Last week was a milestone for me, it was finally time for me to have the Coronavirus vaccination. Type 1 Diabetics are in the medium-vulnerable category which is scary enough by itself, yet alone being a key worker at the moment! Anyone in the medium- vulnerable category cannot catch Covid-19 any quicker (like the extremely vulnerable), it just means that if we do contract the virus that it can be much more dangerous with our underlying conditions. Currently I work in a supermarket and sadly not everyone that comes in abides by the rules and to be honest, can be quite rude about the whole situation. If I ask someone to stand 2 metres away then more often than not I'll get some form of snarky or obnoxious comment about how it 'doesn't exist' and how I am over reacting on the situation. I am very understanding that everyone is entitled to their own point of view and I do respect other peoples opinions and beliefs on the matter, however due to my condition I'd much rather be safe then sorry.
Its because of this that I do sometimes get a bit of anxiety when I am on shift, this is something that I
know receiving the vaccine will help with. Our store is too small for self scanning machines and so we are passed literally everything that is being bought in store to scan. So when I was contacted to book an appointment I was over the moon, I booked it in a few days later and now I am awaiting my second dose. I received my first dose of the Pfizer vaccination on the 25th February and I honestly had an easy and positive experience (I know the same cant be said for others but for me all was okay). When I arrived at my surgery everyone was in a big socially distanced queue that went from the outside of the building right through to where our nurse rooms entrances were. Once I was in with my nurse I queried a few things. Firstly I asked whether I could have the injection in the arm which my Libre was in already and if this would effect the results, this it seemed was quite an unusual question as she had to ask around a few other nurses to find out. The answer was its absolutely fine and so I proceeded to have it in my left arm which is my non-dominant one. I also asked about the fact that I am mildly allergic to penicillin and whether this would cause a reaction (The lady who booked me in said I 'should' be okay and so I wanted to clarify). If you're allergic to penicillin at an anaphylactic level then definitely mention it to your nurse, she said that mild allergies are fine but if you are anaphylactic then it can be an issue.
The jab itself I found to be painless and after receiving it we were told to wait in a waiting room for 15 minutes to make sure we didn't have an initial reaction. Once this time had passed we were free to go! For me I didn't really have an side effects, on the first night my arm ached a lot which made me feel a bit sorry for myself but by the following morning I was fine. It did however have an affect on my blood sugars for the next few days. Despite me feeling okay I was hyper-ing a lot, just like if I was fighting a normal cold or virus. I would have to take extra insulin doses to try and bring down my sugar levels which did then lead to a few extra hypos too..
I had a couple of days where I just couldn't get it right no matter how much I tried to prevent and counteract it. To say my bloods were like a rollercoaster is an understatement..
Other than the above the vaccine didn't really have that much of an effect on me. For once I was part of the minority who lucked out! I know that a lot of people have had serious reactions to this jab and so I must remind you that everyone is different, just because I was in the clear doesn't mean that everyone reading this will be too. Its like taking any prescribed medication, you never know how it will affect you! Out of the people I know that have had either of the vaccinations, some have had similar experiences to me where as others have had every symptom listed as a reaction! Therefore I do encourage that if you get the vaccine to read the information pack they give you which contains all of the symptoms you might experience and also how to treat them. A family member of mine recently spoke to a paramedic about the vaccinations, they said that there had been cases of false alarms because callers would leave out the fact that they've had the jab which would have explained their symptoms.
Currently I am waiting on a call for my second dose but from my experience they're usually quick to
get you in once you've been contacted.. I believe I had to wait around 5 days for my vaccination after I was called, with two of them being the weekend! All in all I had quite an easy experience with the vaccine and if nothing else it has helped to ease my anxiety a little knowing that I'll soon be protected. Everyone has their own opinions on the vaccine especially with the lack of long-term side effect testing. The way I view it is that I'd rather know I am protected now and that I have a future where I can deal with any side effects that I may or may not have at that time. After all, we have to live in the present, who knows what the future holds!
This is just my opinion and like I've said everyone is entitled to their own views. I'm not trying to press my feelings onto others, I am only sharing my experience for those who are interested in my thoughts and my story.. On that note, I'd love to hear about your vaccination experiences if you've had it!
Thank you for reading and until next time, Victoria xx