Prior to the COVID vaccination I lived life normally. My physical and mental health were good and I was happy with my weight. Anxiety and depression had never troubled me. I have a genetic predisposition to high-cholesterol, but it is well controlled with statins, a medication I tolerate well.
I work as a nutritionist and dietician for a large public hospital. The vaccine rollout hit us early in March, 2021, and management stipulated that unless we got vaccinated, we would lose our jobs. I wanted nothing to do with the vaccine, nor did another colleague on my team. But neither of us wanted to be sacked, either—we had children to support and mortgages to pay.
We held out as long as we could, but we were ambushed. So, under duress, I had my first Pfizer vaccine on the 7th April, 2021—in my right arm, I think. I noticed nothing abnormal in the ensuing weeks.
On the 28th April, I had my second Pfizer vaccine – again, I think it was in my right arm. Other than slight tongue tingles, I noticed nothing more for several hours.
In the shower that evening, the shaking started. And so did the hot flushes, the fever, and the extreme light-headedness. The symptoms terrified me. I hobbled over to my bed, lay down, and wondered how I would manage the drive to collect my teenage son from his job. I took a Panadol and, together with my then 14-year-old daughter, collected my son and drove home slowly.
The next morning, I felt dreadful, but I went to work because I tend to push through something rather than retreat. I felt terribly tired and deathly cold all day, colder than I have ever felt in my life, and it frightened me. The symptoms persisted over the next three days. My colleagues told me to go home, but I persevered.
A fortnight later, my tongue tingled and swelled sporadically. I thought it was odd, but I wasn’t worried.
At the beginning of October, our family holidayed on North Stradbroke Island. On our last night there, the 6th of October, I woke at 2am panicked. My throat and tongue were swollen and it was hard to breathe. I was terror-stricken. Here I was, breathless, in the middle of the night, on an island with no hospital. My partner reassured me, told me to breathe, and I calmed down eventually. We left the island in the morning. I saw my GP the day after we got home. She prescribed oral steroids and antihistamines, neither of which helped.
On the night of the 16th October, my tongue and throat swelled again. I was very concerned but did not call an ambulance. My GP was unavailable, so I saw a medic at a nearby minor illness and injury clinic the next day. I told the doctor that my tongue had been swollen on-and-off for the past several weeks, and the antihistamines my GP had prescribed were ineffective. He referred me to an immunologist at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital (SCUH) and told me to see my GP to organise some special blood tests for the immunologist.
He said he had ‘never seen anything like it’ and diagnosed me with angio-oedema. He asked if I had any allergies and I said, ‘No’. He said he would fast-track the immunologist appointment because I might have had some kind of anaphylactic shock, although he said my tongue should not still be swollen and that it was all very strange. He prescribed three antihistamines and a steroid and told me to take one of each every day for a week. When I asked if my condition was vaccine related, he said it was unlikely.
My GP was booked out, so I went to another clinic for the special blood tests. The doctor examined me thoroughly, said, ‘I’ve never seen anything like it’, and sent me off for the blood tests.
At my follow-up appointment, the doctor said something was elevated, but I cannot recall what it was. ‘Do you think,’ I asked, ‘that my swollen tongue has anything to do with the vaccine?’ He said he had no idea and that these vaccines were too new to know for sure. I still had no answers.
At the end of October, my GP referred me to another GP who specialises in allergies. I had the allergy test on the 23rd November and discovered I am allergic to dust mites. The doctor acknowledged that my situation could be vaccine induced, but she was unable to help me.
One night in late November, I woke gasping for air. My partner was unavailable, so I called my mother who lives nearby. She jumped straight into her car and drove over, all the while trying to calm me over the phone. She said to call an ambulance. My kids did their best to support me while I waited. When the paramedics saw my bloated tongue, they asked if I had eaten something to which I was allergic. I told them that as far as I know, I have no food allergies.
At the hospital, the emergency department bustled with people. Staff checked my oxygen levels and said they were fine. After two hours waiting to see a doctor, I decided to go home. I was much calmer at that stage. A nurse had checked me over, said there was nothing they could do, and that I needed to see an immunologist. I left with antihistamines.
After the hospital visit, I tried to see my GP, but she was booked out for weeks. I saw another GP who prescribed me with an EpiPen on the spot.
On the 13th December I finally saw the immunologist at the SCUH. She said she had ‘never seen anything like it’, ordered more blood tests, and prescribed two different hay fever tablets. I had to take four a day – two in the morning and two at night. I told her I had to carry an EpiPen at all times and she said it sounded like I’d suffered an anaphylactic shock. I asked her if it was the COVID vaccine and she said she had no idea. The hay fever medication did nothing to help my symptoms.
At my follow-up appointment eight weeks later, I saw another immunologist from the same team. He said my condition could be vaccine-related, but he was unsure because we lack long-term safety data. I told him I was lightheaded and dizzy, and he said the antihistamines were the likely culprit and to stop taking them. He suggested more tests, including X-rays and a CT throat scan, because he wanted to cover all the bases, but he was pretty sure the tests would reveal nothing.
By now, I was done with all this. After months and months of GP and specialist visits, no one had a clue what was happening to my body.
I have given up on the medical profession. I am tired of being poked and prodded and to have doctors say, ‘I have never seen anything like it’.
It’s now November and my tongue remains swollen—it never returned to normal after North Stradbroke Island and it still has the teeth marks from that awful night. My throat swells intermittently and without warning. I no longer take the antihistamines. I would love to know if anyone else got a swollen throat and tongue after the vaccination. If so, has anything helped?
I am on my own now. My EpiPen is with me at all times, which gives me comfort. I work at a hospital, so I figure if I have another serious episode, I will just head to Emergency. I am unbelievably frustrated and desperate for answers.
I want to share my story so that more people will speak up and pressure the government to acknowledge the damage it has done with these mandates. The mandates infuriate me. I, and millions of others, had to get this vaccination to keep our jobs, and I am disgusted with the government for bullying and harassing us. I want doctors, specialists, and anyone who went along with these mandates, to acknowledge the vaccine injured. I want people to research vaccine injuries, collect data, and find cures for all the illness and disease these vaccines have caused. I want to live normally again.