How Do You Feel About The Flu Shot?

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Replies

  • coyoteo
    coyoteo Posts: 532 Member
    If I were you, I would go get my religious exemption form signed and not get it. I'm not sure where you are from, but here you can either claim religious exemption or get a note from your doctor if you can dream up a medical reason you don't want it. I have no desire to have Thimerosal or any other magical chemical injected in me...I would much rather have the flu. :) Shame on your work for forcing employees to make that choice!
  • robinxhope
    robinxhope Posts: 125 Member
    In the event it actually helps the EXTREMELY vulnerable population I work with; I'm willing to get it.
  • latinahada
    latinahada Posts: 168
    I'm a nurse but no flu shots for this family!! Long story short...2 years ago my daughter ended up seriously ill after getting the flu shot, had surgery and a chest tube placed and was hospitalized for 5 days. All of that being said, that all took place after her being sick for 2 weeks, me taking her to 2 ER's & 2 clinic visits and FINALLY someone figured out what was wrong with her. They believe the flu is what caused all of the problems she experienced. I give both of my kids vitamins & probiotics daily, have taught them good hand hygiene, keep Clorox anywhere spray and Lysol all around the house...I have no faith in the flu shot, period.
  • manderson27
    manderson27 Posts: 3,510 Member
    My company offered it free and I took it every year for 12 years, never had flu. Might have been just lucky but no ill effects either way.
  • luckyinlife
    luckyinlife Posts: 81 Member
    It is HORRIBLE FOR YOU!!! Health does NOT come from a needle!!!!!!!!!
  • sunnyskyjb
    sunnyskyjb Posts: 258 Member
    I know someone who has not vaccinated their child. At all.
  • GetFitE
    GetFitE Posts: 247 Member
    I work in a hospital and was required to take the flu shot as well, or I would lose my job. Since I NEED the job, I did whatever I had to in order to keep it. Thankfully they offered it free. I had no side effects from the shot at all--never got sick or had any soreness or anything. By the time I went from having the shot to walking to my car, I didn't even feel like I had had one. My day nor my life had been interrupted in any way.
  • Stefanie7125
    Stefanie7125 Posts: 462 Member
    i have never gotten the shot and never will. My children haven't either, the mercury levels have me concerned. Not to start trouble, but I really think its just a money making scheme. Fortunately, we are all very healthy. We have never had the flu hit our household. My 13 yr old has NEVER missed a day of school. Good genes?
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    It is HORRIBLE FOR YOU!!! Health does NOT come from a needle!!!!!!!!!

    Tell that to smallpox and polio.
  • paladeac
    paladeac Posts: 81 Member
    I never get the flu.

    Until this year.

    I spent all last week in bed and am dragging this week.

    I wish I'd gotten the shot.
  • ShapeUpSidney
    ShapeUpSidney Posts: 1,092 Member
    I got swine flu before the vaccine was available. It sucked.
  • ShapeUpSidney
    ShapeUpSidney Posts: 1,092 Member
    I also don't really appreciate all you Typhoid Marys out there that refuse to vaccinate. I get that it's your personal choice, but I'm not a fan of willful vectors.

    PS: wash your hands!
  • xMedullaOblongatax
    xMedullaOblongatax Posts: 136
    I think it's everyone's preference (more or less necessity-based) to get flu shots.

    It's been 10 years since I've had a flu shot. When I turned 18 and got out on my own, I was so poor for the next 6 years that I couldn't afford a $15 shot. Yes... if I saved every last penny left in my bank account after buying basic necessities, paying the bills, and budgeting like crazy, I would come up far short of $15. =(

    If I got sick, then I threw on a blanket, replaced all of my liquid intake with green tea, ate soup, and played some video games. I let my immune system do its job, and I generally recovered within the week. I spent years doing this, and it strengthened my immune system. Nowadays, I get sick maybe once a year, and I work and travel among a LOT of people - lots of coughers, sneezers, and wheezers. If I get sick, its a 24-hr flu or a 4-day fever.

