I am a 34 year old mother of two children, aged 5 and 1. In June 2020 I became unwell – experiencing a very sudden and severe headache, pressure in my head, dizziness, tremors, vomiting and blurred vision. I thought it must be a migraine – I’d never suffered with headaches so assumed that was what it was. After almost two days of these symptoms I contacted my GP to ask if they were able to prescribe any analgesia stronger than paracetamol as I was struggling with the pain in my head. The GP referred me straight to my local Emergency Department at Derriford Hospital where I underwent two CT scans and was diagnosed with cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) of the right transverse sinus. I was admitted to hospital and the haematology and neurology team commenced anti coagulant therapy alongside some pretty hefty pain relief. After 6 days I was able to return home, taking warfarin. My vision remained blurry in one eye for around 14 weeks after the initial event and to begin with I suffered with fatigue and poor concentration. I have been incredibly lucky to have now made a full recovery and I am back to my normal life – working full time as a clinical health care tutor, and a busy mum to my two children.

In January this year my haematology team advised it was safe and sensible to stop taking warfarin so that they could undertake extensive blood testing to see if there had been any underlying genetic, thrombophilia or autoimmune condition which could have caused the clot. The results came back conclusively negative and therefore the clot I experienced has been contributed to a mixture of being dehydrated, some possible familial link although undetected on blood screening (my father and sister had both had a DVT in the past) and having restarted the combined oral contraceptive pill around 6 months prior to becoming unwell.

I was aware prior to the vaccination programme beginning that COVID-19 was associated with developing thrombosis and this was a concern for me – would I be predisposed to clotting now that I had clotted once already? Not necessarily I was informed – this was all relative to what caused my clot in the first place.

When the AZ vaccine began to be associated with clots in the media, I spoke with my own consultant (it was very lucky that my follow up appointment coincided with being offered the vaccine in group 6) and they suggested that the risks of developing a clot as a result of the vaccine were far lower than the risk of firstly catching COVID-19 and secondly experiencing a thrombosis as a result of Covid-19. When it became apparent that CVST were the specific type of thrombosis occurring, of course it played on my mind as to whether this was the correct course of action for me, however these CVST reports are linked with another condition called thrombocytopenia – I was given the advice that it was the body’s immune response causing the thrombocytopenia that was then causing these rarer CVSTs to occur. Weighing up all of the available information, alongside statistics which showed that the risk of these side effects occurring remained less than the risk of the same condition occurring randomly ‘eg, in the general population’ reassured me. I feel that the risk is so low in comparison to my own personal risk of contracting COVID-19 and experiencing thrombosis as a result of that, that I should have the vaccine.

On March 2nd I attended an appointment at my local GP run vaccination centre at Plymouth Pavilions. The whole procedure was slick and professional. I felt extremely safe – there was opportunity to discuss with a doctor beforehand if there were any concerns and the nurse who administered my vaccine was extremely thorough at checking medical history and making sure I was safe to continue.

I had the vaccine, and experienced no ill effects whatsoever. I had a very mild headache for about 24 hours afterwards, and a sore arm for a couple of days – nothing significant at all.

I am really relieved to have had the vaccine – it was important to me to protect my family as much as possible and also to play my own small part in protecting the wider population if it were at all possible. I have a huge amount of faith in the clinical trials that have been conducted and I believe very firmly in science and evidence based practice.
I am looking forward to receiving my second vaccine around the end of May.

I would strongly encourage anyone who is genuinely concerned about the risks of having one of these incredibly rare side effects to discuss at length with a medical professional – they are the people who are armed with the evidence and the information to support you to make an informed choice.