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Post by jeremysgirl on May 4, 2021 16:57:07 GMT
Update: My psychiatrist says it's very possible the vaccine had this affect on me. She hasn't had any feedback from her other patients, though, so she increased the dose on my rescue med and added another med in a low dose to try to see if it helps keeps my manic and mixed episodes under control. We will meet again in a month, unless I call sooner.
Tomorrow I am two weeks out from my covid vaccine. The day after I got my vaccine I had a terrible headache and I felt like I was having the worst mixed episode of my life. The following Monday, I had a manic episode that nearly sent me to the hospital. It took my rescue meds (two of them) 2-3 hours to kick in and give me some relief. I was super close to asking my neighbor to take me to the ER. I have been bouncing between depression and mixed episodes every single day since my vaccine. I have taken so much time off work the past two weeks, it isn't even funny. And I'm seriously sitting here on my lunch hour debating asking my boss again to leave work early because I feel confused and I'm having a hard time focusing. Again.
I was stable on my meds prior to the vaccine and now for the past two weeks, I'm just a terrible mess.
Is anyone here or anyone you know with mental illness having this kind of reaction to the vaccine? Does anyone have an encouraging story of when this has let up for them? I'm sitting here debating calling my psychiatrist this afternoon. But after it took my rescue meds (and I had to take two of them, one didn't kick in for an hour, so I took the second and it took two additional hours) so long to work, I'm wondering if this is vaccine related and not just me and I am wondering if a medicine change will even work. It never takes my rescue meds that long to work. And I haven't needed an ER visit since 2008.
I'm just so discouraged. Even when my meds stop working it is usually little bit by little bit. It is never just a complete failure altogether. But I have felt since vaccine like I imagine I would if I took no medication at all.
I cannot find any medical studies done on this at all. I can't even find anyone's personal account of it.
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Post by Delta Dawn on May 4, 2021 16:58:29 GMT
Omg I am terrified now!
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Aug 18, 2025 19:53:11 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2021 16:58:58 GMT
I wouldn't have any idea, but I'm so sorry you are experiencing this, whatever the cause. (((HUGS))). I'd say call your psychiatrist, no matter what.
ETA I have a friend with bipolar, and I think she's in lots of groups online. I can ask her if she's heard anything.
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blue tulip
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,049
Jun 25, 2014 20:53:57 GMT
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Post by blue tulip on May 4, 2021 16:59:57 GMT
i swear i just read an article within the last 2 weeks, about covid vaccination and increased episodes in people with mental health issues! i'm trying to find it back now. but you aren't the only one experiencing this. ETA it might've been this one, which touches on a possible connection between covid 19 and mental illness, but i was sure it was the vaccine. www.nytimes.com/2020/12/28/health/covid-psychosis-mental.html
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artbabe
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,844
Jun 26, 2014 1:59:10 GMT
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Post by artbabe on May 4, 2021 17:02:25 GMT
You know I’m bipolar also. The vaccine had no effect on me. I was stable before and still stable.
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Post by jeremysgirl on May 4, 2021 17:04:56 GMT
I'm sorry if I've frightened you. Surely the vaccine benefits outweigh the instability I've felt the past two weeks. It could be that my medicine is just failing me period. I don't know. I was hoping someone might know something about this so I can at least have some peace of mind that it's not just a failure of my medicine.
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Post by jeremysgirl on May 4, 2021 17:06:17 GMT
I have a friend with bipolar, and I think she's in lots of groups online. I can ask her if she's heard anything. If you wouldn't mind. I'd appreciate any feedback. I just need to know if others are experiencing this or if it is just a total failure of my medicine.
