It has been over 3 weeks since I got my first Pfizer Covid Vaccine and so far so good! I, fortunately, only had one minor side effect and no other reactions to it. I am scheduled to get my second dose this coming Friday so I am looking forward to being immunized and starting to reintegrate into life again.

How Did My First Shot Go and What Have I Noticed Since?

I have only experienced one side effect from the vaccine and it was very short-lived and that was a slightly sore arm. It was very mild though. I was still able to sleep on my arm and work out and it lasted about 2 days total. I do think moving it as much as possible after helped as well. I did not experience any other side effects and once the arm soreness wore off I felt back to normal.

I have actually been feeling a bit better than normal since getting it. I am not sure if the vaccine itself is having other positive effects on my immune system or if it's part stress relief. Interestingly, I have heard this from quite a few people in the Lyme and chronic illness community and surprisingly there was a recent article of how a woman with COVID Long-Hauler issues had all of her symptoms resolve after the vaccine. It is eerie how similar COVID and Lyme Long-Hauler symptoms are so there could be something to this? Only time will tell.

The amount of stress relief that lifted since getting the vaccine has been a huge sense of relief for my mental and emotional health. I have been hyper-vigilant to not get sick for the past year and have spent most of it at home not seeing anyone. Having the first shot is giving me a little more peace of mind that I am now protected a bit, even though I am not fully immunized and also that there is some glimmer of hope and that soon things will be getting better and I won't die or end up on a ventilator now if I were to get severe COVID.

Most of my friends are also currently being vaccinated so we are able to start making some plans for once my second dose kicks in and I can start seeing friends and family again! I am an extrovert so being away from friends and family has been very hard for me, but at the same time, I am quite experienced in this department after dealing with Lyme for almost a decade.

Even though the isolation felt familiar, it seemed easier this time. For starters, I was highly productive this year and accomplished so many goals and things I wanted to do but never had time for. I was also healthy and this changed everything. Having already spent so many years sick in bed, being sick again was the one thing I definitely was avoiding at all costs and so that reminder kept me careful and not wanting to risk being there again.

Did I Do Anything To Prep For The Vaccine?

I live a pretty healthy lifestyle to begin with so I did not do too much out of the norm. I made sure to continue to eat healthy and avoided any inflammatory foods and alcohol for a week before and a week after. I also up'd my dose of zinc, vitamin C and NAC and the day of the vaccine took some glutathione to help with any detox.

I did not take any anti-inflammatories such as fish oil or BPC-157 for the week before or after so I could let my immune system mount a response as needed.

Otherwise, I stuck to a pretty strict Paleo diet for the week and had a few extra green and detox cold-pressed juices and exercised as normal. I also tried to not stress about my decision. It was not an easy decision to make and get vaccinated with a new vaccine but I got into details in my post all about that topic and why I decided to get it. I am the kind of person that is very decisive. Once I weigh my options and make a decision I stick with it and don't really waver so once I decided I was confident in my choice and trusted my intuition and decision. I did not want any stress of my decision coming up on the day of the vaccine either.

Jab 2 Coming Up!

Keep an eye out for a post jab 2 update in the next few weeks but so far so good and I am so glad I made the decision to protect myself.

I have April 23 marked as Freedom Day in my calendar and can't wait to start easing back into life. I still plan to be cautious and careful as we are not out of the woods yet and the variants are definitely of concern but I can't wait to start living a bit more again.