@downunder21 I am having all other symptoms and from last night started having ocassional pain in left ear.
I had only first dose on 10 August.
The EMG testing was not painful. Sometimes I felt a lot of shock (muscles responses) but I wouldn’t call it painful, just different sensations. Yes, the doctor can tell you the result right away if your peripheral nerves function properly. However, I asked the doctor if he could tell about nerve compression and he said no. I think you need MRI for nerve compression and central nerve system. Oh one thing, you need to have your body quite warm for the testing. They suggested me to wear gloves and sweater (yes in a very hot summer day).
After my 2nd Pfizer shot over 2 mths ago I still have tingling & numbness on my face. It started 5 days after I received it. MRI was normal. It’s very annoying.
Hi, I am going to use Google Translate because I don't know English. I will expose my problem. I got vaccinated with Pfizer on 8/2/21 and on day 4 I started having muscle spasms in my right calf ALL night, which lasted for about 3 days. Since then, although not so often in one place, they have become generalized and I have spasms (fasciculations) throughout my body, legs, arms, chest, back, thighs, knees, eyes, etc., quite frequent, especially at rest. I have leg muscles as if they were "sore", like when you do excessive exercise, one day I have more pain and / or punctures and other times it is the opposite. At first I thought it was pure chance and that it would only be a "bad day", I did not have the typical symptoms, neither fever nor malaise, except for slight headaches the first days. But the spasms and a slight pain in my leg (that changes from one to another, stinging and strange sensations that seem to amplify more when I exercise moderately) have me quite scared. There is another one here who went to Dr Google and read ELA. I have been reading and although I know it is unlikely for multiple reasons (age of onset infrequent, ALS usually causes weakness along with spasms almost always ...) I am scared. My GP is going to refer me to the neurologist for sure. 28 years old and without previous pathologies. I honestly think the culprit is the vaccine. I am not anti-vaccine at all and in fact I put it on without any fear. But since I put it on, I have these problems, to which a tingling sensation has been added, especially the first days after being vaccinated.
@kathyb hey Kathy... this comment literally mirrors my experience although I have one child as opposed to 3. Although it's been tough. Really tough. Physically and mentally. I feel half the woman/mother I was which breaks my heart. I'm 11 weeks post first jab and although some symptoms have eased new ones appear! I'm still twitching 24.7. Also had numerous hospital visits. Clear bloodwork. Clear brain mri. Clear ct. Pending neurologist appointment now. I really hope this just eases off eventually. The not knowing though is torture. Been advised to not have 2nd jab and even if I hadn't I wouldn't have it. I'm not anti vax.. obv as I had it done! But I wish I'd waited. Now having counselling for mental and health anxiety too xx
@miguelgr I felt this. I have been convinced I have ALS. I have full body muscle twitches too. I'm 11 weeks post 1st pfizer. Although they have slightly reduced they are still very much present. Also jerks when trying to sleep. Makes sleep difficult. Awaiting neurologist appointment but clear mri, ct scan and bloodwork so far. I won't be having jab 2 as advises by the Dr x
Dear @mbelle,
It is a true relief to read your post among all these others where my own anxieties and fears are reflected, so thank youm really!
I have had my first Pfizer jab on the 3rd of July - and back then was all happy about it as I just want this covid chapter over and get back to normal life asap - and all seemed to be well. Barely had any of the common side effects, no fever, just a sore arm for 1 and a 1/2 days.
Unfortunatelly, on the 16th of July, out of the blue I start having tingling in my left arm, then later that same the same day my leg, neck, back and face started also feeling tingly and with a weird feeling as if I had lost a bit of sensation in those areas. then also and a crazy chilly feeling on my calf as well as palpitations. I got super scared and went to the ER and told them all this, they made me an electrocardiogram which accused bradycardy and a CT scan that was clean. The doctor who've seen me that day refused to accept this could even be from the vaccine and was insisting I was having a panick attack so he prescribed me tranquilizers - although I was assuring them that wasn't the case.
