I’d been dragging my feet on scheduling my booster. First, because I wasn’t sure whether I should really wring all the extra immunity out of my bout with Covid before I got boosted, and, if so, how long that would take. Second, because I wanted to also get my flu shot, and ideally would get both shots simultaneously, but was that a good plan from a scheduling perspective? Maybe I should just do the flu shot whenever I could, and then schedule the booster when I had a free day for feeling sick.
Swistle posted about flu shots, and made some comments to the effect of how there is never a good time, which turned out to be the push I needed. I scheduled flu and booster shots at the same time, at the pharmacy down the street, on a Friday so I could have all day Saturday to recover.
I got my shots in the morning. The most triumphant moment was that I remembered to bring BOTH of my vaccine cards (when I have forgotten to bring my vaccine cards to every other vaccine appointment since Covid began). The most frustrating moment was when the pharmacy tech handed me a clipboard and asked me to fill out two pages of information that I had literally just input into their online form. No, wait, that wasn’t the MOST frustrating; the MOST frustrating was when I noted that the form, under “which vaccinations are you getting today?” had a sticker that said “flu” but no sticker that said “covid,” and the tech said, “Oh, yeah, the Covid sticker is on the next form.” And it turned out I had to fill out TWO IDENTICAL FORMS, just because he couldn’t/wouldn’t put two stickers on one form. And when I say identical, I mean identical to one another as well as to the form I’d filled out online. WORLD WEARY SIGH.
The pharmacist was a person I am unfamiliar with, and perhaps he was unfamiliar with giving shots as well because the flu shot hurt like the dickens. Whatever that means. And then when he gave me the Covid shot, I could sort of feel the liquid go into my skin. (I asked my husband about that, later, and he said it is normal. But I had never experienced that sensation before and do not care to experience it again.)
My arm was almost immediately sore, which worsened steadily throughout the day. As the hours passed, I kept thinking that I was starting to feel crummy, but convinced myself that I was merely hyper-aware of how I was feeling, and was really fine. I think it was about eight hours after my shots that I admitted to myself that I truly did feel crummy. Tired and cranky. And my bones and joints were starting to ache. I took an Advil and went to bed.
Sleep was… elusive. I must have developed a fever overnight because I kept waking up, teeth-clacking, body quaking with the cold. I added another blanket to my bed, put on some pants, and snuggled up as close to my husband as possible. My husband slept on, unaware.
In addition to the fever, my arm was SO painful, I kept waking up because I’d accidentally roll on it. And then when I tried to roll to the other side, I’d have to lift my arm and it felt so heavy and so painful I was near tears.
At three in the morning, Carla came in to tell me she was freezing. My husband slept through this. I piled some blankets on top of her and staggered back to bed.
Around four, I woke up and could not fall back to sleep. My skin hurt. My scalp hurt. My bones and joints felt like I’d fallen off the top of a very tall building. My head ached. At six, I could tell that Carla was awake and downstairs, but I wanted my husband to go make breakfast etc. so I could lie in bed and contemplate whether death would be preferential. He slept until NINE O’CLOCK, waking several times to mumble that he would go down, and did I want him to make me tea. Yes, yes I did. But he did not wake up or make tea, so I dragged myself downstairs, made tea, and took my temperature. 101.5. Carla was uninterested in food and I was uninterested in forcing her to eat anything. She told me she had never gone back to sleep after she woke up at three and had come downstairs around four. Maybe that’s what jolted me out of my meager sleep. She kept saying she was cold, so I took her temperature: 100-ish, which was inconclusive, fever-wise. (Our thermometer can be a little hyperbolic.) I drank my tea, took some more Advil, and dragged myself upstairs to get back into bed.
This time, my husband did wake up and go downstairs. I didn’t hear from him until two hours later when he came up to inform me that Carla had thrown up. Turns out a fourth grader is old enough to say, “I think I’m going to throw up” and then to make it to the toilet to do so, for which we are all thanking our blessings. I cursed the power of thought, because I had just recently been marveling at the fact that Carla hadn’t vomited in several years. (Longtime readers may remember that vomit was one of my top reasons for never wanting children, and one of my top fears when I realized that I really DID want a baby. Carla is a wonderful child in so many ways, one of which is that she has vomited less than a dozen times in her entire life so far. And most of those times were in the presence of her father. She is the best kid.) She had a fever of 101.7, so we plied her with Tylenol.
