Fourth Covid Vaccine : Well had my fourth vaccine... - PMRGCAuk

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Fourth Covid Vaccine

Hollybee21 profile image
59 Replies

Well had my fourth vaccine on New Years Eve and ended up in bed for 2.5 days. This time I had the Moderna vaccine and it knocked me sideways . Banging headache, aching, feeling sick and a pulse pumping in my ear all night. Thank goodness feeling back to myself today and doesn’t seem to have affected my PMR. Happy New Year everyone.

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Hollybee21 profile image
Hollybee21
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59 Replies
yogabonnie profile image
yogabonnie

sorry you suffered!! but great 4th shot! Where are you that you were able to get a 4th? when did you have your 3rd? I am hoping for a 4th soon..but so far not eligible in US... I had booster in August.

Hollybee21 profile image
Hollybee21 in reply to yogabonnie

I am in the Uk (Wales) and had my 3rd Primary on 1st October.o

Plains profile image
Plains in reply to yogabonnie

I had my booster in August as well in the US. I hope to get a 4th in February. Four of my family members, all vaccinated got it around Christmas. I didn’t!! Two PCR tests and no symptoms.

DorsetLady profile image
DorsetLadyPMRGCAuk volunteer

Good to hear you’re on the mend..,and that PMR seems okay - but just keep on eye on things -and if necessary take appropriate action.

Hollybee21 profile image
Hollybee21 in reply to DorsetLady

Will do. Thanks

SnazzyD profile image
SnazzyD

You’re not usual from the sounds of it. At my husband’s work, a company of 600 people there were many more absences from people having Moderna than the others. AZ was next. When I had my Pfizer booster yesterday the nurse nodded knowingly when I mentioned this and said it was her observation too.

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply to SnazzyD

It was the second Moderna that gave me a flare - not a sausage with the 3rd which was Pfizer.

prunus profile image
prunus in reply to PMRpro

I've stuck with Pfizer for all three and had no problems. My younger son had one AZ and that caused him to be off work. He went back to pfizer for his third.

Pawscat11 profile image
Pawscat11 in reply to prunus

My first moderna gave me a flare too

Boss302Fan profile image
Boss302Fan in reply to PMRpro

I don’t understand the logic of getting a 3rd dose using a different vaccine. Pfizer codes for different viral proteins than Moderna. Seems to me to increase probability of higher count of memory B cells with longer term memory that would want to stay with the same vaccine versus introducing a new set of Sars-cov-2 proteins to recognize from scratch.

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply to Boss302Fan

There is study evidence that shows subjects who were given mixed series of vaccines had greater immune responses than ones who had always the same vaccine - some of it wasn't deliberate, it turned up because of supply hiccups and suspicions about various vaccines in various age groups. But that was what they found - and it resulted in a change in policy in some countries.

Kendrew profile image
Kendrew

I know several people who have felt quite unwell for a couple of days after the Moderna vaccine...my husband being one of them. So sorry you were poorly too but hopefully you're over the worst of the 'reaction' now. You must feel a lot more reassured now you've had your 4th vaccination? I had my 3rd primary vaccination on Oct 23rd so I'm eligible for my booster on 21st of this month and will feel as protected as I can be then....for someone on steroids anyway!

Look after yourself.

Hollybee21 profile image
Hollybee21 in reply to Kendrew

Thank you.

Blearyeyed profile image
Blearyeyed

I had the Moderna as my third , I was still nursing a kidney and digestive infection at the time. I had much the same symptoms as you for about a week and would have assumed it was because I was already run down except for my OH , a Type 1 Diabetic , having the other half dose with me at the same time and having very similar symptoms for a few days.

( Gosh ! Who says romance is dead .... although I think I'd prefer to returning to the days of having an ice cream and two spoons rather than sharing a Covid vaccination!)

I've heard of a number of people getting a much more severe flu like reaction to the Moderna vaccine than they had to the AZ , including people with no underlying health conditions.

I was told to think positive about this as according to some peoples antibody results there had been some discussion down in Oxford circles that many subjects whom reported a more aggressive reaction after their vaccinations on their written survey had higher levels of remaining antibodies after six months when tested than those whom had no reaction to the vaccine at all.

I assume its something that they are now researching and a paper would come from it eventually.

One theory I had also heard on the News was that a short period of illness and higher temperatures could be caused by us having a mild infection or cold which hadn't shown symptoms but raised its ugly head after being vaccinated , as our immune system was in the compromised period , whilst the body was building up new antibodies in the week after vaccination.

Its part of the reason they especially advise vulnerable people to keep away from public places or indoor social activity for a week to ten days after the vaccination.

