Perhaps you recall my PREVIOUS correspondence and “review” of the new, two-shot shingles vaccine, Shingrix – or more specifically, my review of the FIRST SHOT.
Wolf’s Hot Date With Retrosynthetic Dinopox
Hey, it’s not every day that I get to post something that’s not only about the unspeakable issue of vaccines, but is both PRO-VAX and ANTI-VAX at the same time. I mean, what’s the use of FREE SPEECH if we can’t use it to troll EVERYBODY – including PENCILNECK? Whoops – WRONG PENCILNECK. Let’s try …
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Well, I’m BACK to report my experience with the SECOND SHOT.
This was all something of a surprise.
I had FINALLY – in LATE JUNE – gotten to see a doctor [IN PERSON] for COVID-19 aftermath. This was LONG AFTER having gotten the disease in late January [LONG STORY] and THEN spending the first half of this year figuring out how to treat both the disease and the aftermath MYSELF [AND WITH YOU GOOD PEOPLE], mostly through internet rumors, discussions here, and self-experimentation by trial and error.
After all the discussion, the data gathering, the prescribing, the scheduling, and the blood-drawing, I was asked WHICH ARM for my vaccination.
“WHOA-OH!”
Yes, I had forgotten that it was only just in September of 2019 when I had been infected with the mythical disease of RETROSYNTHETIC DINOPOX – namely recombinant glycoproteins of Herpes zoster virus plus various adjuvants – which had knocked out my left arm like a line-drive baseball, and left me mildly sick for the better part of a week.
Was I ready for a REPLAY?
UGH.
Well, as I stated before, retrosynthetic dinopox is bad, but SHINGLES is far, far worse.
Yeah. Gimme the disease shot.
So – what has it been like? In a word…..
“SYSTEMIC”.
While I immediately noticed both soreness and swelling at the injection site, deep in the muscle of my triceps (back of the arm), most of the local effects were delayed.
Much like the FIRST shot, redness did not reach the surface for over 24 hours, and was not pronounced until about 36 hours.
In contrast, systemic effects were almost immediate. I could tell that something was happening while I was driving home. It was that uneasiness one feels at the beginning of the flu, or – COUGH, COVID-19x (more on “x” later). It’s somewhat non-descript, but unnerving – the unmistakable feeling of incipient illness.
Unsure of how significant these effects might be, I plotted a course which would take me close to both a hospital and an outpatient clinic, in case things got bad. Fortunately I got home without incident.
Once home, I was able to take it easy and observe things more carefully. I was feeling joint stiffness, dull and very diffuse headaches (more aptly labeled discomfort), and a kind of light tingling all over – a mild but very definite “electric shock” sensation. This sensation persisted for about a day, too.
Taking a brief nap, I noticed a dull ache in my kidneys some time after awakening. This was very reminiscent of what I had experienced with COVID-19x, as well as earlier [mild] episodes of kidney stones when I was not hydrating enough. I had treated both of these before with vitamin C and plenty of Gatorade and water – the same trick worked here.
By evening, I noticed that I was experiencing mild chills. These lasted almost all night, but they were gone by early morning. This is one of the more interesting parts of the experience. I don’t remember experiencing chills as part of the FIRST shot at all.
They weren’t terrible chills – no shaking – no chattering teeth. Just some goosebumps and a mild desire to put on a jacket in an admittedly cool summer.
I decided not to alter my normal regimen of vitamins and supplements. I had considered backing off on all minerals to ease the burden on my kidneys, but the truth is that I needed to treat the post-COVID endothelial damage to my kidneys more than I needed to go easy on them. This turned out to be correct – my kidney aches went away without reducing my mineral supplements in any way. Good hydration and vitamin C were all I needed.
The first night (or, TBH, morning) of sleep with round 2 of retrosynthetic dinopox was reasonable but not exactly pleasant. I eventually felt rested, but just barely.
My sleep was filled with recurring dreams of – as best as I can describe it – being medically strafed by small planes, the noise of which would shoot away a kind of weird ground cover grown by the vaccination and COVID-19. I won’t even get into the spiritual aspects of this, which involved American Indian converts to Christianity around the Revolutionary War. That’s a bit harder to explain.
These were not normal dreams. These were definitely “I’m coming down with something” dreams.
The next day, however, was much better. ALL symptoms were diminishing, except for redness at the site of the injection. I eventually has a “prophylactic Gatorade” before bed, but otherwise had a normal day, and even did some light yard work and heavy lifting.
Things were “on the mend” – at least SYSTEMICALLY.
Interesting, though, that by the SECOND night (36 hours), redness at the injection site had increased to the point where it was clearly visible. The total area of redness was as big as my whole hand and fingers. There was still localized swelling at the injection site.
Redness maximized by the THIRD night (60 hours). It diminished somewhat by the 4th night (84 hours), and was almost GONE by the 5th night (108 hours). I was back to “heavy work” earlier that day. At this point, I regarded the vaccination drama as OVER.
SO – the bottom line – FOR ME – is that the SECOND Shingrix injection was NOT AS BAD as the first.
Take that for what you will.
Thus, my final recommendation is the same as before. BE A SMART VACCINE SHOPPER. Listen, if you want, to what I have to say – apply it to your own case and beliefs if you so choose. You don’t have to do what I did – just know what I know, and consider whether my experiences have any bearing on yours.
And THAT is the way all reviews should be, IMO. We report. You decide.
Cheers!
W
LINK: http://www.pharmafile.com/news/522455/gsks-shingrix-scores-approval-china
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