Vaccination nation

[arcturus]

I got my first shot a few days ago. No problems other than pain at the injection site (as expected). Now, however, I have pain at the equivalent location on my other arm. What gives? No one touched that arm...is this sympathetic pain, like the other arm is feeling left out?

[pgher]

I got my first shot a few days ago. No problems other than pain at the injection site (as expected). Now, however, I have pain at the equivalent location on my other arm. What gives? No one touched that arm...is this sympathetic pain, like the other arm is feeling left out?

Huh, I had some of the same today. Perhaps we've been favoring our sore arm a bit and putting extra stress on the other.

[downer]

I had the same after a few hours.

It was the same with the flu shot.

I googled it but didn't find an explanation.

[ciao_yall]

Second shot today, and no sign of side effects. My arm even feels fine. They say the next day is the doozy though.

[Caracal]

I had the same after a few hours.

It was the same with the flu shot.

I googled it but didn't find an explanation.

I saw some people who were in the trials reporting they had pretty severe reactions to the shot, but later found it was a placebo. Apparently this is a thing and is called the "nocebo effect." Not exactly the same, but seems in the same category?

[downer]

I had the same after a few hours.

It was the same with the flu shot.

I googled it but didn't find an explanation.

I saw some people who were in the trials reporting they had pretty severe reactions to the shot, but later found it was a placebo. Apparently this is a thing and is called the "nocebo effect." Not exactly the same, but seems in the same category?

For sure, there's a massive mind/body interaction when you perceive that you have had a medical intervention. (The effects of antidepressants are largely indistinguishable from placebo.)

But that particular effect, feeling a pain in the opposite deltoid from the injection site, is very distinctive. I'm not sure how widely experienced it is. Obviously it isn't a big deal, but it is striking. I'm tempted to suggest it is neurological, except I don't really think that means anything except that it isn't sociological.

[arcturus]

I had the same after a few hours.

It was the same with the flu shot.

I googled it but didn't find an explanation.

I saw some people who were in the trials reporting they had pretty severe reactions to the shot, but later found it was a placebo. Apparently this is a thing and is called the "nocebo effect." Not exactly the same, but seems in the same category?

For sure, there's a massive mind/body interaction when you perceive that you have had a medical intervention. (The effects of antidepressants are largely indistinguishable from placebo.)

But that particular effect, feeling a pain in the opposite deltoid from the injection site, is very distinctive. I'm not sure how widely experienced it is. Obviously it isn't a big deal, but it is striking. I'm tempted to suggest it is neurological, except I don't really think that means anything except that it isn't sociological.

Yes, I have heard of the placebo effect, and I can see how that could have adverse medical consequences. This (pain on the other arm at the same location as the actual shot), however, is not anything that I had previously heard of happening, so it definitely was not a nocebo effect for me. As downer says, it is a very distinct feeling. And, for me, a little unnerving as it really did feel like it was at the symmetric location on the other side, with the same type of (minor) pain.

ETA: This may be more akin to amputees still experiencing pain/itching on the missing limb. The brain just gets mixed up some how.

[lightning]

I had the same after a few hours.

It was the same with the flu shot.

I googled it but didn't find an explanation.

I saw some people who were in the trials reporting they had pretty severe reactions to the shot, but later found it was a placebo. Apparently this is a thing and is called the "nocebo effect." Not exactly the same, but seems in the same category?

For sure, there's a massive mind/body interaction when you perceive that you have had a medical intervention. (The effects of antidepressants are largely indistinguishable from placebo.)

But that particular effect, feeling a pain in the opposite deltoid from the injection site, is very distinctive. I'm not sure how widely experienced it is. Obviously it isn't a big deal, but it is striking. I'm tempted to suggest it is neurological, except I don't really think that means anything except that it isn't sociological.

I felt pain in both arms. I was feeling pain in the other arm that didn't get the shot. THAT was weird.

[Ruralguy]

Referred pain from an affected region to an unaffected one is pretty common across the board.

[wellfleet]

I got my second Pfizer dose late Monday afternoon. Tuesday morning, I felt mostly ok, but I soon got queasy and stayed that way all day, accompanied by the "truck hit me--must be getting flu" thing by early evening. Wednesday, I was fine, which was a relief!

[Caracal]

Referred pain from an affected region to an unaffected one is pretty common across the board.

And seems to be particularly around the chest and upper arm area? Whenever I get heartburn my arm hurts, which alarmed me before I found out that the arm pain as a symptom of heart attack is just because of referred pain, but can just as easily come from other causes in the same area of the body.

[Ruralguy]

Well, its seems a better explanation than somehow an injury to one arm injured the other arm!

Maybe  experts out there have a more clear explanation for these sorts of symptoms?

[Puget]

Well, its seems a better explanation than somehow an injury to one arm injured the other arm!

Maybe  experts out there have a more clear explanation for these sorts of symptoms?

Neuro person but not a pain expert--
I can think of two explanations:
1. At the level of the spinal cord, you have sensory nerves from the same area of each side of the body coming into the same area of spinal cord, so there could be cross-talk there leading to perception of pain in the same area on the opposite side.
2. At the level of the brain, there are always strong connections between homologous areas in each hemisphere via the corpus callosum, so there may also be some cross-talk among areas of the cortical pain network in each hemisphere.

A quick search suggests that inflammatory processes are believed to play a role, so that may explain why it is happening with the vaccine (which is designed to activate such a response, so think of it as a good sign you're probably responding to the vaccine!)

[PScientist]

So I had mentioned the possibility of getting vaccinated two Mondays ago, with a worry about snow.  The snow ended up being limited to a few inches, so...the shot happened on schedule.  Moderna, first dose.   I had a sore upper arm for about two days, and a nonstop runny nose for the first day (not on the list of expected side effects, but ... it happened).  I thought it was over after that.

Fast forward to yesterday.  For the first time since getting the vaccine, 10 days later, I worked out on a rowing machine.  That was the first intense use my deltoid muscles had gotten.  Shortly afterwards, the sore upper arm, only on the vaccinated side, came back at full intensity, and lasted for a full day.  That surprised me -- it was almost as if some of the vaccine had been hanging out in a "dead space" somewhere in the muscle, if that makes any sense.

[hmaria1609]

Maryland and Virginia are expanding vaccination preregistration. The dates are different in the two states:
In Maryland:
https://wtop.com/maryland/2021/04/maryland-coronavirus-update-april-1/

In Virginia:
https://wtop.com/virginia/2021/04/northam-all-in-va-eligible-for-covid-19-vaccine-april-18/
From WTOP Radio online (4/1/21)