Another theory was that many of us , especially the chronic illness sufferers , are more run down physically than we were with the first two doses because of the effect having less access to our usual routines , exercise and physio activity is having on our general wellbeing

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply to Blearyeyed

Within the NHS the main absences seemed to be from younger people who;d had the AZ vaccine, they complained mightily my daughters said.

Blearyeyed profile image
Blearyeyed in reply to PMRpro

That ,again, does seem to give legs to the theory that its the way the body is responding to getting another booster when perhaps the person themselves isn't , potentially, on tip top form than it being caused by a particular vaccine , doesn't it.

The OH and I did notice that the person whom administered our vaccine did stick it in on a higher and different part of the muscle than we usually get jabbed and we wondered whether that was why our arms also felt much more painful , hard to move and swollen than usual.

It wouldn't have made any difference to the reaction in the rest of our bodies but it certainly seemed to add to the discomfort .

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply to Blearyeyed

Probably - the position is crucial to avoid damage to muscle and nerves. You should possibly have reported it - they might need some retraining. I didn't feel my 3rd - during or after. She was brilliant!

Hollybee21 profile image
Hollybee21 in reply to PMRpro

I was the same on my third.

Blearyeyed profile image
Blearyeyed in reply to PMRpro

I think that has been part of the issue in the UK , and in my experience in Wales were the seemed to have taken the wrong tactic of taking all the Covid 3rd booster vaccinations from Primary Care and then left themselves in frantic catch up mode.

Most centres are using people conscripted from other areas of social medical care and retired staff , medical and nursing trainees or the newly trained.

Although most will be brilliant and able to do the job well or freshly trained with the right procedure firm in their heads , some clearly are not and the fast recap or fast training they are getting to do the job may mean many of us fall foul of these sorts of problems.

I know my surgery nurses have been fuming as most of the ones I've spoken to were annoyed that they were just separated off to do the flu vaccinations and then left twiddling their thumbs when they could have conducted the boosters for the most vulnerable patients at their own surgery without people suffering the delays they were experiencing because the system being used was not contacting people as efficiently as they should and often not in the right order of priority.

I have so many jabs , blood tests and injections and I've hardly ever had an issue with them when done at my own surgery. Apart from anything else they know I have EDS and Fibro so they know I have to have certain needles and things done in a particular way to prevent edemas and these sorts of things.

My original letter gave me a date on the 16 th Jan , two and a half months after the six month deadline after my second jab. You just got cut off on the local helpline and there was no way to put in a complaint to the right people about the mistake.

In the end , when clinics started posting the possibility of getting cancelled appointments we went to the venue at a local football ground and explained my health situation to them at the door , and the fact that I couldn't stand in line or sit around in the waiting area as I was meant to be shielding but that the local surgery said it was urgent for me to get the booster ASAP because my general immunity was so low.

They realised the oversight and fitted me in the next morning.

If it was being done via Primary Care , or PC at least had a phone line to call to address these sort of errors by getting to speak to an actual human being , the whole thing wouldn't have become so slow and chaotic.

DorsetLady profile image
DorsetLadyPMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Blearyeyed

Maybe because many of the boosters were Pfizer - and most small primary care surgeries aren’t/weren’t equipped to deal with storage of that vaccine.

On the initial round of vaccines about half a dozen local surgeries in our area got together to form a Hub - and they did have facilities to provide Pfizer, individually they couldn’t have.

On the boosters, the Dorset health authority made the decision that PC surgeries would concentrate on flu (and shingles vaccines) initially - and boosters would be given at local hospital hubs, which is what happened. Once majority of eligible people had had the flu vaccine, they reverted to the same procedure as initial primary vaccines where surgeries took over.

Have to say, it seems to have worked well here.

DorsetLady profile image
DorsetLadyPMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Blearyeyed

That seems to happen with people that haven’t been taught how to do procedure correctly, or maybe at the end of a long shift!

When I saw my physio before Christmas he was saying he saw a patient in the musculoskeletal clinic who had a painful shoulder allegedly caused by a vaccine injected in the wrong place…..and he had to give him a steroid injection to ease the pain…in almost the same spot!

Trouble is, they were trying to complete too many vaccines in a short timeframe at the end of 2021- 2nd & 3rd primary doses and boosters for many different ages - and many vaccinators who had been drafted in and trained for initial rounds early days had neither actually been used nor their training refreshed.

