My problem of a very stiff neck/shoulder pain started a few months after my first flu vaccine and first covid vaccine (Pfizer). After covid vaccine no2 everything got worse and after vaccine no3 I started to get CGA symptoms. Does anyone else think that there may be a relationship between the illness and covid vaccines?
A little research has shown that there have been cases of PMR after the flu vaccine (both flu and covid vaccines being similar) but, with covid vaccines being such a recent thing, I suspect not enough data has been collected re after-effects from covid vaccines. My early symptoms didn't appear until 2-3 months after first vaccine so with that space of time it is unlikely anyone affected relates the illness onset to the covid vaccine.
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Albyn32
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I'm not entirely convinced of the link. My PMR symptoms started long before Covid and the vaccination rollout, though I didn't know at the time that that was why I was in pain. I have since had 3 jabs before diagnosis with GCA/PMR. Jab 1, nothing to report apart from a sore area where I was injected, one day of feeling absolutely awful after jab 2, but back to normal the next day, just a day lying on the couch exhausted after jab 3. However, I have now been notified that I am eligible for a 4th jab. I'm 4 months into treatment for GCA/PMR and on 20 mg of Pred, and am wondering if the benefits outweigh the risks! (I live in France, I will get Moderna). Advice from Dr (and my son who is a GP, but not specially knowledgeable about GCA/PMR on his own admission), is that Pred lowers your immune system so can make you more vulnerable to severe Covid, so basically they are both pushing for a 4th jab. Still haven't decided 🤔
It isn't any one specific thing that causes PMR/GCA - it is an accumulation of what are called "insults" to the immune system over a lifetime and eventually one thing is the final straw and tips it over the edge and it goes wrong. It becomes unable to recognise your body as self and turns on it, attacking it as if it were "foreign" and causing inflammation - and that is what causes the symptoms.
All sorts of things affect the immune system: illness, trauma in an accident, stress of all sorts, emotional, mental and physical, a bad period at work for example, chemical effects, including medications, environmental things. Some experts link it to a viral infection - although none common to large numbers of patients has been identified.
You can't blame the Covid or flu vaccines alone - it is part of a very complex history and a genetic predisposition that is already there long before. The vast majority of us here have had PMR/GCA since long before Covid or the vaccine. Many people swear it is the flu jab - but like many others I hadn't had a flu shot before PMR. In others it appears after surgery or after a difficult bereavement, a period of stress.
If it weren't the vaccination - it might be the illness that the vaccine is to protect you from. I can't identify a "final straw" - mine came on slowly over a period of months - but I develop flares in response to stress. The Long Covid they discuss has many similarities to autoimmune disease in general - and equally little treatment is available as for us or other a/i disorders.
Even though the vaccine doesn't stop us catching Covid, that was something dreamt up by the politicians and media believing it meant "freedom" and was never scientifically based, it IS very successful at stopping us becoming seriously ill with it and that is important for anyone with pre-exisitng conditions like GCA and PMR. It also reduces the chances of developing Long Covid considerably. The vaccination process remains important as new mutations develop - and they will continue to do so, that is what viruses are meant to do to be successful.
I am so grateful for this post explaining the link between stressful life events, environmental factors and PMR and GCA. I was diagnosed with GCA two weeks ago and have just gone from 40mg to 35mg pred. I went through a very stressful time 2020/21 and that undoubtedly delayed a diagnosis when I first started to have symptoms. I remember reading of a small study in France in the early 2000s which linked GCA to negative life events. Anyway - I had assumed I was now clinically extremely vulnerable and eligible for my 4th covid booster (I have had the other three - and covid itself - without any issues). However my GP yesterday said he wasn’t sure how my immune system would respond and I needed to check with my consultant before having the 4th booster. I wondered what others’ experience was and if anyone can clarify?
Well I've had all of my jabs here in Italy - not as many as in the UK, I had no 4 in early May, they have stuck to a 6 month gap after the first 2 which were done as Pfizer/Moderna said 3 or 4 weeks apart. I'm now waiting on our autumn booster - whatever that will be.
CEV at this stage really relates to the dose you were on at the time of the first 2 or 3 jabs. If you were on pred - you needed 3 jabs for the best development of protection. After that the effect of the vaccine SHOULD be similar to anyone else's. But I wouldn't concern myself about having the jab - "how your immune system will respond" is rather a woolly concept. I'd rather have the protection offered. Omicron now is relatively mild for those who are vaccinated - still kills people who aren't or at least makes them very ill and more likely to develop Long Covid. If you have had Covid - can't see why your GP is so concerned.
You may be entitled to be registered for antiviral medication - but it doesn't mean you will get it, it will depend on symptoms at the time.
Have just read that thank you....when I rang yesterday to make the appointment the very helpful "agent"they call themselves now, said I will run along the corridor and check with the nurse it's shingrix..which I told them I was to have 2 weeks previous. He said he would ring me back...he did, and it was Shingrix, and emailed to confirm..After reading about your experience I will double check before it goes in my arm!....Can't believe how many jabs our bodies can take in one year....and then there's those taking blood out, and Zelondronic infusion yet to come!......
I think I linked to my Shingrix account in DorsetLady's post. As a follow up to Shingrix apparently helping my pred taper, I found my 2nd covid booster (Moderna after three Pfizer) has really helped. Generally speaking I've felt better since having that shot, mid May, than I had for quite a long time.
After my first jab arm aches for 3 months . Second no problem. Third same pain that lasted 4 months and I was told frozen shoulder . Done lots of stretching & had 4 weeks of no pain . One month later full on PMR . I’m convinced Vaccine bought this condition on but i never know for sure
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