Got first modern a yesterday. So far only sore at injection site. Not expecting anything else.
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Day 6: still have a knot in my arm, but its definitely better. Not painful any more, and redness is greatly reduced. Not only can I still feel it, but easy for my wife to feel it and see it. Hoping to avoid a doc visit, and I think I probably will.
Didnāt have other side effects other than being tired day 2. I didnāt feel bad though, just dragging a bit
As somebody whoās been poked likeā¦ 200 times, I always flex my toes hard and push any āreactionā to my toes/soles. Always works for me, just a though!
I sat down and the pharmacist asked me to relax my arm and let it hang. It was at that point I thought to myself āOh crap this involves a needle and I donāt like needles.ā So I picked a spot on the wall to stare at and thought about the weather. In the end, it didnāt hurt at all.
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Vaccine needles donāt tend to be that bad (at least flu and this COVID one). The needles are very narrow and if you are slightly distracted you may not even know it happened.
Iāve had to give myself a few injections (in my thigh). Not a pleasant experience, but there really wasnāt any pain.
Blood drawing needles are a different story. Iāve had a phlebotomist that wasnāt quite as experienced as Iād like before, and that isnāt fun. A good one can pull it off with little pain though.
Itās not just that blood draw needles are bigger, which they are, but that it needs to be in a vein. Any muscle will do with vaccinations.
True. Iām right handed, so I would prefer to have my blood taken on the left, but there have been too many failed attempts at finding a vein on the left (really just 2 or 3, but thatās too many), so Iāve accepted that the vein on the right is easier to find and just have them start there.
Yeah Iām grateful that I donāt need to get my blood drawn on a regular basis. I had my labs taken a couple weeks ago and I almost passed out in the chair. The lab tech was like ādude, hang out in the chair as long as you need. Iād rather have you pass out here than on the stairs outside.ā
The needles they use to draw blood for lab tests and such are pretty tiny, like 21 gauge. The ones they use when you donate blood are much bigger, 16 gauge or so.
I donāt tend to really notice lab blood draw sticks. I do feel the blood donation ones, but they donāt bother me unless itās a bad stick, which I do get a lot of.
Oh same. When I was having blood drawn regularly, I knew which ones were good and which ones to avoid.
Ages ago, I had to get an injection in my abdomen every 3 months with a 17 gauge needle (think coffee stir straw). They did lidocaine first but still, there was skill involved in giving that without leaving a baseball sized bruise. Iād ask at check-in: Whoās my nurse today? There were a couple who were really good at it and a couple where Iād say: Nope! Who else ya got? 
When I was giving myself injections they gave me two different sized needles. The wider ones for filling up the syringe, the swap it out for a narrower one to stick in my thigh.
Just using the wider probably wouldnāt have been too bad, but the one I stuck myself with really didnāt feel like much at all. It was still weird to not be able to look away, though.
How does one get the āIGotVaccinatedā badge? Never got a sticker for it, may as well show off here.
Re: getting the IGotVaccinated mark:
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I just googled 17 gauge needle. Oh my goodness, I think I need to go lie down. Holy eff.
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Iām only halfway there, but Iāll join the club
I misremembered. It was 14 gauge. Injected a small pellet. Fun times.
Oh shit. Ok Iām going to go ahead and lie on my back and elevate my legs .
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At what point do you just say hang on this is a little too spear-like for me?
I believe that the term is āgetting Brittneyādā
Itās Britney get your teen idols right.