I was feeling like death, Carla was feeling yucky. It was the perfect day to sit on the couch and watch endless episodes of The Dog Whisperer.
I will say that the Advil kicked in, and I felt noticeably better… and about 36 hours after my booster entered my arm, I felt completely normal. It was a much better experience than after my last booster. For the record, I got two Pfizer vaccines, a Moderna booster, and this most recent booster was Pfizer.
In Carla news, she felt better just a few hours after throwing up. She kept saying she was STARVING, so I doled out Ritz crackers very slowly until she’d devoured an entire sleeve of them. We also made her some Pedialyte popsicles that she loved – I think her favorite part about being sick, besides unlimited TV, is the popsicles. She had no symptoms besides the fever and a sore throat, and seemed pretty cheerful if a little more lethargic than usual. She tested negative for both Covid and strep, rapid and PCR (we spent the following day at the urgent care to have a doctor do a PCR), and she was fever free after 24 hours and able to go back to school on Monday as normal. Mystery virus with a blessedly short duration.
Carla’s booster is on the schedule. She and I have already had our flu shots. My husband is the last one to need a booster, and I will continue to pester him until he finds time to make it happen.
It seems as though I am doing NaBloPoMo this month, which is 30 blog posts in 30 days. (Will I make it??? Only time will tell.) Details at San’s blog here.
Having kids old enough to make it to the toilet to vomit is the best. The best! I don’t think I have whatever is that actual phobia of vomit, but it’s close.
I’m glad you’re feeling better. I hate that the Covid shots are so awful. I had my flu shot and it was absolutely nothing but a slightly sore arm for a couple of hours, and it made me wistful for the days where all we would have to get is a flu shot.
That is an important milestone (the vomiting one). I still haven’t gotten the latest booster, but I know I should. I actually haven’t had bad reactions to the shots and boosters so far, just arm pain.
Sounds like a snuggle on the couch kind of day with Carla was a silver lining of it all.
The pain with this new COVID booster vaccination also seemed to me worse than previous shots. It did hurt more than other times and made me wonder if the needle was different or there was more liquid in the shot. The vaccine site had a stabbing kind of pain for a while afterwards. The next day I had mild aches and feeling like a flu was coming on. Its all worth it and I’m so glad to be able to receive a vaccine, of course.
Ooof, so sorry you got hit with the vaccines. But good that you spent most of the worst of it in bed, and that Carla can announce when she’s sick! lol. I do remember you being worried about that, those many years ago! I still need to get Kate her flu shot, and Alex needs both. He’s coming home this wknd, maybe I can persuade them both (ha, doubtful).
I got my flu shot on a whim last week at the grocery store. I went from “yeah I need to do that some time” to “whoa the pharmacy isn’t busy right now, I’m going in!”
For a few years now I’ve been getting my flu shots the day after a half marathon, so at a time that I’ve been achy and run down anyway. I was surprised at how small the reaction that I had to the flu shot. It was just no big deal – I know that’s not the case for everyone.
I’m seeing my doc at the end of this month so I want to get her take on how to long to wait after COVID to get shot #4. That is a bigger deal for side effects (at least for me personally) but way less of a drag than getting actual COVID so…
I seem to be in the minority but I got my Covid booster and had zero problems. Not even a sore arm. And I’m usually the one who has any side effect any shot can give you. Makes feel so sorry for you.
Same for me Ally! I got both flu and COVID booster in the same arm and neither hurt in the moment, no side effects and my arm was the least sore I think it’s ever been after a shot. My arm was super sore after the other COVID shots.
I have had all Moderna shots and terrible reactions to all of them. LOL. I just now accept it. On the bright side, I didn’t have so much as a sore arm from my flu shot, so that was nice.
I’m glad that you were able to get boosted, and that the aftereffects were transient. They say this one is doing good things, so I’m glad to have mine!
So sorry about those side effects. My third shot did me in for about 12 hours (went to bed) but the others have been no problem. I’ve had 2 Pfizers and 2 Modernas. Now I’m losing track of whether I’ve had 4 or 5 vaccinations. Hmmm. Vomit doesn’t bother me as much as diarrhea. They are both nasty though.
I have a terrible response to flu shots; I used to get them every year, but the last year I did I was so sick for so long after my flu shot (like over a month)…I just couldn’t go through with it again. I wonder if I might be allergic to something in the vaccine?
