sooo they're mandating a booster at my work..advice please

Hey guys, haven't posted in awhile. 22 months post jump, functioning decent for the most part. Still sensitivities but I navigating around them and pacing myself.

 

Here's my dilemma. This past summer had a pretty brutal reaction to the second dose of vaccine. On the whole it took me 4 months to get to my benzo healing baseline (pre-shots). I've been feeling pretty darn good lately. I love my job counseling part time at a hospital. I'm surrounded by covid daily - literally.

 

Anyhoooo...I live in NY state and the governor has mandated that all healthcare workers must be boosted soon or lose their job. Under normal conditions I understand why - I see how bad covid can get daily.

But my gawd I cannot go through what I went through again - I rapid cycled through every symptom and the SI was so bad for awhile.

 

But I love my job. this sucks.

 

Thoughts? I'm just scared.

 

I had trouble with the 2nd vaccine, but no trouble with the booster, at all. For the 2nd I had air hunger for days; I was completely miserable. Also, had an increase in my other symptoms. I was scared to death about the booster but figured if I got Covid I’d have an increase in symptoms, too. Everyone is different but just thought I’d let you know I did fine with the booster.

I think you need to put your health 1st Trina. If the 2nd jab set you back 4 months, I personally would want to be healed before having a 3rd, or the way things are going 4th or 5th. This whole situation sucks, and I understand you love your job, but surely your health needs to come 1st. You may of course not have a setback ,but on the other hand then next setback could be worse, there's no way to know unfortunately.

 

I'm guessing you wouldn't be able to get a medical exemption? Would your job be open to your ​in the future?

I had trouble with the 2nd vaccine, but no trouble with the booster, at all. For the 2nd I had air hunger for days; I was completely miserable. Also, had an increase in my other symptoms. I was scared to death about the booster but figured if I got Covid I’d have an increase in symptoms, too. Everyone is different but just thought I’d let you know I did fine with the booster.

 

This is very comforting...thank you!

Hi

 

I’m thinking maybe you could do your job via video link and not face to face ? I’d be frightened too if it was me who had such a bad reaction to the vaccine.

I think you need to put your health 1st Trina. If the 2nd jab set you back 4 months, I personally would want to be healed before having a 3rd, or the way things are going 4th or 5th. This whole situation sucks, and I understand you love your job, but surely your health needs to come 1st. You may of course not have a setback ,but on the other hand then next setback could be worse, there's no way to know unfortunately.

 

I'm guessing you wouldn't be able to get a medical exemption? Would your job be open to your ​in the future?

 

So no medical exemption unless you actually are the type to go into "anaphylactic shock". I was told if I was concerned about having psychosis I could just "check into a psyche ward for 72 hrs" - WTH?!!!!!  I was so angry about that.

My job would only be open in the future if I got the booster.

I do have other ways to make money, but the job is fulfilling, I can self schedule and the staff there are like a family to me. I have respect there. After all the losses we've had in this journey I don't want to have another loss. I'm finally feeling like one of the normal people again.

Sorry this is sounding like a therapy session lol.

 

I hear your wisdom. Thanks for looking out for me 

Hi

 

I’m thinking maybe you could do your job via video link and not face to face ? I’d be frightened too if it was me who had such a bad reaction to the vaccine.

 

I can't its not that kind of counseling. I literally go into patients rooms to counsel them, and I counsel staff when its a super rough day at the hospital.

Or like if a patient is having a psyche crisis I go, or if a pt dies and family is distraught. i know what you're thinking..its not like the scheduled counseling I used to do with clients.

 

But otherwise your idea would be a great alternative!

Hi trina, I know my experience probably isn't relevant since I've been recovered for so long but of the three vaccinations, the third was the mildest, not even a sore arm, I had the Pfizer.

Trina,

 

I'm so glad you dropped in and to hear you are doing so well.  This is great!  Let me share a little of my very recent booster experience.  I'm a couple days into my booster shot (Moderna), and today is sooooo much better.  Yesterday, however, was a doozy. 

 

Initially I had some trepidation scheduling the appointment and a few hours before the jab I worked myself up a bit with the anxiety of not wanting to rock the boat because I have been doing so well.  I despise how much these decisions we normally would not even think twice about can have us on our knees now, scared of the potential outcome (thanks so much benzos  ).  While I was not in a position where it was a requirement, I ultimately decided to go through with it. 

 

I can honestly say that in the middle of the night after the jab I was having feelings of regret but only because unlike my first two shots, I got hit hard with the side effects with this one. My regret was directly corelated with how I felt, which was awful.  It was a night of insomnia with full on body aches and intense nausea.  I slept most of the day yesterday and was pretty useless.  Finally last night things began to lighten up a little.  I still have a headache today and some mild nausea and aches, but the worst is over.  I did/do feel a slight revving of my symptoms, but they are not overwhelming, and I expect they will die down soon, getting me back to a decent baseline again.  How much of this revving is caused by the anxiety of the booster or the anxiety of experiencing the side effects of the booster?  At this point I don't think it really matters; I just know I am still sensitive to stressors; some are just way easier to navigate and handle. 

