T.J. – New York
Describe the symptoms and the timeline of the reaction.
"9/22/21
On August 23rd, 2021 I received my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. My dad is a two-time cancer survivor and my mom has a lot of chronic pain so I wanted to protect them. I also want to study abroad and become a teacher so that was another reason to get it.
On my first day of the vaccine, I only had issues with muscle twitching (face and body) , along with chest pain and muscle soreness. The soreness was pretty bad but I knew it was normal so I ignored it. Face twitching was weird but I ignored that since it is injected into the muscle. It continued throughout the week. Day 3,4, and 5, were the hardest. I had really bad heart palpitations, hypertension, vision+hearing loss, ongoing chest pain, tender chest and the left side of my body was on fire. I went to the emergency room on the 27th and outside of the required questions, I had nurses accuse the pain being ""in my head"" and when I said,
""I am not antivaxx but I am experiencing side effects from the Pfizer va-""
""STAY OFF SOCIAL MEDIA!"" the nurse said to me very annoyed. I was shocked really and I continued to be gaslit inside of the hospital. It's so painful when no one believes you. They did an EKG, X-ray, and other tests and didn't find anything. They said it's anxiety. I have had a couple panic AND anxiety attacks in my life- I know what anxiety feels like. I had were negative. They kept telling me it's anxiety but on my discharge papers.. my diagnosis was viral infection unknown.
It's been a month and I have also had coughing fits. My body is still very sore. I can't lift things heavier than a plate of food or my throat tightens and I feel tired. My nights are the hardest and it's difficult to get a full night's rest. The pain just won't go away. A cardiologist suspects I have costochondritis but I am looking for a medical exemption since this pain won't go away. HIGHLY doubt I can get a 2nd ... I don't want to do this again. No OTC medicine will work. I feel my dreams of studying abroad and becoming a teacher are being snatched from me. I just want help honestly.
-T.J. - New York"
