…And I Missed It.

/ Diane Henders

Update Jan. 23/22: Just a heads-up — I didn’t mean to scare anybody off the booster shot, and I’m sorry if I did. I’m just a freak, and I’ve reacted hard to ALL the shots, including the booster. Meanwhile, Hubby and all my friends just breezed through it. So don’t be afraid — if your first two shots went fine, your booster should, too. 🙂

*

Well, it’s been an interesting couple of weeks… as far as I know. To be honest, I was stoned and I missed it.

I knew in advance that I wasn’t going to enjoy my COVID booster shot. My second shot had made me feel as though somebody had thumped me in the back for a day, and my arm hurt for three days. So when I woke up at midnight feeling like I’d been repeatedly kicked in the armpit with a pointy-toed shoe, I wasn’t surprised. I took an acetaminophen and went back to bed to tough it out. Next came pain in every joint. Then fever. For the next twenty-four hours, I watched the clock and gulped acetaminophen at the exact minute my next dose was allowed.

I almost never take acetaminophen, and I was surprised at how dopey it made me. I guess it wasn’t a bad thing in retrospect: I was miserable, but at least I was stoned. I didn’t even bother trying to work that day; just lay around and binge-read. After four books and most of the day, the fever subsided and I went to bed knowing the worst was over.

The next day I was fine, except that somebody had apparently sneaked into our bedroom overnight and replaced my armpit lymph nodes with red-hot pebbles. Painful, but an improvement overall.

Until the insanely itchy rash appeared.

No good ever came from a conversation that begins with “Let me tell you about my rash”, so I won’t. But it turns out that antihistamines make me even dopier than acetaminophen. For most of the day, I stayed in the kitchen baking because I had to stay on my feet. If I stopped moving, my eyelids dropped shut. And I read the recipes VERY CAREFULLY. Over and over. Even though I’ve been making them at least once a month for the past couple of decades. Yes, I was that stoned.

But I’m pretty sure I was doing it wrong, because these guys look like they were having ’way more fun than me:

(I’ll have what they’re having, please.)

Anyhow, I’m finally back to normal; or as normal as I ever get. So, hmmm… I wonder what I should do for a high this week?

Marijuana is legal here, so I guess I could try that; but I’ve heard it causes the munchies. I have a permanent case of the munchies even when I’m stone-cold sober, so that could get scary. If my next post contains nothing but a photo of me nesting in a pile of empty Doritos bags with a beatific smile and crumbs all over my face, you’ll know what happened.

Actually, y’know what? Maybe I’ll skip the weed and go straight to guacamole corn chips. And Cheezies. And sour-and-cream-and-onion potato chips… Mmmm… now that’s my kind of high!

What’s your “food drug” of choice?

Book 17 update: Despite my ongoing back problems and my chemically-altered downtime, I still managed to make a bit of writing progress. I’m on Chapter 12, and charming liar Ian Rand has just messed with Aydan… again.

31 thoughts on “…And I Missed It.”

  1. Sorry to hear you had such a severe reaction. We were those people who breezed through all of the shots. Very fortunate I know. My guess is we will see future boosters so definitely hoping you have an easier time than pointy toed shoes to the armpit!

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  2. My wife had something not quite as severe as you experience, but worse than me. I took both initial shots with no reaction what so ever….the booster gave me a little wooziness that lasted only a few hours. I feel lucky as I have heard your story from others. Stay well!! Thanks for sharing!!

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  3. Oh, wow. Two weeks to recover from a booster? That is terrible. We have not had ours yet and neither of us had any reaction at all. A friend of mine in Accra had Covid and then got his first shot way too soon after that. No one told him. He reacted like you did.
    My favourite snack depends on what is in the fridge. But onion flavoured crackers with blue cheese hits the spot. And thanks for reminding me to add Cheezies to my care package list. and MacIntosh Toffee. Since I just finished two root canals Total cost $150 plus taxi fare, I should rot my teeth some more.

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    • $150 for TWO root canals?!? Wow! I paid nearly ten times that to have one crown replaced last year. I guess there are some advantages to living in the Ukraine; but given your current situation with Russia, I’m not going to bitch about the higher cost of dental care here.

      Hmm, onion crackers with blue cheese sounds tempting! It’s been too long since I had blue cheese — time to pick up a wedge. 🙂

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      • People go to Ukraine or Mexico for dental holidays. Maybe right now, not so much.
        We can get all the best European cheese for not bad prices but actual real cheddar is impossible. When you come to visit bring a couple kilos, please.

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        • That’s okay; the stuff they’re selling here as “real” cheddar is pretty sad, too. It just doesn’t seem to taste like it used to. (No, I’m not getting old. Get off my lawn, you damn kids!)

