Flu Shot Thoughts & Experiences Please

I don't get it as I don't get sick usually during the flu season. However, if I worked around those at risk (IE: Children, elderly etc) I probably would. More so to protect them from my germs.

I got it once about 10 years ago and a few days later, I was picking out burial plots and writing my last will and testament.
OK.. not really but, I DID get really sick.

I have not gotten one since and I have not gotten the flu either.

I have gotten them for a few years because I'm of those auto-immune disorder people. I'm not doing it again. The only problem I've ever had was extreme arm pain at the injection site last year. I never really got the flu anyway and don't want to put anything in my body. I did get the pneumonia shot once and still got it anyway that year. In general though I've only known one person to get sick after the flu shot.

I think it is a personal choice and really depends on a persons individual health.

According to a doc I spoke to when the H1N1 outbreak was going on and I was trying to decide if I should get my girls vaccinated he adivsed me that the flu shot is supposed to be derrived from a "dead" virus where as the one you inhale is supposed to be the "live" virus but weakened. As such, you aren't supposed to get sick after the shot but you can have some symptoms after the inhaled vaccine, and you COULD get people around you sick as, again, it is a "live" virus they give you. However, I have had the shot and gotten sick afterwards and gotten the shot and not gotten sick. Plus, my wife (an RN) saw where there was a study in Canada that basically said there is no difference in people who get the shot versus those who don't in it protecting them. Same numbers still got sick. Now, the CDC in America said the Canadian vaccine is a different vaccine than the one in America.

Now, with all that if your head does not currently hurt might I suggest hitting it against the wall a few times. Personally, I do not get the shot, my wife doesn't get it, and we don't have our girls get it. But I do get the pnuemovac every 4 years as I no longer have my spleen.

I got one last year...no problem. I've gotten mine this year...no problem. I don't usually get the flu but since I work with the public now I would rather be safe than sorry. It's each persons choice. I know some that get very ill from theirs and others like me...no problem!

I used to get the shot when I was younger and my parents took me to get it, but now that I have a choice I do not get it.

You can not get sick from the shot. It takes two weeks to develop immunity to influenza after you get the vaccine. If you get the flu within two weeks of getting the shot, you were probably exposed to the virus right before or right after you were vaccinated. The vaccine is made from killed (shot) or inactivated (nasal spray) virus and can't give you the flu.
I suppose if you have an already compromised immune system than anything is possible but the risk of the flu without the shot is not worth it!

This makes sense.

I never get it though free ones are offered around here.

I have had it for the past 2 years. I never got the flu and I wouldn't have even known I had the shot....no side effects, if thats what you are concerned about.

I have to get the shot per my employer, so I will, but I'm not happy about it. The reason the flu shot doesn't always work is because it's a crap shoot. Here is an excerpt from the CDC's website:

How are the viruses selected to make flu vaccine?
The influenza (flu) viruses selected for inclusion in the seasonal flu vaccines are updated each year based on which influenza virus strains are circulating, how they are spreading, and how well current vaccine strains protect against newly identified strains. Currently, 130 national influenza centers in 101 countries conduct year-round surveillance for influenza and study influenza disease trends. These laboratories also send influenza viruses to the five World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centers for Reference and Research on Influenza located in Atlanta, Georgia, USA (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC); London, United Kingdom (National Institute for Medical Research); Melbourne, Australia (Victoria Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory); Tokyo, Japan (National Institute for Infectious Diseases); and Beijing, China (National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention) for additional analyses.

The seasonal flu vaccine is a trivalent vaccine (a three component vaccine) with each component selected to protect against one of the three main groups of influenza viruses circulating in humans. (Last year's 2009 H1N1 vaccine was made in response to the pandemic first recognized in April 2009. Unlike seasonal flu vaccines, the pandemic vaccine protected against only one flu virus strain, the 2009 H1N1 virus.)

The influenza viruses in the seasonal flu vaccine are selected each year based on surveillance-based forecasts about what viruses are most likely to cause illness in the coming season. WHO recommends specific vaccine viruses for inclusion in influenza vaccines, but then each individual country makes their own decision for which strains should be included in influenza vaccines licensed in their country. In the United States, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determines which vaccine viruses will be used in U.S.—licensed vaccines.

You can not get sick from the shot. It takes two weeks to develop immunity to influenza after you get the vaccine. If you get the flu within two weeks of getting the shot, you were probably exposed to the virus right before or right after you were vaccinated. The vaccine is made from killed (shot) or inactivated (nasal spray) virus and can't give you the flu.
I suppose if you have an already compromised immune system than anything is possible but the risk of the flu without the shot is not worth it!

This makes sense.

I disagree but I wasn't going to say anything. I think the average person's risk of contracting the flu is not nearly as good as the companies promoting the shot would like you to think. I also think that any vaccine that needs to be taken/boosted every single year isn't a vaccine at all. I've been vaccinated for many other things but never had to go back every year for it to be done again. Some part of me deep down inside truly believes the "flu shot" is a money making scam. Call me paranoid...

Before I got flu shots I got the flu almost every year without fail. What the above poster said is true. You cannot get the actual flu from a flu shot. So you were either exposed before the shot took effect, or you are experiencing other mild symptoms from the immune response.

The vaccine is not "boosted" every year. It is a new vaccine because the flu virus is different every year. The vaccine provided is merely the best prediction of the viral strain that will cause the flu that particular flu season.

And remember, the purpose of vaccination is not just to keep you from getting sick, but to keep you from spreading disease. Vaccination is the reason we don't have plagues that kill a million or more people at a time anymore.

I never had gotten the shot until my husband had a stroke and kidney failure then I had to get it to protect him from all the people around us, then continued to get it because my mom had MS and they both had immune issues from their illnesses. If you dont want to get for yourself think of the others you may out at risk unknowingly. And yes the people that get sick are the ones that all ready were exposed from the people not getting the shot. I get mine free at the base and I believe all Military have to get it and I know people who work with children and the elderly have to get it. Just keep yourself safe and think of others who would become deathly ill if they got sick from someone who could have prevented it by getting a shot.

I do not and will not get the flu shot nor will my children.

I've never had a bad experience, but I get it once every now and again cos my doc sneaks it in with my tb tests sometimes.