FLU SHOTS? Not me...

[JessicaR]

I don't think you really had influenza then. It isn't the stomach bug, it is a very nasty 'cold' with a high fever, body aches until your hair hurts type deal. If you had the real influenza you would know.
I get a flu shot because I have HAD influenza and NEVER again. I have gotten a sore arm and once I felt a little off but never sick from the shot.

So true! I asked my father to put me out of my misery and I'm pretty sure I was serious. After that I started getting the shot.

 

[debster812]

DS is getting his tomorrow. He has asthma, and although it gets less and less severe as he gets older, his pediatrician has advised that he still get the flu shot until he goes an entire winter without needing his inhaler and/or nebulizer.

 

[Syrreal]

This will be the 1st year I get it. I literally spent all summer sick with pneumonia and am still recovering. If I catch a bad flu and my bronchitis acts up I could end up in the hospital. I already got the pneumonia vax and will be getting the flu shot this week.

 

[IheartEdward]

I NEVER get the flu shot. I find that just taking my vitamin c and Zinc work against me getting sick. Washing my hands as often as possible and when I get home I try to remove my clothes and shower ASAP.

 

[Pin Wizard]

With chronic diseases running in our family, we get flu shots. Just had mine this past Thursday at work. Haven't had the flu since my early 20s. After that, I started getting the shot each year.

 

[Pixiedust34]

I got my flu shot on Thursday. My arm was a little sore that evening, but otherwise I felt fine after the shot. I've been getting the shot for the past few years and so far have never been sick from the shot.

 

[rparmfamily]

I NEVER get the flu shot. I find that just taking my vitamin c and Zinc work against me getting sick. Washing my hands as often as possible and when I get home I try to remove my clothes and shower ASAP.

I don't take off my clothes and shower but otherwise that's what we do too. I have got 2 flu shots in my life and I've gotten the "real flu" once, and pnumunia once (about 20 yrs ago LOL.) My children get about 1 cold a year and haven't been sicker than that since they were tiny babies. (DS used to catch everything, but now they catch nothing, I think their immunities really built up?)

I know what the "real deal" is and we aren't getting the shot either. DH has to get the Flumist because that's what they do in the Navy.

I do have some sensitivies from egg (not an allergy I think.)

 

[muffyn]

Isn't that the truth? We still mark time with the phrase "You remember that Christmas, when John was little and you had the flu?" Ugh! I've never been so sick in all my life!

no kidding.......
i got the flu for the 1st time in february.. while ON a cruise ship luckily it was a LONG cruise, I spent the last 4 days in bed barely moving. I had never been so sick in my life. luckily there was a test for the flu & was prescribed tami-flu... with out that drug they would have had to take me off in an ambulance,, no way could I have walked.

( a lot of noro virus & flu on that ship)

got my flu shot last week........


I will always , from now on,, get a flu shot & carry tami-flu with me on vacation.

 

[Disney Doll]

I wouldn't know. I don't get them.

I am a normal healthy adult with no chronic illnesses.
I have the immunity of a horse, I believe, due to my profession.

I have had the flu once in my life, probably about 10 years back, and while it was quite unpleasant, I didn't die from it. So my guess is it wouldn't kill me if I got it again.

If I was in a risk category, as I know many folks are, I'd most certainly get it.

 

[PatsMom]

I started getting flu shots while I was in the Air Force. I stopped for several years when I got out but started again after a nasty case of the flu. Now I am an insulin dependent diabetic with COPD so the flu could kill me very easily. I am fortunate that I've never had any problems other than a slight sore arm from the shot. I don't think I've ever felt sick. If I did I might have to re-think having it!

 

[Kies99]

Wife and I and our two kids (dd 5 and dd 7) never get flu shots. Don't see the reason for them. Both the wife and I have had the flu before so we know what it's like, but we just feel there's no real reason to get it.

 

[Erin1700]

My kids always get the flu shot due to my little guy having asthma and my older one has a history of febrile seizures. We never had a problem until this year. They got them last Wenesday night and Rachael had a fever from Friday until last night. She didn't get the flu from it by any means, but I think the fever had something to do with the shot?

 

[PattnFmly]

Our family has never gotten flu shots. I did have the flu once, in 1995 (I know because of which apt I lived in at that time!) and haven't since. Our kids never get more than a cold or a stomach bug .. so far anyways! But for me, I can't even get my cholesterol tested - I'm that terrified of needles. I've passed out more times than I can count from getting needles so no shot for me. Nope Nope Nope. And for the record, they won't let us into certain areas of the hospital I work in if you get the mist because of the live virus or I'd consider that route.

 

[mjkacmom]

I don't think you really had influenza then. It isn't the stomach bug, it is a very nasty 'cold' with a high fever, body aches until your hair hurts type deal. If you had the real influenza you would know.

I get a flu shot because I have HAD influenza and NEVER again. I have gotten a sore arm and once I felt a little off but never sick from the shot.

LOL - I was thinking the same thing. Kind of like saying "I gave birth maybe once or twice" - there are some things you remember!

 

[C.Ann]

I got it one year and got really sick - and I do mean "really" sick.. Skipped it the next year, but had to get it the following year because I now have a medical problem that could result in death if I were to catch the flu.. Yes - I got sick from it again - and I'm sure I'll get sick this year as well.. But - if it's a choice between getting sick for a week or so - or dying if I get the flu - I'll put up with being sick..

Everyone in DD's household will have to get them as well - because I live with them during the flu season.. I feel bad about that, but DD and DGD had no problems with it last year - didn't get sick from it at all.. Her DH had a problem - but not from getting sick.. He is terrified of needles (to the point of nearly passing out) - but he did it for me.. He's a "keeper"..

 

[Chuck S]

I get them every year. I have had my arm swell up and be sore a couple of times, but not evey time. I've not gotten the flu since getting the shots.

 

[gottaluvPluto]

I will get the flu shot, but I won't get the flu nasal spray. That made my husband very ill and he was out of work for a month. First he became ill from the flu and then he was hit with pneumonia.

 

[KikiFan]

I have never gotten sick after a flu shot and I never got the flu the years I got the shot. But the one year I *didn't* get my shot I had two different strains of flu , followed by pneumonia both times. It took me about 4 months to recover!

No thanks. I'll take my chances with the shot.

It's so funny how different peoples experiences are. My mom feels the same way you do. But I've had the opposite experience. The two years my daughter and I got the shot were the worst years for us. We both got sick from the shot and had more colds then ever before. I even wound up in the ER because of my asthma.

The years I don't take the shot I cruise through without even a sniffle. I'm never taking the shot again. I felt like it compromised my immune system - not helped it.

 

[ChrizJen]

I will most certainly be getting mine next Friday. I get one every year.
I usually get a sore arm for a day, and sometimes feel a little sluggish for the rest of the day. But I've never gotten sick from it. I think it's probably coincidence when people get sick right after a Flu shot.

ETA: I've also heard that they change up the vaccine a little every year so that your body can adjust to different strains. If you don't get the shot each year, you may not have immunity to whatever the current "strain" is. In other words, I was told that the more you get the shots, the better off you are, because you've get immunity to more strains of the virus.

 

[4nana]

Sorry to hear the flu shot makes so many ill. I got mine last week, wouldn't take a change missing it as I do day care. Seems weird, but since DH and I began getting ours some years back thankfully we've noticed all around less colds, viruses and illnesses. Then again, maybe it's mental!