okay so i have been on the internet researching illness due to flu shot vaccination. i know all about how the shot is not a live virus, but a dead one which we get injected into our bodies to ward off the influenza.
most people have reported that they never get ill from having the flu vaccination. however, it is also rather common to get a very mild version of the flu 1 -2 days after they have been vaccinated. they don’t necessarily get a full blown attach; they rarely get a fever. but the aches and pains and physical weakness are a deffinate, reported symptom to the vaccine itself.
so, all this to say that i have fallen prey to this small group who react to getting the flu shot. it happens every year. how coincidental can this be if it happens to me every year? most people suggest that i have been sick beforehand, and then by sheer misfortune, i get the vaccine and it is just a coincidence that i feel like death, minus the fever.
so, if you find yourself falling victim to this rare circumstance, know that it is real and that you are not alone. ANDNEVER get a flu shot when you are sick with even the mildest of illnesses. (this will only exacerbate everything as well as lessening the potency of the flu shot itself.
Yeah, most years I get one or maybe two mild colds and that’s it, even though I work in direct contact with co-workers who end up taking a week or two off sick. However, there have been two years during the past ten where I was sick for a week, and both times sick enough that even when I returned to work my boss sent me back home. Those were just colds, though, not the flu, and I think both were made more dramatic by the fact that they were happening right in the midst of allergy season (each year I end up taking a few days off just because my allergies are so severe, no illness required). So I do think having an overactive immune system has its benefits and drawbacks.
I have discussed the flu vaccine quite a bit with our Docs (and Pharmacist actually - she really had a lot of information) as I have said I am on the fence so I tend to discuss it more then if I was definitely YES or NO.
So in terms of the symptoms, yes - I totally agree. This is real. You definitely do NOT have the flu even a mild case of the flu. (Except for the remote possibility that you just happened to contract it independently of the vaccine two days earlier and the real flu symptoms actually hit you the day after getting the shot. In which case play the lottery - must be your lucky day. Really - very very very unlikely.) But yes - you can absolutely get symptoms which are certainly from the flu shot and which may APPEAR to be the flu but are most certainly NOT the flu.
Our Doc said the symptoms are from the immune system ramping up to the PERCEIVED threat. This is the whole point, to trick your immune system into THINKING (yeah I know immune system doesn’t really think but you know what I mean) that you got the flu but without actually getting the real live virus that can replicate in your body so as to give you the actual flu.
Maybe that is good legit medical info and maybe not. But it is what one of our Docs told us and it made sense to me.
I am a scientist and have conducted years of research in the immunology field. Short reply: there are just too many variables, many of which cannot be teased out. The immune system is so complicated and we can never predict how any immune stimulation (natural or artificial) will affect any particular one of us (at this point in time). We are certainly moving towards more individualized medicine, but not yet. Of all vaccinations, it appears that “the flu shot” is the least effective, as others point out. In my mind, influenza (while sucky) is generally easy to overcome (if one is not
Immunosuppressed; of course, it also depends on the strain; as far as diabetes goes, if one is well-controlled and comfortable adjusting insulin during illness, they should recover just as well as anyone else)… having said that, I think for most people, there is nothing wrong with getting the flu shot (as far as I know). I had one last year because it was a requirement for my hospital job (I was also pregnant at the time). However, I have never and will probably never go get one unless there is an employment requirement imposed on me… I could go on and on… the immune system, as far as I have learned, is the most elusive physiological system (besides maybe the numerous undiscovered nuances in neurology).
I can’t say that I never get the flu but I haven’t had it many many years. I went for a long time scoffing the idea that I might need one. But I have mellowed with age and for the last 10 years I have gotten one. After I got my first flu shot ten years ago I realized that it really wasn’t a bad experience.
I haven’t had the flu since I started getting the vaccination but then I didn’t get it in the 10 to 15 years prior so I can’t credit the shot. Today I just do it, Heck its free for me, figure it can’t hurt and may actually help.
This is an interesting take on why the flu shot doesn’t work so well – seems it’s not just the fact that sometimes the flu strains and the vaccines given are mismatched:
For starters, you have to know when to avoid medication at the first sign or symptom you notice. A fever is the body’s way of trying to kill viruses through higher body temperatures; you do not want to take medication immediately.
I always get the flu shot. I do not mean to scare but I know a young women who died of the flu. Left two young children. It was fast and there was nothing they could do to help her. She had not had the shot.
I know it is completely anecdotal, I am just an accountant. But still why not? What if at the very least nothing happens.
Besides, it is so easy to get a flu shot. In my area and with my insurance it is $0, and if i do it at Target, they give me a $5 gift card! I take my boys and we do it at the same time and then they get to spend $5 each on whatever their heart desires.
i completely agree with this kind of attitude. it cant hurt (except your shoulder for a little while) but here is a caviate; i get the flu shot EVERY year, and EVERY year i get a mild version of the virus. i always keep a round of TamaFlu at the ready in my Med cabinet just in case.
one important bit of info i just got from my PCP is that you should not take the shot too early in the season, bc it only stays active in your body for about 4 months before it starts to become ineffective. so dont rush and get a shot now; wait until it will most impact against the flu season virus: Jan/Feb/March (or even as early as December); basically, get your shot at the tail end of September/beginning of October.
hope this helps someone out there. also hope i have given accurate info.
Well I thought you were full of you know what on the effectiveness of the flu vaccine, but it turns out that you learned me something today. Apparently the older you get the lower the amount of time the shot is active, and while in young persons it should last for 6 months, in older folks (I think I am now in this group gasp, sigh) it is more important to time the shot. …slowly shakes head…
Does anyone happen to know if the “high-dose” flu shot solves this issue? In the past, my endo has advised me to get the regular-strength quadravalent flu shot rather than then the high-dose trivalent one.
My personal choice is no flu shot because I am sick for a week following when I do, versus not feeling sick for a.week when I don’t. I get the flu once every decade or so, and once every 10 years is better than every year IMHO.
