As the sticker in the photo says, I've had my Covid vaccination. You probably know that because you likely follow me on one of my social media channels and everybody must mention their vaccination and/or post a photo of their badge/sticker/arm - It's the law.
Before I start, if you haven't read my original blog post which followed my first vaccination then you can do that by clicking or tapping here
Side effects! That's why you're here. You want the gory details and possibly some reassurance before your own jab? Can do! We're talking AstraZeneca here, by the way.
I'm 72 hours post-jab and I'm beginning to feel more like my usual self. Certainly well enough to smash my fingers into a keyboard, unlike yesterday. To begin with, and for a while, nothing happened after the jab. I was expecting the violent reaction at around 12hrs, the same as Jab No.1 but that didn't happen. This time the side effects crept up on me.
The first changes of note began after 6 hours. I felt hot and clammy, similar to a hypo symptom. I'd already taken a pre-emptive dose of Paracetamol and that may have reduced the severity of any fever before it had the chance to begin. That feeling continued and escalated slowly for the rest of the evening until, when it was time for bed, my face and neck were feeling hot to touch and, strangely, my nose was hot! I was also beginning to sniff a lot.
I did sleep reasonably well which was a surprise. I was delighted to not be woken at 2am by violent shivering and not feeling frozen to the core. There was more a sense of general uncomfortableness. A little like when you know a cold is just about to begin. I was also delighted to not feel like every bone in my body was hurting. The aches began after around 24 hours, especially in the back, shoulders and legs. The aches continued for a full day, despite a combination of Paracetamol and Ibuprofen. Normal side effects, according to the advice I've read and was given by the friendly jab-giving HCP.
The worst period of side effects, for me was between 24 and 48 hours. Add all the above in with fatigue, a sore throat and running nose. Yuk! That said, it's just cold - mild flu-like symptoms but I think because I was confident in the knowledge that it'll be short lived, rather than a real cold or flu which might last for weeks, it wasn't overly distressing. In fact, it wasn't distressing at all to just rest. I'm great at sitting around and doing nothing. It's my favourite.
What about the Diabetes!?
I noticed that my usual carb:insulin ratio was no longer a thing. Previously, I was a 1u for every 10g guy. Easy! So, it was a surprise to need 18u for a 60g meal. Even that didn't succeed in bringing my blood glucose into range. Prior to the jab, my time in range was around 70% on average. I'd actually had several good weeks of over 80%. Here are the last 4 days:Saturday: 48% (Jab day)
Sunday: 37%
Monday: 58% (after aggressively increasing my boluses)
Tuesday: 60% (Today)
Not wonderful and I'm still struggling to keep things in single figures. I'm sure that will settle down and I'm not very concerned.
What I am is incredibly grateful.
Let's start with Covid-19. To date, I've dodged it and so have all my friends and family - The majority of whom are now partly vaccinated, fully vaccinated or at low risk. If the struggles of the side effects are anything to go by then I imagine the infection would be horrendous. The imagery and tales in the media and from others on social media confirm what an awful illness it is.
People in other countries continue to die in huge numbers because of the virus. In England we had our first day of zero deaths for a long time, yesterday.
Although it's too soon to consider the world or even the UK to be safe, I feel like this pandemic has given me a different, better perspective on life. That happened to me in 2012, following almost two years of living with severe visual impairment. Two years of wondering if I'd seen my last of everything and everyone that I love. Then the world appeared again and wow! When that happens, you really appreciate the things that you were once complacent about. I'm in a similar place, today. The things and people I love are magnified. I no longer have time for the things I don't enjoy and I have no time for individuals who are... vexatious to the spirit! Desiderata still gives great advice.
Thank you so much for reading this blog. I do appreciate your visit and your support. As you might know, I LOVE COFFEE! So I've teamed up with a thing called Buy Me A Coffee. If you enjoy my content and appreciate the time it takes to create such things then you can buy me a coffee! If you leave your Twitter @ name when you buy me a coffee, I will personally thank you. If you'd rather be anonymous then that's totally cool. Thanks for the caffeine!
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