Its my time,
I am so so happy for you!
To know you're back to life & you're in nursing school. Great news!
I try to stay off the boards more because it can be triggering, & potential med setbacks is probably one of the more stressful subjects because how can one get on with life if they're worried about their future with meds or procedures they may need? BUT SURPRISINGLY, I found comfort in reading this because although you had a very rough time with your sensitivities, you still made it through and are on with your life. That gives me hope. It's what I needed to hear, that you are living life fully in spite of having to deal with med setbacks.
I myself had a 4 month setback after the flu shot, but I was only at 18 months when it happened.
The setback itself is not the crappiest part. The crappy part is because of that setback from the flu shot, I can get pretty worried about my future. Depending on how I feel that day, the fear from the worry can darn near break me sometimes, & it's totally from "what ifs" , not even something that is going on right now. It's catastrophizing about the future. It can rob me of my good days if I let it, & on some days I have to work hard not to let it. I'm at 3.5 years now, and I am doing better with this concern as time passes, and as I heal more, and try to regain my life. Everyone I talk to about this, coaches and those who have had sensitivities at one point, all gain confidence over time and it is no longer in the forefront of their minds. They still know to be cautious if & when the time comes to need these things, but it no longer haunts their daily lives and they forget about it. That's the phase I am in now. Working on regaining my life without being plagued by these concerns.
It's my time & [...]:
In many ways I actually feel relief from reading what you both had to say here. You've both done your research on here with those who stay sensitive for a long time. Even though the antibiotics/vaccines/dental procedures etc did bring on very bad WD symptoms for people, even acute like symptoms, they eventually went away. It wasn't an entire set back YEAR(S) with an "S" again. It was more like a long really crappy "bump" in the big picture.
[...]'s, I guess one could expect possibly an issue with 21 days of antibiotics. That's a long time on antibiotics. I think I remember talking with you about it on here before when it happened to you, and like everyone has said on here, it was rough but you got through. I went back & read some of your posts and you've had quite the journey with frequent UTIs, pneumonia, and needing several antibiotics over the years, and needing a steroid? (for BOOP a lung issue ) I'm not sure you took the steroid, but I'm so sorry you've had to go through all of this. I'm glad to hear that you last dental procedure went well, and that you and your dentist were able to come up with a plan that worked for you. I sincerely thank you for coming here to reply. Your detailed responses here are helping me tremendously.
Anyway, even though there's a lot of setback scenarios, some even pretty far out, everyone got through it.
[...].. not only got through it, you are in college! How inspiring!
Your story gives me some major relief in all of this.
[...] & Its my time , thank you both for your help here for those of us who are sensitive.
Thanks 
Fortitude
Fortitude,
Thank you so much for your kind words, it means alot! Especially from one setback person to another!
I still have the same fears your do, but they seem to get easier with the more and more I push myself out of my comfort zone and the more time that has passed. I'll give you a few examples of situations that have been terrifying for me but have ultimately helped immensely in my healing and confidence.
I have young kids - so far this cold and flu season has been horrendous. It seems to be one illness after another that's hit the house since the end of August when they went back to school/daycare. Throughout essentially the last 3 years of my recovery I have been sick a total of 3 times (one of those being Covid), in the last 3.5 months I've been hit with 4 different viral illnesses. Before this I was beyond terrified to get sick, and although being healthy as much as possible moving forward is the ultimate goal, this has given me so much confidence that my body is very capable, that I have a strong immune system and that I can handle things that are thrown at me and it wont just result in the worst case scenario.
I successfully completed the 2.5 months of nursing clinicals I had this fall and guess where I was placed for half of that? On a covid unit. Yup, you read that correctly, I was working on a covid unit. This was probably the best and most terrifying exposure therapy I would have ever been through but it taught me a lot.
and honestly, from what I saw, Covid is nowhere near as deadly or worrisome as it once was, all of the people on the unit I was on had multiple comorbidities, were significantly older and no one got really sick, I can honestly say that the vast majority had symptoms as if they were dealing with a cold. This was reassuring in so many ways as I have had quite the fear of covid and the potential negative outcomes or need for medication that use to come with it. This just isn't the case for so many anymore. (What a relief that was to see first hand! It really helped with my fear of illness).
