Getting the covid vaccine

I am in the vulnerable population for covid-19, first because of my age, but also because of my "underlying condition" of Alzheimer's disease.  Why is Alzheimer's disease of concern?  Because covid infections have been reported to have neurological consequences, and, by some reports, to spark an unusually strong inflammatory response.  You will recall from Beating the Dementia Monster that neuroinflammation, primarily inflammation in the brain, is an important part of the Alzheimer's disease process.  In fact, some believe that the accumulation of amyloid plaques is not actually part of the disease process, but rather results from inflammation interfering with the process for removal of beta amyloid and other trash in the brain.  So it's possible that a covid infection might undo all that I've fought for in the past 5 years.  People I've know who developed covid infections reported headaches, suggesting neuroinflammation.  So getting the vaccine seems to make a lot of sense for me.

But ... on the other hand ... vaccines in general, and perhaps the covid vaccines in particular, also produce an inflammatory response.  This is called post-vaccine inflammatory syndrome.  Perhaps taking the vaccine could also cause destructive neuroinflammation.  So I did not immediately dive into getting the vaccine.

Can post-vaccine inflammatory syndrome aggravate Alzheimer's disease?  Maybe, but the picture is complicated.  We reported in July 2020 on research presented at the biggest Alzheimer's Association conference correlating flu shots with a reduced incidence of Alzheimer's disease.  Now correlation is not causation, and no one proposed a causal relationship.  Instead, the best explanation to date (of which I'm aware) is that people who get their flu shots every year tend to be people with more healthful lifestyles -- people who get exercise, eat right, take care of their sleep, etc.  So it may be that lifestyle is a strong enough positive force to overcome any mischief caused by an inflammatory response to the flu vaccine.

So I kept my eyes open for news on covid vaccines and inflammation, noting that some people reported headaches after getting the vaccine.  I consulted with my neurologist, who told me that she was unaware of any reported correlation of the vaccine with neuroinflammation of a sort that could aggravate Alzheimer's disease.  

I also consulted with a friend in a management position at a retirement/assisted living facility regarding her observations, since pretty much the whole population of her facility had been vaccinated.  She had not observed any issues, but she also consulted with a nurse in her company who would have some insight.  The nurse also had not seen anything concerning.

So I decided to go ahead with vaccination, and I got my first Pfizer shot today.  I return for my second shot in mid-April.  It's only been a couple of hours, but so far no sore arm and no headache.