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Post by crimsoncat05 on May 4, 2021 17:08:09 GMT
jeremysgirl , was it your first or your second vaccine? I don't know if that might make a difference, and this isn't the same as your manic / depressive episodes, but after the first vaccine I had a headache that would NOT quit for DAYS. It took more than a week for it to go away. I hope you find something out, and if it is your first vaccine, maybe getting the second one will help things stabilize?? Just a guess, but here's hoping. ETA: I believe researchers figured out that he spike protein in the SARS-COV2 vaccine can cross the blood brain barrier and can contribute to the brain fog, confusion, and delirium in some people... I wonder if that same spike protein is in the vaccine and could also cross over? off to check out the article link posted earlier. I do think my depression symptoms *may have been* worse for a couple weeks after my first vaccine, but my symptoms aren't as noticeable as yours would be. I felt SO MUCH BETTER after my second vaccine, but that could also have been because I felt sick as a dog after my second dose... but when I recovered from that, I felt like *myself* again in some weird way, if you know what I mean.
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Post by jeremysgirl on May 4, 2021 17:12:50 GMT
jeremysgirl , was it your first or your second vaccine? I don't know if that might make a difference, and this isn't the same as your manic / depressive episodes, but after the first vaccine I had a headache that would NOT quit for DAYS. It took more than a week for it to go away. I hope you find something out, and if it is your first vaccine, maybe getting the second one will help things stabilize?? Just a guess, but here's hoping. It was my second vaccine. My first vaccine I had a very spacey, felt like my head had been rattling around in a tin can feeling. But it didn't last long. The second vaccine I had a headache and I felt like I was having a mixed episode so bad. Thankfully I was able to put myself to sleep by 5 pm. And I slept until 2 that night. I woke up the next day and I felt alright. But as the day wore on, I started dragging me right down in a depressive state.
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desertgirl
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,646
Jun 26, 2014 15:58:05 GMT
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Post by desertgirl on May 4, 2021 17:14:44 GMT
I just called a friend of mine who is a school counselor. She asked if you had searched the website mighty dot com. She recommends it to her high school students. It might have something for you there.
So many hugs and arrows for you today. Actually, for every day.
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Post by MissBianca on May 4, 2021 17:18:04 GMT
jeremysgirl, was it your first or your second vaccine? I don't know if that might make a difference, and this isn't the same as your manic / depressive episodes, but after the first vaccine I had a headache that would NOT quit for DAYS. It took more than a week for it to go away. I hope you find something out, and if it is your first vaccine, maybe getting the second one will help things stabilize?? Just a guess, but here's hoping. I had the same thing with both shots, the headache was so bad I literally could not think straight. It was a very unnatural feeling.
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Post by crimsoncat05 on May 4, 2021 17:19:05 GMT
oh, man... your second vaccine. So much for my hopes that the second one would help clear it up. I hope someone else has good information for you!
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Post by jeremysgirl on May 4, 2021 17:20:43 GMT
desertgirl I am a subscriber to The Mighty and I haven't seen anything about vaccination and mental health. Just a quick search of the website and I'm not seeing anything either.
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Post by Linda on May 4, 2021 17:22:30 GMT
((((Hugs))) and prayers - that has to be an awful experience for you.
I'm also bipolar but currently only on welbutrin - I didn't see an impact after either of my jabs (Moderna). I hope you get answers and are feeling more yourself soon.
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Post by MissBianca on May 4, 2021 17:22:52 GMT
I’m asking 2 of my friends that struggle with health issues along with depression and anxiety. They both had their second shots around the same time as me. I’ve been battling with stimming (ADHD), lack of focus, and a restless leg syndrome flare up since my second shot but it is slowing getting better.
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Post by jeremysgirl on May 4, 2021 17:26:20 GMT
I’ve been battling with stimming (ADHD), lack of focus, and a restless leg syndrome flare up since my second shot but it is slowing getting better. How far out are you from your vaccine?
