Kudos to Philo Kvetch for suggesting this article.
HUNT VALLEY, Md. (TND) — Before the U.S. had approved any COVID-19 vaccines for the general public, Brianne Dressen was so confident in their success that she enrolled herself in a U.S. clinical trial. On Nov. 4, 2020, she received her first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
On the ride home from the clinic — within an hour of receiving the shot — she felt a tingling sensation down her arm. That evening, she developed blurry and double vision, and she noticed sound becoming distorted — like her ears were covered by seashells. When she woke up the next morning, her left leg was slumped and weak, causing her to stumble into the left side of doorways. She went to work at her preschool and found herself unable to function, with extreme sensitivities to light and sound.
“By the end of the class period that day, I had the kids parked in front of the TV with a little learning program and I was holed up in a corner. I had the lights off in the classroom. I was just trying to keep it quiet and dark until the parents got their kids,” she said.
Dressen visited the vaccine trial clinic, sporting the darkest sunglasses she could find and a pair of earplugs covered by noise-canceling earmuffs. She was told to seek evaluation for multiple sclerosis or transverse myelitis. She underwent several tests at the emergency room and was sent home without any diagnosis.
Within the first week of her shot, she experienced autonomic dysfunction, including gastrointestinal problems and an irregular heart rate, landing her back in the emergency room. The tingling, or paresthesia, she had felt in her arm eventually spread to her other hand, her legs, and her feet — a burning sensation that felt like sandpaper constantly rubbing against her skin.
Two weeks after the shot, Dressen lost control of her legs and bladder. The hospital gave her medication for what they thought might be a silent migraine; she had no headache symptoms. Medical records later show a diagnosis of "Anxiety [b]ecause of vaccine."
After the hospital visit, Dressen’s condition further devolved into what she describes as “internal vibrations,” or “an electrical sensation that’s surging through your body all the time.”
“You know the vibrating chairs that you sit in at the mall? It feels like that, but it’s all the time. And it doesn’t matter if you’re awake, or if you’re trying to sleep,” she said. “It’s literal torture, 24/7. No break. No reprieve.”
The cascade of symptoms forced her to isolate herself in her room for a total of nearly four months after the shot, in darkness and silence. The sound of her 7-year-old daughter’s voice or her husband’s pants swishing was too painful for her ears. Her 9-year-old son’s hand was too painful for touch. Her teeth were too sensitive for a toothbrush. She struggled to eat and lost 20 pounds over the course of six weeks.
“I spent literally months overwhelmed by the pain and vibrations to the point that all I could do to survive was to remind myself to breathe, in and out... Every single day... to just keep breathing,” Dressen wrote in an email.
Over time, her legs slowly came back, and she was able to “retrain” her bladder and bowels. She very slowly became reaccustomed to touch, sound, and light. At the end of February, her sensitivity to sound resolved, and she no longer had to remain in isolation.
But many other symptoms continued. In June, Dressen visited the National Institutes of Health, for “investigation of persistent neurological symptoms following SARS-CoV2 vaccine," according to medical notes from the visit. She was diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a condition that causes lightheadedness and heart palpitations when standing up; “post-vaccine neuropathy,” indicating nerve damage or dysfunction; mildly decreased pinprick sensation in both hands; and short-term memory loss.
The NIH News Media Branch Office did not respond to The National Desk's (TND) request for comment on Dressen’s diagnoses. The communications team for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke told TND that a staff clinician who worked with Dressen cannot comment on any patient’s medical information.
Dressen described her experience at a livestreamed roundtable event in Washington, D.C. last month, hosted by U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. She was joined by several other individuals who said they experienced life-altering injuries from COVID vaccines.
Johnson and meeting attendees stress that they’re not anti-vaccine, but they do seek medical treatment for vaccine injuries, and more transparency from public health officials.
“Had they been doing their job,” Johnson said, referring to public health agencies, “had they been honest and transparent with the American public, we wouldn't be here today.”
"HOW WILL I EVER LIVE WITH THIS?"
