A doctor’s receptionist who was advised to have the swine flu jab has developed serious side effects that at one stage left her partly paralysed.

The Daily Mail reports that 47-year-old Alison Dygnas developed a rare condition known as myasthenia gravis, affecting her nervous system, as a result of having the jab.

Mrs Dygnas – a mother of two from Shropshire – said that when she was given the swine flu jab in December she felt ‘full of energy’. However, six weeks after the vaccination, she developed stabbing pains in her legs, which gradually became worse.

Almost overnight, the condition spread to her face, causing one side to be paralysed, with droopy and swollen eyelids.

Doctors performed emergency MRI scans after she was admitted to hospital, but despite obtaining images of the back of her legs and muscles, the condition was not diagnosed until a neurologist recognised her symptoms as being those of myasthenia gravis.

One of the specialists treating Mrs Dygnas told her that it was ‘a million to one’ chance that she had developed the condition – and that it was almost certainly caused by the swine flu vaccine. Doctors said there was more chance of Mrs Dygnas winning the Lottery twice than developing the condition, which affects approximately one in 5,000 people and is most commonly diagnosed in women in their late 40s and people between the ages of 50 and 70.

Mrs Dygnas has now had to give up her job, and can no longer exercise her horse or walk her two dogs. However, she says she is not angry that the government did not issue a warning about the condition, as she feels she was just ‘very unlucky’.

She now has to take tablets to relieve the pains in her legs, although these can cause nausea. Her facial paralysis has eased, however, allowing her to eat more easily, including chewing.

‘At the moment I am able to walk normally for a few hundred yards then I have to shuffle – I just take very small steps,’ Mrs Dygnas said.

‘I can’t even wash my hair – I have to go to the hairdresser’s twice a week to have it shampooed and blow-dried.

‘The worst time is in the middle of the night when I get these stabbing pains in my legs and I can’t move them to make it go away. I also get pins and needles all over.’

Mrs Dygnas – who lives with her partner Maciek, 63 – said that she was optimistic about her chances of recovery, however – despite having to take five tablets a day:

‘Hopefully, once I get used to the medication, I can increase my treatment to 20 tablets a day and then I’ll be able to walk further and return to work.’

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