My name is Jaiden and I’m 24-years-old. I was fit, active, and super outgoing with my friends and family prior to the Covid vaccine. I loved my life and was always keen to have a good time. I enjoyed the nightlife after work with my friends and family. I also enjoyed the outdoors and walking my dog. I played online games with friends in my spare time, and I also created art work and collected vinyl records. I was passionate about my work as a full-time skin specialist. I had no pre-existing health conditions, no clinical anxiety, and I had never had a panic attack in my life.
I know my story is insignificant compared to other people’s stories, but I would love to share how this has hugely impacted me mentally and physically.
I’m not anti-vaccine, but it did worry me how quickly the Covid vaccine was rushed and that my workplace mandated it. Managers kept asking us when we planned to be vaccinated. They said that we had to be vaccinated by a certain date or we would be stood down until we got vaccinated. I presumed those who refused the vaccine would be sacked. I remember feeling guilty that I hadn’t got mine yet. I also had fear in the back of my mind after I heard that a manager had a reaction to their 1st vaccine and was exempted from getting a 2nd.
I was stubborn and super passionate about my job, so I went for it as I wouldn’t be able to return to work without it. I had my 1st Pfizer vaccine on the 28th of September, 2021 (left arm) at my GP’s clinic. I felt fine afterwards. I had my 2nd Pfizer vaccine on the 20th of October (left arm) at the same clinic. Once again, everything was completely fine afterwards and I went back to work feeling healthy and well.
In about January, 2022, I suddenly experienced light-headedness and dizziness whenever I was on my way to work. I felt I needed to sit down and drink lots of fluids to feel somewhat better. Friends and colleagues told me that my symptoms could be related to job stress, but I had always handled pressure and a high workload very well prior to the vaccine.
On the 1st of March, I was at one of my favourite hair salons getting my hair done. I had never had any issues whatsoever at this salon, but I sat down and suddenly felt extremely anxious in a way I had never felt before. My face went super red, I was short of breath, and I got really bad heart palpitations and stabbing chest pains. I thought I was having a heart attack, but I ended up concluding it was a panic attack. The salon staff calmed me down with water and lollies, and I felt calm enough to continue with the service after about 15 minutes.
In late March, I saw my GP because my symptoms had not resolved. She put my hair salon episode down to anxiety. She said I needed a mental health plan that incorporated seeing a psychologist. I never followed through as I got very busy at work. I also figured I would ride my symptoms through and that they might vanish if I maintained a positive attitude. I did not link my situation to the vaccine.
I saw another GP at my local medical clinic in May, and she was dismissive and disrespectful. She thought I was fidgeting too much while she spoke and told me to stop. She said if I did not stop, she would ask me to leave. She told me I just have anxiety and prescribed fluoxetine. Despite her attitude, I thought I would at least try the medication, but it affected me terribly. I was off work and bedridden for a week with constant dizziness and awful mood swings. I stopped taking it almost immediately.
In October, I was relegated to a part-time role at work due to my symptoms. I also discovered acupuncture and Chinese medicine. They both helped quite a bit to prevent the panic attacks and benefited me physically and mentally. I felt like my life was going down the right track if I continued with these treatments as my body responded quite well to them.
Around late November/early December, many of my symptoms returned and struck harder. It made functioning difficult, and I often had to sit down, relax, catch my breath, and drink fluids. The symptoms often hit me at work and made my allotted tasks difficult to complete, even the easy tasks. My heart constantly raced, and I could barely lift boxes and other objects.
I had a 24-hour Holter monitor test on the 7th of December, and my GP told me everything looked fine and there were no current concerns. I felt she could not adequately understand or convey what was happening to me. She recommended I try beta blockers to slow down my heart rate and reduce the physical symptoms of anxiety. I tried them for 2 days, got a reaction, and stopped taking them. I won’t be taking any more medications until I get answers and a diagnosis. I was still upset that my doctors prescribed medications without giving me a proper diagnosis. On the 11th of December, it was a hot day at work. I had dinner at about 5.15pm in the building opposite my workplace. I walked back to work ten minutes later and went to sit in the staff room. Suddenly, I felt like I was having a stroke. My whole body tingled to the point where I could barely walk and move. I was also hyperventilating and finding it very hard to breathe.