 

My first two shots were pretty uneventful except I was in a wave for the first one and still not in a great place for the 2nd.  Now here with the booster, I was in a good place, a decent baseline but my booster was brutal.  Go figure.  Your predicament is understandable and your worries warranted, but I want to point out how strong you are, how far you have come, and how unpredictable this darn journey is for each of us.  Regardless of what you decide, you will get through it.  None of this is easy, even when we get to a point in our healing where things are better.  BUT, we are getting there and things are looking up!

 

Sending you light and positive vibes.  Whatever your decision is, it will work out. 

Trina,

 

So good to hear from you. Great to know you're doing as well as you are and that you like your job. This is definitely a difficult question to answer. I do agree with having a mare that your health has to come first. Whatever that means to you, I guess is the answer. The fact that you reacted as strongly previously it could be an indicator but then others have mentioned that the booster didn't affect them as much. I'm sure you're going to make the right decision as you always do. Good healing to you!

 

LiveLife

Trina my dr just gave me a medical exemption for 6 months after contracting the virus. I don’t know if it’s the case in ur country but here they say not to have the vax within 6 months of having the virus. Don’t know how long ago u had the virus but maybe something u could look into. X

thanks everyone for weighing in..so I see it can go either way. I just don't want to be non-functional and setback again. But I guess I won't truly know until I actually do it if I choose to.

 

No medical exemption for me...covid was over a year ago and my shot was just over 5 months. NY state says if its been 5 months since your last shot you are now supposed to get the booster, AND if its been a month since covid and you are symptom free then you can as well (which is not even good science on that one bc your antibodies are still high... ).

 

I'll keep you guys posted. I also have to deal with what feels like a cavity in my tooth. I'll have to space these two "events" on my calendar lol.

 

Jealous of the ppl who healed before covid!

 

Hugs to all..

The vaccines can cause some serious nervous system storms. it depends on the person and the vaccine.

 

I personally “at the most”…would wait until you’re completely healed before going in for another round.

 

Even then, part of me wants to tell you, you don’t need the third. My family doctor advised this for my parents who are in their 70s. 

 

The job dilemma I understand is the whole ultimatum at the end of the day.

Well I've decided tonight I'm going to do a trip to the dentist first and see how my body handles the anesthetic bc I cannot put this off any longer!! The temperature sensitivity is getting too much for this tooth.

 

Depending how I bounce back from that will actually determine my next steps.

Hi trina, I know my experience probably isn't relevant since I've been recovered for so long but of the three vaccinations, the third was the mildest, not even a sore arm, I had the Pfizer.

 

Hi Pamster

 

Its been a while since I posted so can you please update me on what the Covid policy is for BB's. I know it varies from place to place, from freedom of speech to outright censorship and alot of in the middle. Just want to be sure I know the rules before helping buddies on this controversial topic. Thanks in advance

 

Pinky

Hi trina, I know my experience probably isn't relevant since I've been recovered for so long but of the three vaccinations, the third was the mildest, not even a sore arm, I had the Pfizer.

 

Hi Pamster

 

Its been a while since I posted so can you please update me on what the Covid policy is for BB's. I know it varies from place to place, from freedom of speech to outright censorship and alot of in the middle. Just want to be sure I know the rules before helping buddies on this controversial topic. Thanks in advance

 

Pinky

 

 

 

Pinky,

 

Here is the COVID policy for this site:

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=260509.0

Hey Trina

 

Sorry to hear this. You seem like a nice person so its tragic that your rights are being abused in this way. My work has a similar policy, however, I've avoided the decision and delayed to allow myself enough time to research the evidence. My conclusions have been painful and sadly I remain unvaccinated with the mandated Pfizer vaccination and am willing to lose my job in the healthcare industry over it.

 

Obviously its a painful situation for everyone but my personal {that I'm not advocating) reasoning was this:

 

1) I vowed never to put a pharmaceutical in my body again without knowing everything, and I mean EVERYTHING about it prior to ingesting it after this nightmare from Benzodiazepine Injury and concluding it was 100% safe.

