Flu shots? For them or against ?

hcdo

I get one every year. I used to be a teacher, so I got it to ward off all the germs my little petri dishes were carrying around. It's just second nature now, plus my insurance/med group offer it for free. I know they ask you if you think you're coming down with something before they give it to you. Is that because it can lower your immunity for a little bit while your body makes the antibodies? I've always wondered that (not enough to Google it, obvs), and this year I felt kind of crummy the day after, especially since I felt like I'd been coming down with something earlier. Could just be coincidence of course. It was still better than the awful flu that's currently going around and decimating my coworkers.

jagodfrey08

I answered a while back with the jist of "Eh...," But after my son was diagnosed with reactive airway disorder yesterday after having an asthma-like episode due to his cold...I'm all in. We will all be getting the flu vaccine because it could be deadly for him. I'm also planning to get another Dtap booster as it has been almost 7 years since my last one.

apullum

I once got the flu on the day after my last exam in college, and I was so sick that I was physically unable to get off the couch. My dad had to drive three hours each way to my dorm to bring me home for winter break and take me back to college. I haven't missed a flu shot since then. Now, I teach first-year students at a university that attracts people from every state and dozens of countries. They all bring their germs with them, and those germs get passed around among all of my students. I may be immune to pretty much everything by this point, but I'm still one of the first people in line to get my flu shot before fall semester starts. My university also has an excellent medical system, so it's very easy for me to get my shot for free.

mrsmammahunter

ive had one every year of my life never had anything happen as a result of a flu shot.

GaleHawkins

miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article50769245.html

Why you may feel sick after getting the flu shot is an article on this subject that may explain why we sometimes feel sick after getting a flu shot.

manther88

I've never had a flu shot in my entire life and I plan on never getting one. I know a lot of people who have gotten them and then got sick.

I have no reason to get them. Same with vaccinations. I have had any since I was in elementary school and I'm 28 now lol. I can honestly say that I have a very good immune system. The only thing I get are seasonal allergies and that's it. So thankful for it.

paperpudding

Manther I hope you are also thankful to those other people who DO get vaccinations - the main reason unvaccinated people do not get measles, mumps,rubella, polio etc is NOT because they have very good immune systems.

It is because they are protected by the herd immunity created by enough other people getting vaccinated.

KrazyKrissyy

No thanks. I'm allergic to them (srs).

Destinychngr

I haven't had a flu shot since I left the military over 20 years ago and haven't had the flu since. Exercising, living a healthy lifestyle and taking vitamins has prevented me from becoming sick when everyone else around me, who has gotten flu shots and swears by them, is getting really sick. These same people ask "why don't you ever get sick??" I say "because I don't inject my body with that crap and I live a healthy lifestyle".

JaxxieKat

100% for them. In fact, I feel they should be mandatory for anyone who doesn't have an allergy to them, or some other reason they cannot receive one (like people undergoing chemotherapy). I used to scoff at them, thinking, "big deal. The flu is just a bad cold." Then, about three years ago, I got the flu and was very sick for over a month. I now have almost total permanent hearing loss in my right ear, due to secondary complications from the flu. Since then, I get my flu jab. It's no joke and every year it claims the young and old, healthy and unhealthy alike.

janejellyroll

Destinychngr wrote: »

I haven't had a flu shot since I left the military over 20 years ago and haven't had the flu since. Exercising, living a healthy lifestyle and taking vitamins has prevented me from becoming sick when everyone else around me, who has gotten flu shots and swears by them, is getting really sick. These same people ask "why don't you ever get sick??" I say "because I don't inject my body with that crap and I live a healthy lifestyle".

It's one thing to claim that taking vitamins and exercising will render one immune to illness (which I think is worthy of a whole other debate), but to claim that people are getting ill specifically due to getting a flu vaccine . . . what are you basing that on?

Destinychngr

janejellyroll wrote: »

Destinychngr wrote: »

I haven't had a flu shot since I left the military over 20 years ago and haven't had the flu since. Exercising, living a healthy lifestyle and taking vitamins has prevented me from becoming sick when everyone else around me, who has gotten flu shots and swears by them, is getting really sick. These same people ask "why don't you ever get sick??" I say "because I don't inject my body with that crap and I live a healthy lifestyle".

It's one thing to claim that taking vitamins and exercising will render one immune to illness (which I think is worthy of a whole other debate), but to claim that people are getting ill specifically due to getting a flu vaccine . . . what are you basing that on?

