I am a 24-year-old female with zero prior health conditions and no family history of heart or other serious health conditions.
I received my first Pfizer vaccine in May 2021 as it was mandatory for my workplace. I should note that I was never for or against the vaccine and I never really thought much of it! I had no notable side effects from my first vaccination.
I had my second vaccination in mid-June 2021, and again, I had absolutely no side effects initially. However, about three weeks later, I began having severe shortness of breath. I ignored this for two weeks before eventually making an appointment to see a doctor at the start of August. This doctor referred me for some blood tests and sent me for a chest X-ray. But she was not concerned and sent me on my way with some Metamucil as she believed I was constipated and that’s what was causing my shortness of breath. I never heard back from her about my blood test or chest X-ray results.
Two weeks later, I was seeing another doctor for a check-up and I mentioned to her that I was still suffering from shortness of breath. She was convinced that I was suffering from ‘air hunger’ which was caused by anxiety (I have never been diagnosed with anxiety and I did not have anxiety). I expressed my concerns for my health and asked if I could see a specialist to get further testing done. Eventually, she agreed to refer me on to a lung specialist and also a cardiologist to have an ECG and Echocardiogram. I had a full lung function test done at the end of August and this came back normal.
At the end of September, I had the appointment to have the ECG and Echo done. The lady conducting the tests told me that my ECG indicated my T-wave was inverted and my echo indicated that my right ventricle was dilated. I never heard back from the referring doctor about the results.
I was furious about the lack of care, and not to mention extremely stressed and confused about the findings! At this point, I hadn’t even considered the fact that I might’ve had an adverse reaction to the vaccine. I went back to see the doctor to ask why I never got a call about the results. They booked me in to see another doctor who I hadn’t seen before, to discuss.
This doctor was extremely dismissive and said that just because my heart was dilated it didn’t mean that’s what would be causing my shortness of breath. He also believed that I was suffering from anxiety. I asked him if I could see a cardiologist about the results, but he believed that it wasn’t necessary. I then asked if there were more tests that could be done, so he did another blood test. Once again, I NEVER received a call from this doctor about the results of this test. =
A week later, I still had no guidance or support for what was going on with my health so I booked another appointment. During this appointment, the doctor informed me that the results of my previous blood test had come back with an elevated BNP which is an indication of heart failure. At this point, she was unsure of what to do and I had to request to see a cardiologist, something to which she agreed. My symptoms were still terrible and my exercise tolerance was dropping more and more each day. I was out of breath having a conversation.
Weeks later I finally got to see a cardiologist who didn’t really know what to think of all my symptoms and strange test results. He recommended I have a cardiac MRI done to really see what was going on. There was a huge wait list to get the MRI and I had a three to four-week wait. I was booked in for the 8th of November and during this period my symptoms were getting worse and I began experiencing chest pain, bad fatigue and not to mention my shortness of breath was getting worse.
I went to see a doctor about my symptoms as they were worsening, and once again I was pushed out the door. He told me that I was overthinking it and that when I feltl a bad episode coming on I should go for a run and take some deep breaths! I was speechless and so fed up with the way I had been treated. I didn’t trust the healthcare system anymore after this point.
Finally the 8th of November came around and I had my MRI done. Three days later the cardiologist rang and said that there was an area of focal myocarditis. But he was still very wary and said that ‘We can’t prove this was from the vaccination’. He never gave me any recommendations to stop exercising or ANYTHING! He said, ‘I can give you perindopril if you want,’ as if I was wasting his time. I agreed to try the medication and I took it for a month as directed with absolutely no change to my symptoms.
Ever since I have been battling the doctors and specialists to stop downplaying my symptoms and possible condition as they were always ‘reassuring’ me that if it is myocarditis it should go away on its own. But it hasn’t!!! And they can’t tell me what’s going to happen if it won’t. I still struggle every day with shortness of breath, heart attack sensations in my chest, arm pain, palpitations and fatigue. At this point in time I am waiting to see an immunologist to hopefully get an exemption from further COVID vaccinations.