    I know it's not this way for everyone - there are some people who NEED the shot, and there is no room for negotiation. There are some people who are better off without them, and I'm part of the latter. I remember my last flu shot very well... my life became hell for 2 weeks. Things were so bad that I was in pain every time I drank water or swallowed broth. I was in and out of consciousness for days, I was just flat out messed-up. Never again D:
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    I think it's everyone's preference (more or less necessity-based) to get flu shots.

    It's been 10 years since I've had a flu shot. When I turned 18 and got out on my own, I was so poor for the next 6 years that I couldn't afford a $15 shot. Yes... if I saved every last penny left in my bank account after buying basic necessities, paying the bills, and budgeting like crazy, I would come up far short of $15. =(

    If I got sick, then I threw on a blanket, replaced all of my liquid intake with green tea, ate soup, and played some video games. I let my immune system do its job, and I generally recovered within the week. I spent years doing this, and it strengthened my immune system. Nowadays, I get sick maybe once a year, and I work and travel among a LOT of people - lots of coughers, sneezers, and wheezers. If I get sick, its a 24-hr flu or a 4-day fever.

    I know it's not this way for everyone - there are some people who NEED the shot, and there is no room for negotiation. There are some people who are better off without them, and I'm part of the latter. I remember my last flu shot very well... my life became hell for 2 weeks. Things were so bad that I was in pain every time I drank water or swallowed broth. I was in and out of consciousness for days, I was just flat out messed-up. Never again D:

    The problem is that although YOU don't get sick or get better, you could end up being a carrier for a disease that could kill someone else. It's not really about the individual but a matter of public health.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    I also don't really appreciate all you Typhoid Marys out there that refuse to vaccinate. I get that it's your personal choice, but I'm not a fan of willful vectors.

    PS: wash your hands!

    LOL @ Typhoid Mary's comment. I gotta use that sometime in the future (though not sure where just yet).

    Also, I wholeheartedly agree with your comment.
  • skateboardstef
    skateboardstef Posts: 164 Member
    I've actually never had a flu shot, I probably should get them though. I work in a children's hospital and we get them for free. I had the swine flu a couple years back and it sucked! I remember laying in bed trying to get enough energy just to take a drink of water. It was probably the sickest I've ever been.
  • xMedullaOblongatax
    xMedullaOblongatax Posts: 136
    The problem is that although YOU don't get sick or get better, you could end up being a carrier for a disease that could kill someone else. It's not really about the individual but a matter of public health.

    I totally get where you are coming from! However, I could be a carrier for the disease whether or not I took the shot. All it takes is someone sneezing on the back of my clothes, and then another person to bump into me! =(

    I am TOTALLY for disease prevention, good hygiene, and good health practices. However, getting a flu shot will *wreck* me, they always have.
  • gp79
    gp79 Posts: 1,799 Member
    It's the responsible thing to do. As an employer where the bottom line is at stake, it's likely a good business decision as well.
  • tikikris
    tikikris Posts: 81 Member
    Against! Who really knows what's in those things.
  • Hoaimy
    Hoaimy Posts: 16
    My family is split on this issue too. Out of the 6 of us, 3 get regularly flu shots, 3 adamantly refuse to. However, when one of the stubborns just came down with the flu, he was sure wishing he had gotten the flu shot.
  • Josie_lifting_cats
    Josie_lifting_cats Posts: 949 Member
    Loaded with a mega dose of mercury.
    Not going to start an argument about the safety of thimerosal. But the FluMist nasal spray vaccine and all single-dose vials do not contain thimerosal.
    and we survived
    Lucky you. Approximately 36,000 people a year are not so lucky.

    I am in love with you.

    Mercury is not in all of the flu shots - I highly recommend people do their research before going off on a tangent that doesn't even affect half of the population.

    Also, the flu shot is only good for a few strains each year, it is hardly a guarantee.

