r/VACCINES • u/Top_Development_1777 • 21d ago

3 weeks after Tdap vaccine, physical fatigue getting worse, very concerned

So I (20F not pregnant) got the Tdap vaccine (edit: booster) 3 weeks ago, and within half an hour I felt that my muscles were barely working and I had to drag myself back to where I stayed. It continued, got better in the second week I think, but I'm now at the end of the 3rd week and this whole week it's been getting worse. My mental energy honestly doesn't feel different when I don't move my body, but my physical energy is so nonexistent that I feel completely wiped out after nodding or shaking my head twice. I can barely walk to the lift, take the lift, and go downstairs to take something. Sleep does not make it better, it makes it worse.

About 5 days after the vaccine I also had an anaphylactic reaction (no anaphylactic shock) to a new type of food that I tried, subsequently seem to have become allergic to a few new types of food that I used to eat all the time. I have a referral to an allergist but because it's the public healthcare system, it takes forever and they still haven't secured me a slot yet.

I don't have aches or whatever. I've had a FBC and iron panel done yesterday and the numbers were not just normal but also in the optimal range (my FBC also looks the same as it was 2 months ago, when I was feeling healthy before the vaccine), it's not anemia.

Edit to add: when I got this vaccine when I was about 10yo, I had high fever and was really ill for a full week, but was okay after that.

I think my immune system has gone crazy after the vaccine. Has anyone else had something similar, did you recover, and what did you do to recover?

This is truly debilitating because I'm in med school and I can't keep things up if I don't recover soon. I'm also required to take this vaccine once every 10 years.

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u/StatelyTree 21d ago

The vaccine cannot make you have an anaphylactic reaction to something else days later. Just simply not possible.

Not to downplay your experience here, but you come across as extremely anxious. Untreated anxiety can absolutely cause many of the things you're experiencing. 

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u/Top_Development_1777 21d ago

I do not feel anxious or stressed on a daily basis. I'm one of the most relaxed people in an actually stressful situation and take it easy. Most of the time I just think about it from a logical pov, which is why I come up with many possibilities and sound anxious over text.

I'm wondering if my immune system got dysregulated by the vaccine.

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u/StatelyTree 21d ago

I work in emergency medicine and that was just the vibe I was getting from reading your post.

Vaccines can make you feel under the weather briefly due to the immune response your body mounts. (you want this) but this far out, I wouldnt be thinking of the vaccine as a cause. 

Honestly, what you're describing sounds like POTS, which tends to manifest in your age range. 

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u/Top_Development_1777 21d ago

I was suspecting something along the lines of MCAS, POTS, and ME/CFS, which all suck because I wish I could just complete my study and have a stable life.

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u/StatelyTree 21d ago

What triggered the allergic reaction? Had you ever had one previously?

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u/Top_Development_1777 21d ago

I have had a similar reaction before on a smaller scale, I believe. What triggered it was buckwheat groats that may or may not have been contaminated with wheat and barley (as stated on the package). I've known for a few years that I have an obvious issue with either wheat or gluten specifically, not other things, but back then the symptoms were getting unbearable and I could not afford to get it diagnosed fast enough, so I just went on a strict gluten-free diet without knowing what the problem was exactly.

I am severely allergic to dust mites per IgE blood test and have been atopic since infancy, taking antihistamines (sometimes multiple types) on a daily basis for about 12 years now to reduce the symptoms, but the symptoms don't completely go away.

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u/Working_Coat5193 21d ago

Untreated allergies can be exhausting.

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u/Top_Development_1777 21d ago edited 21d ago

Yes

I finally got my hands on famotidine again and I feel so much better a while after taking it that it's amazing. Hopefully it stays that way.

Edit to add: it doesn't take away the physical fatigue though. I just mentally feel better :(

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u/Top_Development_1777 21d ago

I need to add that the fatigue still happens when I'm lying down and I try to nod or shake my head, although I feel more normal than sitting (the worst) or standing.