I can't help feeling that pmr symptoms starting 2 weeks after 1st covid vaccine is a coincidence. Anyone else had this?

[Trainy]

This is my first post/question and feeling a little overwhelmed by the whole thing.

[Songbird69]

Hi Trainy,

Welcome!

I guess it is a possibility, or it may have happened anyway. We will probably never know. ☹️

I can relate to your thoughts in part as although I didn’t have a flare of PMR, I had the worst Crohns flare ever (for me) after the first jab - and now something similar is happening to me after the second. I am pretty damn sure the jab was responsible for mine!!

It is understandable that you feel overwhelmed. But this is a really helpful forum and you can ask anything you want to on your journey through this.

Others will be along soon I am sure to welcome you and give you some pointers.

🤗

[Noosat in reply to Songbird69]

are you sure you did not have symptoms earlier. When I waa n, I realized I had suffered symptoms for almost a year. The 2 Pfizer shots I had did not affect the Pmr. When I was first diagnosed, I also had an attack of shingles, never had them before. Did one illness affect or lead to the other. Who knowa?? Still a lot of mystery to this disease. Good Luck

[Songbird69 in reply to Noosat]

I didn’t have any symptoms before the first vaccination - and the symptoms I had post vaccine were nothing like my normal Crohns flares. Difficult to describe! You are right. It is all a mystery!

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Hi and welcome,

It was probably brewing in the background, but the vaccine was the final straw that broke the camel's back.... many have thought a vaccine (nor just the Covid one) had a similar effect.

It is overwhelming at the beginning, but this forum will help you through, maybe have a look at the FAQs when you feel up to it, but can I suggest you have a read of this for starters... and remember there is always someone about while will respond...

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Hi and welcome - are you overwhelmed by the PMR or the busy-ness of the this forum? It can feel rather hectic at times!

Do you mean ISN'T a coincidence? That the vaccine triggered the PMR? Or that it WASN'T the vaccine at all, that it just so happened to be close together?

I'll just say what I always say: PMR doesn't have a single trigger, it is thought to be the culmination of a lifetime of insults to the immune system, environmental, physical and mental stress, illness, physical activity all have an effect on the immune system. Each chips away at the immune system's resilience and eventually something tips it over the edge and it goes haywire. It might be an operation, a bad situation at home or at work, a virus or a vaccine, many people blame their flu jab or the shingles jab, or even medication like statins. And it may not appear immediately, it may take a while to surface as symptoms.

So it might have been the vaccine that was the final straw that tipped the balance, a lot of us seem to have developed what appear to be flares, or it might not. No-one will ever really know - just as we can never say for sure what it was led to us developing PMR or GCA even if we had not had a vaccine - I'd never had a flu jab before PMR.

[Trainy in reply to PMRpro]

Thank you all for the replies and general reassurance. Working my way through FAQ's. Can't believe the fatigue. Currently working full time as a self employed heating installer because I'm the family earner. 4 weeks in, serious fatigue. I've always had a head down, keep going, it'll pass attitude but not this time. I guess it's time to slow down. 6 years off pension age without a clue of what to do next.

[Gardenbay in reply to Trainy]

The COVID injection made no difference to me.I think it may just be coincidence,are we looking for a reason why we have PMR.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Trainy]

It may be - I was also self-employed so I know the problems but I wasn't the main earner. I continued working but all I had to do was sit in front of the computer and put the brain in gear and that was hard enough ...

[Sophiestree in reply to PMRpro]

I so think this is a big part of these things "insults to the immune system, environmental, physical and mental stress, illness, physical activity all have an effect on the immune system"Knowing what my symptoms are now, once they really took hold, I think I have had several over many many years, but in a mild form, only to crash in after just one too many life issues that my body just decided enough was enough. Oh with hindsight!!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Sophiestree]

Yup. Absolutely. And that final thing may have been some time previously and it just crept up over months and months. Even once mine started it was another 9 months or so before it really bit hard.

[Sophiestree in reply to PMRpro]

Yes, agree, I think from the start of my 'last' more pronounced symtoms, it was many months before I went to the doctor, and then months until a diagnosis. I worked long hours and often felt rubbish. It wasn't until I literally could not walk from the sofa to the loo that I did something. Or more like, my sister insisted I did.