Another attendee at the vaccine panel, Shaun Barcavage, is a 52-year-old research nurse practitioner at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York. He’s now on short-term disability, following his second dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
“I was a vibrant, funny, compassionate, healthy person. No medical conditions. No medicines. Never a vaccine reaction,” he said.
On Dec. 29, within minutes of receiving his first shot, Barcavage experienced paresthesias in his right arm. Within hours to days, the numbness and tingling traveled to the right side of his face, his eye, and his ear.
His neuropathy specialist wrote that he would feel comfortable with Barcavage taking the second shot if his symptoms subsided, which they did after ten days. He received the second dose on Jan. 19.
Against my better judgment, I went back and I got in line,” Barcavage said. “Dose two literally sent me into a tailspin.
Within four days, Barcavage developed “debilitating tinnitus," saying he couldn’t hear the TV, or listen to music, or read a book, or apprehend what other people were saying. The tingling sensations returned, along with a range of other symptoms – numbness, throat tightness, an abnormally fast heart rate, fluctuating blood pressures, severe right-sided headaches, eye irritation, and brain fog. About a week after the shot, he started feeling abdominal pain, and within the first few weeks, he experienced muscle twitches and tremors.
“What I recall from that is, the month of February, curled up in the fetal position on the bathroom floor, wondering, ‘How will I ever live with this?’" he said. “I thought my life was over.”
Barcavage visited several physicians in an attempt to find answers.
On Jan. 30, he visited the emergency department, saying he had had an allergic reaction to the vaccine. He says he was sent home with ibuprofen.
He then visited an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist who notes in medical records that Barcavage “Had COVID-19 vaccine about 1 week prior to onset.” According to Barcavage, the physician prescribed Xanax and said the tinnitus could have occurred by coincidence.
“I was like, ‘Are you crazy?’” Barcavage said. “Hearing loss and tachycardia and blood pressure and facial tingling and throat tightness and headache and brain fog and reactivation of inflammation in my abdomen – how coincidental is that?”
A media relations representative told The National Desk the physician was not available to comment on Barcavage's medical condition.
By the end of the summer, Barcavage's condition deteriorated even further.
By August I literally exploded in generalized body neuropathies,” he said. “Imagine waking up in the middle of the night, stinging in my hands and feet, burning in the soles of my feet, prickling all over like I fell in a bush of nettles.
Barcavage's neurologist diagnosed him with “orthostatic intolerance,” meaning he couldn’t stand for more than five minutes without experiencing a rapid increase in heart rate, in addition to feeling faint and nauseous. The neurologist also diagnosed him with “suspected small fiber autonomic neuropathy due to autoimmune reaction to vaccine."
The autonomic dysfunction also led to adrenaline surges that prevented him from sleeping. He tried five different sleep medications and says there were times he didn't sleep for days.
“My autonomic nervous system was a mess,” he said. “Every time my body wanted to go into calm mode, it would just dump cortisol through my whole body and burn my muscles and stomach.”
Barcavage says he felt like he was on his own.
“I was mismanaged," he said. “And that is the most shocking thing that this taught me — that you are flying solo, with no help.”
As a researcher, Barcavage says he finds it “curious” that he struggled to find people who would take an interest in his symptoms. He also notes that many medications have side effects.
“There are side effects that are known when it's studied; then there are side effects that are recognized later, when it's rolled out into the general population. And as a scientist, everyone knows that,” he said. “So to deny that any of these vaccines could possibly have any adverse events is illogical. It's not even scientific because it's not only possible; it's probable.”
Even now, Barcavage describes himself as “pro-vaccine.”
“Politics had zero impact on me being here today,” he told the panel. “I’m pro-patient, pro-science, and have been fiercely pro-vaccine my entire life, often having fights with family members to get vaccinated.”
Barcavage receives IVIG treatments – a pooled antibody used to treat a variety of conditions, including autoimmune disorders. To this day, he describes a “constant dull ache” in his brain, feeling spatially unbalanced, heart problems, numbness on the right side of his face, and a hissing noise in his right ear. He doesn’t know when he’ll be able to return to work.