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Aug 18, 2025 19:53:11 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2021 17:28:30 GMT
I have a friend with bipolar, and I think she's in lots of groups online. I can ask her if she's heard anything. If you wouldn't mind. I'd appreciate any feedback. I just need to know if others are experiencing this or if it is just a total failure of my medicine. She replied that she has not heard anything. However I did find an article from The Lancet that says this. Not specific to bipolar though. "What are the possible neuropsychiatric side effects of vaccination? When a vaccine is administered, neuropsychiatric side effects might develop. In one COVID-19 vaccine trial, a participant was diagnosed with transverse myelitis.90 This finding might have been incidental; an analysis of 64 million past vaccine doses showed no association between the occurrence of transverse myelitis and vaccination.91 In a pilot study, individuals with symptoms of depression or anxiety had, compared with mentally healthy individuals, a more pronounced reduction in positive affect following influenza vaccination.92 Several studies in the general population have shown transient changes in cognition, sleep, mood, and psychomotor activity after vaccination with the typhoid vaccine, changes which could be assumed to also occur in people with severe mental illness.93–95 Lancet Psychiatry . 2021 May;8(5):444-450. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30564-2.
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The Birdhouse Lady
Prolific Pea
 
Moose. It's what's for dinner.
Posts: 7,589
Location: Alaska -The Last Frontier
Jun 30, 2014 17:15:19 GMT
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Post by The Birdhouse Lady on May 4, 2021 17:38:19 GMT
I have no information but just want to say that I hate this for you.
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Post by jeremysgirl on May 4, 2021 17:38:48 GMT
off to check out the article link posted earlier. I've reached my limit of free articles. so if you find anything helpful, will you let me know?
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Post by kristi521 on May 4, 2021 17:41:49 GMT
I have zero answers for you. But I just wanted to say, I imagine that is very frustrating for you. I do hope you get the answers you need as quickly as possible.
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Post by jubejubes on May 4, 2021 17:43:05 GMT
jeremysgirl You may have had other stressors happening at this time. Was this around the same time that your son was in a crisis? Good luck in finding information. hugs to you.
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julie5
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,627
Jul 11, 2018 15:20:45 GMT
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Post by julie5 on May 4, 2021 17:50:06 GMT
Sending you some love. I just got my 2nd dose today. I’m already messed up from my colonoscopy last week screwing with my meds. I’m just riding out the storm this week amd being extra gentle with myself.
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Post by jeremysgirl on May 4, 2021 17:58:36 GMT
You may have had other stressors happening at this time. Was this around the same time that your son was in a crisis? My son was released and he is home and doing well. I think we've even gotten to the bottom of his continued suicide attempts. I feel very good about where I am with him right now. That occurred over three weeks ago. I do not think this is it. This is so much worse than to simply write it off as stress.
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Post by Eddie-n-Harley on May 4, 2021 18:01:31 GMT
I'm sorry that you're dealing with this. I would definitely call my doctor--maybe there's another rescue med to try. Please also consider reporting these side effects. Perhaps they are not related, but if they are, your report may help others.
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Post by christine58 on May 4, 2021 18:05:38 GMT
You may have had other stressors happening at this time. Was this around the same time that your son was in a crisis? My son was released and he is home and doing well. I think we've even gotten to the bottom of his continued suicide attempts. I feel very good about where I am with him right now. That occurred over three weeks ago. I do not think this is it. This is so much worse than to simply write it off as stress. You should call your Dr.
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Post by revirdsuba99 on May 4, 2021 18:09:54 GMT
I have no answers. Please do call you psychiatrist, if only to let him/her know what is going on with you.
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((HUGS))))))))))))))))))))))))))
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Post by jeremysgirl on May 4, 2021 18:24:57 GMT
Please do call you psychiatrist, if only to let him/her know what is going on with you. I have an appointment for Friday.