Blearyeyed profile image
Blearyeyed in reply to DorsetLady

Yes , its why I and our surgery nurses couldn't understand why they weren't using their skills as they had before. My initial vaccines were both done on Saturday sessions at the surgery that literally seem to be running at military precision. In fact , I'm not totally sure that my feet stood still long enough to be classed as not moving in a very sterile in one way and out the other process. We then sat in a cars for the wait until you were given the wave to go by the people timing us , brilliant!

I did wonder about the whole thing when they checked for me on the computer and could only find someone with a name similar whom happened to be a 6 year old child! My surname had been misspelt in the vaccine system which may have been why my green book status wasn't flagging up. When they found my actual NHS record they gave me and the OH the morning invite on the spot with an apology.

Must say it hurt like mad and probably flared the Fibro a bit too but I really don't think I'd have gone as far as having a steroid injection to numb the pain of a jab , surely there must have been less extreme versions of pain relief for something like that.

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply to Blearyeyed

No, I think it is more than just the pain of a jab - there is actually damage done to something and nerves can swell or suffer a/i damage That's the reason for the steroid jab.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

Blearyeyed profile image
Blearyeyed in reply to PMRpro

Gosh ! So glad that it didn't happen as badly to me , I had another going on in the first place without that

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply to Blearyeyed

It is something to do with the angle the needle goes in I think - and it was said here that it is less likely if both operator and patient are seated or both standing.

Blearyeyed profile image
Blearyeyed in reply to PMRpro

That explains why we got such a bad arm then , we were both sitting and the injector was stood over us at a very extreme angle

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply to Blearyeyed

The second I had I was sitting and she was standing - but I'm fairly sure it was the same person who had done the first and it was fine, no pain. The third was amazing - didn't even know she'd put the needle in!

Flivoless profile image
Flivoless in reply to PMRpro

Are you sure she didn't miss?

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply to Flivoless

There was a second official present - she'd have noticed! But I did see her remove the needle. As long she hadn't done what some nurse was caught doing: emptying the syringe into a tissue before sticking the needle in the patient's arm! Luckily someone had noticed and they set up a camera and caught her in the act.

Flivoless profile image
Flivoless in reply to PMRpro

I was merely joking but your story is absolutely scandalous. Hopefully the perpetrator has been severely punished.

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply to Flivoless

They set a trap - and got her. There may have been others - all handed over to the police.

Constance13 profile image
Constance13 in reply to PMRpro

Same here - 1st no problems, 2nd a bit "feeling off", but it soon went, 3rd - I too 'didn't feel a thing'.

DorsetLady profile image
DorsetLadyPMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to PMRpro

Yes there was damage apparently- physio wasn’t best pleased that it had happened (but then neither was his patient!)

HeronNS profile image
HeronNS in reply to Blearyeyed

Saw a tweet today that in our area they are looking for healthy 30 year olds for a study comparing Pfizer and Moderna third doses. Subjects will be followed for a year and won't know until then which vaccine they got, unless that's needed for proof of vaccine or another reason. My daughter in law had AZ first dose, reacted very badly, she didn't share details, and Moderna for second, no problems. I know she's booked for her third mid-month, will probably be Moderna again as that is the better supply at the moment. I had three Pfizer and my ongoing PMR flare basically cancelled out any other sensations I might have had from the first two, but I reacted to third, mostly by a day of extreme fatigue.

Blearyeyed profile image
Blearyeyed in reply to HeronNS

Aren't they using the system of two different vaccine types between the second and third in your country?In the UK they are following a plan of giving one vaccine type for the first two jabs and a different variety for the third ( and fourth if you are in the group to get it) unless there is a medical reason that you cannot take a different variant.

They were discussing on the News that they had seen evidence that giving two different types of vaccine helped increase the production of antibodies , the length of coverage after the third , and seemed to give you better chance of not developing Covid than using just one type if vaccine ( or having a less severe case if you did ).

Its interesting to see how each Country is getting the same research evidence as it is universally shared across the globe but they are all making very varied decisions despite sharing the same information.

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply to Blearyeyed

Here it wasn't fixed - I was eligible for a booster and could have booked an appointment online but didn't know how. I asked at the pharmacy in the village and went online - to discover there were walk-in sessions that Saturday afternoon and again on the Tuesday. That afternoon was using Pfizer, the Tuesday was Moderna, which was what I'd had for the first two. Carpe diem - and I thought if they didn't want to give me a different jab they'd tell me to come back on the Tuesday! No problem!

Does using the 2 mRNA jabs make a difference? Can't find anything anywhere - mainly because it is usually UK studies and they didn't use much Moderna whereas we did here and there was very little AZ.

