posted
Just got a tetanus booster today (technically, a Tdap shot). So far, despite horror stories visited upon me by friends and family about amrs on fire and month-long debilities, I have some mild soreness about like I've been trying to throw a football with my left arm. So far, anyway.
So, what about you guys? Anybody have bad reactions to this stuff?
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
Nope. I've had them twice, that I can remember, and I don't recall anything worse than what you're experiencing.
Of course, the first time I was rather focused on the gash in my ankle and its accompanying stitches.
Posts: 3149 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
Same here. Last time I had one, I was in high school--I cut my finger on a rusty blade. My arm was really sore for a few days, but it was only about as bad as soreness from an intense workout. But hey, that's what you get for letting them inject modified tetanus toxin into your muscle.
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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quote:Wisconsin Teen Survives Clinical Rabies Without Pre- or Postexposure Prophylaxis
Clinical management included intubation, drug-induced coma, ventilator support, and intravenous administration of ribavirin. ... While attending a church service in September, the girl picked up a bat after she saw it fall to the floor. She released the bat outside the building; it was not captured for rabies testing, and no one else touched the bat. While handling the bat, she was bitten on her left index finger. The wound was approximately 5 mm in length with some blood present at the margins; it was cleaned with hydrogen peroxide. Medical attention was not sought, and rabies PEP was not administered. ... On the fourth day of illness, the patient's symptoms continued, and she was admitted to a local hospital for lumbar puncture and supportive care. On admission, she was afebrile, alert, and able to follow commands. She had partial sixth-nerve palsy, blurred vision, and unsteady gait. ... On the sixth day of illness, the bat-bite history was reported, and rabies was considered in the differential diagnosis. The patient was transferred to a tertiary-care hospital. ... Clinical management of the patient consisted of supportive care and neuroprotective measures, including a drug-induced coma and ventilator support. Intravenous ribavirin was used under an investigational protocol. The patient was kept comatose for 7 days ... ... On the 33rd day of illness, she was extubated; 3 days later she was transferred to a rehabilitation unit. At the time of transfer, she was unable to speak after prolonged intubation. As of December 17, the patient remained hospitalized with steady improvement. She was able to walk with assistance, ride a stationary cycle for 8 minutes, and feed herself a soft, solid diet. She solved math puzzles, used sign language, and was regaining the ability to speak. The prognosis for her full recovery is unknown. [bolding added]
posted
Wow . . . six days before someone mentioned that she'd been bitten by a bat. I wonder if it was the girl herself who reported that, or a family member? The article doesn't say whether she told anyone else at the time she was bitten.
And I knew rabies was really bad, but I guess I didn't realize just how bad:
quote: This case represents the sixth known occurrence of human recovery after rabies infection; however, the case is unique because the patient received no rabies prophylaxis either before or after illness onset. Historically, the mortality rate among previously unvaccinated rabies patients has been 100%.
posted
That's a rabies horror story, not a tetanus horror story.
Just saying.
I remember reading that story when it first broke - I always wondered how well the girl recovered and what disabilities she might have as a result of having rabies. There was a story years back of a lab worker who worked with rabies and was immunized but got rabies anyway - my understanding is that he had brain damage as a result of the disease.
A friend of mine cared for a victim of tetanus when she was a medical resident. She said the patient survived, but had longterm disabilities as a result of the illness.
Posts: 5771 | Registered: Nov 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Ela: That's a rabies horror story, not a tetanus horror story.
Just saying.
I remember reading that story when it first broke - I always wondered how well the girl recovered and what disabilities she might have as a result of having rabies. There was a story years back of a lab worker who worked with rabies and was immunized but got rabies anyway - my understanding is that he had brain damage as a result of the disease.
A friend of mine cared for a victim of tetanus when she was a medical resident. She said the patient survived, but had longterm disabilities as a result of the illness.
Ah! My mind is fried.
Thanks for the correction.
---
Edited to add: I've highlighted the notable distinction above. What a odd slip, but how much it does change things. What was I thinking? Other than that cases of rabies are relevant to discussions of tetanus, We May Never Know. Posts: 14017 | Registered: May 2000
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posted
Chalk it up to the things that come to mind when we consider horrible diseases that can be prevented with the correct immunizations/prophylaxis.
Posts: 5771 | Registered: Nov 2000
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posted
I stabbed myself in the palm with a #2 phillips-head screwdriver while working on my car. The impact was strong enough to pierce the skin, cause a nasty bruise to form and drive all manner of rusty bits of metal from the tip of my screwdriver into my hand. Since I was in the middle of a difficult operation on my car, I just swore a few times and then continued on my work. When I got back inside, I cleaned my hands, but didn't bother to clean the wound out thoroughly.
A few days later, the puncture got infected and I finally took some steps to get it cleaned out. Everything seemed okay; the swelling went down and there was no pus. However, a few days later, I noticed a stiffness in my joints and in my jaw.
To my knowledge, I hadn't had a tetaunus shot since I was very young. Fearing the worst, I headed to the doctor's office. After some chatting with the doctor (who gave me some very sceptical looks), I voluntarily had a booster and a shot of Tetanus-Immune Globulins (saying that out loud is very satisfying). Things seemed to clear up later.
I'm not a hypochondriac. I hardly ever go to the doctor's office apart from regular checkups and the occasional required visit to change medication. So, I'm not sure if I actually had tetanus or not and it may just be a placebo affect that made me feel better later, but I definitely did.
