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.