Vaccines and long term paced

This is NOT a post about whether or not to get vaccinated for covid!

I had heard that over many years, or with some people not so many years, that blood flow is  reduced on the side with the pacer. I never had any symptoms or reason to believe I had this problem, but when I got my first covid vaccine, the lymph nodes in my neck and armpit swelled for a few days. Didn't think anything of it, chiropractor was able to drain it. Second one, I swelled more and it last longer and we wondered if it was because I have pacer wires on that side. Booster, I could barely move my head and it hurt to move my arm and he suggested no more vaccines on the side with the pacer.

So, if you've had this problem, first find a chiro or massage therapist to massage it out, then next time ask for it on the other side. 

4 Comments

Good advice

by Gemita - 2022-02-02 10:44:15

Hi Tracey,

When we were discussing Covid vaccines a little while back, I came across the following link which clearly suggests Lymphadenopathy (swelling of lymph nodes) is a known side effect of the Moderna and Pfizer BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines.  I attach the link for anyone wishing to read (only a short article!).  Your advice therefore not to get the vaccine in the pacemaker side arm is a valuable one for those of us who already have reduced blood flow in that area due possibly to trauma, narrowing, partial obstruction to a vein from pacemaker leads. 

https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n617

I have reduced blood flow on the left side due to pacemaker wires.  I have had a left axilla clearance as well and have been advised to always get any vaccine in the right arm.  Fortunately I didn't get any troublesome right arm swelling with any of my Pfizer vaccines but my nodes in the neck were definitely swollen for a few days.

Hope you are fully recovered now Tracey.

Vaccines on opposite arm

by TAC - 2022-02-02 11:59:14

I had all my vaccines applied in my left deltoid muscle. It's the same side of my PM and never developed any problems.

TAC

by Tracey_E - 2022-02-02 14:10:57

I never had problems in the past either. I've also never had 3 so close together. How long have you been paced? I'm coming up on 30 years. I believe this is more of a long term effect, not an issue for someone who hasn't been paced many years. 

Over-protection can have consequences

by crustyg - 2022-02-03 09:57:19

This is ALSO NOT AN ANTI-VAX post.

Back in the day, anyone turning up at A&E/ED with a piece of countryside stuck in them (splinter, manure, bits of iron, thorns etc.) would get an anti-tetanus jab.  After a while some folk had been getting several jabs a year and developed 'Serum Sickness.'  Basically their bodies had developed antibodies against the horse antigens that were still present in the anti-tetanus jab (raised in horses) and reacted increasingly aggressively against the protective jab.

So policy became 'Have you had an anti-tetanus jab in the last 10years?' and if not, only then to administer it.

There were reports in the early days of mRNA vaccines of quite severe reactions to the jab, which implied that the patient had already had Covid-19, and there was a debate about the wisdom of asking these folk to have a second mRNA jab, let alone third.

In Medicine, there's no Never or Always, so I can well believe that some folk are seeing unpleasant/uncomfortable reactions to later doses.  There's still quite a lot that we don't know, but at least we've moved on from the monocular focus on antibodies alone and recognised that cell-mediated immunity plays a significant role against the Coronaviruses.

You know you're wired when...

You participate in the Pacer Olympics.

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I had a pacemaker since 2002 and ever since then my life has been a total blessing.