Age: 71.0
Sex: M
Vaccine: COVID19, COVID19, COVID19
Symptoms: Gait disturbance, Heart rate increased, Immature granulocyte count increased, Injection site pain, Joint range of motion decreased
Clinical narrative: After receiving the first vaccination shot, I had zero pain at the injection site.  About 25 hours after the shot, the injection area got very painful.  It ramped up to about the level of passing a kidney stone and them back down to virtually no pain over a period of about one hour.  Two days after the first vaccination, an area about one inch high extending a half inch into eyebrow started to peel.  A first it was once per day, but rapidly ramped up to three times a day and back down to once a day before stopping.  The episode lasted about 10 days.  I lost so much skin, people thought I was injured and several asked if I was OK.  When the skin recovered, I was left with some red scarring. After receiving the second shot on 3/11/2021 (Lot Number En5205).  The injection site was a bit sore for a day.  Two days after the second injection, the forehead again peeled in the same area once a day for about 5 days before stopping. Seven months, the forehead started peeling again once a day for approximately two weeks. Twelve days after the first vaccination injection, I went to bed and woke up the next morning with my knee severely swollen.  It has swollen to the point where it was limited to only 30% to 40% of the normal range.  Walking was extremely difficult and tiring since I couldn?t come close to straightening the knee.  It took two months before I could straighten it and walk more or less normally.  It wasn't until three months that I could do so without a lot of pain. As the swelling reduced, I could tell most of the pain was in the area of the medial ligament.  The ligament would get a burning sensation with use and got very sore.  Swelling would radiate from the medial ligament area across the knee.  The knee would recover over night, but still had a significant amount of swelling.  At this point the knee stopped improving, so I went to an orthopedist.  He tried cortisone shot which didn?t help at all.  Then we tried physical therapy and it only aggravated the medial ligament.   It was about this time (6 ½ months after the first injection) that a new symptom showed up.  An area just above the inside of the knee itched severely for a couple of days followed by a very red irregular shaped rash.  Over the next couple of weeks, the rash would come and go every 3 to 4 days.  I started to believe at this point that my problems might be an autoimmune response to the Covid vaccination.  I did some research and found several articles that indicated that Covid 19 and the vaccination could cause an autoimmune response.  An article had a list of about 8 known autoimmune responses to the Covid vaccination and the article said there were like a number of others they didn?t know about yet.  Talked to my orthopedist and I thought a few blood tests to confirm or discounted the theory was appropriate.  He didn?t think the tests were appropriate, so I fired him.  I scheduled an appointment with my regular doctor and couple of days before my appointment; I went to be and woke up with most of the remaining swelling gone.  Kind of scary, don?t know what to expect when you get up in the morning.  The new normal was much reduced pain and much better endurance from the medial ligament.  I could now kneel without pain and had full range of movement in the knee for the first time in about 7 months.  The red rash on the side of the knee was still appearing and disappearing every few days, but it was noticeable paler. Went to see my general doctor for the first time I discovered that my resting heart rate was about 90.  Normal for me before the vaccination had been in the low 50s.  This too seems to come and go like the rash.  The doctor took blood and gave me a prescription for an MRI.  The blood work showed the C - reactive protein and Immature Grans (ABS) were high.  The MRI showed that the medial ligament was swollen. I made an appointment with a Rheumatologist to follow up.  The Rheumatologist took blood for testing.  When the blood test came back, the ANA and DS-ANA readings were high.  The C - reactive protein and ABS readings had dropped some since the general doctor?s first blood tests.  We decided that since things seemed to be improving, we?d take a wait and see approach.  Especially since treatment would knock down my immune system in the middle of a pandemic.  I asked about the Covid booster and she recommended that I not get it until the autoimmune problem is resolved.  At this point, I still can?t do one of my favorite activities, hiking.  Unless I go to bed and wake up with a normal immune system, it is likely to be sometime next year before I can resume my normal life.