Award-winning author and entrepreneur Caroline Pover suffered a devastating reaction to AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine. Here’s how she’s surviving her new normal
On March 3, 2021, at 12:20 p.m., I was given one dose of AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine. I didn’t even feel the needle go in. Nine hours later, I started shaking. Full body shakes. And I was freezing cold. My teeth were chattering loudly. I had never experienced anything like this before.
I got into bed fully clothed and put the electric blanket on high. By 2:00 a.m., I was still shaking, and my cognitive functions were no longer working properly. My boyfriend called an ambulance, and the paramedics ascertained that my vitals were at dangerous levels, so they took me to the hospital, stabilizing me on the way.
I had numerous scans and blood tests, none of which gave any clues as to what was happening to me. I was discharged the next day with a diagnosis of “Severe reaction to Covid vaccine.”
In the days that followed, I slept for hours and had vivid, disturbing dreams, the likes of which I have never experienced either before or since. Breathing was difficult, and I was constantly exhausted. I developed a huge, stinging rash from my vulva all the way up my back, then unexpectedly started menstruating.
After that, the migraines started—daily migraines accompanied by numbness on one side of my face, my tongue, my arm or my leg and a complete loss of awareness of where I was or who I was with. Sometimes I hallucinated. I felt like I’d had a stroke.
Exactly a week after the vaccine, I experienced excruciating head pain that had me in tears. Painkillers made no difference whatsoever. Another ride in an ambulance resulted in the same diagnosis: “Severe reaction to Covid vaccine.” I found out almost two years later that I was actually diagnosed with a stroke. Nobody told me at the time.
I was supposed to be launching my fifth book and had 20 speaking engagements lined up. I was writing another book, running a successful pickling business, learning Japanese, doing yoga every day, and regularly running or hiking. I was leading a busy, fulfilling life, and suddenly I could no longer function. I canceled everything.
In the following weeks, I developed a range of weird physical and psychological symptoms. Every day was different. I was in constant pain. Everything exhausted me—I couldn’t even talk to anyone for long. I had to rest in bed after sleeping, showering, walking down the stairs, moving from one room to another. I had no idea what was going on. I knew nobody else that this had happened to. And nobody was helping me.
I created my own recovery plan focusing on good nutrition and sleep. I got support from a counselor, a functional medicine practitioner and an acupuncturist, all of whom became my lifesavers.
My GP got on board with my recovery efforts—there was nothing she could do, but she was kind and sympathetic. She insisted that I apply for a medical exemption and always made extra time available to speak to me. In that regard, I know that I was one of the lucky ones.
I eventually connected with other people around the world who were also dealing with adverse reactions to all the Covid vaccines, not just AstraZeneca. I even connected with people who had experienced adverse reactions after participating in the trials. Nobody was getting any treatment, and very few were getting any better.
I planned on dedicating three months to my recovery—I was a big believer in the power of food as medicine and the body’s natural ability to heal. I assumed that I would be back to normal after three months. More than two years later, at the time of writing, I am still not “back to normal.” I have a new normal now.
I initially spent five months on full-time, intense recovery efforts before I began to see some glimpses of my old life. The game-changer for me was the accidental discovery of therapeutic phlebotomy (see “The three game-changers” below). It allowed me to experience little moments of joy occasionally and gave me just a bit of energy so that I could go for a walk sometimes.
During the following 17 months, I continued with regular therapeutic phlebotomy, each time trying to make the most of the temporary life the treatment gave me—getting countless tests done, exploring all sorts of different treatments and spending thousands of pounds to try to get better.
I tried to share everything I was learning. I started giving speeches and interviews about life through the lens of the vaccine-injured. Then I suddenly and unexpectedly ended up in the hospital with appendicitis. I reluctantly had surgery, which turned into sepsis. It set me back months. I felt like I had during the early weeks post-vaccine. I was utterly devastated.
I spent a few months allowing my body to settle after the distressing hospital experience, got back to where I was just before it, and unexpectedly discovered another game-changer: copper. Overnight, I got more of my life back.
A couple of months later, there was another game-changer: the 2:00 p.m. sleep. And again, overnight, I got even more of my life back. Two simple things made such a huge difference (see “The three game-changers” below).
In the past six months, my functioning has gone from about a third of a reasonable life to about two-thirds. It requires constant management—if I miss a phlebotomy session, run out of copper or don’t sleep enough, then I relapse very quickly. On most days I am now able to go on a short walk and have a 30-minute conversation with someone, but if I need or want to do more than that, I must plan days to recover.