My first COVID shot I felt like death – it was awful. My second shot was fine. So weird.
My kids vomit with every bug. Ugh. I hate vomit so much. In fact, ironically enough, my daughter came home from school sick today (after I had posted to the blog about taking care of sick children) and promptly vomited after she walked in the door (also old enough to mostly handle everything on her own, thank goodness). I was telling her how I once met with our financial planner at the bank who told me her teenager had vomited only ONCE in his entire life. How is that even possible?! Vomit is just such a part of my world, though we all hate it with every fibre of our being.
Ugh, I am so sorry you had such a bad reaction to the vaccine. It’s so weird how different it is for people. My (twin!) sister ALWAYS reacts to every and all vaccines (she told me she hadn’t gotten the second booster, because she knew she’s have to take da day or two off from work (she’s a teacher) and now would not be the time to do so). I, however, have never had any reactions (besides a sore arm, maybe).
I never have had a reaction to the COVID vaccine (except for psoriasis flare ups; which is normal) or flu shot except for a sore arm. That is the reason, I got mine separately. And, I remember one of them didn’t even give me a sore arm this time (although I can’t remember which one didn’t).
I’m sorry you had a such a reaction and am glad you (and Carla) are feeling better.
Ohh…so sorry to hear about the bad reaction to the shot! Sounds awful — but I’m glad to hear you (and Carla) are better.
I decided not to get both because then I thought if I had a reaction, I won’t know if it’s from the flu or from the booster. As it is, I told my husband if we felt unwell the next few days after our flu shot, we won’t know if it’s a reaction or that our son shared with us what he had last week.
I’m sorry you had such a negative reaction to the vaccinations. We’ve been mostly fortunate with our vaccinations.
I must say that I appreciate your honesty in your blog posts. I also dread vomiting. . It is one of my phobias. So I absolutely understood what you were feeling. I am fortunate to have an older daughter who rarely vomited and a younger daughter who does on a regular basis but have a husband who can handle it for me. 😂
Ugh. I have not gotten either the Covid booster or the flu shot. I also want to get the shingles vaccine. Somehow in trying to figure out all the logistics between the three of these, plus trying to figure out how I can schedule the Covid booster for a day off in case I feel awful (which I did the first two times) I haven’t done any of it.
I’m glad you got both those shots over with and are feeling better!
That is a tough combo to be sick AND have Carla be sick. But more than anything I’m marveling over the fact that your husband slept until 9am! OMG! That is just unheard of in our house. Phil and I take turns getting up with the kids but when we “sleep in” we get up at 7:30 at the latest in general! I think I would maybe strangle him if he stayed in bed until 9 am. 😉 Ha. Although after all the solo parenting he has done this week, I will probably tell him to stay in bed as long as he’d like this weekend to make up for it.
I have never had a reaction to any of my covid vaccines. I would actually welcome some sort of reaction because then I’d have more faith that it is working. I’ve had 4 or 5 covid vaccines, I can’t remember. I am eligible for more since I’m immune compromised. All but my last one were moderna. I got my flu shot a couple of weeks ago and didn’t even have a sore arm! I do know that ‘fluid going into my arm’ feeling, though. I get my covid booster this weekend but I am skeptical that I will have any sort of reaction!
I hope you and your husband avoid Carla’s stomach bug! Those are so so so awful. And we are not at the point where a kid can tell us they need to puke and make it to the bathroom!
Ugh, I’m sorry you had such a bad reaction to the booster. I got my flu shot + booster at the same time and “pregamed” with Tylenol. I took 3 doses and didn’t have any sort of reaction. I don’t know if the Tylenol helped, but maybe?!?! This was my first time getting a Moderna shot (all others have been Pfizer) so I was worried I’d have a reaction, but I did fine.
What a rough weekend for your family, though! Glad everyone is on the mend.
This is like the reminder I need to call the doctor and get the shots. I have been putting off because …. time. And I dont want to feel sick and be knocked out. But I really dont want Covid so I should do it fast.
I am sorry you felt so sick. It seems like the second booster does that to people.
1) I’m so sorry you felt like crud for a day+ after your shots, 2) that pharmacist does not sound like a great shot-giver, 3) I’m glad that your crud was relatively short-lived, after all, and 4) thank goodness for older kids who know what to do when sick and who also recover quickly from mystery viruses that they (hopefully?) do not share with others. Whew. Long weekend, though, for all of you.