AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine First Shot Review

I booked an AstraZeneca vaccine appointment for 11:00 on May 4, planning to take Childrens Day off.

I visited a nearby internal medicine clinic with three employees.

After a brief consultation, I rolled up my shoulder and sat there.

Then they said the injection was already finished.

I couldn’t tell when it was given. It did not hurt.

I waited for about 10 minutes,

and felt my chest and face growing hot.

It seemed like there was a slight medicinal smell,

my pulse was beating fast, and my hands and feet were cold (maybe because I was nervous?)

I made an effort to breathe deeply and calm down.

I took a taxi back to the hospital with the employees.

I finished my day focusing on simple procedures,

and because I was scared it might hurt, I went home a little early.

Just in case, I brought home an IV, painkillers, antacids, and other things in case I needed them if I felt sick.

I drank water often, ate a light meal,

and lay down to rest.

From time to time, a left-sided headache would come and go.

For the past two days, I had been taking Aspirin Protect 100 mg,

and I took aspirin yesterday too.

At 10:00 this morning, I took Tylenol ER 650 mg in advance,

then got the vaccine at 11:12.

I took Tylenol every 6 hours: the second dose at 4:00 PM,

the third dose at 10:00 PM.

There were still no particular symptoms,

and although fatigue and lethargy were coming on, there was still no pain.

The right side of my head would ache on and off.

Chest pain would come and go.

My hands and feet would tingle, as if being pricked, then stop.

There was still no major discomfort.

Finally, at 11:00 (they said it would hurt after 12 hours),

there was still no pain.

My body felt heavy and my strength was a little drained, but it did not hurt.

My shoulder did not hurt either.

Ah... I guess it doesn’t hurt me after all,

and I fell asleep at midnight.

But unexpectedly, I woke up at 3:00 AM, tossing and turning from muscle aches and pain at the injection site.

My back ached in every joint,

my legs felt heavy,

and my head felt hollow.

My temperature went up and down by about 0.1 to 0.2 degrees.

My blood pressure was normal.

Maybe because I had been lying down too much, my lower back hurt the most.

My legs were numb and I felt a little cold, so I quickly put on more sleepwear and kept warm.

After tossing and turning for about an hour, I fell asleep again.

I woke up early at 7:00 AM, and I was not in as much pain as I had been before dawn.

Thankfully, I thought it must have passed, so I got up.

Whoosh.

My head felt empty and dizzy.

Feeling lightheaded, I carefully went to the bathroom, urinated,

and tried to sleep again.

In the morning, I ate fruit and drank water often.

My head still felt a little dizzy,

and I felt dazed all day.

I could not concentrate.

I think it was a good decision to get the shot before a day off when I was not working.

It would be hard to work the day after the shot, and it would be hard to see patients. A situation where you would have to receive treatment...

In the afternoon, I took Aspirin Protect 100 mg at the same time I usually did,

and now I decided to take Tylenol every 8 hours.

There is a saying that aspirin has an anti-inflammatory effect, so taking it reduces antibody formation.

However, in the United States, people are taking Advil, which has a stronger anti-inflammatory effect, in higher doses.

Compared with that, I think a small amount of aspirin is easier to take than worrying about blood clots.