So, on May 15th (a Saturday) after forgetting my vaccination card at home for my second round of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, getting scolded by the officer on duty, and allowed to pull up for my shot anyway, I asked the nurse working with me: Would having just come off Prednisone and getting this shot be a bad thing? Not to her knowledge, she advised, so in the stuff went. And, side note, it really hurt! Felt like liquid fire being injected into my left shoulder with a switchblade.
I was attending a birthday party that night, an hour away from my home. I refused wine, not knowing if or when side effects might hit me, and left a little on the early side so as to get home before I might start to feel badly. Given that we’re in warmer weather, it was odd to me, but not unusual, that my feet were cold going to bed that night. But, I just happily tucked my toes under my warm little dog’s body (and he just as happily received them), and cozied up for some rest.
The reality that I my cold feet were an early warning sign of Covid-related symptoms dawned on me at 2:30 Sunday morning. I woke up to a headache and, upon getting out of bed to get a snack, chills from head to toe. Ibuprophen didn’t do much besides make me feel as though I was taking action against the pain. Thankfully, sleep carried me into late-ish morning when I awoke at 7:30, but now with head to toe body aches and pains.
I took more pain reliver, which was about as useful as a hole in my head, and set about the mellow day I had planned at a local plant nursery. Mustering the cognitive energy to visualize a new shade garden, and choose the right plants for it, amounted to a high-intensity workout. Why and how I took my dog for a hike later on is beyond me, but knowing why the trail, frequented by young families for its relative ease, was a killer for me, isn’t.
I think Prednisone was to blame for my adverse reaction. And I was so looking forward to bragging about how my autoimmune disease, and my superhero strength blood cells, saved me from pain and agony. Alas, I watched the latest episode of This Is Us, cried over nothing because I was in so much darn pain, went to bed at 8:15 and slept straight through to 6:30 Monday morning waking as though nothing ever happened the day before.
Not that my experience with Prednisone can be generalized, but I find it interesting that with Covid vaccine Round 1, when I wasn’t on the steroid, I felt nothing like I just described.
If you’re considering getting the vaccine, and are on an immunosuppressant, maybe talk to your prescribing physician about the advisability of going off it for a bit. Be your best self-advocate at any rate, and do what you think is best for your body. I wish I’d listened to my gut and rescheduled my second shot for a few weeks post-Prednisone, but then again if I had where would we be without this newest blog?
To your health. Be well.
Alopecian Life 