Modern Vespa

My wife convinced me I should get a flu shot this year so I went and got one yesterday (from my doctor, not from a free flu shot clinic at Jiffy Lube )

I felt like crap all day. Lethargic, achey, just plain.

Is this normal? Maybe I have the flu? That would suck....... wouldn't it?

yeah it can be normal. when they give you a flu shot they are actually infecting you with a very weakened strain of the flu, in order to build immunity up against that particular strain. so it is normal to feel off your game for a few days after you get the shot.

It does happen to some, yes....

Anytime your immune system is highly active, it produces something called alpha interferon. Alpha interferon is responsible for many of the symptoms you're describing, aches and pain, lethargy even fever. When you get an influenza infection your body produces alpha interferon as part of the immune response to fight the infection which then causes some of the symptoms of the flu. When you get a flu shot, your body is mounting an immune reaction as if it was exposed to the flu also producing alpha interferon. Depending on the amount of alpha interferon you make in response to the flushot, you may or may not have these types of symptoms. It isn't the same for everyone, nor will it be the same for every preparation of the flushot. Hope that helps.

I try to drink heavily prior to any doctor appointment. That way I can claim any ill effects are self inflicted.

G

I didn't notice anything with this last flu shot, but in previous years it did. Now, donating blood is another matter and I always feel like crap the next day.

Thankfully I'm in none of the 'vulnerable' categories that are advised to have flu jabs.

Hope it works out of your system OK.

As a teacher, they tell us to get the flu shot because we're always around sick kids and germs tend to hang out in the class. The one year I decided to get the shot, I got sick. I haven't done it since and I've never gotten the flu. I have a big bottle of that germ-killing stuff on my desk and a big one by the sink that the kids use all the time.

Fat Rat I hope you're feeling better soon!

Benny---LOVE your medical explanation!

Generally, the flu vaccine is a dead virus, therefore unable to give you the flu. Apparently, there is a new vaccine coming out that is a weakened strain of the flu, but I don't know if it is out, yet. (The nasal spray is an attenuated live virus, but shouldn't give you the flu symptoms, either)

Sometimes, you may have been exposed to something just prior to receiving the vaccine, and are having symptoms from that. This is what gives some people the idea that they got the flu from the vaccine.

WASH YOUR HANDS...DON'T TOUCH YOUR FACE...WASH YOUR HANDS

You get the flu (and other viruses) from hand to nose/eyes contact. Ignaz Semmelweis figured it out in 1847, but we have trouble remembering the concept.

Dee

Yep. I kept getting that ill feeling after I got my free shots at the district office. Then, after I told my doctor about my reaction to the shot - feeling sick, nauseous, flegmy and tired - she suggested my reaction could be allergic. I have an allergy to eggs, and egg whites are used as a carrier in the flu shots. Stopped the shots, stopped getting the sick feeling.

Also, I'm working on a way to rig a Purell mist system at my classroom door, like the A/C blowers in Vegas casinos.

the flu-like symptoms you are experiencing may also be caused to the nanoprobes and tracing systems being injected into you by the government during the flu shot. wearing a tinfoil hat can block the initial calibrating signals and improve your symptoms.

Placebo.

the guy down the street that i just waxed his car got the flu shot and he said it made him feel sick...... a friend of ours never got the flu shot before and took her daughter to the doctors for something and her daughter convinced her to get the shot, and she become sicker than she had ever been... and other friend of ours always gets the flu shot and is always sick.....

our family never have gotten one ..... and when we feel like something is coming on we take a shot of 101 wild turkey, and drink hot tea with honey... we have not been really sick, like sick, sick, in years.....

like the simpson's show said " flu shots are for the way the government keeps track of you"

This isn't exactly true.
It's been a while since my miro biology class but the whole process was explained to me like this:

The virus is actually dead. The flu virus can be "revived" if it comes in contact with live versions of the virus. So technically you may have already had the flu before the shot and the shot would just amplify the reaction.

ah, that's it.

isn't there also a deal where it only protects you against one strain of the virus, and if the "big" strain that year isn't the one that they prepped the flu shot for, the flu shot did nothing and could even make the strain that you get hit you harder? or am i mixing even more things up?

From what I understand they try and protect from what the CDC predicts will be problematic for the year. I may be completely wrong though.

The vaccine is usually 3 strains. They pick 2 strains that were around last year, and "guestimate" which one may be present this year. It is a turkey-shoot, but they do the best they can.

For those interested, there is a wonderful book called "The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague In History" by John M. Barry. It is a large, very readable history of the flu and focuses on the panepidemic of 1918. There are some surprising similarities between the early research of the flu and early research into the HIV virus...lots of scientific backstabbing with resulting unnecessary deaths. Will remind you of "And the Band Played On" by Randy Shilts.


Dee

I work in a hospital and they advise us to get them as well. I've never been so sick as the year I got the flu shot. I just don't get them anymore.

It's funny because I figure working in a hospital I'm pretty much immune to everything but ebola. I think that being around kids and those sickly hospital strengthens your immune system. I could be wrong, though.

My unit, last year, did the nasal spray inoculation. I had already had mine (via shot) so I didn't have to do it. There were a bunch of soldiers that complained about getting "sick" afterwards. Who knows why though.

I've received the flushot yearly now for over 15 years, more like 18 or so. I've only ever had one reaction to it. A vast majority of my patients who I give the shot also have little reaction to the shot.

I'm scheduled for my flu shot this Thursday. I have done the shot on and off for over 10 years and never had a problem with it. Hope this trend continues as I don't want to get sick on Thursday afternoon at 2pm (MN time).

Yes, but the ones who do, do they tell you how awful it is?

If you had influenza, it would be no mystery, acute onset, fever 102F-104F, cough, aches chills, it would last for 5-10 days. Benito is correct about mild symptoms after vaccination. The injectable vaccine in the US does not contain a live virus, however the nasal spray does (attenuated). Generally speaking, after being exposed to a pathogen, incubation could be from 3-10 days before symptoms show.

My understanding is that vaccine producers track flu season in the southern hemisphere and make their best guess as to which 3 strains are the most virulent. For details see http://www.cdc.gov/FLU/protect/keyfacts.htm

when I was younger I got the flu often but like Benito I have gotten the flu shot for the past 18 years. I have only had the flu once in all those years, (Awful, just awful!) I lost 12 pounds during 10 days of illness.I also lost 7 days of work. To echo Dee WASH YOUR HANDS...DON'T TOUCH YOUR FACE...WASH YOUR HANDS

Just a reminder, 36,000 people die each year in the US from influenza and complications associated with flu.

I always ask them at their next follow up appointment about it which is why I know. This is 15 years worth of follow up and thousands of flushots now.