Is it normal for my arm muscle in my shoulder to hurt 2 weeks after flu shot?

Dance lessons sound wonderful! Anyone else have any ideas?

Anon - I feel like throwing you a victory party!!
It's good to know that you're at 95% mobility even if it did take a year to get there.

Are you doing something special to acknowledge yourself for all the hard work you put into getting your health back? I'm not sure exactly what a suitable "reward" or "celebration" would be...anyone else have any ideas?

Pat

Hello,
I'm an anonymous poster who has posted here a few times before. I copied and pasted my previous posts below. I had a tetanus shot at the end of May last year (2009) that was given too high up and incorrectly in the arm.

Well, it's been over a year and I can say that my arm is now back to 95% full mobility! The doc was right in telling me that it would take up to a year to heal, so here I am just a little over a year later. I was lucky that most of the severe pain did go away after a couple of months and I was just saddled with stiffness, a weird sensitivity, and very limited mobility.

I continued with light physical therapy (mostly on my own) and yoga also helped a lot too. I started to see a noticeable improvement around Christmas of last year. I was able to get a shirt on and off with ease and reach for things over my head! Something I used to take for granted. Best Christmas present I've ever had! So there is light at the end of the tunnel, and I would say keep at it because it does get better eventually for some folks. Hopefully over the next few months it will be at 100%, but I'd even settle for this because I can now scratch my own back again!

I'd also still like to punch the nurse who gave me the shot incorrectly to begin with! :)

____________________________________________________________
Anonymous May 30, 2009 - 3:01pm

Hello all,

I had a tetanus shot yesterday (Friday morn) and I'm experiencing bad arm pain/muscle pain that some of you have mentioned and that I've also seen posted about on other sites. I know it seems early to be concerned but I had a tetanus shot more about 12 years ago and I had NO reaction to it except for a bit of slight soreness for a few hours. This time, I have pretty bad pain and I cannot get my arm above my head. The pain started about 3 hours after the shot and is mostly when I move my arm.

The shot was given about an inch and a half from the top of my shoulder, so like some others here and elsewhere I'm wondering if it was given too high in the arm and maybe that is the cause of the pain? I'm trying not to baby it too much, using it as much as I can and taking Tylenol. I have also been massaging it as well as using a heating pad. I will try and post next week to report the results which I hope are good and I wish all of you the best.

Anonymous June 3, 2009 - 6:47pm

I am the anon above who had the tetanus shot. Went back to Dr. this morn due to excruciating pain in arm and stiffness. I had been applying heat but now Doc recommends switching to ice since there is some swelling that wasn't present before, and a continuation of taking an anti-inflammatory along with a pain killer. He wants to wait and see for at least another week what happens, since I am still having pain and he wants swelling to go down. There is a slight concern for Brachial Neurtitis which would present itself more significantly after pain subsides. He told me if there was any major change with more severe pain or any paralysis or numbness he would refer me to a neurologist. He said that sometimes it clears up on it's own, and doesn't require any further treatment. Hoping for the best.

Anonymous August 26, 2009 - 6:50pm

Hi,

I am the previous poster who had the Tetanus shot that last posted on June 3, 2009 - 6:47pm . Just a follow up. Dr. prescribed it as tendinitis with an impingement and prescribed anti-inflammatory meds and physical therapy. He agreed that the shot was given too high up in the arm and most likely caused the inflammation. The pain is gone unless I manipulate it a lot, and I still don't have full range of motion. Doc said these things usually clear up in a year or less with repeated physical therapy and use of anti-inflammatory, or else cortisone shots are next on the list.....so we'll see!

To the anon that posted on July 27, I suggest getting an MRI to see what is really going on if you haven't already. Good luck and good health everyone!

For what it's worth, in my case, I"ve been sure all along (and knew the instant the nurse "stabbed me"), that it was an improper injection - not the vaccine itself. My shot was below the deltoid, where there's not much between skin and bone, and I'm sure the needle hit the bone and/or nerve. It's been almost 9 months, and it still hurts. I don't have full range of motion, and significantly weaker in my left arm.
I haven't had a chance to get an MRI (deployed to Iraq since), but will do that when I can.
I'd sure love to hear of some kind of success story - where this kind of pain was somehow resolved... for now I survive with a steady diet of Aleve...

I found an interesting artical that might be a possible answer to what is happening to us.

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Occupational-Health--Safety/improper-flu-shot/show/465108

Basically untrained people giving us the flu shot may have caused the problems