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Post by crimsoncat05 on May 4, 2021 19:04:32 GMT
jeremysgirl , this article is about patients who had contracted COVID itself developing psychotic symptoms afterward, not after the vaccine. But I wonder if they know for SURE whether the vaccine can act the same way on the brain, at least of some people... I would def. mention it to your doctor. Especially since the article says the 'usual' drugs prescribed for the disorders didn't always work on those people. excerpts from the article: Dr. Hisam Goueli-- South Oaks Hospital in Amityville, N.Y. South Oaks has an in-patient psychiatric treatment program for COVID-19 patients. <snip> The patient, a 42-year-old physical therapist and mother of four young children, had never had psychiatric symptoms or any family history of mental illness. Yet there she was, sitting at a table in a beige-walled room at South Oaks Hospital in Amityville, N.Y., sobbing and saying that she kept seeing her children, ages 2 to 10, being gruesomely murdered and that she herself had crafted plans to kill them. The only notable thing about her medical history was that the woman, who declined to be interviewed but allowed Dr. Goueli to describe her case, had become infected with the coronavirus in the spring. She had experienced only mild physical symptoms from the virus, but, months later, she heard a voice that first told her to kill herself and then told her to kill her children. A small number of Covid patients who had never experienced mental health problems are developing severe psychotic symptoms weeks after contracting the coronavirus... Doctors all over the country and the world have made reports of similar things happening: A 36-year-old nursing home employee in North Carolina who became so paranoid that she believed her three children would be kidnapped and, to save them, tried to pass them through a fast-food restaurant’s drive-through window.
A 30-year-old construction worker in New York City who became so delusional that he imagined his cousin was going to murder him, and, to protect himself, he tried to strangle his cousin in bed.A 55-year-old woman in Britain had hallucinations of monkeys and a lion and became convinced a family member had been replaced by an impostor.Experts increasingly believe brain-related effects may be linked to the body’s immune system response to the coronavirus and possibly to vascular problems or surges of inflammation caused by the disease process. “ Some of the neurotoxins that are reactions to immune activation can go to the brain, through the blood-brain barrier, and can induce this damage, (so maybe the vaccine immune reaction could do the same?)” said Dr. Vilma Gabbay, a co-director of the Psychiatry Research Institute at Montefiore Einstein in the Bronx. Persistent immune activation is also a leading explanation for brain fog and memory problems bedeviling many Covid survivors, and Emily Severance, a schizophrenia expert at Johns Hopkins, said post-Covid cognitive and psychiatric effects might result from “something similar happening in the brain.”It may hinge on which brain region the immune response affects, Dr. Yolken said, adding, “some people have neurological symptoms, some people psychiatric and many people have a combination.” The North Carolina woman, who was convinced that cellphones were tracking her and that her partner would steal her pandemic stimulus money, didn’t improve with the first medication, said Dr. Jonathan Komisar at Duke, who said doctors initially thought her symptoms reflected bipolar disorder. “When we began to realize that maybe this isn’t going to resolve immediately,” he said, she was given an antipsychotic, risperidone and discharged in a week. The physical therapist who planned to murder her children had more difficulty. “Every day, she was getting worse,” Dr. Goueli said. “We tried probably eight different medicines,” including antidepressants, antipsychotics and lithium. “She was so ill that we were considering electroconvulsive therapy for her because nothing was working.” <snip> Ultimately, risperidone (an atypical antipsychotic) proved effective and after four weeks, she returned home to her family, “95 percent perfect,” he said.
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Post by ntsf on May 4, 2021 19:12:47 GMT
my sister is bipolar and is on very strong drugs.. I don't know which.. but she gets a shot every few months. she is very on the edge of functioning.
she got the moderna vaccine and had almost no effect afterwards.. she cheerfully went for second shot and didn't complain of anything.
sorry you are dealing with this.
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Post by jeremysgirl on May 4, 2021 19:15:45 GMT
Especially since the article says the 'usual' drugs prescribed for the disorders didn't always work on those people. This is what is interesting to me about this. Because usually when my meds stop working, it is not an instantaneous thing. The effectiveness progressively declines. I can see it coming and head it off with a medication switch before I'm completely off the rails. And usually my one rescue med is kicking in 30-45 minutes after taking it. And this time, it took hours. It just seems too coincidental that the only side effects I experienced the day after the vaccine were a huge headache and a serious meltdown of a mixed episode. I did not have any fever, fatigue, body aches, nothing like that. Just an absolute coming completely unglued feeling. And it's continuing. I haven't been without meds in 19 years. And right now, I feel like I may as well be taking nothing.
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