“This experience has shattered my life,” he told the panel, his voice choked. “The 24/7 tinnitus has robbed me of every moment of silence and peace. The impact on my medical career which I love and worked so hard for is immeasurable."
"I HAVE MISSED NEARLY AN ENTIRE YEAR OF MY LIFE"
Cody Flint, 34, still doesn't know how he managed to land his airplane after nearly blacking out in mid-air during a crop-dusting job.
Flint, an agricultural pilot, husband, and father of two, says he was healthy his whole life, with no underlying conditions, prior to receiving the Pfizer vaccine. Four annual flight physicals prior to the incident – including one examination two weeks before the shot – show he was healthy, with no head trauma, hearing loss, vertigo, or pain in the ears or eyes.
Flint received his first vaccine dose Feb. 1. Within 30 minutes, he says he developed a “severe, stabbing headache,” followed by a “burning sensation” in the back of his neck. He took ibuprofen, thinking the symptoms might subside.
Two full days after vaccination, he was flying his plane, when he started to develop tunnel vision and felt his headache worsen. Approximately two hours into flying, he says he pulled up his airplane to turn around, and felt “an extreme burst of pressure” in his ears. He says he was instantly “nearly blacked out, dizzy, disoriented, nauseous, and shaking uncontrollably.”
And then boom, within one second, I'm hanging out of my seat. I feel like I'm falling out of the airplane. I'm hyperventilating. I’m nauseous. I'm gagging. I feel like I'm going to blackout before I can get the airplane to the ground." he said. "By the grace of God, I was able to land my plane without incident, although I do not remember doing this.
Flint visited his longtime doctor, who diagnosed him with panic attacks and severe vertigo — although Flint says he’s never had a history of this. His doctor prescribed Xanax and medicine for vertigo, saying he should be completely better in a couple of days.
Instead, Flint's condition further deteriorated.
“After two days, I was completely worse. I couldn’t walk without holding onto things,” Flint said.
He visited the Ear & Balance Institute in Covington, La., where testing and a spinal tap confirmed a high level of intracranial pressure. This pressure was transmitted to his ears, leading to perilymphatic fistulas that required two surgeries.
Ear & Balance Institute otolaryngologist and neurotologist Gerard Gianoli described Flint's condition to The National Desk.
If the pressure gets high enough, you can breach one of the middle ear or inner ear windows, the round or oval window,” Gianoli said. “And when that happens, fluid can shift out and it causes vertigo. It’s one of the causes for this condition called ‘perilymph fistula.’
Gianoli says he has "extreme confidence" that Flint's condition was caused by his post-vaccine elevated head pressure.
"If you look at the time sequence, he had the vaccine an hour before the onset of the symptoms. It really implicates the vaccine is the cause," he said.
Gianoli says he would not recommend that Flint receive a second shot.
“For the most part in medicine, if someone gets any kind of pharmacologic intervention, and they get an adverse reaction, you don't do it again,” he said. “I mean, that's just basic medical school 101.”
Gianoli says it’s not unusual for a patient with an inner ear problem to be improperly diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder. That’s because one reflex from the inner ear involves the sympathetic nervous system — which can cause nausea, cold sweats, increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, and adrenal dumps — leading to anxiety and panic.
"So technically, if someone's having a vertigo spell, and then has a panic attack, it's not a panic attack; it's part of the vertigo spell," Gianoli said. "The problem is, many doctors don't know how to identify and diagnose a vertigo spell. And they see the panic attack, and that's all they see."
Even though he doesn’t recommend the second shot for Flint, Gianoli says he has encouraged others to take the vaccine.
I'm not anti-vax. Heck, I had both of my parents vaccinated,” Gianoli said. “But I do think every medical intervention, whether it's vaccination or surgery, or whatever is based on a risk/benefit analysis.
Another physician told Flint that the Federal Aviation Administration is unlikely to let him return to work as a pilot until he fully recovers.
“I have missed nearly an entire year of my life, and part of my children’s lives,” Flint said. “Days of baseball games, playing in the backyard and just picking up my kids to hug them have been replaced with being trapped in a sick body, doctor visits, invasive procedures, and more questions than answers. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to fly an airplane again.”
