Neuropathic symptoms following COVID-19 vaccination

The preprint study, Neuropathic symptoms with SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, released in May 2022, discussed 23 patients with neuropathic symptoms following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination.

Neuropathic symptoms arise from damage to the nerves. The somatosensory and the autonomic can be involved. Somatosensory nerves pick up light touch sensation, temperature, body position, and vibration. 

Neuropathic symptoms of the somatosensory nerves are felt as a shooting or burning sensation. The pain is usually long-lasting and debilitating. 

Autonomic nerves serve the “automatic” functions of the body like heart rate, blood pressure control, and sweating. 

In the study, sensory and autonomic nerve dysfunctions occurred after COVID vaccinations. 

Patients characteristics

92% were female with an age range of 27 to 71 years. None of them had previous neurological illnesses. All of them reported neuropathic symptoms within 21 days after COVID vaccination. 39% developed the symptoms after the second dose.

Vaccines received

• 12 by Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT162b2)
• Nine by Moderna (mRNA-1273) and 
• One AstraZeneca (ChAdOx1 nCoV19)
• One Janssen (JNJ-78436735) 

 Symptoms

They all reported severe paresthesias and burning sensations in their upper and lower limbs. Nine also had involvement of the face, mouth, and scalp.  

Fourteen had autonomic problems like orthostasis, heat intolerance, episodic rapid heart rate, and new-onset Raynaud’s syndrome.

Orthostasis is when the systolic blood pressure drops to >20 or diastolic blood pressure drops to >10 after standing up from lying down – it is usually felt as lightheadedness, dizziness, or feeling tired all the time. 

Six have Positional Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS). POTS is diagnosed if the is a sustained increase of ≥ 30 beats per minute from the baseline heart rate after ten minutes in the upright position in the absence of orthostatic hypotension. 

Seven patients have reduced sweat production in their limbs, and two had combined POTS and sweating abnormalities. 

Laboratory tests 

Sixteen had biopsies of their lower legs. 31% have a lower density of nerves which fulfilled the criteria for small fiber neuropathy. 19% had swollen nerves, and 13% were borderline. All had nerve conduction velocities confirming pure small-fiber axonal neuropathy. 

Immune complex deposits showed deposition of complement C4d in the inner lining of the blood vessels. Electrodiagnostic tests were normal in 94%. 52% (12/23) of patients had objective evidence of small-fiber peripheral neuropathy.

Treatment Outcomes

Seven of 12 patients (58%) were treated with oral corticosteroids and had complete or near-complete improvement after two weeks.

Three non-recovering patients who had not recovered 5-9 months after the start of symptoms received intravenous immunoglobulin, and their symptoms resolved within two weeks.

Of the 11 patients who did not receive immunotherapy, seven (64%) had partial recovery, three (27%) had no improvement, and one (10%) had complete recovery by 12 weeks post-onset.

Another article reported small fiber neuropathy in a 57-year-old female patient after getting the Pfizer vaccine. She has intense burning sensations in her feet which gradually spread to the calves and minimally into the hands. She did not have other neurological or constitutional symptoms.[2]

She was treated with gabapentin for two weeks and her neuropathic pain wholly resolved. However, she continued to have small fiber modality loss (loss of sensation to light touch?) in a stocking-like distribution. 

I think she may benefit from steroids of intravenous immunoglobulin-like in the other study. 

Why did neuropathic symptoms happen?

The authors of the first study explained that anti-idiotypic antibodies to the spike
protein immune complex could have bound to the ACE-2 receptor of the small nerves and caused inflammation. [1]

The neuropathic symptoms after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination are not entirely a surprise since they can also happen during and after COVID-19 disease.

The body produces the spike protein after the mRNA (Pfizer and Moderna) and the vector-based COVID-19 vaccinations (AstraZeneca and J&J). The spike proteins are known to float in the blood and can attach to the ACE2 receptors of the blood vessels that supply the nerves. Once that happens, immune response and inflammation follow. 

13 ways that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein causes damage

The small nerves are constantly working and require an excellent blood supply. If the small blood vessels in the nerves are inflamed, blood is not supplied to the nerves, and neuropathic symptoms occur. 

That’s why people with long-standing diabetes and cigarette smokers have numbness in their hands and feet or peripheral neuropathy. 

I credit the authors for an objective article and for not pushing the mantra that COVID shots are safe and effective. Instead, they called for animal studies and “large-scale epidemiologic studies to confirm or refute causal relations between SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and immune-mediated diseases”.

The authors of the first study are from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Thomas Jefferson University, Icahn School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University, and Massachusetts General Hospital.

Take away message

If you know someone who developed burning or sharp shooting pains, palpitations, or weakness after the COVID shots, it may be related to the shots. Seek medical help and treatment. 

Solutions:

• Intermittent fasting results in new and stress-resistant the blood cells
• Intermittent fasting for Post COVID Vaccine Syndrome: Autophagy
• Meta-analysis shows exercise improves neuropathy
• Exercise and Peripheral Artery Disease

Truth heals. Lies kill. Don’t Get Sick!

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Related:

1. Retinal complications after COVID shots
2. UK Study of COVID-19 shots and Excess Rates of Guillain-Barré Syndrome
3. mRNA Vaccination Increases the Risk of Acute Coronary Syndrome
4. German Analysis: The Higher the Vaccination Rate, the Higher the Excess Mortality
5. Anti-Idiotype Antibodies against the Spike Proteins may Explain Myocarditis
6. Donor Blood Can Have Spike Protein Exosomes
7. Guillain-Barre Syndrome After Covid-19 Vaccination
8. COVID-19, Autoimmunity, and Vaccination Part 3
9. COVID-19, Autoimmunity, and Vaccination Part 2
10. Molecular Mimicry between the SARS-CoV-2 and the Breathing Center
11. COVID-19, Autoimmunity, and Vaccination Part 1

References:

1. Farinaz Safavi, Lindsey Gustafson, Brian Walitt, Tanya Lehky, Sara Dehbashi, Amanda Wiebold, Yair Mina, Susan Shin, Baohan Pan, Michael Polydefkis, Anne Louise Oaklander, Avindra Nath. Neuropathic symptoms with SARS-CoV-2 vaccination medRxiv 2022.05.16.22274439; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.05.16.22274439
2. Waheed W, Carey ME, Tandan SR, Tandan R. Post COVID-19 vaccine small fiber neuropathy. Muscle Nerve. 2021;64(1): E1-E2. doi:10.1002/mus.27251

.Image credit: By OpenStax College – Anatomy & Physiology, Connexions Web site. http://cnx.org/content/col11496/1.6/, Jun 19, 2013., CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30147983

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