After about 30 minutes, some of the symptoms slowly subsided because the staff assisted me to an emergency room and gave me plenty of fluids. The paramedics rocked up 1.5 hrs later, put me into the ambulance, and hooked me up to an ECG. My heart rate was 138 bpm. They were unconcerned because I think they thought I was having a panic attack. They said nothing about a stroke and didn’t say much to me during the ride to hospital.
I got admitted to Emergency and had a blood draw that indicated I had a slightly high neutrophil and white blood cell count. My heart rate went down after I was attached to a sodium and potassium IV drip. My dad told the doctor that I’d had these issues since the vaccine and the doctor said, “It could potentially be linked to the vaccine.” The doctor-in-charge recommended I get a blood test in a week to see if the neutrophil and white blood cell count had returned to normal. I was also told to follow up with my GP. I was discharged with no medication, no diagnosis, and no clear answers. My discharge forms state that I presented with anxiety and arrhythmia.
The night I returned from hospital, my anxiety and dizziness were so severe that I could barely step in the shower.
I was unable to work for about a week afterwards as I still had extremely severe anxiety, palpitations, and dizziness.
On the 13th of December, my mum drove me back to hospital after I experienced extreme chest pain and palpitations. I had an ECG and a doctor checked my blood pressure as I lay down and stood back up. She then handed me some printed forms about heart palpitations and POTS. I looked through the forms and thought that, yes, some of my symptoms were in line with POTS, but I was unconvinced. The doctor refused to prescribe me any medication as I didn’t have my Holter-monitor or echocardiogram results with me. She told me to follow my regular GP’s advice and to keep up with my water intake. I saw my father’s GP for a second opinion on the 6th of January, 2023. He had provided my dad with a vaccine exemption and told him not to get vaccine. He was understanding, but, like all the other doctors, he believed I had some kind of health anxiety. He prescribed Prestiq, which is an anti-anxiety medication, and I will not be taking it until my underlying issues are sorted out. I also asked him whether he thought I might have POTS. He said it was unlikely because POTS patients get very high heart rates when they stand. I still get pretty high heart rates of up to 140bpm at times when I stand, but he didn’t deem it high enough to be POTS.
I also got my neutrophil and white blood cell results during that time and they were all within normal range. During January 2023, I’ve had a number of panic attacks that often feel uncontrollable and come out of nowhere. I’ve had paramedics rock up at my house multiple times. They hook me up to machines and say that everything is normal and there is no indication of a heart attack or a stroke. I had to make several more hospital visits due to high heart rates, chest pressure and tightness, and the doctors told me it’s all anxiety. My most recent hospital visit was on the 17th of January. My mum drove me to Emergency after my heart rate reached 180bpm. I had all the same tests as my previous visits and everything came back normal. I saw my usual GP on the 23rd of January to get a referral to another cardiologist so I could get a second opinion. I also wanted referrals to a psychologist and a psychiatrist because I needed to chat to someone about how to cope with these painful symptoms and out-of-the-blue panic attacks. “To be perfectly honest with you,” I said to my GP, “it was only a few months after I got my 2nd Covid vaccine that I started getting these symptoms.”
She nodded and said, “That’s fine. I’m happy for you to share that.” I felt she was not fully acknowledging my situation and was brushing off how this vaccine has changed me physically and mentally.
She wrote my referrals, re-did my mental health care plan, and respected that I didn’t want to take medication just yet. The visit left me feeling somewhat satisfied because I felt I was addressing the additional things I needed to do to regain my health. But I still have a long way to go before I recover.
