Should I sweat after my COVID vaccine?

If you are like me, then the answer is "yes"; I experienced significantly increased sweating after my COVID vaccine.

I am a 36-year-old female who never contracted the COVID-19 virus. I wore a [Wicked Sheets] mask (and I promise that wasn't an attempt at a shameless plug), I socially distanced, I washed my hands regularly, and even tried to increase my cardio and running habits after hearing that lung health might be a factor in contraction. Regardless of what I did or didn't do, it seems to be a crapshoot on who actually contracted the virus and who did not.

Experiencing symptoms after the vaccine, however, did not. Anyone and everyone that I spoke to, who also have the Moderna two-shot dosage of the vaccine, seemed to experience the same symptoms as me.

I actually went to my Tuesday night volleyball league after my first shot, thinking that I would just play through it. And had it not been that we had no subs, I would have left before the whistle blew. Nevertheless, I made it through the game, and certainly was a key factor as to why we lost that night. After the second shot, I knew better. I canceled as soon as I started feeling cold tingles in my fingers and toes.

Once I realized that the cycles of cold chills and increased sweating were nowhere close to ending, I decided to lay in the shower and just let the warm water pour over my body. And for all those wondering, yes, a bath would have been ideal but we were having construction done in our bathroom with the tub and the shower was all I had at the time. It did the trick. In which case, had I taken a bath, I would have used Epsom salts. They clear all aches and pains right up.

What are the common side effects of the COVID vaccine?

• Chills (uncontrollable at times and especially in my extremities)
• Increased sweating, night sweats in particular
• Fogginess/mental fog
• Extreme fatigue
• Aches and pains all over my body
• Sore, painful injection site (left arm both times)
• Longterm bruising on my injection site

Obviously, these are not every single symptom that is listed in the "Side effects and risk factors" section of Moderna's website, but I did experience the above in the 27-hours post vaccination dose two.

Why does increased sweating happen after receiving a vaccine?

Believe it or not, increased sweating is very common after receiving many vaccines, not just the COVID vaccine. Why?

After years of researching "sweat" and the fact that my Mom is a labor and delivery/pediatric nurse for most of my formative youth, I have developed a magnitude of useless knowledge of sweat and modern medicine. To put it in the most simplistic terms follow this chart:

Vaccines mimic diseases > Disease can cause fevers > Fevers increase your body temperature > Sweat cools your body down

For those interested in the science behind increased sweating after receiving a vaccine, I will happily educate you as well. Vaccines are sent and absorbed into the body via subcutaneous injection. That just means that your injection site, or where your shot goes, is under a fatty part of your skin. Typically this will be your arm, thigh, or buttocks.

The vaccine, a faux version of the virus or disease, travels through your bloodstream and its chemicals move into your central nervous system (CNS) for processing. It is there that the hypothalamus picks up on these chemicals and sends a signal to your pituitary gland. The endocrine system, bridged by the pituitary gland, then suits up to fight these unnatural invaders. 

The hypothalamus plays a significant role in the endocrine system. The function of the hypothalamus is to maintain your body’s internal balance, also known as homeostasis. To do this, the hypothalamus helps stimulate or inhibit many of your body’s key processes, including body temperature, hormone release, heart rate and blood pressure, electrolyte balance, appetites, digestive processes, and sleep cycles.

What does a vaccine have in it?

Vaccines contain the same germs that cause disease, but they have been either killed or weakened to the point that their effect is mild. Some vaccines contain only a portion of the disease germ.

A vaccine stimulates your immune system to produce antibodies, exactly like it would if you were exposed to the disease. After getting vaccinated, you develop immunity to that disease, without having to get the disease first. This is what makes vaccines so powerful and effective. Unlike most medicines, which treat or cure diseases, vaccines prevent them.

For more information about vaccines and how they affect your body, please visit this link on the CDC's website.