4 days later, as the symptoms not only went away, but actually got worse - the same tingly feeling, adding some sore feeling in my arms and legs muscles and a weird feeling as if "electricity was going throught my nerves", and something that my girlfriend noticed a few times was that I was starting to stutter and to struggle to speak my thoughts out while having a constant feeling of dizinness and a foggy mind and enormous fatigue. So, I return to the ER where the doctor who sees me, makes me all sorts of neurological evaluation (tongue out, pointing lefts and right, testing strenght, balance and pupils response) and ends ups saying that because all seems to be well I might have Multiple Sclerosis. Guys, I am 31 yo, never had any of these symptoms before in my life and I am there alone, shit scared listening to this guy giving me a possible prognosis, him also refusing to admit it could be the vaccine, and just drops the bomb. I have since then been making all kinds of exams, EMG, blood tests with all kinds of specifics, B12, Magnesium, thyroid (T4), MRI to my head and guess what .... nothing was found! all exams were prestine! Tomorrow I am making one other MRI, this time to my spinal cord as to be sure there is no damage there, and also because it is the last exams the doctors think of as a way to be absolutely sure this is neither ELA, MS or other demyellant neurological disease... So I am hoping it will come out clean too..
However, my symptoms are still here - tinglyness, trembling, muscle pain, joint pain (specially my wrists) and a constant feeling of exauhstion and foggy mind.. and yes - as many state here - they too seem to get worse with anxiety, but unfortunately tranquilizers don't seem to be effetive againsts these symptoms.
I am sorry for my long text, but I am enormously relieved to have found this group of people, who seems to have so many similar experiences and to whom no doctor seems to find any answer... It is really frustrating to have as an answer "we hope it goes away" and at the same time refusing to even acknowledge that we might all be having side effects from the same thing.
I just hope this goes away eventually to all of us, but more even than the people who developped these vaccines - which I am still greatfull for as part of a global society that needed it to stop such a pandemic - invest more money into researching these side effects and hopefully find a way to stop them or at least avoid them in the future versions of this vaccination technology...
Dear @elisaalb89 , thank you so much for your update!
I was supposed to have had my second jab yesterday but honestly I was just too scared to go through without doctors here even being able to guess what might be causing all these symptoms and the majority of them actually refusing this might be a reaction to the vaccine even with all exams clear so far...
Please update us of your condition and thank you once more for sharing!
Wishing you all the best.
@larag I understand you! we have to try to stay with the "positive", I have 'researched' a lot and these are my conclusions. When there are spasms in ALS 99% of the time it is accompanied by muscle weakness. They are usually focused on one area at first (the affected area) and over the months, the more the atrophy / weakness affects the other limbs, the more fasciculations appear. If they are very generalized (as in my case) in a matter of a short time, they are most likely benign. It is the information that I have obtained and / or read from many neurologists. Also in my case there is intermittent pain, and the ALS spasms do not usually "change" of location, since it is a permanent damage to the nervous system. In my case, the spasms appeared in a specific point (calves) but in a matter of days they appeared all over my body. I cannot think of a place where I have not had, I even "jump" from different limbs (for example, today I have noticed it in the back, rapid and continuous contractions, then in the left arm and shortly after in the right forearm). It is unlikely that you have ALS, or that I do. But everything I'm telling you is also to convince myself. I'm just as scared as you are. When it happens to me I get nervous, scared and even prevents me from sleeping well. In your case ALS it is even more unlikely because in that period of time, except in extremely rare cases, you would already have significant muscle weakness. I'm not 100% sure what happens to me is because of the vaccine, but it's hard not to think about it when it happened 1 day! after getting my second dose of Pfizer. In any case, I wish you luck and regret having to use a translator. My English is not very fluent and I am aware that I will sound like a robot to you. I think this is caused by the vaccine, an abnormality in the immune system, an overreaction of the nervous system ... anything, but I don't think any of us have ALS.
@larag oh it's so reassuring to know you are not alone. Thus is causing me such anxiety. My appetite is gone and I'm trying so hard to feel positive. I struggle to sleep. Can I ask....
Do you feel fatigue?
What country are you in? I'm in UK.
What meds are you on?
Hope you don't mind my questions! I hope you get well soon xx
Have you still the tingling? Mine started a week ago 10 days after the 1st dose of Pfizer
Hi all - wanted to share my experience as it sounds similar to a lot of you. To start off, I am super pro vaccine and really hesitant to attribute my symptoms to the vaccine, but this forum definitely has me wondering. I’m an active, 28 year old woman, and haven’t really had health issues prior to this.
About two weeks post vaccine in April, I developed pain in my hands. I work a lot, so I was told by doctors that it was probably carpal tunnel or a repetitive stress injury. I started physical therapy and the symptoms got somewhat better, but I’m still having pain.
