Bryn
Bryn’s life was all starting to come together: he’d moved to Oxford to be with his girlfriend, had a job working in technology consultancy and he was very fit and healthy.
Bryn didn’t feel he was at a risk from Covid, however he and his girlfriend wanted to go travelling so he decided to get vaccinated to allow them to do so.
Initially, the side effects were mild but after a couple of weeks Bryn was getting worse not better. He stopped doing anything physical, was unable to work and spent weeks curled up in bed in the foetal position with intense head pressure and weakness in his legs. He called 999 repeatedly.
​
“it’s sad to look back to how I was before I had the vaccine, It was something so simple…that has completely changed how I live and I expect how it will go on forever.”
Over the next six months, the symptoms continued to evolve. He developed heart pain and an electric shock sensation in his neck that he suspected was a sign of Multiple Sclerosis. While all his tests have been normal and his symptoms have stabilised, Bryn still suffers from pins and needles in his legs and gets tired very easily.
​
“Every day my first thought is a negative one, what’s wrong with me today? Am I 20% or 60-70%? I think about the future a lot more, will I get worse, will I be ok I simply don’t know.”
Despite being an articulate young man who is very well-read about his condition he has felt dismissed by doctors due to the cause of his illness. Bryn is very rational about this, accepting that it is simply too early for doctors to understand his condition. He is realistic that he is physically and emotionally changed by the way his body reacted to the vaccine.
​
“The most difficult thing about having an adverse reaction to the vaccine has been experiencing all the symptoms that I’ve had all whist worrying about not being believed because of what caused my illness"
