Did Vaccinations Trigger My Fibromyalgia?

I recently found a list of triggers for fibromyalgia. Vaccinations was on the list and the only one that fit my timeline.

Because I was preparing for a trip to Bosnia, with a family who’d come to Iowa as refugees of their war, I began vaccinations early in order to have all three Hepatitis B vaccinations spaced as suggested. Because we would be in rural areas, with homes destroyed in the war, a typhoid shot was recommended.

So between June of 2000 and January of 2021, I had nine vaccinations. (I didn’t get the pneumonia shot until November of 2021.)

 

I may have begun to have symptoms while in Bosnia, in June of 2001, sometimes going to bed early from exhaustion. But we were in a mountainous area so I figured that was why.

When we returned home, I went downhill quickly, having a puzzling and difficult summer. That August I also endured a bout of shingles. I was 56 years old.

It’s amazing that people I’ve met since that time have never known me as a well person. In spite of working with various medical people over the years, nothing has helped. I’ve lived with unwellness a quarter of my life! I’m so thankful for my husband (Guy) who has graciously seen me through all these years, giving up traveling and things he’d enjoy because I can no longer take part.

Symptoms: All-over pain (bones, muscles, joints), exhaustion (during the worst days, taking a shower was a huge undertaking), and brain fog. I’m so thankful the brain fog lifted enough a few years ago so I could write again! This last year has been challenging, but I’m not giving up.

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I wanted to link the site where vaccinations was listed as a trigger, but so far I haven’t located it again.