Life update: I got the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine || What you’re going to want to do & not do BEFORE your 2nd vaccine

“I almost died after taking the covid-19 vaccine.” Ok not really, but I thought that was the perfect anecdote to start out todays post haha! I will be totally honest tho, I was soooo against getting the vaccine at first. Especially since I was not privy to how the vaccine was made so rapidly without compromising safety. You know what they say tho, an informed decision is a smart one. So I did some research to educate myself so that my decision whether to get the vaccine or not would in fact be a smart one! (This post is kind of lengthy but super informative. You can skip down to paragraph 4 to read about what happened to me after taking the vaccine or the ending of paragraph 6 & 7 to read my do’s & do nots)

Now naturally developing any type of vaccine takes several years of research, study, trail and error and etc. I mean to my current knowledge before the Covid-19 vaccine the fastest vaccine on record was for the mumps and that took like 4 years. So when they said they had the Covid-19 vaccine and it hadnt even been a full year since the outbreak I was like 👀 ohh, do you now?? But after reading an article on Medical News Today and others on the actual CDC website. I learnt that researchers were not just starting from scratch when they found out about SARS-COV-2, which is the virus that causes Covid-19. MINDBLOWING riiite?! SARS-COV-2 is in fact a member of the Coronavirus family. And according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases there are like a ton of coronaviruses including some that are responsible for the common cold and of course the one that sparked the SARS epidemic in 2002. Its proven, that scientists have been studying coronaviruses for 50 plus years. So it makes complete sense that a vaccine was developed in such a short time period since early efforts by scientists to develop similar virus based vaccines gave them all the necessary experimental experience that would be needed to develop the Covid-19 vaccine.

Okay! So once I felt comfortable enough in knowing “all the things” about the preliminary data for said vaccine. AND of course, waited the necessary time period of “monitoring” alllll the ones who got vaccinated first (just in case-sies) and still were alive bwuahahahahaha! (Totes kidding but NOT) I went ahead and decided to get the vaccine. I got the 1st dose of the Pfizer vaccine on 3/4/21. No noticeable side effects besides my arm being extremely sore near the vaccine area. Too bad the same couldnt be said for the 2nd dose...

I received my 2nd dose of the Pfizer vaccine on 3/25/21. The day of I didn’t experience any side effects besides the sore arm again. But loooooord when I woke up. 🤦🏽‍♀️ (now I want to put a FULL disclaimer out there that I wasnt like deathly ill or anythimg like that and that I fully believe after talking to others about their personal experiences. My personal experience was due to what I did the week before and week of my vaccine appt. Ill get into that later) so when I woke up, I immediately noticed I had chills, body aches and a low fever. I was extremely tired, exhausted and I could not stop shivering no matter what I did, I just couldnt get warm enough. Like give👏🏾me👏🏾allll👏🏾the👏🏾blankets! I took some Ibuprofen and got back in the bed and knocked out. I was pretty much in and out of sleep the whole entire day, just waking up to drink water, use the bathroom and take the ibuprofen. Around 1pm I went over to my moms as she had just gotten her 2nd vaccine the day before as well to check on her and bring her lunch. We both had soup. She said she had felt the same exact way since waking up. I stayed for an hour or so then went back home and got back in the bed. This continued throughout the rest of the day into the night and when I had awaken that next morning I felt brand new! It was as if I had never felt sick to begin with. My normal energy levels had returned because I was up and at em’ at 4am ready to go.

I have quite literally spoken to over 15 people (18 to be exact) that I personally know for the sake of this blog post in giving some sort of feed back in the experience of the few collective and more then 90% of them said they experienced if not all or most of the side effects mentioned via the news for at least 4 to 7 days. 5% stated they experienced said side effects for up to 2 full weeks and the remaining 5% stated they experienced no side effects at all. It should also be noted that this 5% did confirm they at one point tested covid positive. While I am NOT a doctor, however I do believe that maybe the reason they didnt experience the said side effects was due to them producing anti-bodies when they had Covid or it could be they just have a good immune system. I dont know for sure but that was the data that I collected. Lol (dont shoot the messenger)

Now again before deciding to get the vaccine myself, I spoke with the 18 different people and collected all their different experiences. I also made sure that I asked if they made it a point to boost their immune system during the week prior their vaccine since it usually takes three to four days for your body to develop strong antibodies to fight off germs. I was very surprised that 100% of the 18 people I had questioned said they did nothing to boost their immunity. Now if you know me personally you know I can be somewhat of a health junkie. So I got to thinking I should boost my immune system by taking my faves:

Emergen-C - 1000mg Vitamin C Powder, with Antioxidants, B Vitamins and Electrolytes, Immunity Supplements for Immune Support. Its a Caffeine Free Fizzy Drink Mix

Liquid IV - {use code: thisdollhere for 25% off your entire purchase + FREE Shipping} This stuff is packed w/ a punch! It has CTT technology which is designed to enhance rapid absorption of water and other nutrients. It also has 5x the daily value of vitamin C (you can never have enough) Zinc & wellmune to maintain & strengthen the immune system.

Ibuprofen - love this Amazon brand! Has over 32,000 5 star reviews.

Essentia - this water is literally all I drink! It has the best taste if that makes sense lol (hubby & I go back and forth about how water doesn’t have a taste. IT DOES!) It is also Ionized Alkaline Bottled Water that has Electrolytes for Taste AND has a pH of 9.5 or higher.. I subscribe to get 4 boxes of 12 liters delivered every month and save $5 per box)

I take all those pretty regularly anyways but I made sure to take them every single day the full week before and during the week of my vaccine appt. I also made sure to take an anti inflammatory like Tylenol or Ibuprofen an hour before my 2nd vaccine appt and every 4 hours after to ensure my arm wasnt as sore as it was the first time around and to keep any fever, chills or body aches to a minimum. It should be noted I had my mom do the same exact thing and we were only feeling sick for 24 hours. It should also be noted that to feel sick is a normal response to the vaccine as your body is basically doing its thing. This is why I think I felt exhausted. My body was working overtime! How strong your immune system depends on how long or short you are feeling the side effects. I 100% believe that by prepping my immune system for all the strenuous work it would undergo after receiving the vaccine, drinking lots of water and allowing my body to rest and regenerate while producing antibodies directly and significantly aided in the lower down time that both my mom and I experienced.

Whether you decide to get the vaccine or not get it make sure you are completely informed as to why you are doing so. Do your research and make a decision based on knowledge and facts. And if you do decide to take the vaccine make sure you are doing everything possible to boost your immune system in preparation of getting vaccinated. I hope this info sheds a bit of light, inspires you to be proactive and helps you be prepared! Thanks so much for stopping by, until next time...

Tiara’s up! Xo