Should I Worry (Covid Vaccination Reaction)?

April 10, 2021 12:11 PM

Has anyone heard of/ had a reaction to the shot involving really bad vomiting and diarrhea? More inside.

Mr. Westridge got his second shot (Pfizer both times) this past Wednesday. He felt fine all day Wednesday. Woke up with a bit of a headache that lasted all day Thursday. Friday the headache was worse and he said he felt a little achy but he went through his day as normal and seemed mostly fine. So in the middle of Friday night (last night) he wakes up with terrible (like food poisoning level) diarrhea and vomiting. He had two rounds of that during the night. He hasn't vomited today, no fever, but he's got really bad muscle pain and achiness.

Could this actually be food poisoning? Or is this a reactionto the shot that I've just not heard of until now?

posted by WalkerWestridge to Health & Fitness (14 answers total)

I think the best you can do is talk to a doctor. I doubt anyone around here or elsewhere will know anything about it. You should do it as soon as you can, don't wait. I have a relative of mine that "waited" a few days after having terrible headaches and vomiting. It turned out to be an aneurysm.

Call a doctor as soon as you can, no matter how small or insignificant you may think this is.
posted by Tarsonis10 at 12:31 PM on April 10, 2021 [2 favorites]

For what it's worth, I vomited a couple of times in the middle of the night starting 15 hours after the first Pfizer shot and also experienced mild diarrhea. Both symptoms are listed on the printed pamphlet I got at the doctor and on the US CDC's V-safe reporting site's list of symptoms. (I'm not a doctor and don't know anything about this. The delay and severity is different from my single experience.)
posted by eotvos at 12:34 PM on April 10, 2021 [4 favorites]

A friend had the same reactions you mention after their first moderna vaccination; their spouse who had theirs at the same time, didn't have any reaction at all.
posted by mightshould at 1:32 PM on April 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

Vomiting and diarrhea are on the CDC's list of reactions for the Pfizer vaccine, though it looks like all or almost all the events were mild/moderate and you can see what "moderate" means listed underneath the tables.
posted by BungaDunga at 2:34 PM on April 10, 2021 [5 favorites]

Talk to a doctor and report to the CDC

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/ensuringsafety/monitoring/vaers/index.html
posted by knapah at 2:40 PM on April 10, 2021 [4 favorites]

Nausea is a common side effect both of the vaccine itself and of the headache/fever that also can be a vaccine side effect (so either one leading into the other or both directly caused by the vaccine). How someone's system reacts to that will be different from person to person. I know people who get sick to their stomach whenever they get a cold, for instance, just because that's how their body deals with nausea and feeling gross.

I would say that unless you can pinpoint a potential suspect food for food poisoning, it might have just been a bad fever/headache/nausea spike when his body just went "fuck it! We're emptying this thing out and starting over!".

Personally I wouldn't be too worried, but consult your doctor if you want that peace of mind.
posted by fight or flight at 2:44 PM on April 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

I know people who had actual Covid and had these reactions as part of their evolution of the infection running it’s course.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 3:58 PM on April 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

I had 2-3 days of moderate to severe diarrhea but no vomiting. And it started a good 48 hours later. I know at least 20 people that have gotten the Pfizer vaccine and I was the only one with the same reaction. Luck of the draw I guess.
posted by bxvr at 4:52 PM on April 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

I had some mild diarrhea after my 2nd Pfizer shot as well as a headache for 2 days.
posted by kathrynm at 4:58 PM on April 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

A cousin had pretty severe vomiting multiple times after their first Pfizer shot (they did report it to the CDC).
posted by gudrun at 6:18 PM on April 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

I had all of that with the Moderna. I also had COVID months before the vaccine, and that's supposed to make it worse. The second one was about three days' worth of similar suffering.
posted by Gneisskate at 6:56 PM on April 10, 2021 [2 favorites]

The covid doc sitting across the living room from me suggests that he should get a COVID test. It's possible that it's a vaccine reaction, but the timeline doesn't seem typical.
posted by advicepig at 3:22 PM on April 11, 2021 [1 favorite]

my boss had this reaction to moderna the day after the shot.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 12:13 PM on April 12, 2021 [1 favorite]

After the second Moderna shot, I had diarrhea for a few days, with some nausea and light-headedness, but no vomiting. Those are definitely side effects listed on the CDC reporting website and, I expect, not uncommon at all.
posted by ceejaytee at 10:57 AM on April 13, 2021 [1 favorite]