My name is Nathan, and I am 38 years old. I worked as a carpenter for 9 years until my chronic pain became too much and it was unsafe for me to continue working in 2012. I’d had a CT scan back in September, 2011 that revealed a Pars defect at L5/S1. I was either born with this condition, or I possibly sustained it in a skateboarding accident when I was young. The scan also revealed a Grade 2 Spondylolisthesis multiple level disc deterioration.
In 2012, I underwent a posterior spinal fusion with laminectomy of L5/S1 at St. George Hospital, which unfortunately resulted in a substantial pain increase. I had a severe nervous system reaction and lost feeling in my lower limbs for 2 days following the surgery. This began a nightmare of 9 years of treatment and many surgeries/procedures to find relief from chronic back pain, including multiple spinal fusions, nerve ablations, and a neurostimulator implant. I was desperate to find the source of the pain and get my life back. Finally, after 9 years of non-stop pain, having all the potential structural issues taken care of, I started to work on the soft tissue and scar tissue damage as I’d had 14 incisions, some repeated in the same area as my stomach and lumbar spine.
My newly-found pain specialist used redlight laser therapy and trigger point injections and what I was doing at home with my own tools was also working. I felt that by the end of 2021/start of 2022, the doctor and I were going to have the pain under control as it was all soft tissue issues now and, hopefully, I could get on with my life. I have spent 90% of the past 10 years in bed due to the severity of the pain, the other 10% was for all health-related appointments and socializing when possible, but I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Both my doctor and I were very confident I was going to overcome this. I just needed time and patience. Then the vaccine mandate came in.
I didn’t want the vaccine. Covid is a respiratory infection and I had faith in my immune system as I am young, eat healthy, and maintain physical shape as much as possible (I’m 75kg). I was really devastated I had to get it done as I had fought so hard to overcome my severe chronic pain for 9 years. I researched and read a lot and I did not like the idea of a rushed, un-tested vaccine for something that I had a high chance of overcoming naturally. The last thing my body needed was a quickly manufactured vaccine with no long-term studies. The strong immune response it would cause would not be good for my over-sensitive nervous system. It made no sense to put my body through the risk if I had natural immunity.
I tried to avoid the jab by paying online and getting a blood test for antibodies to see if I’d had Covid as some people were asymptomatic. It came back negative (it wouldn’t have mattered anyway as natural immunity wasn’t being recognized). Due to my existing health conditions, my life and health already relied on the healthcare system and I couldn’t ride out the mandates. I also had an upcoming procedure (a stellate ganglion block in hospital for PTSD), so I had no choice but to get it.
After both AZ injections, I got dragged into the deepest, darkest place I had ever been both physically and mentally. It did things to me I can’t describe in words. I had the first vaccination on the 7th of August 2021 at about 3pm. That night, I had a ZOOM meeting with family at 8pm and I was still ok. I was living in a unit in Cronulla and my roommate wasn’t home for the night. At about 9pm, my body started shaking violently and my temperature was all over the place. I was pretty concerned, but I took my sleep medication hoping it would be gone by the morning. I was jolted awake about 1am due to my throat closing over and my brain felt like it was going to explode. I lay paralysed for about 1.5 hours (it was hard to judge the exact time as I could not move to get my phone). While I lay there, I thought, “This is exactly why I didn’t want it.” I knew my body would hate it due to my highly sensitive nervous system from years of non-stop pain and surgeries. I felt like I was dying. I was devastated. I wasn’t sure which way things were going, but I thought to myself, “As soon as I am able to move and feel safe to drive, I am going directly to the hospital.” I’d had a bad experience with a paramedic and did not want that happening again; also, it would be quicker to get there myself as I was in a state of panic. If on the way it felt unsafe to drive, I was going to pull over and call an ambulance. It was about a 5-minute drive in the early morning hours, so I knew I could get there quickly.
