I Wish I Knew Before Getting the Covid-19 Vaccine

In the state where I reside, people w/T1D were finally approved to get the COVID-19 vaccine last week on Monday.

I got it Wednesday. I was hesitant but also looking forward to having peace of mind because I am one of those people who hasn’t eaten in a restaurant since the pandemic began or gone into a mall.

Here’s what I wish I known, however, because I might would have planned things differently.

Since then here’s what happened…
Wednesday at noon: I got the vaccine. I had to wait 15 minutes in a waiting area before leaving to make sure that everything was okay. In about 20 minutes, I felt the pain in my arm begin. 

By 3pm: I was extremely tired and sleepy. My arm started to swell & ache. I didn’t sleep well.

Thursday:  I woke up and my arm was in much more pain, I also had a terrible headache, and then brain fog. I mean horrible, DKA type of brain fog. I didn’t know what was wrong since I hadn’t heard that was a possible side effect (I missed it), I read the CDC sheets they gave me and brain fog or cognitive issues were NOT listed. Only fatigue, fever, chills, swelling. But I knew something was off and it wasn’t just the pounding migraine I had. So, I looked on the internet and BAM…there it was…”Brain fog from the covid vaccine” ? I can’t remember if stayed in bed more than I stayed out of it.
Thursday was the worst day of them all!!

Friday: After what happened on Thursday, I was too scared to drive on Friday and I spent a large part of the day in bed. I didn’t have much energy. The brain fog triggered my first DKA experience when I couldn’t give a lecture without messing up. I called my mom and tried telling her what I was feeling & that I got the vaccine on Wednesday and it took 3 attempts to say “Wednesday.” I said “Thursday,” “Friday,” and “Monday” all before I grabbed onto Wednesday.

Saturday: I shared this information on Facebook because I wondered if this happened to just me. Nope, I am not alone. Apparently it’s more common than I knew.

Sunday:I sleep all day except for the two hours I went hiking in the swamp. The migraine is down to a headache.

Monday (Today): I missed a meeting. Literally looked at my calendar ALL DAY LONG and saw that I had a meeting at 1pm on Monday, but I just couldn’t grasp that today was Monday. ? Haven’t quite figured out how to explain this, but the vaccine is whipping me and I am just holding on hoping that tomorrow is better than today.

My arm is no longer hurting, I don’t have an awful headache anymore, but my cognitive awareness isn’t back to 100%.

I am telling you this in case, like me, you didn’t know this was a possibility. I wish I knew that this could happen, then I could have made sure not to get the vaccine in the midst of all these deadlines I have.

If you can, you should plan accordingly. You might be down for a couple of days to a week.

BTW, I got one of the 2 dose vaccines.