As mentioned in a previous article, vaccines can be tough on people with Hereditary Alpha Tryptasemia Syndrome. The Moderna booster for COVID-19 was no exception. Bottom line: 2 sleepless nights, and the day between them was not too bad.
My local hospital gave me my 1st 2 doses of Pfizer. Since I was struggling to get an appointment for a third dose of Pfizer there, I opted to get the only thing offered at my local pharmacy, Moderna. Having read a Reuters article about mixing the doses, this decision seemed both logistically pragmatic and medically beneficial.
After the 3rd dose, the so-called booster, I did not experience significant pain at the injection site. Neither was there swelling or redness, which was a pleasant surprise.
The next morning, I struggled to get up, because of a migraine. The barometric pressure was low, and there was a significant snow storm event, so I immediately attributed the migraine to those factors. About 7:00 p.m., however, I started to realize that I was physically off. Symptoms:
- Migraine
- Freezing cold, requiring extra clothing and blankets, but not being able to regulate the cold
- Inescapable heat, requiring no clothing nor blankets, putting water on my face and turning up the ceiling fan
- Aching in shoulders, arms, and legs
- An inability to sleep, despite tiredness and pain
- Overnight, repeated need to urinate (5 times, and compared to 0 to 1 normally)
At 10:00 p.m., I finally remembered that I had received the booster shot, and then firmly placed the cause for all of these issues there. (Before, I had been afraid that I might be sick.)
At 11:30 a.m. I woke, fully rested and feeling as if nothing had happened.
The bottom line is, if that 24 hours of feeling crummy protects me from significant illness or hospitalization, I'll take it.
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