When I arrived at the local hospital, I said that my head felt worse than when I’d had meningitis in 2015. If you’ve had meningitis, you know what that feeling is like. I was handed a sheet of possible ‘normal’ side effects and told to go the waiting room where there was only 1 other person. I waited for a while then I went to the desk and asked, “Are you just going to monitor me and send me home?” and they pretty much said yes. I’ve been in and out of hospitals for the past decade and I could just tell it wasn’t being taken seriously. Due to the high amount of people getting vaccinated, I thought the hospitals might be getting a fair few people with different reactions and therefore it was not getting taken as seriously as if, say, I had just got the regular flu injection before Covid and had this severe reaction. Due to being in so much pain and confusion on my own and no one to witness what had happened prior, I went home hoping it would get better with time. It didn’t.
About 3-4 weeks later, I went to St. George hospital and explained the feeling in my brain has never gone away and it felt like my whole body was inflamed. I can’t get an MRI in most hospitals due to my neurostimulator, so I had to book into the place that has the right machine. I had an MRI of the brain and neck, separately, but they showed nothing abnormal. I had trouble focusing, thinking clearly, and expressing my thoughts. I had a permanent migraine, and my short-term memory was terrible. (I would begin sentences and not remember what I was talking about). It was very scary. I hadn’t even noticed yet the extent of the damage, particularly to the soft tissue.
Then on the 20th of September 2021, I had the terrifying ordeal of having to get the second vaccine as I wouldn’t be considered “vaccinated” unless I had both and I didn’t have any type of diagnosis from the first reaction. Due to my understanding of my body, I was hoping the second wouldn’t be as bad due to my body recognising it the second time round. The days following my first reaction, I searched online for the best migraine medication as my brain still felt really inflamed. The second one wasn’t as severe; there was no paralysis, but I felt it reinforced what the first one did in regard to hardening my soft tissue and the chronic inflammation in my body. Since both of the AZ vaccines, I have been working non-stop on the soft tissue up my spine, skull and around my pelvis. Aside from my medical appointments and PT sessions, I have been on my bed working on it non-stop and usually stop around midnight and then start again the next day. I have been using ultrasound, red laser therapy, long wave diathermy at home and then a stronger red laser and trigger point injections from my GP who specialises in pain.
I have been using the steam room at my local gym for years. I had to stop it for a while after the jabs due to heat sensitisation, but I have resumed it to help with the blood circulation and relaxation of the muscles and detoxifying at night.
In January, 2023, I felt like mould was coming out of me as I sweated. I had a terrible smell and taste in my mouth as I was detoxing and releasing whatever was in my body. I didn’t even realise that my sense of smell and taste was almost non-existent until it came back as the soft tissue around my brain stem started releasing. I have basically been tracing my nervous system and it directs me to which part of the body to work on. I studied anatomy at university in 2018 to get a better understanding of the body to try and fix my chronic pain. I had to leave due to multiple seizures from the pain and stress, but it gave me a greater understanding of how everything works. After the jabs, I have felt and heard non-stop cracking, snapping, and splintering noises as the soft tissue breaks up and on-going convulsing/spasming. Thousands upon thousands of noises and I am not exaggerating. From doing anatomy, I know each part of the soft tissue that is releasing. It felt like whatever was in it got into every fibre of my soft tissue surrounding my pelvis, spine, and ribs. My head was hardened like nothing I’d felt before, and it seemed to get harder as the weeks passed. As it pulls away and releases, it’s like thousands of tiny little hooks letting go or like pulling Velcro apart over and over. I also felt like my breathing was still very restricted. I thought, “How can I help this?” I thought of the nasal tubes after surgery, which then led me to buy a C-Pap machine to assist my breathing while working on the soft tissue. I started using it, but the flow was too strong. I tried multiple attachments and I wondered how people sleep with this. I didn’t realise until after a few weeks of using it and I felt a sudden expansion in my chest, and THEN it started working normally. My oesophagus must have been so tight that a lot of the oxygen was not getting through. After that expansion feeling, I realised how they actually work. I have had to use this machine multiple times during different stages as when I get releases of soft tissue in the cervical area close to my brain, my body has just been dumping me with whatever part of the brain causes fear.