I am basing that on they get the flu shot because they swear by it and then within a month or 2 get the flu - I have seen it time and time again. Like I said - I haven't had one of those in over 20 years, won't get one again and I haven't gotten sick with the flu since that last shot in the military.

janejellyroll

Destinychngr wrote: »

janejellyroll wrote: »

Destinychngr wrote: »

I haven't had a flu shot since I left the military over 20 years ago and haven't had the flu since. Exercising, living a healthy lifestyle and taking vitamins has prevented me from becoming sick when everyone else around me, who has gotten flu shots and swears by them, is getting really sick. These same people ask "why don't you ever get sick??" I say "because I don't inject my body with that crap and I live a healthy lifestyle".

It's one thing to claim that taking vitamins and exercising will render one immune to illness (which I think is worthy of a whole other debate), but to claim that people are getting ill specifically due to getting a flu vaccine . . . what are you basing that on?

I am basing that on they get the flu shot because they swear by it and then within a month or 2 get the flu - I have seen it time and time again. Like I said - I haven't had one of those in over 20 years, won't get one again and I haven't gotten sick with the flu since that last shot in the military.

But many people get the flu vaccine and then don't get the flu. Concluding that the flu is caused by vaccination seems really illogical. After all, people got the flu *before* we invented the vaccine.

While it isn't 100% effective at preventing the flu (due in large part to the fact that it immunizes for the strains that are predicted to be dominant during the flu season, not every strain that might exist), it doesn't cause the flu.

If anecdotal evidence is persuasive to you, consider that I have been vaccinated for about ten years now and I've never had the flu in any of those years. If the vaccine caused flu, this wouldn't happen. We would also see massive flu death rates in groups with a higher vaccination level and underlying factors that make their death more likely -- like people over 65.

Judging the effectiveness of a vaccine or its role in causing illness is more complicated than just compiling self-reports from people around you. If it was this simple, I could say things like "Breast cancer is rare" (it is in my life, I am fortunate enough to have no friends or family who have ever had it) or "Down Syndrome is very common" (it is in my family, my sister has it AND almost all of her friends have it too). But those statements are easily dismissed as ridiculous, right? Why do so many of us apply a different standard when it applies to vaccination?

danicess

I believe that some of them are necessary, but not all. I only got the major ones and as a baby my mom spread them out so I didn't get to many at once. But I am for them

Dnarules

MadMaxV8 wrote: »

Against. The shot they give you is only a guess.

But it is a very educated guess based on a great deal of surveillance. Yes, they some times miss the mark on a strain, but they get it right often. They don't pull this out of the air.

And maybe I could see this as making you somewhat skeptical, but I don't understand the "against" thing.

paperpudding

danicess wrote: »

I believe that some of them are necessary, but not all. I only got the major ones and as a baby my mom spread them out so I didn't get to many at once. But I am for them

Which ones do you think are not neccesary??

I havent heard of anyone saying all vaccines are neccesary for all people - and I work in in area of vaccination.

I havent had all vaccines either, many of them are unneccesary for me - like Varicella vaccine because I have had known case of chicken pox ,and Yellow fever vaccine because I am not going to a yellow fever part of the world and Japanese enchephalitis for same reason and Gardisil and Rotateq because I am past the age limit for which they are approved or benificial.

Not sure what point you are making or what grounds you are basing your decision on??

EternalSonataFan

I'm usually okay with flu shots, but there was this one quack that said that my grandfather needed two flu shots because of his age (72 at the time). My poor grandfather fell for it, and got horrendously ill for a while. He never got another flu shot again.

snikkins

The Hubster's work offers them free to me (Yay, Costco!), so I got it this year. I usually forget, but am trying to be better about it because I also believe it is a civic duty to protect those who cannot, for whatever reason, protect themselves from these diseases.

exercisetofitness

Noop .i will never ever take one in .i have lupus and wont further destroy my body .there pure poison .just my opinon .my daughter also has lupus and had a flue shots and got so deathly sick .first hand sight of seeing results,.

janejellyroll

exercisetofitness wrote: »

Noop .i will never ever take one in .i have lupus and wont further destroy my body .there pure poison .just my opinon .my daughter also has lupus and had a flue shots and got so deathly sick .first hand sight of seeing results,.

I don't understand how you can have "just an opinion" about whether the flu vaccine is poison. Something is poisonous at a specific dose or it isn't.