# The AstraZeneca vaccine floored me



## mellowyellow (Mar 18, 2021)

James Gallagher is presenter of Inside Health on BBC Radio 4 and the BBC’s health and science correspondent.



_*I was over the moon to get vaccinated. I've covered the coronavirus pandemic, including the race to develop a vaccine, since only a handful of people were infected in Wuhan.*

So when it was my turn to roll up my sleeve at the GP surgery, it really felt like a moment.

But I'm going to be open and honest with you: the vaccine floored me.

Let's be clear, even with hindsight I'd do it all again. I'd rather have side effects than Covid, or another year of restrictions, or a higher chance of accidentally passing the virus onto a loved one.

I had my first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine at 0930 in the morning. That evening I spiralled rapidly downhill and could barely scrape myself out of bed for the next three days.

The worst was the migraine and vomiting, but I also had aches, chills and exhaustion.

It's fair to say I was moaning "Why me?" from my sick bed. But as I recovered, I wondered why do some of us get worse side effects than others, and do they mean I've built a super-strong immune response? So I spent an episode of Inside Health on BBC Radio 4 finding out…………..

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-563...t+type]&at_custom3=@BBCNews&at_medium=custom7_


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## horseless carriage (Mar 18, 2021)

That reaction is almost the same that I experienced over 55 years ago when I had the small pox vaccine. So poorly was I that my father came close to calling for an ambulance. Strangest thing though, after the reaction broke I was back to health as though nothing had happened. Others who had the vaccine at the same time had little or no effects.


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## Capt Lightning (Mar 18, 2021)

As a child, I was absolutely floored by the (then) new polio vaccine.  I was off school for 2 weeks with sickness and flu like symptoms.  Mrs. L and I had our Covid jabs a month ago and had no side effects at all.


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## Kaila (Mar 18, 2021)

@Capt Lightning 
Do you know which polio vaccine that was?


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## StarSong (Mar 18, 2021)

Wonder if this help explain why this Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine wasn't approved in the US and several other countries.


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## StarSong (Mar 18, 2021)

Kaila said:


> @Capt Lightning
> Do you know which polio vaccine that was?


If it was 1950 it was Koprowski's drinkable vaccine (not approved in the US but used elsewhere).  Live virus.
1955 forward was Salk's injectable.  Dead virus
1961 forward was Sabin's oral sugar cube vaccine.  Live attenuated virus.


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## Gaer (Mar 18, 2021)

mellowyellow said:


> View attachment 155273
> James Gallagher is presenter of Inside Health on BBC Radio 4 and the BBC’s health and science correspondent.
> 
> 
> ...


Yep!  Moderna, but Hot, flush of sweat all at once, (I won't go into all the adverse reactions and there were a lot of them) but I felt all my life energy "swooch" out of me, ( could no longer stand) everything went black and i collapsed on the floor.
"Oh, She was probably sick anyway."
Nope! I was in the peak of health!   fit and full of energy!  
CVC warned me  "Under no circumstances are you to get the second shot!"
No worries about that!


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## Kaila (Mar 18, 2021)

StarSong said:


> If it was 1950 it was Koprowski's drinkable vaccine (not approved in the US but used elsewhere). Live virus.
> 1955 forward was Salk's injectable. Dead virus
> 1961 forward was Sabin's oral sugar cube vaccine. Live attenuated virus.


Thank you very much for this, StarSong! 
I had wondered if there was a live vaccine for polio, before the others,
 and you answered that question.

I'm still interested in which one that @Capt Lightning 
had the experience described in above post, with a polio vaccine.


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## SetWave (Mar 18, 2021)

As I understand it is your immune system calling an All-Hands-On-Deck response to mount a defense.


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## Capt Lightning (Mar 18, 2021)

Kaila said:


> @Capt Lightning
> Do you know which polio vaccine that was?


No, this was in the late 1950's.  A time when doctor always knew best, parents didn't ask,  children were just nuisances and nurses were chosen for a lack of humanity.    I remember that the injection was very painful and I felt bad shortly afterwards.  Nobody took any notice of such things, but I got better in a couple of weeks.  The second part of the vaccination was delayed a month, and I had no ill effects from that.
I tended to think it was a dirty needle.  60 years later I'm still unhappy with injections, but at least the AZ vaccination was painless.


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## Kaila (Mar 18, 2021)

Thank you very much, @Capt Lightning 
You don't think you had any other long-term effects, in addition to those awful weeks,
such as difficulties that might have resulted later in life, especially after age 40 ?

I'm glad you did not have a bad experience with this current vaccine!


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## Furryanimal (Mar 18, 2021)

I was also floored by the polio vaccine but have had absolutely no reaction to the Astra Zeneca one.
i was concerned i might.


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## 911 (Mar 19, 2021)

SetWave said:


> As I understand it is your immune system calling an All-Hands-On-Deck response to mount a defense.


I think you hit the nail on the head. I was wondering why I had a reaction to the first injection that I received and the second one was worse, much worse, in fact. So, I asked my neurologist about these reactions and she told me that reactions from vaccines are caused by the person's immune system tackling (or taking on) the vaccine that was just administered. The immune system is reacting to the vaccine by it being stimulated, so some of us do have a reaction.


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## Rosemarie (Mar 19, 2021)

I was brought up in a military family and had just about every inoculation there was. The only one which caused a problem was the yellow fever one, which caused a very sore arm and a slight head-ache.
I had the Astra vaccine because I have allergies. I felt rotten all the next day, but then was fine. My second one is scheduled for next week, and I'm told the second one causes a worse reaction to the first.


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## Lewkat (Mar 19, 2021)

I had both doses of the Pfizer and had a terrible reaction both times.  Felt like I had COVID all over again.  I was told that I probably still had antibodies which causes a more severe reaction to these vaccines.


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## StarSong (Mar 19, 2021)

911 said:


> I think you hit the nail on the head. I was wondering why I had a reaction to the first injection that I received and the second one was worse, much worse, in fact. So, I asked my neurologist about these reactions and she told me that reactions from vaccines are caused by the person's immune system tackling (or taking on) the vaccine that was just administered. The immune system is reacting to the vaccine by it being stimulated, so some of us do have a reaction.





Lewkat said:


> I had both doses of the Pfizer and had a terrible reaction both times.  Felt like I had COVID all over again.  I was told that I probably still had antibodies which causes a more severe reaction to these vaccines.


Since I also had Covid, your reactions to the second vaccines sure make me nervous about my upcoming second shot.


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## Gaer (Mar 20, 2021)

911 said:


> I think you hit the nail on the head. I was wondering why I had a reaction to the first injection that I received and the second one was worse, much worse, in fact. So, I asked my neurologist about these reactions and she told me that reactions from vaccines are caused by the person's immune system tackling (or taking on) the vaccine that was just administered. The immune system is reacting to the vaccine by it being stimulated, so some of us do have a reaction.


Now, THIS makes sense!  THANK YOU for posting this!


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