Blearyeyed profile image
Blearyeyed in reply to PMRpro

They used Pfizer and then AZ first but as it got to the under twenties began on the Moderna as well in the UK.I think the alternating decision then came down to if your first two had been Pfizer or AZ , and whether you could take Pfizer because of allergy concerns .

The hospitals are doing the Pfizer and AZ jabs and the other units are using the Moderna and AZ but you get asked which one you had first before they accept you at a centre.

My youngest got Moderna for 2 and AZ for the third , my eldest is going to be the other way around.

I will have to have a root around and find the study they were using that showed the figures that persuaded them to go with the alternated vaccines. Pretty sure it was from the Oxford study , they discussed it on the BBC just as they were beginning to start the third boosters.

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply to Blearyeyed

I did see that but it was AZ/AZ/mRNA results I saw as opposed to mRNA/mRNA/different mRNA which is what I had. I can see the logic of AZ/AZ/something else because they are different mechanisms.

DorsetLady profile image
DorsetLadyPMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Blearyeyed

I had same for both primary vaccines and booster - Pfizer .

Dorsetgirl17 profile image
Dorsetgirl17 in reply to DorsetLady

Me too

in reply to DorsetLady

I had same, also, for both primary vaccines and booster - Moderna and my third was a full dose unlike bleary who I understood to say got one half dose. Had a sore arm all three times, but it lasted longer after the third.

Sharitone profile image
Sharitone in reply to DorsetLady

And me

HeronNS profile image
HeronNS in reply to Blearyeyed

It has been based very much on what vaccines are available. AZ has been pretty much discontinued because there were so many adverse reactions plus it was felt it wasn't as effective as the mRNA vaccines. Pfizer was more readily available at the beginning. Each time I've been vaccinated Pfizer has been the vaccine in supply. If I were to be vaccinated now I suspect it would be Moderna. Because of greed and stupidity by governments in the past Canada lost its ability to produce its own vaccines. They are currently rectifying that situation, but obviously not in time for the continuing pandemic. Beggars can't be choosers and all along we were told to take the first vaccine we could get - at least until they turned against AZ where those recipients were then strongly advised to get an mRNA for their second dose. Yes, I am aware that receiving different vaccines appears to be giving a stronger immunity.

Happily it looks like a Canadian-developed vaccine is on the horizon. One which could usefully be deployed in places, including our own far north, where the mRNA vaccines are difficult to manage.

medicago.com/en/press-relea...

DianeMills profile image
DianeMills in reply to Blearyeyed

I have read there is a link in whatever is in the vaccine, immune medicated diseases, flares or new onset inflammation diseases following its administration have not been well at all. This has been reported. So take it easy..

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply to DianeMills

I don't think is specifically the Covid vaccine - large numbers of people with autoimmune disease react to vaccines both developing the illness or flares - as well as a lot of other things that affect the immune system. And however you look at it - the reactions to vaccines are probably relatively mild compared to a reaction you would develop to Covid without having been jabbed.

Blearyeyed profile image
Blearyeyed in reply to DianeMills

Oh , I did thank you and well past the symptoms now , they were just worse because I was already coping with a big infection elsewhere. I absolutely agree with Pro when it comes to getting vaccinated .

People with vulnerabilities , and healthy people who are a bit run down or carrying an infection that haven't had symptoms with yet , can have a few days of a mild reaction to the body booting up to make antibodies . Its not exclusive to the Covid vaccines , or Flu or Shingles vaccine.The symptoms are usually that of a brisk cold with a temperature rather than the potentially life threatening or physically disabling risk of catching the disease that you are getting vaccinated for. Vaccines benefits definitely outweigh the risks for people with chronic health issues.

piglette profile image
piglette

My sister had a very bad reaction to the Moderna vaccine, also in Wales!! It was only her third.

Blearyeyed profile image
Blearyeyed in reply to piglette

Oh dear , I hope she feels alright now

piglette profile image
piglette in reply to Blearyeyed

Yes I think she has improved as she has started griping about Boris again!!

PMRZ profile image
PMRZ

I have always paid for a flu vaccine at a Boots pharmacy, before I was entitled to it free. I find the pharmacist always takes more time and one mentioned to me to let my arm hang loose at my side, so that my muscles are not tensed. I always do this for vaccinations now and have never had a problem, so maybe it’s worth trying this trick? I mentioned it to my niece before she had her last job and she said it’s the first time that she hasn’t had a sore arm.

patrickd profile image
patrickd

Wow. How did you or who approved you for a 4th shot? I am in the USA and would be very interested in how this came about. Currently, most age groups have been approved for just ONE "booster". Also, the Omicron is spreading here like wildfire and I am so scared. I have so many health issues and 2 teenage boys. Schools are not closing even though over 22 teachers are out with Covid in just the high school. The US is doing nothing and it's just spreading almost carelessly.

