Smallpox Vaccination

I'm going to Afghanistan, and to protect me in every way that they (the U.S. government) can, they immunize me with everything. When I say everything, I mean everything. The two shots that I did receive that I will never forget will be the Smallpox vaccination, and anthrax. I say anthrax because it's a series of 6 or so shots. As of now I'm on my third shot, and they aren't that painful. The first or second shot was an eyeopener, but after that it's just like any other 'normal' shot. I say that it was an eyeopener because when you leave the clinic you think, "oh, that wasn't that bad!". But an hour or so later...you get re-flashes. Your arm kinda of stings and it's sore, and this re-flash sensation lasts about two days. After the first two shots I haven't felt any side effects really.

The smallpox vaccination...I almost regret allowing them to shoot me up with this vaccination. But in the end I know it might save my life. After the first 5 days I received the shot it was a breeze. That was my 'vacation' week from the smallpox. On day six a small clean blister appeared up on my skin. This wasn't painful, it just itched really bad. Without paying complete attention, I would scratch the living hell out of the tiny blister causing it to swell up. Day seven it continues to itch but my lymph nodes around my upper arm were swollen and sore. I had bad maneuverability and couldn't carry much weight with my left arm. Day eight most of the itching went away, and my arm was starting to feel better as far as the swollen lymph nodes go. But this is where the headaches came in....After day seven I've had headaches that don't go away. I've been taking 800mg ibuprofen twice a day and this headache is restless. This is the first time that I feel nauseous from the pressure built up in my head... I can't even sleep at night (hence the reason I'm posting a blog at 0500 in the morning).