Sorry folks, I’m being whiny today. You’ve been warned.
Last week I told you all about the shoulder pain I was experiencing after I got my flu shot. My doctor diagnosed it as bursitis, resulting from a poorly administered shot, and reassured me that it would likely go away within a week. I wanted to believe her. I hoped she was absolutely right. I even foolishly decided not to seek out additional treatment yet beyond the heat and ibuprofen she recommended, thinking that it would quickly heal.
The update? Her prediction didn’t come true. While most of the sharp pain is now gone, I’m dealing with a constant dull ache that I can generally ignore most of the day if I don’t move my shoulder too much. But it often swells to a more noticeable pain in the evenings that shoots down into my left arm and occasionally makes my fingers numb.
Some arm movements remain difficult, and I’ve discovered I really can’t use that arm to carry anything more than a few pounds without it hurting. The popping in the joint has continued, too, and ewww that’s a horrible feeling.
In short: this sucks, and I want to go to bed and hide from it.
After I had reached a week without significant improvement, I emailed my doctor and described what I was experiencing. I asked if we should consider the oral steroids that she had recommended we try if it didn’t get better. I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of steroids, but willing to give them a go if they’d reduce the inflammation to heal my shoulder faster.
Her reply the next morning was not what I was expecting to read: based on what I described, she thought we should skip the steroids and go straight to physical therapy.
Yep, physical therapy. Forget the small stuff, we’ve moved on to considering this a major injury in need of intervention.
Because of a flu shot.
That didn’t even immunize me from the flu.
To say I’m frustrated with this series of events would be an understatement. I now have no idea when, or if, my shoulder will be back to normal and pain-free. I had never heard of SIRVA (Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine Administration) before this, or ever considered filling out VAERS paperwork to document an injury.
So now I need to schedule physical therapy. Because I have so much time (and money) available for that, right?
Again, please forgive the whining. I’m not used to being anything other than physically healthy, with occasional lower back pain that isn’t a chronic issue. Having reduced function for one of my arms is difficult for me to cope with. The constant ache makes me grouchy, too, and I don’t like taking a lot of pain meds for it. This wouldn’t be so bad if I knew there was an end point, but not knowing when that end point will be (tomorrow? a week? a month? a year?) makes it overwhelming.
Alright, I know I need to get over myself and make the calls to get things started. No more stalling, hoping it’ll go away on its own.
Time to get to work.
I’m calling for the physical therapy referral today. I’m calling to set up a chiropractic consultation, too. And I’ll accept that my schedule is going to be mad for a little while and I’ll likely hit my health insurance deductible early in the year. If it results in having full function of my left shoulder again, it’ll all be worth it.
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UPDATE: When I contacted my doctor to ask for the referral for the physical therapist, she heard the current state of my shoulder and decided to switch courses again. She’s certain I should have seen more improvement by now, so the new (new) plan is a referral to an orthopedic doctor who specializes in shoulders before anyone has a chance to manipulate my shoulder. Yay?
I feel ya, honey. I was first diagnosed with bursitis of my right shoulder back in 2000 and the left shoulder joined the party a few years back. Celebrex has helped me tons…when it works. 😀 Take heart! Your will probably resolve itself. *crosses fingers*
Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt… except mine was a bad rotator cuff from a car accident. That dull ache was the worst- I hope you’re able to find or do something to take the edge off while you’re working through the PT! And, I have to admit I totally thought of you as I got my flu shot at the doctor’s office last week! 🙂
I wish you the best. My husband and I got flu shots in January 2013. We are still dealing with the affects. We were first prescribed Prednisone and Meloxicam, then months of physical therapy.We then tried cortisone injections in the shoulder. Like another needle in our shoulders sounded like fun!!!! Finally we were referred to an orthopedic surgeon and we were both scheduled for surgery. Hours before, the surgeon changed his mind and said he wouldn’t do it. We like in a fairly small town and think the clinic that administered the vaccination called him and asked him not to do the surgery. Thus far, the clinic had been covering the patient portion. The surgeon made the comment that the clinic had been more than generous with how much they have paid. We never told his office that the clinic was paying. We have had to travel over 200 miles away to see another surgeon who said that my husband has a rotator cuff tear and he can fix it surgically however, mine is a tear in the muscle which he does not know how to fix. I will be getting a third cortisone injection next week. We are both still in incredible pain and have very limited range of motion in our arms. I pray you have much better results!
I share your same story. Had my shot administerd by a local pharmacy. It was given too high in my shoulder, with a needle that was too big for me. My bursa was injected (MRI showed this clearly) and I went through 5 cortisone injections, 2 MRI’s, physical therapy (that made it worse) and a chiropractor (that didn’t help). I took so much Advil that my kidneys shut down and I now suffer from problems anytime I take pain meds…so can’t take anything for pain. Two and a half years later, and the pain is the same. Always dull aching, limited use of my left arm, weakness and trouble sleeping. All because of a flu shot.