Three weeks after my second shot in May, I started to feel like my feet were numb and the numbness was traveling up my legs. I went to the ER, and had an EMG test done. It was fairly normal but there is was little damage, so the ER neurologist admitted me and treated me for Guillain-Barré. My blood work and MRI were also normal at this point.
I was discharged after five days of treatment, and felt really weak from being in the hospital. After a couple weeks, my feet were feeling better but I started to feel numb in my face. I also started having muscle twitches all over my body and tremors in my hands and tongue. Since then, I’ve seen another neurologist that doesn’t think it was Guillain-Barré at all, and that my symptoms are either anxiety or some other form of peripheral neuropathy. He’s suggested trying a gluten free diet. I had another EMG test done, which showed largely the same results as my previous test. I’m also having trouble swallowing, but a swallow study also didn’t reveal anything.
I’m currently waiting to see a neuromuscular specialist about my symptoms. Like others, I’m obviously very concerned about ALS - these symptoms are scary! However, if it offers any solace to anybody else, every doctor I’ve seen has reassured me that this is not ALS.
I hope the story is helpful – I’ll update if I find out anything useful from the neuromuscular specialist. Best of luck to all!
Hello All,
I'm a 34M and received my 1st Moderna shot on 6-April. Starting day 7, I started developing a host of symptoms similar to what a lot of people here have experienced -
Cardiovascular - Increased heart rate, palpitations, discomfort or muscle tightness in the chest
Gastro - Acute hepatitis (inflammation of the liver)
Neuro - Numbness/tingling, muscle twitches and the same buzzing/vibration feeling that few have described here
Others - Fatigue, decrease in stamina, just not feeling like my pre-vaccine self most days, slight light headedness sometimes
Over the last few months I've seen a GI specialist, cardiologist and neurologist who have run a comprehensive list of tests (Checked for auto immune conditions, ECG, stress ECG, ECHO cardiogram, wore a heart monitor for 10 days, EMG, nerve conduction study, MRI, etc.). Results have come back normal.
I'm coming up on 5 months from taking the 1st dose and wanted to share my progress as well as what the docs have said so it helps others.
- First, most of my symptoms have subsided on their own without any medication/treatment. It's just that the process is extremely slow, and it's hard to not get stressed and wonder what's going on with you. Trust me, it's taken a mental toll but my family and docs have been very supportive throughout the process.
- I haven't fully recovered. I'd say I'm about 80% back to normal. My GI and cardiovascular symptoms have mostly resolved. Neuro symptoms are the ones that are still around - numbness/tingling frequency has reduced a lot, muscle twitches are still around every now and then, buzzing/vibration has improved significantly but not fully gone. All this said, it gives me confidence that every month has felt better than the previous with noticeable improvement in symptoms as well as my stamina and strength.
- Symptoms did not decline in a linear fashion. It's been cyclical with few days feeling better followed by a phase where symptoms are back. The good thing is that with every cycle, the intensity of symptoms has been getting better. I wanted to share this because I really struggles with the non linear way of improvement. I expect that when things are getting better, they should continue to. But, this recovery has been far from that.
- I have mostly tried to keep a good diet, and I've seen it help. Most of our symptoms are some sort of inflammation triggered as a result of the way our body responded to the vaccine. An anti-inflammatory diet or rather just healthy diet certainly helps. I'm considering adding few supplements based on other posts in this forum. Will let you know how it goes and whether it speedens the recovery for me. As for exercise, I do what I can with some 30-min cardio exercises or going for a run. But, not every day is as good in terms of how well I'm able to do.
- My doctors have agreed that this is a reaction to the vaccine and have asked me to stay away from taking the 2nd dose until I fully recover. After that, I've been advised to try a different kind of vaccine (not mRNA). I'm not sure when it'll happen but I know I'm not there yet.
That said, my intent here was to share my story and provide some hope/confidence to those who took the doses more recently and were among the unfortunate few like us to experience these crazy symptoms. All I can say is try and stay positive, don't be too hard on yourselves, listen to your body and do how much you can handle, keep a good diet, and trust that things do get better with time. As I've read through several 100 posts here and on other forums, I've seen that each one's symptoms are a little different (e.g. some have had balance issues, others have not) but 70% of the symptoms are more or less the same. And, most people who are 5-6 months from getting their dose are starting to feel significantly better. For some it may be faster and for some it may take more time. But I'm sure we will all recover and feel our 100% pre-vaccine selves soon! 🙂 All the best.