2) My research, and yes it was actual research, [i'm a qualified scientist with medical qualifications (I don't go into them too much because I don't want people taking my statements as medical advice on here),] my research showed there is either no evidence/bad evidence/ extremely limited evidence for the scientific rationale behind the key decisions made thus far in the pandemic public health response, especially mandating the inoculation (called Pfizer vaccine). Its so bad that million of my colleagues within the scientific community felt duty bound to sign the Great Barrington Declaration stating that this was a public health fiasco and needed correction immediately. https://au.search.yahoo.com/search?p=great%20barrington%20declaration

3) Long story short - the actual evidence from the Pfizer RCT Trial that the EUA is based on showed the protective effect of vaccination was Less than 1%, 0.84% to be exact. So why is this different to the claims by our public health officials and media?. This is why, because in the same study they found they could reduce the risk from less than 1% by 0.88 to about 0.14 which is a 95% risk reduction. So they were able to create a relative risk reduction RRR of 95%. Which means if you take the Pfizer vaccine, potentially you reduce your risk from less than 1% to less than 1%. 0.88 to 0.14 is a relative risk reduction of 95%. Pfizer saw this result, and ran with it. Press releases said the wonderful figure 95% efficacy against covid. RRR relative risk reduction is a well known misleading statistic and any epidemiologist worth their salt will explain why, and this is why we always use the Absolute risk Reduction because the absolute risk reduction for you and I is more representative of the protective effect. The "protective effect" for the Pfizer vaccine is that we are less than 1% protected, but its still technically true to say its 95% effective at reducing your risk (see how that's misleading).  So that's the not so good news, but there's also bad news. The bad news is the same trial DID NOT show safety, it actually demonstrated the opposite, significant increases in risk of illness and death, related adverse events increased 300% and severe adverse events increased 75% and serious adverse events, ICU, ER visit involved increased 10%, deaths in the vaccine group were 15, and in the Pfizer arm were 20, meaning there was also an increased risk of death from all causes. I was shocked to discover all this, all my colleagues had been repeating the media release quotes about safety and efficacy, and no matter how high the authority figure I spoke, they were always just trusting someone else had looked at the science. I'm not kidding. I asked a well known colleague who works in the exact field at the top rank who was a dear friend and she referred me to a epidemiologist on twitter who when asked, referred to the Pfizer press release. When i pointed out that he hadn't reviewed or analyzed the study and had pointed out the absolute risk controversy earlier on in his career, he ghosted. I've looked for a doctor for years now to stand by this evidence and I haven't found a single one willing to discuss the evidence. and every doctor who has looked at the science, and discusses it, is instantly labelled an anti vaxxer. An obscenity because we are all vaccinated. There is no one disputing this on the affirmative side like I said, even the initial FDA report that was released acknowledges the absolute risk reduction aka your protective effect is less than 1%. They don't care. I asked one colleague, why, given this abysmal data, we are taking such draconian responses, all I got was a fear response "its better than nothing given that there's a pandemic killing people". This is a tragedy all around.

 

I love this community and have a special place in my hearts for its suffers and I don't want them to walk blindly into this. I was educated enough about this to know better and so I tell people where and when I can my journey and let them decide for themselves. There may be a time and place in history where justifying the forced mandates of vaccines is arguable. But the bar should be extremely high on that and the bare minimum should be we know the vaccines are safe. This doesn't meet that threshold in the evidence put forth. This resource from 500 Independent doctors and scientists reviewers helps me and a lot of people as an education resource to look at the evidence so you can reach informed consent. I am not telling you one way or another what to do. all I am offering is the evidence so you can make an informed consensual decision about your medical decisions. My only advice would be to read it with an open mind, and discuss the evidence clearly with your doctor and colleagues where possible. Id be more than happy to answer any questions. https://www.canadiancovidcarealliance.org/media-resources/the-pfizer-inoculations-for-covid-19-more-harm-than-good-2/

 

Kind Regards,

 

Pinky

Hi trina, I know my experience probably isn't relevant since I've been recovered for so long but of the three vaccinations, the third was the mildest, not even a sore arm, I had the Pfizer.

 

Hi Pamster

 

Its been a while since I posted so can you please update me on what the Covid policy is for BB's. I know it varies from place to place, from freedom of speech to outright censorship and alot of in the middle. Just want to be sure I know the rules before helping buddies on this controversial topic. Thanks in advance

 

Pinky

 

 

 

Pinky,

 

Here is the COVID policy for this site:

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=260509.0

 

Ah thanks, I looked at the general policies and didn't see anything so I went ahead and gave a totally honest and uncensored answer. See this now though, apologies, They are free to delete it I suppose, I didn't know.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Pinky

Hi trina, I know my experience probably isn't relevant since I've been recovered for so long but of the three vaccinations, the third was the mildest, not even a sore arm, I had the Pfizer.

 

Hi Pamster

 

Its been a while since I posted so can you please update me on what the Covid policy is for BB's. I know it varies from place to place, from freedom of speech to outright censorship and alot of in the middle. Just want to be sure I know the rules before helping buddies on this controversial topic. Thanks in advance

 

Pinky

 

Here is the BenzoBuddies policy on Covid/vaccine topics:

 

(Heated) arguments about COVID and vaccines do not further the Mission of BB and are generally unhelpful to members in their goals of achieving better health. We have therefore decided to prohibit discussion about COVID and related matters. Members are free to state their vaccination status and share their reactions, but this is the limit of what we will allow.

 

Kate08