          And you might not want to hold your breath waiting for me to arrive with that cheddar delivery… 😉

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  4. Stoned is not so bad, its when you start snorting lines of white flour that you know youre in trouble.
    I can always tell when Ive had too many painkillers because my nose and surrounding area goes numb. Its an interesting feeling, but whenever Im not sure if I took my last meds this tells me quite quickly, yup, I did.
    As for my go to munchies, its a pretty close tie between chocholate covered almonds and popcorn twists. But you already knew that. 😁

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    • Ooooh, popcorn twists! I’d temporarily forgotten about them! Probably for the best, because they’re also one of my addictions. I figure you have to eat the whole bag as soon as you open them, because otherwise they just get soggy and leathery, amIright? 😉

      A numb nose as a diagnostic — that’s convenient. (But maybe a bit disturbing the first few times it happened.)

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  5. That sounds (reads) terribly awful! Poor you. Yet, you manage to be productive after all, reading, writing, baking! Four books in a day!? You’re a lightening speed reader! I’m so glad I never felt anything during each of my three Covid jabs.

    I’m not a big snacker, but I do like good old potato chips. As far as sweets go, I really enjoy rice pudding! A weird choice? According to my diary-free husband it is. 🙂

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  6. Well, that was an interesting two weeks then. I’m now happy that all I got was a sore arm and not all your fun symptoms.

    Personally I head right for the gin and tonics when I need to not be alert or participating in life. Unless there is a bag of Cheetos in the house – Cheetos can make me forget almost anything.

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  7. My munchies need anything that’s crunchy. I keep apples and carrots and nuts nearby for emergencies but I can’t keep chips of any kind in the house or I’ll open the bag and an hour later it’s an empty bag! No lie. And actually bags of carrots and nuts have been known to vanish in a flash too. I’ll blame the bag. It’s not proportion specific enough😂.
    And wow you’re reaction to the vaccine was not pleasant at all! Good thing you’re overall health is good and allowed you to recover quickly. I was lucky; two days of sore arm and constant naps and I was good to go.
    I’m glad you’re better and that everyone seems to have survived your “baked”baking, LOL!

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    • Ha! I was totally baked! You’re smart to keep healthier goodies on hand. I always have carrot sticks — they’re excellent for the combination of pacing and munching that usually accompanies my plotting sessions. Plus, they’re orange, and I can pretend I’m eating Cheezies. 😉 Like you, I can’t have a bag of chips in the house. If I buy one, it’s instantly gone no matter how big it is. Back in the day, friends of ours had a Costco membership, and they brought us one of those industrial-sized bags of Cheetos. BAD. NEWS. (But oh, so tasty!)

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  8. My booster left my left arm feeling like it wasn’t mine, and my shoulder is still a little odd now, but the rest of me is quickly catching up.
    You could try those ‘space cakes’, Diane, apparently you have the munchies and get high at the exact same time. So hi believe, hi wouldn’t really know about such things. 🙂

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  9. I have never – and I mean never – seen a mustache with a gap shaved in the middle like the one on the guy in white! Yep, they do look like they’re having fun, and it might have been considered outrageous at the time but how tame it looks now, doesn’t it?

    I’m sorry you had the discomfort of the extreme version of a reaction … like EC said, though, it means all of you was in fight mode. I’ve heard of the sudden, overwhelming fatigue she experienced too. Now I’m wondering what’s in store for me when I finally get mine (I had to reschedule because I was sick when my original appointment came around). Glad you’re back to normal now.

    My food drug of choice would be regular Ruffles chips. I try to console myself that they at least have Vitamin C in them, but we all know that’s just a cop out. I am hooked and need an intervention.

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    • Maybe you need an intervention… or maybe you just need a big bag of Ruffles. Could go either way… 😉

      You’re right about the stage show — it was probably risqué at the time, but some of the music videos I’ve seen lately look more like a vertical expression of a horizontal idea. What I loved about Dr. Hook was that they always seemed to be having so much fun. Those big grins are contagious!

      And speaking of ‘contagious’, I hope you’re able to get your booster soon, and I hope it goes well. Fingers crossed!

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  10. Wow…the booster hit you hard! Jab #1, I ended up taking a nap for 3-4 hours in the afternoon and felt slightly warmish with a dull headache. Arm was sore by the injection. Jab #2, arm soreness again, and maybe slight fatigue. Booster about the same, but without the fatigue, although I did feel slightly draggy for a day or two. My youngest, though, got hit hard by it. Due to work and other scheduling, she got her shot the day before Xmas Eve, and when she came by on the 24th, she had the chills, aches, etc., and spent most of it under a blanket on the couch, sleeping it off. The prior two hit her hard also.

