Will taking Tylenol before the covid vaccine affect antibodies?

[Marcia83]

I took some Tylenol before the vaccine, and my sister later told me that I shouldn’t have. I did some research, and it said there wasn’t much research about how that might affect the covid vaccine. It said that it’s okay to take Tylenol or ibuprofen afterwards but not before.  Will Tylenol or any NSAID prevent a person’s body from producing antibodies against the virus? I took the Pfizer vaccine, the first dose. I won’t take any Tylenol for the second vaccine dose, but just curious if I affected the first dose’s efficacy?

[airgidi]

no

[AnnieBrooke]

I don't think they have researched this question in relation to the Covid vaccine. There has been a study of children taking Tylenol before their first childhood vaccines, however. They found that after their first shot, children that took Tylenol had fewer antibodies than a control group that didn't take Tylenol, but by the time they had had all their shots, they reached the same levels of antibodies as the group that didn't take Tylenol. I don't think I'd worry much about it in your shoes.

[AnxiousNoMore]

Getting proper sleep for a few nights before the vaccine is more important. https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/covid-19-vaccine/news/20210120/get_a_good_nights_sleep_before_your_covid_vaccine

[Marcia83]

Thank you for your response!

[Marcia83]

For the second dose, I won’t take anything before it, and will remember to get a good night rest before it. Thanks!

[Paxiled]

That's great.  Just got scheduled after all this time next week for my first dose, but I haven't had a good night's sleep for 17 years since I stopped taking Paxil.  Hope the vaccine works.  Just curious, though, why would taking Tylenol affect antibodies?  It doesn't cure anything.  It just numbs pain.  It does adversely affect the liver, but not just in one dose.  It's not anti-inflammatory like aspirin and ibuprofen and naproxen.  So just curious, if anyone knows, given it doesn't again cure anything, why would it affect a vaccine?  Would taking other pain killers do that?  

[AnnieBrooke]

I've also read that doing a brief workout before getting the shot is a good idea to improve its efficacy. Don't have the reference, but it might be something you can find if you google it.

[AnxiousNoMore]

Dr. Parikh suggests not working out for at least a day, or until any side effects subside, because exercise increases your blood flow and heart rate and, thus, can increase inflammation in the body. This is the same reason why she said to avoid alcohol at least a day after getting the vaccine. ......told POPSUGAR that working out before getting a COVID-19 vaccine would generally be fine,

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/safe-doctor-says-avoid-working-195420731.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmluZy5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAN1lfwWV8St28-xCKdRIZT3g6odRuejWgPIBaMhKIkxviEhWr5y93yhyF2yFPq5YXT8AmSDUd-oUVoCeLzF2vvknnEjeaJQjlNMD5pAW9V7-8hQYBahlgLvG20Rrn-0gdHuwph-4GK8GnO7CJgXQv3pyuHRKBwSI8aUHsVc9IH7_

[AnnieBrooke]

I was talking about before the vaccine, not after.

[AnxiousNoMore]

I know but that article came up when I Googled exercise before the vax and the doc mentioned "working out before getting a COVID-19 vaccine would generally be fine". I didn't notice any articles advocating it but this one says don't exercise 2 hours before. https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/covid-19-vaccine/news/20210127/covid-19-vaccine-how-best-to-prepare

[Paxiled]

Had to pick up a prescription yesterday, and had a chat with the pharmacist, who was doing the register too at that moment.  He said the Tylenol thing he knows nothing about other than it is liver toxic and that shouldn't affect how well a vaccine works.  He said the exercise thing was mostly because some people get temporary joint pain after a vaccine, but knows of no other ill effect of exercise.  Doesn't mean much, but that's his two cents worth.  He also had some interesting things to say about vaccines in particular, but again, don't know whether the articles he's seeing are authoritative any more than I know if Googling this stuff gets you authoritative articles.  Everyone's got a theory.  He said the Johnson and Johnson has an advantage because you only have to get one shot, and he says some of the articles he's seeing say that with any of the two shot vaccines after you've only gotten the first one you might be more susceptible to getting covid because the body is in an adjustment period until you get full protection with the second vax.  Sounds contrary to everything I've heard, which is that the first shot of the BioNTech and Moderna are giving a lot more benefit than they thought, so don't know who is right.  Probably nobody is, as he said that because these vaccines have been approved so quickly, much more quickly than any other drug ever has been, there hasn't been nearly as much clinical experience or trials experience to go on and so again anyone can have a theory until time proves all these theories to be purely theoretical or proves them out.  He said the Adenovirus used in the Johnson and Johnson can make an infection with covid worse, but again, doesn't agree with what I've heard so I don't know.  I think the more you dig down or Google the more unproven theories we're going to find as well as ones that will pan out.  It's just too soon to know much, and we have no choice but to get the vaccine because the disease is so virulent.  I had a choice, finally, as I've been preregistered in my state for a long time and finally got scheduled for my first shot on Tuesday, between the Johnson and Johnson and the two shot -- don't know if its BioNTech or Moderna but it's one or the other.  I chose the two shot, as even though I know the experts are saying the results are pretty similar, they don't sound at all similar to me.  They put all the focus on going into the ICU or dying, and none on those who had minor cases and got long-term and maybe permanent problems and so if given a choice and I was, I'll go with the one that shows at present the most chance of me not getting it at all over one with more chance of getting a minor case.  But I'm not an expert, none of us are, and all the experts agree, get any shot available to you as soon as possible because the sooner we all get vaccinated the fewer hard to treat variants will arise.  They've done a much better job of getting shots in arms, and the results have been astoundingly positive so far.  Peace.

[Marcia83]

Thanks again Annie, AnxiousNoMore, and Paxiled! You all have shared some very informative information. @Paxil, I took the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine which is the better vaccine out of all the three with less side effects. If you have a choice, you should try to get the Pfizer vaccine. As they did state, if you don’t have a choice, get the one that’s available, because all three vaccines show a very good efficacy against Covid. My parents took  the moderna vaccine and after the second shot they laid in bed all day, had chills, and had to take pain meds, but after a day, they were back to normal.  Most people who have taken the Pfizer vaccine don’t have any side effects after the second dose. After the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, I had mild pain at the injection site that a dose of Tylenol relieved.

[Paxiled]

See, this is what I mean.  I've read that the Moderna vaccine has had fewer significant side effects as the Pfizer, which isn't really a Pfizer vaccine but a BioNTech vaccine, has had more allergic reactions.  But again, so far most of the evidence is anecdotal, and I don't have a choice as to which vaccine I'm getting.  I really don't know.  I guess I'll find out when they tell me how long it is before I get the 2d shot.  They'll have what they're able to get, so my only choice was a 2-shot or the Johnson and Johnson, as they were being dosed at different community centers.  My understanding is that Pfizer has been able to produce more vaccine than Moderna, as it's a much larger company, but all these vaccines are being made with partnerships.  Moderna is a very small company that has never before made a product that worked, and the same is true with BioNTech which actually developed the "Pfizer" vaccine, Pfizer just provided money and distribution as it lacks the knowledge to make such a vaccine.  If Pfizer had made its own, it would be more like the AstraZeneca or Johnson and Johnson as the mRNA stuff comes originally from the US gov't and is why those companies have been able to exist for so long without any real revenue streams.  What they did have was expertise with this new and promising technology and finally made something with it that worked.  So tomorrow I get whatever they've got.  Peace.