Flint did not have health insurance at the time of the incident. Between his surgeries and doctor visits, he says he paid around $60,000 out of pocket.
“I used my kids’ college money for the first surgery, borrowed money from the bank for the second surgery,” he said. “This vaccine has taken my career from me and the future I have worked so hard to build.”
Flint says he did what he could to help end the pandemic, but the solution turned his life upside-down.
“My family masked up, stayed indoors, and dodged COVID for over a year,” he said. “We did what was asked of us by being part of the solution. That solution has taken everything."
"MY CAREER... IS LIKELY OVER"
Joel Wallskog is a 51-year-old orthopedic surgeon who, like Barcavage, was among the first to receive the shot.
He received his first dose of the Moderna vaccine on Dec. 30, 2020. About a week later, he started feeling numbness, or "pins and needles," in his feet, along with “powerful electrical shock sensations” down his spine. Three or four days later, he was sitting in a clinic room at work, speaking with a patient, when he found he couldn’t stand to his feet.
“I pushed myself up with my arms, then quickly fell backwards,” he said.
Days later, a neurologist diagnosed him with transverse myelitis, or inflammation of the spinal cord. Records from a July medical visit note “idiopathic transverse myelitis which happened shortly after his COVID-19 Moderna vaccine.”
Wallskog’s employer, Advocate Aurora Health, approved a medical exemption that allowed him to forego the second shot. His neurologist noted, “transverse myelitis following first dose” as the reason for requesting the exemption. The neurologist recommended he take off work for two or three months. He instead returned after two weeks and began operating for two consecutive days.
After the second day, I felt horrible,” he said. “I was numb from my umbilicus to my feet. I could barely walk. And I have been off work since. I’m just not safe to work as an orthopedic surgeon.
According to The New York Times, the Oxford-AstraZeneca trial was paused twice after suspected cases of transverse myelitis emerged. The company later determined one of the patient’s symptoms to be unrelated to the vaccine.
Wallskog had a report submitted to the federal government's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) on Jan. 19, detailing his condition. He expected public health officials would contact him, and that they would be “alarmed” by his diagnosis. After weeks passed with no communication, he said he reached out to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In a Feb. 10 email, a CDC official wrote to Wallskog that, “transverse myelitis is an adverse event of special interest to CDC,” and offered a consultation to discuss his clinical information. The consultation would address the “plausibility” that the diagnosis was related to vaccination, and would involve recommendations about whether he should receive the second vaccine dose. Wallskog declined the consultation, writing that the noted timeline of 4 to 6 weeks was too lengthy, and he’d already decided not to receive the second shot.
Wallskog submitted an adverse event report to Moderna, dated Feb. 5. On April 2, he received a request for additional information but was offered no solutions.
One word describes how I felt after my first few months after my diagnosis: abandoned,” he said.
At the very least, Wallskog thought he'd have his medical condition covered by worker's compensation. But on Nov. 22, eleven months after his vaccination, he received a letter denying his claim.
“So now, I'm responsible for all the health care bills that I've incurred since the beginning,” he said.
Wallskog continues to struggle with weakness, balance problems, and fatigue. He’s been unable to return to sporting activities he used to enjoy, like hiking, wake surfing, and water skiing. For exercise, he uses a recumbent bike, reclined far back to help avoid neurogenic pain, along with balance exercises. If he pushes himself too hard with physical activity, he’ll end up in recovery mode on the couch for an entire day.
But in addition to physical activity, Wallskog says he misses his job.
“My life has dramatically changed after this adverse reaction,” he said. “My career of 19 years, that I took almost 14 years to train for, is likely over.”
"IN A CONSTANT STATE OF EXTREME FATIGUE"
Another panel attendee, Suzanna Newell, also misses physical activity. A former triathlete and long-distance biker, she now requires assistance from a walker or cane — or a wheelchair for longer distances — after receiving her second Pfizer shot April 13.
At that point, my whole life changed,” she told the panel.
Newell, 49, says she had no known underlying health conditions and describes her former lifestyle as “high energy, highly motivated.”
