As time has passed since its mass introduction, the logically expected COVID-19 vaccine injury information is starting to come in. While an emotional concern for many, some such outcomes were expected from the start of the vaccination program.
Helpful (read: factual) information about vaccine injuries is trickling in amongst the emotional theories, charges and counter-charges in today’s media. I am sharing my personal experiences in the effort to calm and reassure those concerned.
Spoiler alert: No drama – I am playing the hand I have been dealt.
Context is King
As the lived experience of the pandemic was certainly challenging for all concerned, uncertainty and fear prompted some dubious behaviors in many of our leaders. COVID-19 responses were not always their finest hour.
In my case, I made decisions based on information available at that time. Like so many, I invested many sources of medical and public health with trust that turned out to be unwarranted. At the end of the day, however, I did what I did, others behaved unconscionably, and no amount of Monday morning quarterbacking or blame can change the outcome.
Those experiences, however, inform my decision-making today.
Systems vs. mRNA
My body’s response to the Moderna doses turned out to be less than ideal. Without boring the reader with the story of my life, which is only interesting to me, I will be a good scientist and physician and break down the events by physiology. All symptoms, unless otherwise noted, appeared after vaccination.
The most profoundly affected system is my cardiovascular system. Increased heart rate and blood pressure, and a heart arrhythmia to boot. A little sleep apnea has been identified, but since I had not been evaluated for that before vaccination, I cannot directly connect it to the shots.
Secondarily, my nervous system is involved, though mostly through connections with organ functions. My sympathetic nervous system (SNS – our fight-or-flight response) is now more dominant than my parasympathetic system (PNS – our rest-and-digest functioning). My body keeps wanting to get up and go, even when there is no reason for it.
Responses of all these systems appear to be one of irritation. Often considered a part of autoimmune disorders, the body can sometimes have difficulty in regulating itself and a well known symptom of systemic irritation is inflammation. This was the starting point of my response to the symptoms my body serves up.
Some Practical Responses to Vaccine Injury
To work the problem, I started with things over which I do have control. Lifestyle changes are easy to implement, though sometimes a challenge to maintain.
Diet
I confess that I had begun to slack in my eating habits. Getting back on board and eating in defense of inflammation means eating clean by avoiding processed food as much as possible, and consuming whole and organic foods when available.
Cutting way down on dairy has also been a help. Nut milk replaced regular milk, minimal cheese consumption (though I really love it), and shifting to raw vegetables in favor of fruit.
Fermented dairy (yogurt, kefir, etc.) is still on my list, but only conditionally. Going to see what my next labs show to determine if they get to stay.
Supplementation
Having shared my opinion about supplementation in these posts before, I still stand by the prerequisite of an identified need. My situation has some identified needs.
Adding a broad spectrum multivitamin for cellular health and healing, fish oil for Omega-3 heart and blood protection, nitric oxide precursors, and CoQ10, I am trying to support tissues that may need the help.
Did I mention that I really do not like taking pills? Sometimes needs must.
Sleep
As a notorious night owl and early riser was not a great combination. A structured routine of earlier to bed and a strict minimum of 7 hours sleep every night pays off.
Exercise
While always active, adjusting my exercise routines to accommodate new found vulnerabilities has been tough. I have strong days and I have less-so days. I have learned to go with what my body is capable of on each day. I do not know if training and peaking for competition will ever become a possibility again, but I continue to build towards that long-term goal.
Medical Intervention
While I find allopathic (western) medicine to be somewhat limited in addressing the wide spectrum of human ailments, when there is a good match between the problem and the solution (drugs or surgery), they address it well. In my case, adding a pharmaceutical to address blood pressure has had the happy coincidence to address increased heart rate as well.
A happy side effect to all these measures has been a decrease in seasonal allergy symptoms and an absence of colds or flu instances since starting these changes a year and a half ago. While correlation is not causation, I am pleased to have these sorts of coincidences.
Triggers
The first thing I ask patients about their health challenge is what triggers an event? What do you do or not do that brings on the symptoms?
I am no different.
My heart rate issues show up unannounced during exercise with any combination of heat, stress, or fatigue.
Approaching the problem with the thought that a system is either on when the other is off or vice versa (they both cannot be on at the same time), if my heart goes crazy on the hyper end (SNS) of the nervous system, would not starting with a calming event (PNS) help prevent a hyper event (reciprocal inhibition)?
With that thinking, I make sure to eat something substantial (I am fond of peanut butter on a bagel) before a workout. If my nervous system is distracted with refueling, the opportunity to get my heart racing is reduced, and I generally experience a normal workout.
If I inadvertently experience a high heart rate event, the most important thing is to not panic. That just contributes to the problem. I just throttle back my effort and keep pedaling, gauging my effort as I go. Over time, the peak range of heart rate has come down to workable levels and I have actually ridden through to a normal rate after a while.
It just is what it is.
Being Injured
While my age is such that thoughts of what it means to live in an aging body are normal. The vaccine injury just accelerated the coming to terms with my mortality a little earlier than I planned.
With this unexpected change in physiology, I have turned my body into a subject of study and treatment. I am concerned but not grasping at cures because there are none. I can only treat what my body offers. Medical science has been slow to acknowledge, much less begin study of the range of COVD-19 vaccine injuries. They may discover treatments for vaccine injuries, but I am skeptical. Gone are the days of altruistic medicine.
I am still an athlete and like to push my boundaries with exercise. My philosophy is that an unused body provides nothing in return.
Who knows? Challenging a vaccine side-effected body will provide us with knowledge we did not possess before and it might even help treat the problem.
Building back stronger in both my thoughts and my body is my best option in this situation.
My only option, really.
“Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”
– Nelson Mandela
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