    As parents know, Benadryl is the wonder drug. Instant nap in a bottle for the young ‘uns when they’re out of control. 😁 (Mostly kidding there!) I think I’ve only used antihistamines a couple of times in life, and they were not all that memorable. The worst I had was Actifed, for a particularly nasty cold about 30 years ago. I felt heavily drugged. Ended up sleeping an afternoon and evening away, with the strangest dreams imaginable.

    I’ve tried some, ummm, edibles here. These were the Delta 8 THC gummies which are technically legal in all 50 states, as they are derived from hemp. They did help with a couple of the pain issues I was having, but since these seem to lean more toward the indica side, I can see what they mean by “couch lock.” Depending on the day and what I ate, a couple of times I just couldn’t summon up the will to leave the chair I was sitting in. I was more worried about being lightheaded and nauseous, but that did not happen.

    As for the munchies? Yes, they are real. But it was strange. It’s not like I was hungry at all. It was more like I had this craving to eat for sake of the act of eating, and couldn’t satisfy that urge! It was almost like when a person starts yawning and can’t stop.

    The “real” stuff is legal in this state, so that’s not an issue. But I’m in no hurry to try other edibles. My next step would be to get a mix of sativa and CBD, to avoid being a chair cushion for several hours. I would use CBD only for my aches and pains, but it is more effective if it has some of that CBD component. (In short, plain CBD does almost nothing for me.) If Ibuprofen works well enough for something, that’s what I’ll use instead.

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    • I did some reading on cannabis edibles when they were legalized, too. If I was going to give weed a try, that’s the way I’d go since I don’t want smoke in my lungs. What’s stopping me is exactly what you described: The “high” doesn’t go away for a long time. If I take a shot of booze, I’ll be happy for a short time, and then I’ll be back to normal. But I’d hate to take cannabis and be impaired for hours. I’ve heard a lot of conflicting reports about CBD oil, too. Some of my friends swear by it; others say it does nothing. I guess it just depends on your body chemistry.

      Your description of cannabis-induced munchies sounds like my daily version of the munchies. Hmmm. Wonder if Hubby’s been slipping something into my food…? 😉

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      • …..in BC I used to add a teaspoonful of grass to my bran muffin recipe and keep them in separate container just in case friends came for a visit. They were particularly good with tea in the late afternoon……almost instant sleep when I hit the pillow. We grew it in our garden in an obscure corner one year before it was legal….I was always worried the neighbours teens would discover it….or worse one of my customers visiting our studio….the edibles react a little slower as they have to be digested.

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  11. I had a little pain in my arm after my booster but didn’t suffer worse side affects. I’m sorry that you did. I was however afflicted anyway. But as predicted (by every healthcare worker I know) it was pretty mild after the first day. I’m at my 5 day release day -maybe. Fever free but horrible headache. I don’t know how to interpret CDC guidelines so I’ve pesters my doctor and HR person for their take on them. I’m still waiting to hear back. That said, I feel fortunate to have had access to the vaccines and believe they’ve allowed for an extremely mild result of my infection and I’m not even craving brains a little bit (probably because I suspect more brains would mean more pain). Be well and best wishes to you all.

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    • “…not even craving brains a little bit” – LOL! Good to know. 😀

      I’m sorry to hear you got sick — that must have been scary even though you were vaccinated. The other thing I kept telling myself during my 24 hours of booster misery was, “Imagine knowing you’d feel like this for a week or more. Plus being afraid that it might turn into something life-threatening.” All in all, I was feeling very fortunate to be feeling rotten short-term.

      I hope you’re back in action soon!

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  12. Our National Broadcaster did a story about the ‘armpit’ thing. Apparently it is a GOOD sign, and a sign that your booster is indeed boosting. I didn’t get that. I had a sore arm for a day or so and was congratulating myself on escaping lightly. Then something sucked every last vestige of vim and vigour from my body and my brain. Weeks later it is trickling back. Slowly. Very, very slowly.
    I am really pleased that your writing brain, fingers, muse kept on keeping on. It seems to be at least as integral to you as your urge to breathe – which is a most excellent thing.

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    • Writing isn’t quite as integral as breathing to me, but close. I have trouble balancing my writing urge — when I’m writing, I lose track of time, forget appointments, forget to make meals, and forget to get up out of my chair and move, for hours at a time (ouch). Being immersed like that is an amazing experience, but it doesn’t do me any “real-life” favours!

      I think you’re right about the immune response, too. That’s what I kept telling myself, anyway. 😉

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