“I loved keeping my body and my mind strong and disciplined,” she said.
Following the vaccine, Newell says she developed a rash on her forehead, brain fog, constant loud ringing in the ears, intermittent dizziness, blurry vision, improper dilation of her right pupil, extreme burning pain in her right leg, tingling in her foot, muscle spasms and twitches, internal vibrations, and strong body aches. She says she has “no relief for the pain in my joints, except for acupuncture.”
She describes herself as a “frequent flyer” at doctor’s offices, including a neurologist, rheumatologist, cardiologist, gynecologist, ophthalmologist, and physical therapist, among others.
Her rheumatologist diagnosed her with sciatica, or nerve pain, in her right leg, in addition to "possible" Sjogren's syndrome, which often involves dry eyes and dry mouth. She also was diagnosed with "possible autoimmune illness relating to COVID vaccine or COVID." She's not aware of contracting the virus, and a recent nucleocapsid antibody test came back negative.
Notes from Newell's ophthalmology specialist show “patient had second Pfizer shot and since th[e]n unexplained pain in lower legs and decreased pinprick sensitivity in feet.” He also notes a possible diagnosis of small fiber neuropathy.
Newell also describes suddenly breaking out in hives, in addition to white spots, especially around her elbow, and itchiness.
I don't even mention this to the doctor because it doesn't hurt me. And I have so many other things that are higher on my list of pains and aches and things.
She said she had tinnitus before the shot, but it’s now “way louder” than before.
Newell says most of her symptoms have only worsened over the past six months. She spent Thanksgiving Day in the hospital, after experiencing “extreme chest pains.” She says doctors are “unaware" that her post-vaccine condition is possible, and says she has to fight to not be written off as “anxious.”
“When I got to the emergency room, I always try and remain calm,” she said. “If I come off as anxious, I'm gonna get written off.”
After being vaccinated, Newell says she feels like she’s aged 40 years.
"Since I became injured, I have very little motivation or energy. And I’m in a constant state of extreme fatigue,” she said. “I wasn’t afraid of the shot when I received it. I was excited to do my part for my country. But where is my country for me now, now that I’m injured?”
"SAFE AND EFFECTIVE"
Researchers at the NIH and the Food and Drug Administration have been investigating neurological reactions to the COVID-19 vaccines within the past year. This is partly according to an email dialogue between acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock and Danice Hertz, a retired Santa Monica, Calif. gastroenterologist, who told Woodcock about her "severe neurological reaction" to the COVID-19 vaccine.
In a September email exchange, Hertz detailed some of her symptoms, including "tremors, burning numbness in my face and limbs, twitching, dizziness, tinnitus, tight constriction around my chest, double vision, imbalance." Woodcock responded that she is "working on evaluation of neurologic side effects from the COVID 19 vaccines." Hertz followed up in November, asking for an update on the research. Woodcock responded, "I know you and others are searching for guidance on treatment for what you are experiencing. I have read everything that has been sent to me, and also have reached out to researchers and patients. There still is not a lot of certainty about what causes the symptoms people are experiencing."
Months earlier, NIH neuroimmunology fellow Farinaz Safavi also wrote to Hertz in a March email exchange, "we know as a fact that immune mediated neurological complications can happen post vaccination and post infection. COVID is not an exception either," Safavi wrote. "What kind of immune reaction[s] lead to neurological complications of COVID vaccines are what we all try to understand."
Woodcock and Safavi did not respond to The National Desk's request for further comment on their research. An FDA represeentative responded that "the systems for monitoring COVID-19 vaccine safety have not identified additional safety signals for serious neurological outcomes following COVID-19 vaccination.” The representative did identify a few safety concerns, including increased risk of Guillain-Barre syndrome and Thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome following the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, myocarditis and pericarditis following the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and anaphylaxis and syncope (fainting) following each of the authorized COVID vaccines. Almost all of these are detailed on the CDC’s website.
When asked for an update in December, the FDA again referred to the website.
Public health agencies generally maintain that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, and that the benefits of receiving the shot far outweigh any risks.
