I’m 20 years old, a full-time worker/beauty therapist. I was always on my feet being very active. Prior to the COVID vaccine I was exercising up to four times a week at F45 and I never had any health issues related to my heart. I had an ECG done on my heart a few years ago due to anxiety, just to rule out any problems and it was clear that my heart was good.
I got the vaccine because the mandates in WA came on abruptly. The fear mongering coming from our Premier was enough for me to question my own thought processes. Therefore I went and got it out of fear of not being able to work as more mandates were threatened to come upon us.
I got the Pfizer vaccine on January 14th 2022 in my left arm. Other than a sore arm I didn’t notice anything wrong and just continued on as normal up until the 17th when I started getting palpitations which lasted hours. I knew something wasn’t right, but I just kept on pushing it aside. The next day I woke up to heart palpitations still happening but not as intense as the night before. As the day went on the heart palpitations increased but I still
kept on going. I was out shopping and I was struggling to breathe. Here in Perth we have to wear masks so I thought it was because of my mask that I was having this issue. I went home and tried to relax and do nothing as that was what put me at ease.
The next day (19th January) I woke up still struggling to breathe but it felt like someone was sitting on me and crushing my chest. I went to work and it got worse so I left work early and went to the Royal Perth hospital. On arrival I mentioned that I’d had the COVID vaccination and as soon as I said that, they got me a wheel chair and took me straight through. They hooked me up to a 12 leg ECG and I was showing signs of tachycardia. They then tested Bloods, X-ray and ultra sound.
I was in an emergency bed hooked up to the monitors and I watched my heart rate bump up a couple of times before I felt a sharp shooting pain go up the back of my neck. I was gasping for air like someone was sitting on my chest and the alarms started going off. The nurses and doctors came rushing in and they laid me down. I was unconscious for seconds before they stabilised me.
A doctor then came into the room saying that he believed I was having a reaction to the vaccine and that I was one of the lucky people. He mentioned I had a serious cardiac event (heart attack), later explaining that I went into cardiac arrest and he diagnosed me with pericarditis.
Six hours after I first arrived at the hospital I was discharged with the papers saying I had the diagnosis of pericarditis. There was no mention of it being an adverse reaction to the vaccine in writing, only that I had the Pfizer vaccine five days prior. He also prescribed me with colchicine for one week and told me to take time off work.
A week after I had come off the medication all my symptoms had returned as if nothing had changed so I went to a different hospital. They were extremely dismissive of me to the point that they offered me a Pfizer vaccine while I was waiting there for 45 minutes to be seen for my chest pains and shortness of breath. They were telling me that I shouldn’t be blaming the vaccine and that, ‘it could have been anything’. It left me feeling angry and anxious.
They ran the same tests as previously which all came back the same as before. This was elevated white blood cells and signs of pt. depression in my ECG but they didn’t spend a lot of time on me, even telling me that I couldn’t have a bed and to sit in a chair. I was prescribed colchicine for another three months and sent me on my way.
For 4 weeks after my last hospital visit I continued working and taking colchicine with no improvements whatsoever, still experiencing all the symptoms as before. On the 4th March I saw a cardiologist for the first time. He did an ECG and my resting heart rate was sitting at 115bpm. He said at this point it was officially pericarditis and I now have POTS (Postural
Orthostatic Tachcardia Syndrome) from the pericarditis. He tested my sitting to standing heart rates and it would shoot from 115bpm to 162bpm. He told me not to have anymore vaccinations ,gave me an exemption for six months and said I wouldn’t be getting another vaccination until I was all clear. He also mentioned I was showing signs of a blockage in left the ventricle so I have to wear a 24 hour monitor next month. He has me on colchicine indefinitely and ivabradine.
On my next visit to the cardiologist I will be having an MRI and they will be exploring the possibilities of my having myocarditis. This brings me to the current day where I’m still experiencing all of the symptoms with no improvements. I’m 20 years old and it feels like I’m 70 years old and at the end of my life. Every day I am questioning my own mortality wondering if this is the episode that is going to send me to my grave.