Pneumococcal 23-polyvalent vaccine and Soreness: What Users Say

• Vig...
• February 18, 2018

For Pneumococcal Disease Prophylaxis "A few hours after the injection, I developed a painful, hard lump at the injection site. It was red and very hot. By 12 hours later, I was having neck pain, sore muscles, and painful joints. The next day, I was so sore all over that I couldn't even get out of bed. My arm was too sore to lift it over my head. I took Advil in the morning with no effect, so I switched to Aleve later in the day and began to feel better right away. 48 hours after the injection, I was feeling normal again except for my arm. The soreness was getting better, but the itching was awful and the redness had spread down the back of my arm to my elbow."

• Tmo...
• October 28, 2015

For Pneumococcal Disease Prophylaxis "I got the injection on a Thursday, and it was very sore, hard to lift things. I got chills, along with back pain. Also, the following Tuesday, I was at work, and I got this intense itchy feeling at the injection site. When I checked it, I had a huge, red, hard, half-dollar-sized welt on the injection site. When I checked it again on Wed., I saw it had doubled in size. I have been icing it and going to see my doctor if I wake up this Thursday and it still hurts and has gotten larger."

• JLT...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 30, 2021

For Pneumococcal Disease Prophylaxis "I had a flu vaccine in my left arm and pneumovax in my right on 1/23/21. I have never experienced this much pain from a vaccine before. About 6 hours after the injection, my arm started getting hot and hard at the injection site. That night, I couldn't sleep at all because of the fever, chills, and pain. I was afraid I had a bad reaction and needed to go to the emergency room. I have alternated Tylenol with ibuprofen every 4 hours, but it doesn't help much. It's still very sore, and I hope it gets better each day. I would not advise anyone to get this injection unless absolutely necessary and no alternative. If I had been advised that I would have this much pain, no way would I have subjected myself to this."

• Mic...
• January 12, 2016

For Pneumococcal Disease Prophylaxis "Aching all over, fever, headache, cannot move my arm, feels as if out of socket. Feels like flu symptoms."