Three days ago I wrote a response to JustaSheet1 about my experience with the second dose of the Moderna vaccine....to make a long story short, the arm where I received the injection swelled to about 3x's its normal size, was hard as a rock, itchy and very hot....to make matters worse, my left underarm was so swollen, I was unable to put my arm down by my side or lift it. This morning, after having just two hours of sleep due to the extreme discomfort and pain, I decided to go to my local walk-in clinic. My "known" symptom wasn't getting any better, but worse....the redness and swelling that started at the injection site was quickly traveling to my elbow and under my arm was spreading down my left side to my waist and up around to my collar bone...to put it bluntly I was a red swollen, blotchy, and itchy mess. The Nurse Practioner took one look at me and said you either need to go to an Urgent Care or an ER, as I can't help you...you need an antibiotic, so tell the Urgent Care or ER that you are streaking and it's going towards your heart! It almost sounded like one of the medical dramas I watch on the television, but this was real and happening to me. My husband drove me to one Urgent Care and when we explained what was going on, we were told they don't give shots of antibiotics....we called two other Urgent Care facilities and were told the same thing....so it was off to the ER. At the intake of the ER I explained to the doctor what was going on and that I had CLL and told him I thought I had cellulitis (this knowledge coming from years of experience as Dr. Mom). After 5 hours in the ER, numerous blood draws, a chest xray, an arm xray, a urinalysis, an EKG as my blood pressure was quite high, a saline IV to lower my heart rate as I was tachycardia ( I know I've heard that word on Chicago Med), and an antibiotic IV, I was told that my labs were great, chest xray fine, but the arm xray showed I had a bone infection at the injection site and with my compromised immune system the bacteria turned into cellulitis. I was prescribed an antibiotic and told this should clear up the bone infection but if not I was given the name of an orthopedic surgeon. On the bright side, my wbc count had actually gone down from 18.4 to 15.4!
Moderna Vaccine Dose 2 Update: Three days ago I... - CLL Support
Moderna Vaccine Dose 2 Update
Wow Hayley, that’s terrible. It sounds clear your reaction was due to the vaccination.
I wonder if it has anything to do with the vaccine itself or if it is an infection more related to the puncture. All of us with Cll have increased infection risk with any puncture, including normal blood draws.
I doubt the needle reached any bone you have, but it doesn’t have to in order to cause a bone infection. Any bacteria that entered at the injection site could reach the bone through the bloodstream and find somewhere to sneak in.
I would not think the vaccine itself caused the infection, but I don’t know. I hope the antibiotics clear up your infection. It’s a rare reaction from what we have seen so fa. I think the way Cll doctors who recommend the vaccine look at it is that we are all so seriously at risk from dying from covid that the risk of rare side effects is worth it.
It probably doesn’t feel that way for you. An infection like you had is a steep price to pay for immunity. So far as I have been able to tell your reaction is very rare. The risk to us of dying from covid still greatly exceeds the risk of a reaction like you had, a reaction that might happen with any sort of needle puncture you had.
But what a terrible reaction you had. I hope the vaccine ends up working for you.
Thanks, me too!
Hayleym, that is very scary, and I hope you are doing better, that the antibiotic does clear up the infection. It is the first I have heard/read of such an experience. Please let us know how things go for you.
Hayley, how incredibly frightening! I can hardly imagine your angst as you tried to find somewhere to be treated, and finally ended up for 5 hours in the ER! Please let us know how your infection gets resolved.
OMGoodness, how awful & scary, I am so glad you got treatment & are on your way to being better....doggie kisses from my sweeties & hugs from me (but not on on the injured side, only the good one, and gently at that)
Oh my goodness...that is scaryHope ur feet better ! 🙏💕
Thank you for sharing your experience, which highlights the importance of correctly cleaning the injection site prior to vaccination when we have compromised immune systems, along with seeking medical attention when the unusual happens.
I'm glad you went to ER, as cellulitis needs urgent attention. I had a similar experience, thought to be due to an insect bite, which I described in this post: healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...
Your WBC change isn't telling the full story. It is very important to check out the differential section, which lists the white blood cell counts per white blood cell type to see how your lymphocytes (which include your CLL cells) and your other white blood cells, in particular your neutrophils, have responded. (I've seen my lymphocyte count drop by almost two thirds, from 14 to 5 after IV antibiotics and it halved on another occasion following IV antibiotics). I'm glad your labs came back great, but please don't hesitate to go back to ER if your arm doesn't continue to improve.
Somehow your vaccination enabled bacteria to get into your arm, causing the cellulitis for which you do need IV antibiotics. Do you recall how well your arm was swabbed prior to being given the vaccination?
Years ago my doctor refused to give me an indicated steroid shot into my arm for chronic pain after an arm injury, because he was rightly concerned about the dangers associated with a deep injection when neutropenic - getting bacteria into the bone where it can be difficult to get antibiotic coverage. I hope you don't need to see that orthopaedic surgeon!
Neil
I have never had my arm cleaned before a blood draw or flu jab...even when done by my GP. I do it myself now before I go in.
The technician that gave me the second dose actually scrubbed the area quite hard before she gave me the shot, unlike the first dose. I do remember thinking as she administered the shot, "Wow this hurts!" The first time around I didn't feel a thing-now I know this could be a matter of practice and experience between the two techs, but the first dose totally different!
That's both interesting and surprising, but the bacteria had to come from somewhere, perhaps from accidental contamination of the syringe or vaccine, if it is multi-dose. Airborne contamination also can't be ruled out from just someone talking, etc. You were just extremely unfortunate.
Neil
Neil, I also wanted to Thank You for the link you supplied in your post, very informative and truly eye opening...it makes sense to me now about what the Nurse Practioner said about streaking, and the reason the hospital performed some of the tests they did. They wanted to make sure I had enough oxygen in my blood so my other organs were functioning....and the big one, they were looking to make sure I wasn't septic. I passed this along to my older brother as he is going for his 2nd dose next week. Unfortunately my brother's B cell lymphocytosis advanced to CLL a couple of years ago, so we are two peas in a pod sharing the same chronic condition!
At least you can look out for each other.
Gosh, hope you will start feeling better soon.
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