Spondylitis Association of America Forums General Discussion General Message Board for Ankylosing Spondylitis and Related Diseases CoVid 19 Vaccine

I had my first Moderna vaccine yesterday.

The vaccine itself did not hurt at all. No burning.

3 hours after the shot I had a significantly sore arm. Somewhat worse than the tetanus shot. I would suggest if you are a side sleeper to get it on the opposite side than you sleep on.

Just about 24 hours after the shot (this afternoon) my AS flared. For background, I have fairly severe AS. SI joints fully fused since my late 20’s and pretty painful/ movement restricting arthritis in my jaw, neck, shoulders, back, knees, and at the points of attachment of all my ribs.

It is nearly completely controlled with Humira, I do not have break through flares unless I have to put off my meds for more than about 4 or 5 days.

So I am confident this is a vaccine side effect. Joint pain is apparently a common side effect from the Moderna vaccine.

I’ve had flu shots, two types of pneumonia shots, and the tetanus that includes whooping cough and the most I get is a little chills/ muscle aches/ migraine from the flu.

So this is vaccine-specific.

It’s not that bad. I think a few Advil would resolve it but I do my best to avoid anti-inflammatories after a vaccine.

I strongly suspect it will resolve within a few days.

My joint pain was mostly gone by Tuesday morning. The arm is a lot better too (moving it a lot helps).

So 12-16 hours of widespread joint pain and a day and a half of a significantly sore arm.

I’m a bit apprehensive about dose 2 now since that one is worse for most people.

Someone I know told me that his psoriasis, which had been under control, flared up within a day after getting his first COVID vaccine. It started to ease within a couple days. So it seems it may temporarily exacerbate certain immune-related illnesses in some people.

I will be interested in hearing more reports as more people are vaccinated.

I saw my rheumatologist this morning for the first time since getting the vaccine. He warned me that my reaction to the second shot will likely be worse -- perhaps even bad enough to require taking a day off work. He also advised me to time the second shot, if possible, at the end of my Enbrel cycle. Then, he said, wait 2 or 3 days after the shot to do my next Enbrel injection.

I'll let you all go first.

I was given doses 1 and 2 of the Pfizer vaccine December/January. Sore arm both times.

I have talked with people who had shakes chills and body aches. Most of us just had a sore arm

I had my first dose 18 days ago.

Only slight discomfort at injection site the next day.

No exacerbation of AS, UC, PsO, Uveitis.

I had a headache for several days the week after the first dose. I think that was unrelated and probably caused by usual culprits of change in weather, dehydration, too much screen time at night. I do get migraines from time to time.

Thank you everyone for sharing your Vaccination experience!

Everyone with spondylitis: please fill out this SAA global survey on COVID-19 & Spondylitis. Its how we get answers :-)

Thank you, Rich

https://spondylitis.org/research-new/covid-19-and-spondyloarthritis-survey/

Please consider joining our education/support group zoom meeting. Would love to hear about experiences first hand on the vaccine and spondylitis. it's on Singles Appreciation Day (Feb 14th).

https://spondylitis.org/resources-support/support-resources/support-groups/los-angeles/

I had my second dose of the Moderna vaccine last Wednesday, and it was indeed worse than the first dose. I had chills, severe headache, fatigue, and muscle aches. The chills started about 8 hours after my shot, and the headache woke me up at 3 a.m., which was about 18 hours after my shot. It felt very much like the flu and was bad enough that I had to take the next day off work. The side effects were totally gone about 36 hours after the shot.