I have mixed feelings about the Covid vaccine.
Unfortunately, I had blood clots in my lungs that nearly killed me. I had two attacks (the second even when I was on blood thinners). I was very ill the first time it happened. The doctors have told me it’s likely, looking at the timeline of when I had the jabs and when I had the clots, that it was the vaccine that caused them and that there was a risk of clots higher from the Covid vaccine than they might expect from a vaccine.
I have to go to the Anticoagulation dept. at the hospital every couple of weeks where I have my blood checked to see how my clotting levels are doing and they adjust my thinner dosage according to how my levels are (after the first clots they didn’t have me doing that, they just left me with a daily dose of a thinner and left me to it). Hearing conversations or talking to other patients in the waiting rooms over the last few years as well as the Nurses in Anticoag, lots of people have said it’s the Covid vaccine why they’re there. A number are fairly young to middle aged like me (where clots would mostly be a middle aged to old age issue).
I personally know two other people - one lad nearly lost his leg from a clot and he had a chunk of his lower leg muscles taken away in the operation to remove the clot; and unfortunately, my work colleague’s Sister died of blood clots in the lungs around the same time it happened to me - in both cases the Doctors have said it’s a possibility that the Covid vaccine was the cause (it’s difficult to diagnose the cause of a clot case-by-case because it’s already happened, but they’re looking at the timelines of vaccine to clot and the ages of people - all three of us were between 35-45, all of us fit and healthy).
It’s been nearly two years since the first clots happened to me, and I’m only just recovering now. Until recently, any exertion I was doing was making me nearly pass out. Just walking up the stairs was hard for a while.
However, I knew at the time that it was more likely I’d die from Covid itself than the vaccine and that all medication (pretty much all things we ingest) has side effects. I was just an unfortunate patient that the Covid vaccine didn’t agree with.
Unfortunately, I also knew two people who died from Covid itself (two mate’s Dads).
Although, I do get invited for an annual Covid jab still now due to my risk factors of having damaged lungs, after having it again once since the clots, I turn it down now because I felt like shit for months after the last one I had and my clotting levels were fluctuating.
I will think long and hard about the side effects and risk factors of any vaccine, medication and taking into consideration the virus/bacteria/illness, before ever putting anything in me again.
And it has made me think about things like human evolution and 4 billion years of our cells getting to this stage without medication and that we are excellent biological specimens that have internal healing and fighting powers. Is it arguably better for our evolution to have a virus kill off a chunk of the population but achieve herd immunity through mass contraction? As a species are we really supposed to get ill and the weakest die and the strongest survive? But then I think that’s too clinical and uncaring for those who die?
And then look at where we are with Covid now after the vaccine; it’s just become a bad cold due to our immunity to it.
Anyway, it’s not a mantra I live by and it’s not made me become an anti-vaccer or owt. Just made me consider things more deeply and I don’t blame anyone for wanting to take risks into consideration before putting any form of vaccine or medication into them. I don’t get those who think everyone’s lying to us and out to get us, I also do not think there was some worldwide conspiracy to kill off part of the population through a vaccine - they’d just not have gone into lockdowns and had us all contract Covid and see many more die from the virus than the vaccine had that been the case. There’s even a conspiracy theory that Mpox has been caused by the Covid vaccine, which has been proven to be false.
So I’m in the middle with it all. I think those who just lift their sleeve up and call everyone who’s sceptical a stupid **** are very unhelpful people, but I think those who run with conspiracies and become rabid anti-vaccers are daft too.