[Noosat]

are

[PMRdaughter]

The vaccine triggers an inflammatory response because it’s waking up your immune system. You are already in an inflammatory state. It makes sense that you don’t feel good.

[bussell]

I am in the same boat as you. PMR symptoms and diagnosis followed hard on the heels of first vaccination. Looking back I see the warning signs were there, and like PMRPro says probably the insult (good word!) to the system of the vaccination were the last straw. Very difficult for you as you are still working - and if you push yourself too hard things will get even harder. Good luck with your decisions.

[Pollynolongerinagony in reply to bussell]

hi there sorry to hear the covid jab possibly triggered full blown PMR. have you reorted this to the yellow card scheme ? as this helps everyone undertand the possible con affects involved, as well as the pro's which percent of beneficia protection are only now filtering through. I do hope you will get all the help you need to speed you into a controlled situation, this site will be of enourmous help to you, blessings polly (had 2 fizers, terrible consequenses but forced to have them to give the hope of hugging my grandchildren masked one day. polly

[bussell in reply to Pollynolongerinagony]

Yes, rest assured, I did report it to Yellow Card.

[Pollynolongerinagony]

hi Trainy, what choice do we have, we have to have the vaccines if we have any hope of hugging grandchildren, Ive had 2 pfizers, terrible fallout, but forced to have them if want to have those hugs. did you report to yellow car scheme that covid vax triggering pmr as they want us to let them know any changes post vax. Those results wont come out for years, and tons of people dont connect the after affects a week or month later to the vax, and then dont report them as often too poorly and traumatised with coping with full blown conditions... anyway wishing you a good control of your condition speedlily you will get loads of help on this forum, blessings polly.

[Trainy in reply to Pollynolongerinagony]

Hi, response to this has been tremendous. Without this forum I probably wouldn't have yellow carded it. Second jab in 3 weeks still planned

[Shiba64]

Hi

I'd been suffering with what I thought was a very weird/couldn't understand what has happened to me load of symptoms. Was just being tested for various things, had my covid jab and reacted to it and almost seemed like it got bit better but then wham it got worse!

So yes think it did have some impact but prob just stirred up what was already they - though at the precise time didn't know it was PMR.

It seems like a very complex condition that I'm still trying to get my head round but this forum is great and certainly leaning a lot.

😁

[AyJayBass]

I had my first vaccination (AZ) on 22nd January. The next day I experienced flu like symptoms, not unexpectedly. These had cleared up by the end of the second day. On the third day I woke up with aches and pains in shoulders, neck, hips, thighs and knees - plus a flare of sciatic pain on the right hand side. (I had had this a few times in the past). I was weak and it was difficult to stand from a sitting position and painful to turn over in bed.

First GP I spoke to prescribed Co-codamol and said get back to her in a few days. Spoke to her again and she ordered full bloods workup. When they came back to the surgery, my usual GP picked them up and rang me. I found out later that CRP was 94. He said that bloods showed inflammation but could not work out what was causing it. Had an MRI scan of my back which didn't find cause of sciatica. He finally thought of PMR on 12th March, started me on 15mg of Pred which made a huge difference almost immediately. New bloods taken a few days later and CRP was down to 18.

GP told me to take 15mg for a week, alternating days of 15 and 10mg for a week then 10mg (I now know that this was pretty radical but it worked OK). I am currently on 8mg. Due for a review with GP when I get to 7mg. No new bloods yet. He also put me on to Alendronic Acid and Colecalciferol + Vit D3. I am going to request a Bone Density Scan at next review to see if the AA is really essential.

I had my second AZ dose on 26th March (while I was on 15/10 = 12.5mg pred) and had no side effects.

I had experienced various aches and pains and regular night sweats for a long time before the first AZ vax. I now believe it likely that PMR was already present at a low level and the first AZ vaccination caused a major flare.

I have done a yellow card report, which took a long time because of all the other meds I am on!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to AyJayBass]

"I had experienced various aches and pains and regular night sweats for a long time"

Like you, I think it is very likely the PMR was there before the jab - I'd had that sort of summer before mine hit like a ton of bricks in the late autumn.