Last Sunday I had my Covid vaccination. I’d heard it can make you feel quite shitty, but I wasn’t expecting it to knock me out like it did.

I have to confess my attitude was a bit like this,

“I’ve had chemo and radiotherapy, what is a little virus vaccination compared to that?”

And of course it’s not comparable. Not at all, but still the effects left me feeling awful.

Lowlights of The Covid Vaccination

I had my Covid jab on Sunday at 1pm, and for hours afterwards I felt absolutely fine. I thought I’d got away without feeling the worst side-effects.

Justin came with me and after I’d had the vaccine, we had a wander around Central London. It was so nice to have a change of scenery that we ended up walking around for 6 kilometres. I didn’t feel tired or nauseous, no aches or pains.

When we got home, I was ravenous. Now, I don’t know if that was from the vaccine or the fresh air, but I couldn’t stop eating.

I had a couple of small bags of popcorn as a starter followed by an extra large pizza and two slices of garlic bread with cheese. Considering the fact that I’m only 5’1, that is a lot of food and much more than I’d normally have.

So, I’m putting the increased appetite down to the vaccine – at least it didn’t last beyond the Sunday otherwise I’d have spent my half-term eating everything in the cupboards.

Then Came The Shivers

Other than feeling hungrier than normal (I have to say it again: I ate the whole extra large pizza in one sitting), I felt absolutely fine. All afternoon and all evening.

It wasn’t until I got to bed and tried to get to sleep when I got the shivers. It felt like I had a temperature, but I didn’t. I was shivery despite covering myself in my duvet and wearing woolly socks to bed.

This went on for a few hours until…

The Hot Flushes Started

I’ve had hot flushes since the hysterectomy and chemo kick started an early menopause. However, they haven’t been too bad lately even over night.

Well, they were on Sunday night. Once the shivers eased off, the hot flushes started. I had buried myself under my duvet and now was sweating. Off came the woolly socks and the duvet until I got all shivery again.

This cycle kept repeating all the way until the morning.

And as if that wasn’t enough…

The Aches And Pains Arrived

One of the weirdest things about the side-effects was how similar the ache in my legs was to how they felt after chemo. For a few days after chemo, I’d get a strange feeling in my legs. They’d feel uncomfortable unless I was moving them about.

But the worst thing was this feeling like someone was pinching me from underneath the skin. I got the feeling again. And I still got the occasional ‘pinching feeling’ on Tuesday and Wednesday.

And it wasn’t only my legs that were achy. The rest of the body ached, too, and my left shoulder where the nurse put the vaccine was painful.

Even if I’d managed to dose off, I got woken up by the pain every time I turned on to my left side and put weight on the left shoulder.

The First Day After The Vaccination

I felt rubbish. The whole day I felt achy and still had the shivers. At least the hot flushes had subsided.

I felt physically and mentally exhausted the whole day. I was so glad I had my Covid vaccination when I didn’t have to go to work the next day. There was no way I could have cycled to work on Monday morning. Nor looked after thirty pupils even online.

There were times throughout the day when I felt a little better, but I got exhausted quickly. I only felt normal energy levels returning in the evening.

I’d planned to get a lot of writing done, but other than a bit of editing, got nothing done.

I spent the day on the sofa, with my duvet on and off depending on the shivers, watching RuPaul’s Drag Race. Now, I know there are worse ways to spend the day. However, I was glad to wake up on Tuesday morning and feel back to normal.

I have also been told that when your body reacts like this, it is a good sign. Apparently it means that your immune system works really well. So yay to my immune system!

The Highlights Of The Covid Vaccination

And yes, there are highlights. It was quick and easy, and I felt no pain from the injection.

I chose to have mine at a vaccination centre as it was quicker than waiting for an appointment at my doctor’s. Choosing a pharmacy in Central London was also an excuse to get outside Battersea (other than going to school and back). It was good for the soul to be somewhere else, even it is only a few miles on the other side of the river.

There was no waiting before or after the vaccination. What I understood from the instructions is that if you have the Pfizer, you have to wait for 15 minutes after in case of an allergic reaction. However, you don’t have to wait with the AstraZeneca, which is what I had.

Also, the shitty feeling from the vaccine only lasted 24 hours. Tuesday I was already ready to resume my running challenge and get on with writing and other jobs around the flat. Although not the bathroom cleaning, I saved that until the next day when I was fully recovered!

And obviously the biggest highlight is that I’ll have protection against Covid. Especially important as the pupils are due to return to schools from the 8th of March.

And it’s definitely worth it if it means we can resume a more normal life sooner rather than later.

I’d be interested in hearing about your Covid vaccination experience, so let me know in the comments.

For more information about the Covid vaccination in the UK, visit the NHS.

Thank you for being here and reading the post. 

Until next time!

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