Full disclaimer, I'm not anti-vaxx but I've had anxiety for most of my life. I took the Pandemic very seriously (I actually don't consider it over) and have developed a bit of health anxiety because of it. I lost two relatives to the virus last fall (both in their 70's) and had another two relatives (husband and wife) get hospitalized and required months of recovery.

My mom was able to get Pfizer in January and her side effects were just a sore arm both doses. If I had been eligible, I would have jumped at the chance back then. I'm in my 30's and by the time it was my turn, the side effect stories started to surface, as well as the J&J pause.

When I finally got the courage to get dose 1, I went to my city's vaccine site which stated they had all three to choose from. I wanted Pfizer because it seemed to have a lower side effect profile compared to Moderna and my mom basically had no side effects besides a sore arm. Once on-site, I was informed they were holding the Pfizer back for the kids, so my only choices were Moderna and J&J. Because of my anxiety and knowing that the J&J blood clots occur around a week post-vaccination, I went with Moderna.

I didn't even feel the shot and felt fine during most of the 15 minute waiting period. Towards the end of the 15 minutes I started feeling dizzy but thought to myself it was just my anxiety and left. By the time I got home, I was dizzy and extremely thirsty.

I don't see this side effect reported much but I was extremely thirsty day of and next day. It eventually subsided but was kind of odd because I'm the type of person that already drinks a lot of water throughout the day.

I'd say 6-8 hours in my arm got really sore. I heard people talk about arm soreness, so I thought it would feel like a bruise but this was pain on another level. Moving my arm up towards my ear was extremely painful. Like it would hurt and continue to hurt for a few seconds after I stopped. I'd say my arm was this tender for the first 3-4 days and it probably took an entire week before I could do things like sleep on it.

I had fatigue but this was a weird version of fatigue. It was like the fatigue you get before getting a cold but never developed into anything. I also felt like I couldn't concentrate on anything. For example, I'd easily lose the story line while watching a show. When I tried going for my daily walks, it felt like trying to exercise with a fever. On a few of those walks, I felt like I could have passed out. This fatigue passed within 3-4 days.

Day 2 I woke up with extreme lower back pain. I already have a bad back, so I thought maybe I slept weird but tied it to the vaccine once I noticed it would come and go. Day 2 was the worst of this side effect but it took a few days for it to clear up.

After about a week when my arm soreness was subsiding and I was able to put it under the shower without wincing, I did notice the armpit tenderness and that took about 15 days to clear up. All in all, I calculated it took 17 days to feel back to normal.

Tomorrow I'm scheduled for my second dose and obviously a bit worried because the second dose is supposed to be worse. I'm not an expert but I think dose 1 triggered an immune response that increased inflammation in my body. i.e. back pain, armpit tenderness

Some of my thoughts are that 1 dose of Moderna gives more efficacy than J&J. The mRNA vaccines are not holding up as well to some variants, which is why boosters are already in the works. Nobody actually knows how long the vaccines last. Although I do agree 1 dose is probably shorter.

So with that being said, is it reckless to skip dose 2? I'm not sure if I want to put my body through all that again only to have a variant require a booster and have to do it all over, again. I've also seen people on this sub talking about waiting 3 months and doing J&J if they had a bad mRNA experience.

I'd appreciate any feedback. Thanks!

Update

Got my second dose today! Here's hoping my side effects are less this time around.