I now see a functional medicine doctor who treats other vaccine-injured people. He treats me with ozone therapy, and, although it hasn’t eliminated my symptoms, it has helped to prevent some of the awful panic attacks. He said it will take 5-10 sessions before I notice anything significant. He also explained that my mild mitral valve prolapse (which other doctors have told me is normal and which was picked up on an echocardiogram at a cardiology clinic on December 6th) is not normal at all. He linked my symptoms and my current heart issues to the vaccine and explained how the spike protein damaged my heart and how these injuries occur mostly in men due to “testosterone.”
He also recommended that I continue the ozone therapy sessions and to take 1 colchicine tablet a day to get the benefits of my heart being healed. I do take this tablet daily and my body hasn’t had a problem with it at all so far. I feel that after all this time I’m finally on the right track to finding someone who understands me and my pain.
My next cardiologist appointment isn’t until the 9th of March. I have yet to have a cardiologist’s opinion on my echocardiogram & Holter-monitor tests. I’m still searching for a Melbourne cardiologist who understands vaccine-injured patients. I would love to find one who I can see earlier than March 9th.
In the meantime, I continue to take some rest and run around to different specialists. I have incorporated many more supplements into my routine, including L-theanine, which I take in the morning. It helps me sleep better and greatly reduces my mental and physical anxiety symptoms. I’m unsure how long it will keep me going, but I’m trying to do whatever I can to help me get through these issues.
Doctors keep telling me it’s anxiety and that I need to go on medication and do therapy. It’s absolutely appalling that doctors and specialists have such a dismissive approach to patients who claim to not feel okay after the Covid vaccine.
I didn’t decide or choose to have these symptoms. I even had a panic attack and palpitations just from vacuuming my own home. I’ve tried lots of different medications that don’t work and that have made me feel 100x worse. I had to take lots of time off work just for medication withdrawals to subside.
I’ve had so many tests to figure out how to live a semi-normal life. I’m yet to get a referral for a cardiac MRI, and I want to have it just for peace of mind for my mental and physical health. It’s been absolutely mentally and emotionally exhausting knowing that something is wrong, but all my test results are normal.
Currently, I suffer fatigue, palpitations (they get very bad waking up in the morning and tend to ease a bit at night), stabbing pain in my chest, really high heart rates when walking and moving around, light-headedness, dizziness, my head feels like it’s falling off, head pressure, tension headaches, and panic attacks. I also hyperventilate when I have the really bad panic attacks, and I get terrible tingling on my head, hands, arms and legs, and my hands curl up. I also sometimes feel that my life and my experiences at the moment don’t feel real and this is a horrible dream. I keep positive and pray that someone will come to help and give me proper answers as I was never like this before the vaccine. It’s affected my life so much as I’m unable to do a lot of the basic things a normal person can do; even getting to my job is a struggle. I’ve had to step away from seeing my friends. I’m unable to physically go out without getting palpitations and feeling light- headed, dizzy, faint, and severely anxious. I end up sitting or lying down because the symptoms sometimes get worse when I’m walking around.
I have had to pause work and physical activity due to my worsening symptoms. These symptoms have been around for over 12 months now and not a lot has changed or really improved. I guess what’s kept me strong are my parents who have dealt with so much looking after me and the friends who are always around me. At times, I feel much better lying in bed. But I’m still going to keep proving to myself and everyone else that I’m stronger than this injury and what it has done to me. By sharing my story, I hope to raise awareness about how much damage this Covid vaccine has done to people. I want those who forced this on us to acknowledge what they have done. I hopefully want to hear from the vaccine-injured community about practitioners who could help me. For example, naturopaths and sympathetic cardiologists who are willing to acknowledge that these vaccines have injured people.
If anyone has had a similar issue or could help, I would absolutely love to know your experiences and things I could do to manage. I’ve been struggling for a very long time.
Thanks for reading.