Gosh. You have been through the wringer.
I vaguely recall getting a vaccination for something in grade school and our teacher putting us through PT in order to reduce sore arms (I think the theory was that the vaccine would be diffused more quickly, limiting the local soreness). Any recommendations out there on exercise before or after vaccination for COVID?
Old (in both senses of the word) nurse here, veteran of doing thousands and thousands of vaccination jabs in my working life. I always have the jab done in my non-dominant upper arm (for me, the left, YMMV), then go about my business for the rest of the day, making sure to use both arms normally. Cooking, keyboarding, whatever, not holding back or doing 100 pull-ups. Using the arm afterwards, in whatever ways are normal, natural and usual for you is the ticket to getting that deltoid muscle fiber to absorb and process along the vaccine. Secret is not more or less use than your usual for the rest of the day you got jabbed.
One of my sons is a physician (and a gifted one , of course 
). His advice to me the day I first got the Pfizer poke was to take a normal dose of Tylenol/acetaminophen if I was having ‘malaise’ or discomfort. Adult dose of Tylenol is 325-650mg every 6 hours. I didnt need it, but may after the second dose, so I’ll have some handy.
I got my second Moderna shot at 9 am. So far, so good. No side effects to report yet but I’ll let yinz know if my arm develops green & purple spots or falls off or something. (After the first one, my arm was sore and itchy for three days.)
I know it has been proposed, but do you mind saying where and for what form of travel have they already implemented a vaccine check?
This makes me further question the conventional wisdom of getting the jab in the non-dominant arm. We naturally use our dominant arms more, so wouldn’t it be better to take the injection on that arm?
I privately wondered that when the nurses for our group asked everyone if they were righty or lefty. They would then go straight to the other arm, and then ask if it’s okay to inject there. At that point, it’s hard to hold up the process by debating the arm to use. Plus you assume that they are following best practices, so they should explain their rationale in defaulting to the non-dominant arm.
I mean, it seems fairly obvious that people might need to do stuff, so they don’t want their dominant well-coordinated arm compromised. If you’re just planning to watch TV for a couple of days, the dominant arm is fine.
Felt miserable all day and into the night the day after the 2nd shot. Would hate to think what it would’ve been like without ibuprofen. Tramadol didn’t help at all.
I’ll explain my nursing rationale for doing it in the non-dominant arm. Keep in mind that I graduated from nursing school (Mass General Hospital) in 1981-of course I kept up with continuing education but that is the knowledge base my rationale evolved from. I have worked thousands of hours in vaccine clinics in the years since, most urgently public health wise the H1N1 flu campaign.
I suggest the non-dominant arm just in case the vaccination has an uncommon side effect of really stiff and sore injection site, which might prevent someone from finished their necessary work activities that day or the next while the stiffness/soreness resolves. People need to be able to type, hand write, drive, etc so they get their paycheck. If one arm is going to be conked out for a day or two, best it be the one they need less. If someone still wants the injection in their dominant arm I do it, that is a reasonable request and certainly well within their right to choose. There are occasional other reasons to use the dominant arm, such as pre-existing lymphadenopathy in the non-dominant arm.
No need to use the dominant arm to get enough activity to absorb the vaccine, just the usual amount will suffice. We use our non-dominant limbs quite a bit as it is, just not for the more finely-tuned, precise stuff.
Thanks. I didn’t realize that the pain could be that debilitating. Perhaps that’s the part I was lucky with. The irony is that they tell you to “take it easy for a couple of days”, which naturally causes some to use the non-dominant arm even less than usual.
From your body’s perspective, I think the amount you are actually using your limbs when nominally doing nothing much and lounging around the house is significant. When a broken limb is immobilized and really doing nothing at all, the muscle atrophies shockingly fast.
What they mean is don’t run a marathon or bench press your peak numbers for an extra long workout later today. Don’t climb Mt. Ranier or swim the English Channel for a few days.
Thank you for that info about France - it’s very interesting. My heart rate is still fucked (I had/have a heart condition that seems to have sort of restarted - superventricular tachycardia, and it can reoccur sometimes), so I’m leaning towards not getting the second dose, and that’s extra reason not to. I really want to be safe; that’s safe from heart problems as well as covid.
Oh and my GF’s had the jab, and had no side effects other than extreme tiredness.
I guess we can recycle the old joke…
“Doctor, will I be able to play the piano after my COVID vaccination?”
“Of course!”
“Well that’s great news, I have always dreamed of being able to play the piano.”
I’d recommend consulting with your doctor.
Well, yeah, that had already occurred to me as a sensible thing to do 
Tennessee has finally opened up the 65+ group. Now I’m on the hunt for that elusive appointment. I’m watching the county site, Walgreens, Wal-Mart, Kroger, VaxQue and Vaccine Finder with no luck so far. It really shouldn’t be this difficult. The city of Memphis just took over running the county site because they were screwing up, so maybe things will improve in the next week or so.
On March 1, Connecticut is opening vaccinations to those over 55, so my brother will be eligible.
I woke up this morning with pain in my right knee and a general feeling of malaise. Vaccine reaction? Nope, I’m scheduled to get my first dose later today.
Vaccinating old people I have to wonder how many “vaccine reactions” have nothing to do with the vaccine.