Seeing this has really helped me reintegrate into "normal" life too. Don't get me wrong, I still wash my hands frequently and I don't think I'll ever stop sanitizing when I leave a store but my overall fear of illness has improved immensely and I can thank exposure therapy for all of it.
Like you, I have also spoken with countless couches. The one thing that everyone I talk to reiterates is that these reactions typically become less and less severe the further out we get. I know [...] experience is different and im not trying to discount that at all, but I personally feel that the key is just getting as much time under our belts where we can just let our nervous system be without continually aggravating it. I have a close friend in the UK and she said that The Bristol Tranquillizer Project says that typically 5 years is the goal mark for this, and that they really don't tend to see many reactions after you've hit this milestone, especially if you can avoid anything that may aggravate your system for as long as possible (AB, steriods, other meds, alcohol etc).
Both Dr. Jen and Baylissa have told me multiple times as well that it really is rare to see someone have multiple setbacks, especially the further and further out that you get, and I'm just choosing to believe that moving forward. I know the really tough rare cases are going to be out there - heck I'm already one of them! What happened to me, or to you with the vaccine setback doesn't happen to the vast majority of people. But we've made it out the other side and although I do still have symptoms here and there, they are minor and manageable and if i had to live with them for the rest of my life, I would actually be okay with that. Although I do believe that over the next 6 months I will see even more improvement in every aspect of life.
You are doing an amazing job in your recovery Fortitude and I am so happy to hear that you are able to start to move forward and really regain your life. Its HARD. Its a totally different ballgame when you have had a setback. But I am so happy to hear that you are doing well. Keep going! And please keep me updated on your progress in the future? I really have enjoyed our conversations on these boards.
Thank you again for your kindness, encouragement and positivity.
I only have 6 months left of my nursing program now (which I never thought I would finish after I hit WD 3 years ago) and then I'm done and be back out in the real world... with a job, living life... normally? Kind of a terrifying but exciting thought!
I really do believe eventually we all get our lives back.
It's My Time,
I was speechless reading your AMAZING reply!! You have DEFINITELY regained your life back and then some.
I mean wow you fought a brutal setback and worked on a Covid unit as a nurse??!! You must be wearing a cape! You're a superhero!
I cannot thank you enough for writing these caring & encouraging words. I REALLY needed to hear this from someone who truly understands.
I definitely do better when I stay busy, I can forget about withdrawal and "what if crap". The "exposure therapy" you went through is beyond amazing and you did it all while selflessly caring for the suffering and the sick. I am beyond blown away. You couldn't get more exposed than that. I mean wow!
Confidence building is so important. Everytime I have a wave I have to rebuild. It is necessary.
Thank you so much !
[...],
I cant begin to tell you how much your response means to me and how touched I feel by it. Literally you had me tearing up reading it. No one outside of people like us truly understand how hard what I just did was and honestly I've caught some flack from the community for continuing on with nursing because of its connection to big pharma. I think if we had more health care providers that had experienced medical harm out working we would have a very different healthcare system and that's why I have stayed the course and continued with my schooling even after going through wd and this setback. Even as a student nurse I've already been able to change the trajectory of a few elderly seniors cocktail of meds that they were about to be prescribed (thanks to working with a few very open minded doctors) so I can already see the impact that my experience and suffering can have on others.
Your words of praise and encouragement honestly mean more to me then I can explain, and your a complete stranger to me, but I know that deep down, you understand this better then anyone.
Thank you again for your kindness, that was truly touching reading your response.
I agree about doing better when your busy, I am the exact same way! I'm back at home now for 6 months finishing up the remainder of my theory courses required for my education and I defiantly notice what's left of my lingering minor symptoms when I'm not out and about distracted. I genuinely completely forget about them when I'm out "living life" but when I'm at home and I have the opportunity to not be busy that's when I notice that they pop up.
I have a feeling that the next several months will come with so many positive changes for you and I!
