Thursday 13 May 2021

They Shot Me!

Well, I got my first dose of Covid-19 vaccine.  Pfizer as it turns out.

I was nervous going in but the place was so slick and well run and organized that there really was no need to be nervous.  (Spoiler: I still was!)

Didn't feel the shot itself which was lovely.  Sat for the requisite 15 after to make sure I was fine and I was so I headed home.

I expected some arm soreness, as that's pretty much a guarantee with shots.

Came home, iced it, messaged my family and a couple of friends YAY!  I did take Advil (they say that's ok) and I think that helped the arm pain a lot.

Took another Advil around dinner, put on some arnica type lotion... figured I was good to go.

When I got up to go to bed (around midnight, what?) my arm was SOOOOOOORE.  Like, sore sore.  Ouch.  So I took two Advil and went to bed.

Wasn't able to lean/roll onto that side but had a great, solid sleep.  

Honestly, I think the biggest thing I felt was a sense of relief I had not expected.  And that's why I think I slept so well, really.

Because yeah, I felt really relieved to know that in a couple of weeks I will be protected (at least partially) against Covid in a way I haven't been since we found out about it.  I didn't expect to feel this sense of relief like this because I've never had it with a shot before.

Like, I get a shot for... whatever, the flu or whooping cough or whatever and it's sort of like well this is a preventative thing, shrug.  But Covid?  Covid's been right in my face for more than a year now.  And I've gone through a lot lot LOT of anxiety and fear and upset from that.  And now I think it affected me even more than I knew.

So anyway, by the time I woke up the next morning I realized my arm felt way better.  I could roll over on to that side even, yay!

I think I took an Advil here or there the next day but it wasn't that bad.  What I was more taking it for was pain the neck/shoulder on that side.

I wondered if it was somehow a reaction to the shot?  But I've realized since it was probably a reaction to the pain and probably I slept weird the night of the shot and kinked my neck/shoulder.  That makes way more sense than anything shot-specific, right?

So, yeah, I have an unrelated sore upper back/neck thing (which, hello, that gets sore all the time anyway) and my arm feels fine and I haven't yet noticed any tiredness or any other symptoms at all.  Other than a pretty normal for getting a shot sore arm.  YAY!

I am aware that for some folks the second dose carries a bit of a wallop so I will keep that in mind, but for now I'm just happy to be building some safety from Covid and that I haven't seemed to have any reaction to this first shot!

(And no, we don't know yet here in B.C. how long between doses, they've said 4 months, but more recently they're saying "sooner" as we've gotten more doses in so we shall see.  I'm just happy to have some protection at all, I really am.  Same for my loved ones and friends.)

3 comments:

Jason Langlois said...

Joined the first shot club today!

Victoria said...

YAY! (hope you're feeling ok) :)

Jason Langlois said...

Sore arm for a few days, and was super tired like the second and third day after, but otherwise no issues.