Hollybee21 profile image
Hollybee21 in reply to patrickd

All people who are immunosuppressed are invited for a booster 3 months after they had their 3rd Primary vaccination in the UK.

lkcreedon profile image
lkcreedon

Happy New Year to you. Have heard of a number of people who were quite sick after the Moderna shot. Good you are back to normal now however

Raven1955 profile image
Raven1955

Well done you! Keep it up! I've been fortunate, having the 2 Moderna jabs back in March and then a Pfizer booster in mid-November. I think the timing of the booster was perfect for me. An example for everyone - I love my wife dearly and she's in about as perfect physical shape as one can be at 66. However, she bought into the anti-vax diatribe and I was unable to convince her otherwise. Finally our arguments were spiraling downward and I had to give up and declare a truce. She's been ultra careful for the 2 years, I'll give her that. But finally in early December our son came home on a visit and one day later came down with covid. 4 days later she came down with covid.

I spent the next 10 days caring for her as carefully as I could but knew I was fully exposing myself. She went downhill in the first week very quickly. Our rural hospital was currently so overwhelmed that you were basically told if the person wasn't almost dead don't bring her in. We tried and were basically booted back out after a few hours with no help. Thank God for a "virtual" nurse who we were sending my wife's vitals to remotely. She saw the oxygen count of 85 and had oxygen brought in from 60 miles away and got an order for some kind of inhaler. After a week my wife started improving and now she's come back 75% but it'll take a while to gain her stamina, smell and taste again. She dodged a bullet.

Meantime, I was never ill. I can only assume that I was infected by her but was asymptomatic. I would guess that the booster 4 weeks earlier likely give me maximum protection when I needed it most. Plus, I never had a hiccup with my PMR and prednisone.

Take care everyone.

HeronNS profile image
HeronNS in reply to Raven1955

Glad you have done well. Will your wife get vaccinated after she recovers?

Raven1955 profile image
Raven1955 in reply to HeronNS

That's the crazy part - she says no because our son was vacinated and still came down with covid. I pointed out that he hadn't gotten a booster shot yet plus his case was about like a moderate case of the flu. And then I pointed out that I was likely bathed in the virus while caring for her with only a mask that I likely used 50% of the time. Her case tried to kill her. Big difference. She's dug herself into the anti vaccination hype so deep that even after this she can't bring herself to accept the facts before her. First time in our 48 years that we've had such a markedly difference of opinions and about something so important. I wish I could get her to change her mind but I'm not hopeful.

Snowy12 profile image
Snowy12

I had my booster today in Wales (number 4)I had Pfizer so I’ve had 2 Astra both at my surgery and 2 Pfizer both at the mass vaccination centre. It really hurt today too which it doesn’t usually, we were both sitting down. Everyone else was having Moderna so I was surprised when I got Pfizer when you ask them they never tell you why it’s so annoying, there must be a reason they decide to give you what they do

PMRCanada profile image
PMRCanada

Wow…fourth already. Sorry to hear you had such a rough time of it afterwards, but glad it didn’t trigger a flare.

I just got my third booster here in Ontario, Canada. Full Moderna first two doses, half dose Moderna for booster. The nurse administering my booster double checked with her supervisor to ensure I got a half dose only because I am on 9mg pred daily. Had I been in over 20mg of pred, I’d get the full dose of Moderna as a booster. She also recommended that I stick with Moderna product (but then again, Pfizer is in short supply in Canada, and reserved in some provinces for people aged 30 and younger).

With my first jab of Moderna that evening I got pretty bad symptoms only to discover I was positive for COVID 4 days later! They figure I was positive (Beta variant) when I got the jab but didn’t know it.

With my 2nd jab of Moderna I had a sore arm and felt sore and feverish for a day.

With my 3rd jab of Moderna I was in bed for a day sleeping, chills and headache. No talk of fourth jabs here that I’ve heard of. Meanwhile hospitalizations going through the roof here in Ontario, with 33 children aged 4 or under today alone! Of course having so many health care staff out sick with COVID is certainly adding to the challenges (as is seen in so many sectors).

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply to PMRCanada

Interesting - report in our regional online paper about the number of children ending up in ICU. Mostly with this severe paediatric inflammatory response. And the severity of the Long Covid appearing in even very mild cases in adults. Nothing about whether the mild cases after vaccination also result in the micro-clot thing they are finding though. And it is begging the question about Omicron - is it worse for younger patients?

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