had my arm wrenched up and backwards at an angle nearly perpendicular to by body.  After getting my first shot my arm was in immediate significant pain. It started swelling immediately and I was monitored for 30 minutes but told I was not having an allergic reaction so I was likely fine. The pain in my arm worsened into and over the evening and felt as if my arm had been mangled or crushed in some sort of accident. I assumed this normal arm pain. My arm was very swollen. The joints in my hands, fingers, wrist, elbow, we?re also very swollen, red, and painful. The pain at the injection site did not dissipate and I was bruised for several weeks. It was difficult or impossible use my arm and hands (both). I checked in with my doctor after a week. She believed this was an over immune reaction related to my chronic health conditions and believed it would settle itself in time for my next shot and advised me to check in if it did not go away in two weeks. A few days before my next appointment the symptoms had not abated and the pain in my shoulder appeared to be getting progressively worse.  I had radiating pain down my arm at this point and continued swelling all over along with continued swelling and pain in all the joints in my hands, fingers, wrists and elbow. I was advised by my doctor to go to urgent care (I am out of state from staying with my mom). They checked for blood clots and infection and found no signs of either and believed the problem to be an over reaction of my immune system to the vaccine. I was prescribed a Medrol pack. I went to my scheduled second vaccination but was told that they would not vaccinate me after they asked about my reaction to the first shot and looked at my hands and arm. They wanted me to take the medrol pack and reduce the inflammation in my arm before administering the second injection. I took the medrol pack and had mixed success. The first days on the high dose helped reduce the pain and swelling all over but on the days with the lower dose most of the symptoms came back. I contacted my doctor and was prescribed prednisone starting at 40mg/day. At this time the pain in my shoulder was continuing to get progressively worse so I returned to the urgent care. There I received a physical exam and x-ray and the doctor believed I had a shoulder injury (impingement/rotator cuff issue) and bursitis. My shoulder has a stabbing sensation like a knife around the injection site that radiates down the the side of my arm and up over the top front and back of my shoulder. It hurts when I touch it, raise my arm, bend it, try to hold or lift anything, when I am physically active (such as going for a long walk), or sit or lean in certain positions (mostly very forward or back into objects, like the back of the sofa).  All of this makes this area painful but also makes the all over swelling worse and worsens the swelling and pain in my hands, fingers, wrist, and elbow. I have not had any other accident or injury. Due to my chronic health issues I am extremely cautious and have a very precise and conservative exercise regimen (just walking, gentle yoga movements). This shoulder pain very definitely started at the time of the vaccination and has progressively worsened over the course of eight weeks. I have been told to treat it with rest, pain meds, gentle movements, and ice, all of which I have been doing, however the pain and impairment persist. I started the prednisone after the visit to urgent care but on day three began experiencing severe pain in my right eye, face, back of my head, and blurred, unfocused vision. I also had a complete loss of appetite and upset stomach. I was advised by my doctor to immediately stop the medication. I experienced several days of withdrawal symptoms, and the head pain and visual problems have gotten better though they have not completely gone away. The prednisone alleviated some of the arm swelling and pain but the joint pain and swelling in my hands, fingers, wrists, elbows, while a bit better, still remains. While I was diagnosed with arthritis in a few joints (first, second, and thumb knuckles and have had some wrist problems) they were never this severe, as long lasting, or this painful (usually just brief hour long irritation of a knuckle or two). I had not been treated with medication for this ailment because the problem had not been very bad. I am also now experiencing pain in many other joint I have never had problems with (such as other fingers). Sometimes the swelling and pain are debilitating and I am unable to use my hands at all. This had never been the case for me in the past.