    I get them when pregnant, because getting the flu (primarily influenza B) while pregnant is strongly correlated with your children's odds of schizophrenia later in life (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090609073032.htm). Otherwise I'm not too paranoid about it. Last year no one in the household got them. The year I was pregnant with my daughter my son caught H1N1, and he was pretty miserable. They treated me, but the vaccines weren't in yet, so nothing we could have done earlier - and I didn't get it.
  • catgirl711
    catgirl711 Posts: 59
    Well, I work at a hospital as well and the CDC and another large group came out with recommendations that any hospital worker that comes in contact with patients either has to get a flu shot or you get to wear a surgical mask within 6 feet of a patient during flu season (approx six months)

    Personally, I'll get a flu shot. Those surgical masks are not made to be worn for the majority of a 12 hour shift (obviously changing them between patients)

    I think it is unfair that they would tell you get it or lose your job. That is unreasonable. But get one or wear a mask all the time. That one at least gives you a reasonable choice.
  • LethaSue
    LethaSue Posts: 285 Member
    Would have to let them fire me as I had one once and it felt like I was at deaths door for 3 weeks.
  • fasmoodle
    fasmoodle Posts: 5
    My doctor won't get it so why should I? No coincidence that a couple years ago when scare about vaccine statistics showed a drop in reported incidence of flu world wide ....flu shot only shortens period you have the flu by 1 day...it does not prevent you from getting it....
  • Josie_lifting_cats
    Josie_lifting_cats Posts: 949 Member
    If I were you, I would go get my religious exemption form signed and not get it. I'm not sure where you are from, but here you can either claim religious exemption or get a note from your doctor if you can dream up a medical reason you don't want it. I have no desire to have Thimerosal or any other magical chemical injected in me...I would much rather have the flu. :) Shame on your work for forcing employees to make that choice!

    From what I understand this isn't easy at all. Not to scare you away from it, but I think you need this notarized and have to prove the religious exemption now if your employer is requiring it. And I've heard stories where people fought against getting it, got the religious exemption, and then got fired soon after for something else - completely unrelated, and nothing they could do about it.
  • ReverendJim
    ReverendJim Posts: 260 Member
    I wouldn't go without one.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    The problem is that although YOU don't get sick or get better, you could end up being a carrier for a disease that could kill someone else. It's not really about the individual but a matter of public health.

    I totally get where you are coming from! However, I could be a carrier for the disease whether or not I took the shot. All it takes is someone sneezing on the back of my clothes, and then another person to bump into me! =(

    That argument works for things like the common cold, but vaccinations against diseases like smallpox, malaria, polio, the measles, and other life-threatening diseases are another matter entirely. Seasonal flu is responsible for an average of 36,000 deaths per year in the US alone. That number is higher in other countries where vaccination is not possible or practical.
  • Josie_lifting_cats
    Josie_lifting_cats Posts: 949 Member
    Metal poisoning from mercury, lead, aluminum and who knows what other metals are linked to alzheimers, autism, etc.

    No they aren't. Please stop with your conspiracy theories and spreading of misinformation.

    Everyone should do their own research from a variety of sources and make a decision that is right for them. It's unfortunate that sensationalist news stories get accepted as fact even after they've been disputed. A story about how something is KILLING US ALL is much more interesting than a story about something that isn't.

    eta: I'll give you lead, but the link between mercury and autism and between aluminum and alzheimers have weak evidence at best

    Yeah, they've pretty much completely debunked the mercury-autism link myth.
  • ARMom8251
    ARMom8251 Posts: 194
    I don't do it....I've had two and once I got the flu right after, and the next time I got pneumonia so no thank you responsible or not I just am not one for that crap!
  • jmsmitty123
    jmsmitty123 Posts: 1
    I went years without taking the flu shot. Three years in a row I took the shot, and without fail within 2 days I was sick for 3-5 days. This year, I decided not to, and I feel great... no flu bug.

    Other than when I took the flu shot, I've never had a stomach bug last more than 24 hours. Let's see, 100% of being sick for 3-5 days with the shot, no thanks!
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