I had the quadrivalent vaccine in early June. I could hardly lift my arm for weeks and 2 and half months later it is still sore. I can lift my arm slowly but if I reach suddenly there is a sharp pain. I feel a lump there too. The vaccine wad administered by a nurse at a doctors office who is not my regular doctor.mI think it was too high in the muscle. I only have localised pain, no nerve pain or pain down the arm. Oral anti inflamnatories don’t help much. I went to my usual doctor who sent me for an ultrasound scan with no result. I’m thinking of getting an MRI.
Diane,
Are you still in pain? Has anything helped? My 22 yr old daughter just had a shot on 9/10/15 and is suffering with shoulder pain and can’t lift her arm or cross it over to take off clothing. Dr said 600 ibup. but that isn’t helping. I don’t want to see this go on for months was there anything that has worked better? Did you get the MRI?
I received my flu shot Oct 18th, 2015. No pain after shot was given until that evening. I didn’t give it a thought because sometimes it hurts for a couple days. Well it is Nov 21st, 2015 now. The pain hurts int the injection site and radiates to the shoulder, down my arm all the way to my wrist and hand. She putting on my coat or reaching for something the pain is horrible. And then my hand is weak. I have seen 3 Drs and no one has a diagnosis for my pain. No one wNts to admit it was from the flu shot. I filed a a report with VAERS & FDA. No one has told me what to do about it or how long it will last. I have had a CT scan and an MRI. Now I am seeing my primary Dr for the 2nd time because he didn’t document it the first time. Yes another copay! I did call an attorney. They called once with questions and will call back in a month to see how I am doing. I am fed up with some of the health care systems.
I also have the same problems after having the flu shot 3 weeks ago at Rite Aid. I have had them done there in the past with no problems, so figured it would save me some money as I wouldn’t have the additional $40 copay at my doctors office and the shot was covered by insurance. I felt absolutely nothing when she gave me the shot, no pain/burning at all, and even mentioned that to her that she was THAT good! Now, 3 weeks later and I can barely move that shoulder, when I wake in the morning, I actually have to hold my elbow because raising from the bed makes me scream. The bad thing is, I am having surgery at the end of this month on the opposite hand to repair a torn tendon sheath in my knuckles, so unless I see a miracle, I won’t have much use of either side. I am going to my ortho about it next Thursday, not a happy camper here..
I received a flu shot from a Rite Aid pharmacist in October 2015. I was a healthy, pain free, active person until that day. The shot hurt when administered and I immediately developed a red circle around the area that lasted a few weeks. I immediately experienced severe pain in my arm which continues to this date, February 2016. Many nights I cannot sleep because of the throbbing pain and certainly cannot lay on my left side. The pain goes up and down my arm, my fingers go numb and I lose grip of items at times that I am holding in that hand. The worst unbearable pain is in my shoulder when I try to comb my hair with my left hand, dress and undress, or forget and reach backward to my shoulder. I have read the same complaints form others and frankly don’t know what to do. I have always been an active healthy person but this continued pain has affected my life. Does anyone have a course of action or know what I can do?
I can’t believe this has happened tp other people. I thought no way this is from the flu shot i got ten days ago. I can’t take shirts off or reach to the inside of my body. My flu shot was too high. I do have a tear in my shoulder but they never corrected because it wasn’t causing too Much problems but this is way worse than any shoulder injury I’ve ever had and i had shoulder surgery on the other arm.
Just stumbled upon your story after searching in desperation for an answer as I am at my wits end. On October 20, 2015, I received a mandatory flu shot from my place of employment. The shot hurt badly and by that night the pain was excruciating and I couldn’t raise my arm. To make a long story short, I continue to suffer. I can’t dress myself or do really much of anything with my arm elbow up) Due to overusing my wrist (elbow down) I have now developed pain there as well. My other arm aches as well most likely from over using that arm. I was seen in the ER on three occasions, had an MRI, was seen by an orthopedic specialist, had an X-ray and been referred to a neurologist. I had two rounds of oral steroids, I am going to physical therapy three times a week, and I take Percocet and Neurontin. Since 10/20/15 I had made no real progress despite the various interventions mentioned above. I’m afraid I will have to live like this the rest of my life. Oh, I failed to mention that the MRI showed bone edema and the doctor said “it looks like the shot was given too high and the needle struck your shoulder bone.., it caused an immune response and you have swelling, fluid, and some other things going on.., it should get better with time.” I was told that several weeks ago.
I,too, had a flu shot a Walgreen back in Nov. 2015. Now 9 months later and 2 months of PT, I’m still in pain. This is so disgusting!!! I was in PERFECT health before this happened. Nothing seems to help. Who is responsible for this? CDC, the pharmacist, or the business who offers the flu shot. I will NEVER have another flu shot again, as suggested by my Dr. At least, one can get over the flu in a week. I’m believing for God’s miracle….my only help. God have mercy on us ALL!