The fear at one stage was so debilitating that I had to lie down and my mum held my hand as I needed human touch. It was terrifying. I have never felt anything close to that feeling before. I used the C-Pap to assist my breathing when going through those stages. It’s hard to think about those stages. It’s been very traumatic. I am very lucky to have the pain specialist I do, as she was able to see the before and after and she is assisting me. Not only do I hear the noises, but she can hear the crunching and splintering noises when using the needle as she worked on the worst parts (an area around T12/L1 in my lumbar spine and in my neck, particularly at the base of the skull). The needles also became blunt very quickly and she had to keep changing them. She called it torture, but it was working, and I told her it’s not torture for me, the body I am living in is torture. It has by far been the most traumatising thing to ever happen to me, and it was something I was forced to do, or “mandated” is the term they like to use, but it was basically forced upon many.
My pain specialist has worked in the field for over 40 years and she has never seen anything like the fibrous soft tissue, as well as the reaction when lying under her laser. I would go into a full body spasm. It was a relief that she listened and validated what had happened to me after the vaccine as the medical centre where I got the vaccine just took my blood, looked for clots, and said it was not related to the vaccine. I didn’t bother to try and explain it to them there; I needed every bit of energy I had to fix what had happened. My pain specialist has been pretty concerned by what she has seen.
The severe neurological and physical reaction to the AZ vaccines resulted in another seizure in February-March 2022. I was taken to hospital by ambulance, but once my body settled, I was discharged. In late 2022, I spent one week in hospital for a ketamine infusion to help with physical and mental aspects of the pain and reaction to jab. I have on-going neurological and pain issues due to AZ vaccines. The places it took me mentally, emotionally, and physically I cannot explain in words. Before the jabs, although in a lot of pain, I was able to feel some happiness through music, walking near the ocean and seeing my niece and nephews, family and friends. But now it is much harder to find that same enjoyment with excruciating pain I have never known before. I have also been researching non-stop for natural supplements to assist in any way they can. I felt I needed to give my body the best fighting chance to beat this from both the outside and inside. I have been taking Omega 3, NAC, Serrapeptase, Vitamin D, B vitamins, Inositol, L-trytophan, L-theanine, Dopa mucuna, Ginkgo biloba, Gaba, Passionflower, Curcumin, Magnesium, 5-HTP, Zinc, Glutathione, DMG, Black Elderberry, Wild Yam, generally anything I think could possibly help throughout the day and just prior to going to the steam room. I have made some significant improvement with the soft tissue, but it has been absolutely exhausting. Physically, mentally, emotionally. My brain has never felt the same since. I do hope to make a full recovery if I continue what I am doing, but I really don’t know what the long-term effects will be. Even if I get better physically, the psychological torture it put me through is hard to talk about. Without the knowledge of anatomy and years of having no choice but to listen to my body from the multiple surgeries and chronic pain, I would 100% be in a wheelchair. That’s why I have had to work on it non-stop and try get the soft tissue back to its natural state, even though its traumatic. I am trying to assist my body as best I can.
It is truly heartbreaking the way fear was used and the manipulation, the lies, the division this has all caused. But I am very appreciative of you all who are trying to help us who have had these severe side effects from the vaccines. I just wish it was a choice, not “mandated”. I have yet to see a single story on mainstream news about any of the severe reactions or deaths from the vaccines, only independent media on YouTube is where it is being reported. Every night we were constantly reminded of how many cases and deaths on the news. Where are the stories for those who died not long after the vaccines? Are their lives less important? Truth and transparency would be nice. The ramifications of the decisions made will be felt for years. We don’t even know yet what the long-term outcome will be. Even if you didn’t have a bad reaction to the vaccine, people’s mental health needs to be considered. I do want to get through this and hope my brain recovers. I want to get my body as back to normal as possible and help other people. Maybe even something I’ve written may help others to try. Thank you for taking the time to read and for the help you and your team are doing to give us a voice.