NOS88

I received my first flu shot on Tuesday. I was told it was not a live virus version. Since Wednesday morning I've felt like.... well, like I have the flu. I called my family physician and he believes the two are not related. Perhaps he is correct, but I still wonder. I was hoping to get in a 60 miler this Sunday, but don't think there is any chance that's going to happen.

Are there others who have gotten flu shots and what have your experiences been?

locolobo13 

I almost always get them and have no problems. That said, some people do experience flu symptoms after the shots. The ones I have known who did suffer the symptoms after the shot the Drs always tell them it's not related.

Hope you feel better soon.

jimmuller 

My sweetie and I always get them, have never had a problem.

Hope you feel better. Consider that you have prevented yourself from becoming a carrier. You're being good to society!

bud16415

I have had similar results to you. I know the “flu” I might get from the shot isn’t anything close to the Flu though. Could be 2 things I’m told. First a slight reaction to the shot building the immunity in your body. The second thing is it takes a couple weeks until you have built immunity and you could have caught something in between times. One year I got the shot for flu X it’s all a guess I think as to what they think is coming. Then I get flu Z. The doc told me chances are it helped some anyway. Hard to tell. Maybe a real doctor will weigh in.

ChrisM2097

I have never gotten one. To me, it's kind of pointless to prevent against getting last year's strain. I've had the flu once in the past 15 years...picked it up during a cross-country flight.

Reading this like this only reenforce my desire to avoid most vaccines:
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...e-exposed.aspx

Shamrock

I always get the flue shot and always feel sick the day after.But the day after the day after I feel better.

aRoudy1

During the 21 years I was in the Marines I received a flu shot every year; I got the flu 9 times. In the 30 years that I've been retired I've not gotten a flu shot and have had the flu twice.

David Bierbaum

I usually have no problem with them, but this year, it hit me with general pain in my shot arm, and general out-of-energy blahs for the following two days.

wphamilton

I decline flu shots, and that's one reason why. Flu vaccinations slow or prevent the spread of the flu through the general population, but aren't necessarily in the individual's best interest. Especially if a high enough percentage of the population is vaccinated, your chances of catching the flu are reduced without having the shot.

[h=3]What are the side effects that could occur?[/h]

• Soreness, redness, or swelling where the shot was given
• Fever (low grade)
• Aches

The intradermal flu shot may cause other additional mild side effects including:

• Toughness and itching where the shot was given

If these problems occur, they begin soon after the shot and usually last one to two days.
[h=3]Can severe problems occur?[/h]Life-threatening allergic reactions are very rare. Signs of serious allergic reaction can include breathing problems, hoarseness or wheezing, hives, paleness, weakness, a fast heartbeat, or dizziness. If they do occur, it is within a few minutes to a few hours after the shot.

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/flushot.htm#whatare

Bill Kapaun

I've had them the last 3 years.
1 Started feeling crappy that night until the next afternoon.
2 No side effects.
3 Don't know, since I had a 12" titanium rod inserted in my tibia that morning. I was already feeling pretty crappy from that, so who knows for sure. I "think" it helped me feel crappier.

tsl

I never got them right up until I caught H1N1. That knocked me on my ass for 3-4 weeks, and I wasn't really right for another six months. Gave me some respect for the bug.

So I get them now. Probably a good idea anyway since I work with kids, the public, and all. I do get a mild reaction from it, but it's not enough to really slow me down for that couple of days.

This year I got a T-DAP at the same time. No complications with even the two. I'm too young, not a smoker, and only pre-diabetic, so they won't give me the pneumonia one.

himespau 

Man that T-Dap one is the beast. Last time I got that I couldn't lift my arm without pain for 2-3 days. And wouldn't you know it, right that afternoon, I had to spend the whole afternoon doing stuff that required very fine motor control under a microscope with that arm.

Ali_Pine

Flu Shots given at hospitals/doctors offices may put you at risk.... There's a bunch of sick people there.

If you got 'sick' it probably wasn't caused by the shot. You caught something from somebody.

El Segundo

Been taking the shots for several years without any side effects. Could be an allergy to something in the vaccine itself.

Bikey Mikey

The Flu shot takes about 2 weeks before you have any protection. Just because you got the shot, it doesn't mean you won't get the flu, but often it means if you do get sick it will be not nearly as severe.

Being diabetic, I get the flu shot every year. I got mine back in September. My last doc visit in mid November, I got both the Tdap and Shingles shot--other than some slight soreness from the Tdap, I had no issues.

JohnDThompson 

From the Mercola article: This is deceptive because viral influenza can progress into bacterial pneumonia. Mercola's statistic does not tell us how many of the 36,000 deaths attributed to influenza that he dismisses were from pneumonias developed subsequent to influenza infection.

Timtruro

Any reactions to the shot usually subside within a couple of days so unless its something more serious that you may have picked up prior to the shot, you should be good to go by Sunday.

trackhub

I've been getting an annual flu shot every year in the fall, since turning 50. This was strongly suggested by my PCP. Never a reaction to any of them.
Bear in mind, it's not totally fool proof. I think they design the vaccine to fight what will be the most common forms of the nasty bug in a given year,
but there are always "wild cards" in the viral deck of cards.

mapeiboy

The best way to keep the virus at bay is eat healthy ( build up immune system in the body ) , exercise often , wash your hands often during the day .

CrankyFranky

I get the flu shot every year, as early as possible. I've had allergic asthma/hyper-reactive airways since about 4 years old, and when I get the flu, it's a 6-8 week affair. Never had an adverse reaction, not even a sore arm. OP likely was just plain unlucky.

Yes, the combinatorial jiggery-pokery that the CDC uses to predict the next season's predicted sets of flu mutations is a probabalistic best guess, but I simply can't afford to get the big one. Wifelet works in the school system, and she brings enough stuff home to keep a doctor busy for a long time. If we lived like hermits, it might be a different story. I don't think that the endeavor that generates the flu vaccines is full of idiots or jokers.

mprelaw

In 59 years, I've never had a flu shot, and have never had the flu.

I haven't even had a cold in 3 years. Not since I changed my entire life style.

campngolf

Nineteen years flu shot vet here. I've felt crappy a few times the day after the shot, but have not had the "Big I" during that time. And now that I'm in my Elite 50's I plan to continue getting my annual shot.

JanMM

Don't remember having flu since about 1973.
Not sure when I started getting the vaccine annually but haven't missed for at least a couple of decades. No flu. Minimal reaction to the injection - none in recent years.
I'm a believer in vaccination, generally. Can help lessen the chance of getting influenza or lessen the severity if flu is contracted.
Herd immunity is a good thing, too. The more people who are vaccinated, less risk for non-vaccinated folks to catch flu.

Six jours

I get the vaccination every year, as the flu damn near killed me on two separate occasions. And just about every time I get vaccinated, the following day sucks - aches, fever, and nausea. It's obviously not the flu, but it's still no fun. I consider it a fair price to avoid being hospitalized, again, by the flu.

Shimagnolo

I had a flu shot every year for the last 10 years, and I've never had a side-effect from it.

I started making a point of getting it after the last time I had the flu and couldn't eat or sleep for 4 days. I haven't had the flu since I started getting the shots.