My life may never be what it was, but I am learning that, in some ways, it might even be better. The friendships I’ve made through this experience feel like deep connections with special souls that were all sent to help each other along the way during a unique time in our history.
I have personally found healing through spiritual, nutritional and traditional means rather than pharmaceutical, but we are all different, and what works for me might not work for others.
Here are what I consider the game-changers for me in terms of my recovery. Along with holistic therapies like acupuncture, reiki and kinesiology, and a healing diet, these are key parts of my personal protocol.1
1.Therapeutic phlebotomy. Also known as bloodletting, this involves removing blood from the body to treat a medical problem. After discovering I felt better after having several blood tests, I hired a private phlebotomist to remove a pint of my blood every few months and was amazed at the effect it had. It was like having my pipes cleaned out, and suddenly everything started working again as it should.
After a while I switched to traditional Chinese bloodletting, which involves “stabbing” a specific point on the back of one or both legs or piercing points on the shoulder blades, then applying suction cups to draw out the blood (“wet-cupping”). I have this done every two weeks.
2.Copper. I’ve discovered that I’m deficient in copper and need to take a high-quality bioavailable copper supplement as well as follow a high-copper diet. If I stop the diet or supplement, I start to relapse. Foods high in copper include liver, kidney, oysters, shrimp, goat cheese, spirulina, kale, beetroot and pomegranate.
The 2:00 p.m. sleep. Sometimes I fall fast asleep, sometimes I doze. Sometimes for 30 minutes, sometimes for an hour. Then I’m totally refreshed and able to function again. I credit the 2:00 p.m. sleep with getting me to an incredible 70 percent. And I still sleep nine or 10 hours every night.
Several food programs are repeatedly mentioned online in association with vaccine recovery. One that has particularly helped me is an anticoagulation/endothelial repair diet.
What the diet does
This is not a known regime as such but a plan that helps deal with two conditions: “sticky” blood (blood that has an increased tendency to clot), possibly including microclotting, and blood vessel dysfunction, which can be caused by damage to the lining of the vessels or a tendency for the vessels to narrow (also known as microvascular disease).
It incorporates food that keeps the blood thin and flowing smoothly and also promotes cellular repair of the blood vessels. It requires careful monitoring if you are on any blood-thinning medication.
Why it might be relevant to the vaccine-injured
Some of us struggle with having blood drawn, find ourselves bruising easily and inexplicably, and have symptoms that seem to indicate a change in our blood vessels, such as bulging or brightly colored veins.
Some of us have accidentally discovered that we seem to feel much better after we have had a number of blood tests or having tried therapeutic phlebotomy. Some of us have found relief with forms of blood dialysis, whereby the blood is cleaned before being returned to the body.
It is now well documented that people suffering with long Covid seem to be dealing with a microclotting problem, and many of the symptoms in the vaccine-injured seem to match those of long Covid sufferers. It would not be surprising to find that we are also dealing with coagulation and endothelial problems.
Foods to avoid
Anything containing vitamin K: asparagus, broccoli, sprouts, cauliflower, green onions and leafy greens like kale, parsley and spinach. But leafy greens have so many other benefits that garlic may be consumed to counteract the negative impact.
Anything that triggers inflammation: overly processed foods, fried foods, artificial trans fats (fats that have been processed, e.g., margarine), vegetable and seed oils, refined carbohydrates (bread, pasta, cakes, etc.), processed meats, food additives, added sugars and excessive alcohol.
Helpful foods
Fish: salmon, tuna, trout.
Fruit: purple grapes, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, watermelon, citrus, banana, mango, avocado.
Veg: seaweed, beetroot, garlic, carrots, cucumber, pumpkin, red peppers.
Nuts and seeds: sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds, peanuts.
Herbs and spices: turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, cayenne.
Drinks: chamomile tea, pomegranate juice, red wine.
Other: beef, chicken, pork, organ meats, virgin olive oil, dark chocolate, peanut butter, foods that contain nitrates (they open up blood vessels) such as leafy greens. However, see “Foods to avoid” above for contradictory effect.
UKCVFamily is a UK-based support group for those who have experienced adverse reactions to Covid vaccines. Learn more or join the group at ukcvfamily.org.
React19 is a nonprofit that works with researchers and providers to help people who have suffered adverse reactions to the Covid vaccines. It connects patients to a list of international support groups at react19.org/get-involved/join-a-community.
Adapted from Caroline Pover’s new book Covid Vaccine Adverse Reaction Survival Guide (Chelsea Green, 2023)
Discover the protocols that are working for those suffering with Covid vaccine damage as well as long Covid—from effective diets and supplements to holistic therapies—in WDDTY’s The Covid Report, available here.
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