Could Pfizer vaccine be linked to GCA

[GML19]

Pfizer vaccine and autoimmune disease

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Quite a few people believe a vaccine - be it for Covid, flu, shingles or pneumonia triggered their GCA and/or PMR. …and there are a few posts relating to same - look at related posts or type “GCA and vaccines” in search box.

But the more likely fact is, your immune system was struggling anyway - and the vaccine was the final straw that tipped it over!

[Nextoneplease]

Hi GFoxhriw19

Can’t say I’d thought of this, although my PMR was diagnosed a month after my first Pfizer jab, and GCA a couple of months after the second.

What I am increasingly aware of, is the likelihood that I had PMR - type inflammation a good year before I was diagnosed (or indeed vaccinated). Had excruciating pain in shoulder and arm muscles - GP said to rest and take ibuprofen. I wondered whether it was repetitive strain due to using phone too much in lockdown. Painkillers didn’t actually help but it resolved after about a month so I shrugged and carried on….

Then had headaches, especially pain across scalp, and nosebleeds….again no one joined any dots and I was put on blood pressure meds based on my own readings at home. Had never heard of PMA /GCA of course.

In my case I think the timing of the diagnoses and vaccinations was probably coincidental- or the vaccinations may have been the final straw to an underlying inflammatory condition that was already there but not recognised.

I’d still have the jabs and in fact have my third dose booked for Saturday 😊

[HeronNS in reply to Nextoneplease]

I went a long time like you, believing the pain was longstanding osteoarthritis getting worse. At that time the only vaccines I ever got were the ten year boosters for adults, not even flu shot.

[HeronNS]

I don't know if any other vaccines have been implicated in triggering PMR besides the live shingles vaccine, Zostavax. There are reasons why live vaccines are to be avoided where possible by people with autoimmune conditions, but none of the approved Covid vaccines (used in Europe and North America) are live as far as I know. I don't think Pfizer affected my PMR, I was already flaring before first shot, and second one caused no more than minor arm discomfort. I had the non-live shingles vaccine, Shingrix, a month after Pfizer 2, and if anything for a while it seemed to help me taper a bit more easily from my rather intransigent and longlasting flare although if there was any effect it's well worn off now. I will be interested to see what happens after Shingrix 2 in a couple of months!

[AyJayBass in reply to HeronNS]

My PMR was definitely triggered by my first AZ vaccination last January, it started very suddenly just 3 days after the jab. As has been said many times on these pages, it was probably just the last straw, precipitating the PMR which was just waiting to happen!

[HeronNS in reply to AyJayBass]

Yes, I know that happens to some people, but I guess I was trying to say that it's not a known side effect of vaccines, except Zostavax (and possibly others I haven't heard of). Let's hope no covid vaccines turn out to be definite causes in themselves, not just as last insult to an already vulnerable immune system! But there's no telling, as covid itself now seems to cause "long covid" in an astonishing number of victims and PMR patients are not alone in noticing how long covid resembles their own affliction. I suppose in some cases the vaccine, althugh not "live" triggers a similar reaction.

I hope you find your journey with PMR is shortlived. 🌼

[nallufl24 in reply to AyJayBass]

I started to notice something wasn’t right with me shortly after the 2nd vaccine. Two months later I couldn’t function at all. Went into hospital and after biopsy was diagnosed with GCA. Don’t know and probably will never know if it was vaccine related

[Susan1705]

PMR can be triggered in many ways, mine was triggered by a HEP A travel vaccine and GCA by the 2nd Pfizer/

[Broseley]

I experienced the same thing, developing PMR sbout 2 weeks after my 2nd Pfizer dose. I also volunteered for an antibody test after my first dose, which showed I have the long term G type antibodies. Could this mean that my immune system is actually working well?

[cycli]

There are many posts on this recurring theme. It is a natural first question everyone asks who is diagnosed with this condition be it PMR, GCA or both. I think like almost everyone affected that we are almost all alike in knowing something was going wrong with our bodies long before diagnosis. We nearly all thought it was part of the natural aging process or wear and tear due to sport, and accident, misuse or something similar. A very bad bout of flu, or an illness, but in reality if you analyse your lifestyle, the situations you regularly cope with and your general approach to getting over not being well I think you will find a common theme running through the picture. The build up of all these factors stresses the body beyond its own ability to suppress all the many varying factors of adjustment necessary to correct the wrongs and it finally gives up. The autoimmune system goes haywire and attacks itself and unless that is stopped as soon as possible the damage expands. the covid jabs, flu jabs, viruses from other sources, an accident or injury, a bereavement or something serious that unhinges us mentally for a time like severe stress, any and all of these are possible and probable triggers to tip the balance. I doubt we will ever know, but maybe one day we may be able to detect subtle shifts in the chemical balance in the body and know when a triggering state has been reached and back off from what is causing it.

[Seacat30]

Search the forum and you will discover that you are not the first to have suggested this. I have been reading posts here since June 2021 and have seen multiple references to GCA and PMR symptoms appearing shortly after all the Covid vaccines (Astrazeneca in my case). I doubt that you will get a definitive answer to your question though.

[Bennijax]

I hope all these experiences are being reported AND taken seriously by the Yellow Card scheme, and by the makers of the vaccines. Whether or not that one may have been in a pre-inflammatory state before a vaccine injection which then triggered it to show up, the repercussions can be life changing and disabling.

[piglette in reply to Bennijax]

Yellow card reporting, pages!!gov.uk/government/publicati...

[Noosat]

Cano nlys peak to my experience. I have had PMR for almost 3 years. I had the Pfizer shots plus booster with no bad effects. Also hd this year's flu vaccine.

[Bcol]

I've had the flu vaccination for many years and long before PMR with no reactions. Had two OAZ Covid vaccinations with no reactions at all and one Pfizer (last Saturday, third jab), with no reaction so far.