Posts: 4753 | Registered: May 2002
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posted
My dad insists I get a booster when I have a puncture wound or other wound from a really nasty piece of metal or something if I haven't had one in the last four or five years. Although I have horrific reactions to most shots, and tetanus is no exception, I can't say that I disagree with him. The awfulness for two weeks is better than, you know, death.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
When I was nine, I came home from swimming lessons without shoes on and somehow stepped on a rusty nail in the yard. It was late so we didn't go to the doctor, but the next day after day camp my parents took me. They gave me a tetanus booster on the hip of the opposite leg to the injured foot. It wasn't a complete horror story but it swelled up and made it nearly impossible to walk or sit comfortably for a day or two. But I was nine so I got over it.
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
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My reaction is along the lines of they give me the shot, that pain and "stretched out" feeling never goes away, within an hour develops into severe pain, pain persists, lessening only slightly, for at least one week to as much as two weeks, accompanied by stiffness, swelling, and an inability to raise my arm more than one or two inches. And this happens EVERY TIME. Same thing happens with flu shots. It's been a while since I had to get any other kind than tetanus or flu, so I don't know aobut them, but I know when I got my MMR as a child I spiked a fever of 104 for three days... I just don't do well with shots.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
Apparently only one kind, since I do fine with IVs (once they can get them in) and blood sticks (ditto!) Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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You know, I don't mind shots at all. My brother was always the big wimp when it came to that kind of thing. I also tend to have a very strong resilience and pain tolerance (as proven by the fact that last month I broke my collar bone and went a week before I bothered to get it X-rayed because "it just didn't hurt THAT much.") But when I was in eighth grade I had to get a tetanus booster, just because it was time for that.
The shot itself wasn't so bad. I watched the nurse do it, just like I always do. By the time we got home, though, the whole upper section of my arm was on fire. My mom asked me to put the dishes away and I could barely manage to lift the plates, one at a time, to their place in the cabinet over my head. By the time we went to church that evening, pain shot through my whole arm if I didn't carry it gingerly with my other hand. I couldn't roll over in bed without it hurting. That lasted nearly two weeks and a full two months later, I still had a knot in my arm where the injection site was. It was awful!
When I was in college, I burned my leg pretty badly (second degree burns over the entire thigh of my right leg) and had to get a tetanus shot. I remember cringing at the thought. One of my friends laughed, noting how badly my leg was burned and how I was worried about some little shot. She just didn't understand....
Posts: 340 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
After my cat-bite last summer, I have NO FEAR anymore of puncture wounds caused by needles -- just cat teeth. I think the clinical term was pastuerelosis (bad spelling). . . or some such thing.
Within just a few short hours I had infection spreading. They kept drawing around the edges with a permanent marker -- the four teeth punctured my foot down by the toes, and spead to the ankle before they finally arrested the spread.
Seven shots of antibiotic in both hips, one round of drip antibiotic, one tetanus shot, and two rounds of oral antibiotics (plus foot elevated above heart for several weeks and iced) I was finally able to start getting up and going again.
You can still see the bite marks, I have tendon damage, and it can still get sore. But I do believe I am actually lucky to have kept my foot, so hey!
/cat bite -- puncture wounds -- horror story
Oh. And so yes, given the focus on my foot and all the other needles being stuck in me, the tetanus seemed the least of it at the time. *grin*
Posts: 5609 | Registered: Jan 2003
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quote:My reaction is along the lines of they give me the shot, that pain and "stretched out" feeling never goes away, within an hour develops into severe pain, pain persists, lessening only slightly, for at least one week to as much as two weeks, accompanied by stiffness, swelling, and an inability to raise my arm more than one or two inches. And this happens EVERY TIME.
Heavens... how often do you get them, dear?
Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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quote:My reaction is along the lines of they give me the shot, that pain and "stretched out" feeling never goes away, within an hour develops into severe pain, pain persists, lessening only slightly, for at least one week to as much as two weeks, accompanied by stiffness, swelling, and an inability to raise my arm more than one or two inches. And this happens EVERY TIME.
Heavens... how often do you get them, dear?
Tetanus boosters, generally about once every two to four years. (I can be rather accident-prone. :blushes: ) Flu shots, whenever I'm in my second or third trimester of pregnancy during flu season. (I'm in a high-risk group and my dad gives free flu shots to family members, so I could get one every year, but the reaction is so bad I prefer not to. However, when I'm pregnant I feel that my responsibility to my child is more important than my comfort so my decision reverses and I get the shot even though I hate it.)
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
(This thread reminds me that when I have an extra $50 I need to get a pertussis booster. *sigh* )
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
I'm allergic to the tetanus shot. I got a booster because I had an infected ingrown toenail (ick - I eventually had the nail removed) and about an hour afterwards I was talking to a friend at work and scratching my arm...when we looked it was swollen and covered in hives. I worked for a pharmaceutical company at the time and one of our staff pharmacists dosed me up but good wtih benadryl and had me call my husband to drive me home. After I snoozed I was okay, but when I told my doctor she suggested I not get a tetanus shot again.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
I read a short story murder mystery like that once. Someone was trying to kill an older female relative (aunt?), and knew she was allergic to tetanus . . . but thought the home-care nurse did not know.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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