What My Arm Felt Like When I Took the Vaccine

Don't get me wrong. I take the virus seriously. The vaccine symptoms I felt for less than 48 hours are a drop in the bucket—compared to what can happen to you if the virus gets you. Comparing the pain from the vaccine to the virus is like comparing a bad vacation to hell.

I'll take my cranky and sore day (or five) over death, getting hooked up to a ventilator, or having permanent lung damage.

That said, when people say their arm was sore after getting the shot, they normally don't expand on that. They don't really give you a reference to how much pain they were in. Sure some people have told me that their arm was sore, like after a really rigorous workout.

I don't know what kind of workouts you do, but the pain I felt was way worse than any workout I've done. I would never exercise if it felt that bad. Maybe I'm a weakling and don't push myself far enough when it comes to weights.

My reactions to the shots were all varied. Each shot felt different for my arm. The first one I felt like I had tried to punch my way through a glacier: I had to punch through the glacier in order to survive. It was some desperate punching, and it was traumatic. Did I leave other people behind to freeze to death? Who knows. . .

My arm was sore for days. I remember walking around in a park and complaining to my husband that the pain hadn't subsided. I wondered at that point if my arm would ever feel the same again. Pretty dramatic, right?

Besides the very sore and disagreeable arm, I had brain fog. It would usually take over in the afternoon. I would feel a strong need to go to bed. I felt dizzy and overwhelmed. I couldn't focus at all. This went on for about a week.

The second shot was similar, but all my symptoms were diluted. I felt like things were about 10% as bad. I was pretty happy about that. It wasn't too memorable.

The first shot was memorable. I was afraid I would be one of those unlucky ones who'd have an allergic reaction because I do suffer from allergies. To be honest, I think my body was initially really confused. I did feel my tongue swelling and an itch in my throat similar to when I eat a nut. But the sensations were short-lived. I felt my tongue swelling and my throat tingling for about five minutes. It didn't come with the accompanying nausea and hives of a full blown allergic reaction, so to be honest I kind of forgot this even happened. . . while I sat in a Walgreens. . . staring at the pregnancy tests and yeast infection products before me. The arm pain was far more commanding and memorable. (But the arm pain was delayed. I didn't feel it until 24 hours after getting jabbed.)

Then the booster shot. It was like I had some sort of dry flu. I didn't cough, but I had a horrible headache. It felt like my eyes wanted to escape my head. It felt like rocks were tumbling around in my brain or that spiders were warring against each other. I could feel their tiny little legs running about my brain. The spiders were kicking around rocks and eggs. My whole head was overwhelmed by tension.

While I was trying to sleep, I had visions of my arm floating around in space. I had visions of a colorful forest as if created by Microsoft Paint. I was a stick figure enjoying poorly drawn papayas. My arm would turn into a golf club and the palm of my hand would give birth to golf balls.

The golf balls would become the stars in the sky, while my golf club arm spiraled around in space. My arm was perhaps turning into a spiral galaxy.

I found these visions mildly entertaining. I don't take drugs, but I assume that's what it's like. Visions that make no sense. I somewhat think my brain was trying to entertain me and distract me from the pain. My brain tends to do that when menstrual cramps are too much.

The next day it felt like I had rammed my body into a wall. . . repeatedly. I'm proud of my body and its ability to build up immunity. I don't understand why getting a shot in my arm causes my feet and butt to hurt. I don't know why random body parts have to get involved in the process. Not every body part needs to be a participant. Let some body parts be heroes and the rest of you should be less ambitious!

I couldn't focus at all. I would talk to my husband in riddles and songs. My arm hurt, but it didn't hurt like I was trying to punch my way through a glacier. It was more like a Middle Ages battle. My arm was a battlefield. Knights were cramming swords into their enemies. Horses were galloping chaotically. People were blowing trumpets and banging drums. My arm was on fire from flaming arrows and catapults of flaming boulders. That's how my arm felt.

It felt like a universe was expanding in my arm and that the time continuum was unstable. At any moment my arm was going to experience what astrophysicts call the Big Rip. I felt like there was this expanding bright light and at any moment my arm was going to split in two. My head demanded for more water: please give me more water to relieve me of this migraine! I was a cactus of perpetual dyhdration.

I think my arm hurt worse in the first round. Punching your way through a glacier is really painful. An arm that's experiencing a full-on war sucks, no doubt. But the warmth of it all wasn't so bad. I was mostly surprised by the other random body pains. My opposite shoulder felt like someone stabbed it. My butt felt like I had done some absurd Mario jump and tried to land on my butt. Yahoo!

I told my husband I felt like I had been jumping on a trampoline for a really long time. Have you tried jumping on a trampoline as an adult? It's awful. It's a straight ticket to migraine city. I'm a decently in shape person, but trampolines are not my friend. This vaccine had the effect of making my body feel like I had been jumping for a straight hour followed by a half-hour of squats.

Incredible, right? I took the flu vaccine this year and had zero symptoms. This new vaccine for the new virus was a far more complicated dance. My husband's parents got sick with the virus for three weeks. His mom ended up in the hospital. They refused the vaccine. They said people should just let it happen to them. . . I don't know what they think now. But I think they were basically driving the wrong way on a highway.

I'd much rather have a day of feeling really sore and not needing hospitalization than having to go to the ER and be met with an expensive bill. Financial ruin is no joke, ya'll.

I'm hoping my vaccine symptoms won't pick up later today. Sometimes that happens—looking at you first shot. If I can get through the afternoon without brain fog or a mysterious arm with many metaphorical tales. . . I'll be happy. Here's to hoping the booster shot's madness on me and my creative writing brain comes to an end.