Annie Smale
What was your life like before you received the COVID-19 vaccine?
Great health, no pain anywhere. Could do anything. Moved twice in less than a year, packing and unpacking everything completely by myself. No problem. Very active lifestyle...Travel, Hiking, Yoga, Biking, Healthy diet, BMI 19.5
Describe the symptoms and the timeline of the reaction.
extreme joint pain started within weeks of the booster shot. No connection was made at the time. Several doctors misdiagnosed as tennis elbow, osteoarthritis.... Stiffness and pain in shoulders, elbows, hands, palms of hands, hips and knees. Extremely painful to get out of bed or stand from sitting. Too painful to take walks. Everyday tasks with hands incredibly painful. No amount of OTC anti-inflammatory meds helped. No relief. Began to feel like I did not want to live if that was to be my life. I had moved to a new state and was completely alone, no one to help me, unable to make friends because unable to be active anymore. Finally able to see an orthopedic doctor who sent me to a rheumatologist, suspecting RA or Lupus. Prescribed Meloxicam, which resolved all of the large joint pain within a week or two. Hands did not resolve and have been painful without explanation. 100 tests later, no diagnosis. 3 hand doctors, 2 rheumatologists, and orthopedic doctors later, no improvement. No diagnosis from neurology tests. Docs not interested in trying to figure it out. Tried Hydroxychloroquine with no relief.
Describe the solutions that helped your symptoms
Meloxicam for large joint inflammation
Which solutions were not helpful?
Physical therapy, hydroxychloroquine, depo pak, cortisone shot (systemic), Advil, more meloxicam to try for hand pain relief. THC salve with lidocaine. Hand braces.
What would you like others to know?
Don't give up when doctors dismiss your pain. My experience with so many was that if it did not show up positive for any disease or normal hand problem, they were not interested in going further, seemingly not understanding how much pain I was in and how it changed my quality of life every single day.
