Second dose of Pfizer yesterday evening. All very quick and straightforward and the centre has improved the way it processes people since February. I felt very safe. Nothing except a sore arm in the way of side effects as yet - I'll update you all if this changes.
I don't know if it makes a difference to how people react, but for comparison I take 2g Mycophenolate and 400mg hydroxychloroquine and have longstanding SLE with class IV nephritis.
Thank you yes very helpful thanks v much for sharing.
Glad all went well - am sure it’s such a relief to get your second dose. I can’t wait to have mine! Onwards and upwards, take care.
Congratulations WS🤗🙌One more step towards some limited FREEDOM!!! 🏊
Glad to hear you're ok after second dose..rest up though..u know the drill!! 😉🌈😽😽Xx
😁😁😁
Great news, I hope your side effects stay minimal xx
🎈🎈 Great! Let us know how you do tomorrow.
Quick update: Thursday lunchtime - all good. Swam as usual yesterday morning and today. Keep imagining that I might be a bit tired but once I make an effort I am fine. I know people have been unlucky in their reactions - but I'm completely fine as far as I know. I have a friend with rheumatoid who takes leflunomide - and she has also been fine on her Pfizer vaccine.
HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE
I have been on Hydroxychloroquine for about 7 years now. It has a few side effects, but nothing we can’t live with without too much distress! I'm sure you know that it uses Quinine which was originally found to combat malaria, but one of its (many) side-effects, as I'm sure you know, is that the quinine part of it has been found to help us by reducing the onslaught of Lupus. Which works well, It has not been proved to help with COVID 19 though, despite eX-Pres. Trump’s hopes.
Originally, when Lupus itself struck, it had several bad effects but nobody knew what had hit me, so they were treated individually [but sadly it doesn’t work like that!]. For instance, I had found the skin peeling off my back, so I was given skin moisturising cream; I developed an inability to get my limbs to obey the brain instructions – like, for instance, my left foot seemed to be glued to the floor and I couldn't move it - my left hand got stuck to the bannister and wouldn't obey my brain's instructions to open and let go until my wife peeled the fingers off the woodwork one by one, and I was given sedatives for that, but eventually a young [F1 Grade] Doctor linked all these problems together when his studies revealed that Hydroxychloroquine had a beneficial effect on all of these symptoms, and all these individual 'curatives'were useless, so his Consultant started to try it out on me and it took a little getting used to, but seemed to work well.
At first I got the runs a lot, and bladder weakness – which is still getting worse, but I blame that on underlying health problems – however I’ve found that taking the meds with a meal and taking in less fluid seemed to help with that. They say it can cause hair loss, but my age and metabolism has beat Lupus to it, so that one is of no concern to me! Fortunately for me, I don't seem to suffer from the nausea side effect, which some people seem to.
Weight loss, and appetite loss are said to be common side effects and why, oh why, has that effect by-passed ME BY? when I first developed Lupus I lost over 20 lbs in two weeks without medication, because my stomach wouldn’t hold anything down – not even water and when I was taken to hospital, I was put on a drip until I found myself able to eat solids again, and even drink water. The hospital nutritionist told the kitchen and ward staff to give me high calorie meals, and snacks in between meals, such as biscuits with every cuppa (which is like giving an alcoholic a bottle of wine of their choice, with every meal and in between, and I was born overweight and have been on diets etc all my life)
However, apart from the above, Hydroxychloroquine seems to have increased my tinnitus and exacerbated the hereditary family curse of skin problems giving me an occasional strange rash which I've never suffered from before. My previous [brain tumour] operations have taken away my self-control substantially,but I can't blame that on Hydrox... and my eyes seem to leak at the silliest things, like sad bits in The Simpsons! Are there any? - my eyes apparently think so . . . . but give me a story like 'Call the Midwife' or ‘Casualty’ and I'm a total wreck! (see what I mean?), however, I don’t believe that is caused by Hydroxychloroquine I also lose my temper very easily (which I never used to do, but I don't blame that on Hydroxychloroquine ). Thank goodness my children are grown up and live elsewhere, so they don’t suffer me at my worst and my wife is a total saint with seemingly endless amounts of empathy. Fortunately, I'm also normally very laid back, so I quickly regain control again before I slap anybody.
My joints all ache and my balance has almost vanished, so I fall over frequently [partly due to hydroxychloroquine side effects], so I’ve had to sell my three bikes including the expensive ones, for next to nothing – eg two German specially-made 24 gear bikes which I bought for about £400 each, and an electric-assist bike all sold for about £50 each, so no more cycling or even walking [all my ex-hobbies] are no longer for me, as I can only cover the width of our cul-de-sac road (about 20 feet) without falling over – and that’s only just walking slowly with the aid of a stick; and indoors I now use a Zimmer frame!
Apart from that, I'm fine and in the pink of health, and my'glass is half full' now rather than 'half empty'!!!
All the best. And speak to your Rheumatologist for him/her to see if you need a prescription ASAP - In the UK they are ‘prescription-only drugs’ and the NHS pays for them, but in the USA a packet (presumably about 100) can cost around $70
PS: i've also just had my 2nd jab of Pfizer, and it hasn't clashed at all with Hydroxychloroquine
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