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Flu shots? For them or against ?

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Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    ilfaith wrote: »
    My children do get flu shots every year. Their annual physicals always take place late summer or early fall, around the time the doctors get the vaccine in...so since we're already in the office, they get the shot (or mist, if it's deemed effective...this year it was shots only).

    I never get the flu shot. I suppose I am relying on herd immunity from my family. For me it would mean a special trip to the doctor for the shot, and I never seem to fit it in. So far I've been lucky.

    If you are in the US, many pharmacies offer them on a walk-in basis. It's easy to fit in with other errands.
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    I get the shot every year, knowing that the strains it protects against are an educated guess. I've just recovered (with complications) from a vaient that's not covered (type A I think) but I'm thankful im covered for whatever else is going around. If I got sick again with another strain I'd end up in the hospital.
  • LettingTheSmallStuffGo
    LettingTheSmallStuffGo Posts: 72 Member
    I had the flu in April 2016. It put me in the hospital on IV's in 12 hours after falling ill. I now get why people die from the flu. So this year I was told by my doctor that I will be gettting a flu shot. I did.
  • tomteboda
    tomteboda Posts: 2,171 Member
    ilfaith wrote: »
    My children do get flu shots every year. Their annual physicals always take place late summer or early fall, around the time the doctors get the vaccine in...so since we're already in the office, they get the shot (or mist, if it's deemed effective...this year it was shots only).

    I never get the flu shot. I suppose I am relying on herd immunity from my family. For me it would mean a special trip to the doctor for the shot, and I never seem to fit it in. So far I've been lucky.

    You know, nearly every pharmacy offers these as well, including the ones in stores such as Walmart, Target, Walgreens, CVS, etc. You can do them walk-in or call ahead.
  • comptonelizabeth
    comptonelizabeth Posts: 1,701 Member
    BodyByBex wrote: »
    tinkerbellang83 wrote: »
    Got it for the first year this winter as work arranged it for us, made absolutely no difference to my health positively or negatively. Only ever had flu maybe once in my adult life but I did try to work through it and ended up with pneumonia so I can see where it would benefit others.

    Does it annoy anyone else when people have the sniffles or a bit of cold and refer to it as flu? :lol:

    OH MY GOSH YES!


    Yup!
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,130 Member
    Glad it's not just me! Also when people complain the doctor won't prescribe anti-biotics for their viral infection *facepalm*
  • ladyreva78
    ladyreva78 Posts: 4,080 Member
    tinkerbellang83 wrote: »
    Got it for the first year this winter as work arranged it for us, made absolutely no difference to my health positively or negatively. Only ever had flu maybe once in my adult life but I did try to work through it and ended up with pneumonia so I can see where it would benefit others.

    Does it annoy anyone else when people have the sniffles or a bit of cold and refer to it as flu? :lol:

    Hell yeah!

    Especially if you have a cold (as I currently do, bloody annoying) and everyone's asking you how your flu's going...

    Not at all, thank you very much. This cold however, I'll need to get checked out as it might be heading towards a bronchitis if not worse...
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    tinkerbellang83 wrote: »
    Glad it's not just me! Also when people complain the doctor won't prescribe anti-biotics for their viral infection *facepalm*

    Every physician I've seen in the past 5-7 years has tested first before prescribing antibiotics. I can usually identify something as bacterial or viral correctly without tests, but I was wrong once (and right 1-2 times per year for the last several years). That's a pretty good record.

    To be fair, my state has some of the worst water in the country and it is almost always the same bacterial skin infection from showering. Any open area on my skin becomes a risk, and as a diabetic, there is always an open spot. In the 1-2 times per year when it gets bad enough to need a prescription, it has already been infected for a week or 2 already and isn't getting any better on its own. At that point, I already know what it is because it isn't the first time.
  • comptonelizabeth
    comptonelizabeth Posts: 1,701 Member
    tinkerbellang83 wrote: »
    Glad it's not just me! Also when people complain the doctor won't prescribe anti-biotics for their viral infection *facepalm*

    Or insist that using anti bacterial hand gel will protect them against viruses. Um no - just wash your hands properly!
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    comptonelizabeth wrote: »
    tinkerbellang83 wrote: »
    Glad it's not just me! Also when people complain the doctor won't prescribe anti-biotics for their viral infection *facepalm*

    Or insist that using anti bacterial hand gel will protect them against viruses. Um no - just wash your hands properly!

    Ha! We have a sign up in the restrooms at work (continuously for the last 2 years summer and winter). "Cold and flu season is upon us, before you leave the restroom please be sure you wash your hands." And every time I see it I want to replace it with "Cold and flu season is upon us, have the courtesy not to cough and sneeze on your coworkers. And by the way, wash your hands on the way out so you don't spread e. coli around."
  • comptonelizabeth
    comptonelizabeth Posts: 1,701 Member
    mph323 wrote: »
    comptonelizabeth wrote: »
    tinkerbellang83 wrote: »
    Glad it's not just me! Also when people complain the doctor won't prescribe anti-biotics for their viral infection *facepalm*

    Or insist that using anti bacterial hand gel will protect them against viruses. Um no - just wash your hands properly!

    Ha! We have a sign up in the restrooms at work (continuously for the last 2 years summer and winter). "Cold and flu season is upon us, before you leave the restroom please be sure you wash your hands." And every time I see it I want to replace it with "Cold and flu season is upon us, have the courtesy not to cough and sneeze on your coworkers. And by the way, wash your hands on the way out so you don't spread e. coli around."

    Yup! Too many words to fit on a sign though! :smiley:
  • finny11122
    finny11122 Posts: 8,436 Member
    A woman told me her son got autism from vaccines . Her other child is unvaccinated and is fine .
  • Afura
    Afura Posts: 2,054 Member
    I've had 3 headshakes from doctors this year when I decline the shot. After the year they guessed wrong and most people got an ineffective flu shot, I sort of lost my faith in that system.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
    Afura wrote: »
    I've had 3 headshakes from doctors this year when I decline the shot. After the year they guessed wrong and most people got an ineffective flu shot, I sort of lost my faith in that system.

    Serious question - so you would rather risk getting the flu every year, than get the vaccine and risk the occasional year that the shot doesn't protect against the flu bug that's going around?
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    edited February 2017
    kimny72 wrote: »
    Afura wrote: »
    I've had 3 headshakes from doctors this year when I decline the shot. After the year they guessed wrong and most people got an ineffective flu shot, I sort of lost my faith in that system.

    Serious question - so you would rather risk getting the flu every year, than get the vaccine and risk the occasional year that the shot doesn't protect against the flu bug that's going around?

    Also, why? Is it the cost? Fear of needles? Or just that doing so requires taking time out of your schedule to go to a dr. or pharmacy?

    ETA: Before my employer provided it, I wouldn't get it because of the effort I had to go through. I looked at every major pharmacy within a 200 mile radius and none of them would accept assignment of benefits for my insurance, which covered it at 100%. So my options were:

    1. Go to the Dr., pay a co-pay for the dr. visit and get the shot.
    2. Go to a pharmacy, pay for it out of pocket, then file a claim for direct reimbursement with my health insurance.

    I didn't want to spend the money and I didn't want to deal with the paperwork to get reimbursed. Those years, I didn't get the shot.

    That was only 1 year when my employer didn't offer it. Before that, and since then, they contract with a local pharmacy to come in and give everyone a shot who wants it. The employer covers the cost and I get it at work so it is conveniently located and scheduled. I have no fear of needles (I test my own BG and my diabetic cat's BG; and have given myself thousands of injections and have given my cat injections).
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