The National Desk provided the FDA with the VAERS reports associated with each of the five individuals mentioned in the story and asked whether the FDA has attempted to verify their adverse events. The agency responded that it can’t confirm or share personally identifiable information, adding that “the agency, together with CDC, is actively engaged in safety surveillance of these vaccines.”
The CDC did not respond to a request for comment. The agency says on its website that COVID vaccines are “safe and effective,” adding that side effects, including tiredness, headache, or chills, “should go away within a few days.” The agency says severe allergic reactions and complications are rare.
Over 241 million Americans have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, according to the CDC. VAERS has received more than 691,000 total adverse event reports for COVID-19 vaccines since the shots were first administered. That includes more than 44,000 reports of hospitalization and more than 9,000 reports of death. The CDC notes on its website that “a report to VAERS does not mean that a vaccine caused an adverse event,” but the system allows the CDC and FDA to “investigate further and take action” if there appears to be a problem. Anyone can submit reports to VAERS, and the reports "may contain information that is incomplete, inaccurate, coincidental, or unverifiable," according to the CDC.
Vaccine companies can’t be sued for injuries. Instead, claimants may receive government compensation, which can be difficult to obtain. Vaccine injury lawyer Aaron Siri, who also spoke at the roundtable event in Washington, D.C., says it wasn’t until the COVID-19 vaccine that his firm's "phones, emails, phone submissions have reached an avalanche of submissions.”
“If we could actually sue the pharmaceutical companies for all those injuries, it would actually be humanly impossible for my firm or I think the collective efforts of all attorneys around the country that handle vaccine injury cases,” he said.
Moderna and AstraZeneca did not respond to a request for comment about Wallskog's and Dressen's adverse events.
Pfizer told The National Desk that it doesn’t comment on specific cases, but said its vaccine’s safety and efficacy “are well established.”
“We take adverse events that are potentially associated with our COVID-19 vaccine very seriously,” the company said in an email. “To date, more than 2 billion of our COVID-19 vaccines have been delivered globally. It is important to note that serious adverse events that are unrelated to the vaccine are unfortunately likely to occur at a similar rate as they would in the general population.”
"IT SUNK US PRETTY QUICK"
Dressen says her insurance footed the vast majority of the $300,000 in medical expenses she incurred as the result of her injury. But the remaining bills, added onto lost income and added child care, forced her family to refinance their home. "It sunk us pretty quick,” she said.
On top of earlier expenses, Dressen now receives IVIG infusions every other week — treatments that she says have improved her condition "dramatically" and helped to calm her immune system. Each treatment costs more than $3,500, and she may need to continue receiving them for the next one or two years.
AstraZeneca committed to cover the costs of research injuries, according to the contract Dressen signed as a vaccine trial participant. Dressen says she received $590 in July, and months have passed with no further communication from the vaccine trial company, Velocity Clinical Research. The National Desk reached out to Velocity in mid-December, and shortly afterward, the company emailed Dressen asking for a copy of her medical expenses and saying it would forward this to AstraZeneca. A Velocity representative told The National Desk in an email the company "will work closely with her on any future requests."
AstraZeneca did not respond to The National Desk's request for comment about the payments.
Expenses aside, Dressen says the federal government's lack of public acknowledgment of neurological reactions like hers has made it “impossible” for some people to receive proper medical care.
We need the CDC to acknowledge us,” she said. “A very simple act would change everything for the sick and suffering.
Dressen stresses that she is not opposed to vaccines. She notes that her husband was vaccinated months after her reaction and has promoted the shot for others, even while acknowledging his wife's side effects.
“CDC, FDA, NIH: we do exist,” Dressen said during the panel event in November. “Your system is broken and you know it. You are not taking care of those who suffer severe adverse reactions. Stop telling the public that you are. Your refusal to take action means there will be more like us.”
Unlike people who contract COVID-19, Dressen says, people who suffer vaccine injuries often struggle to get help.
“The government won’t help you. The drug companies won’t help you. Your medical teams will have no idea what to do with you. Financially you will be on your own,” she said. “You will be completely on your own.”
