Flu shots - do you get them?

[Terrywoodenpic]

I had one once, and it gave me the flu (the only time I have had the flu too).

The vaccine did not give you flue.
You might simply have caught a different strain. Probably an earlier one that you had never been vaccinated for or contacted.

 

[Gjallarhorn]

The vaccine did not give you flue.
You might simply have caught a different strain. Probably an earlier one that you had never been vaccinated for or contacted.

Considering the vaccine is merely a strain that was rendered "dead", which isn't always 100%, I feel safe in my assumption.

 

[Alceste]

If something only lasted a day then chances are it wasn't the flu anyway. There are bugs that may mimic and seem like the flu, but pass through the system rather quickly and to a much lesser extent than the actual flu. One may just have a simple viral "bug" that a flu shot wouldn't have helped anyway. Something thrown under the heading of gastroenteritis or the like.

Food poisoning is quite flu like and only lasts a day.

Considering the vaccine is merely a strain that was rendered "dead", which isn't always 100%, I feel safe in my assumption.

I also got flu symptoms from the shot this year - the only time I've ever had the shot. The symptoms started the day I got the shot. Fever, chills, sweats, muscle pains, splitting headache. I missed two days of work, which cost me a couple hundred bucks. I totally believe you. It's a common side effect, as it turns out.

I'm also allergic to amoxycillin (an antibiotic). I've since met several other people who got a head to toe rash from it as well. Also a common side effect, as it turns out.

In both cases, the doctors said nothing about these risks, and downplayed my concerns about side effects. In general, I disbelieve doctors when they tell me a pharmaceutical is safe and / or necessary.

 

[HonestJoe]

Because a couple of these myths have already popped up in the thread;

6 Flu Vaccine Myths | MyHealthNewsDaily.com

 

[Alceste]

Because a couple of these myths have already popped up in the thread;

6 Flu Vaccine Myths | MyHealthNewsDaily.com

Myth number one directly contradicts my recent personal experience, where I was in fact bedridden for two days with fever, chills, aches and pains, and unable to work.

How am I supposed to take the rest of the article seriously? either the doctors in the interview are lying or they don't know what they're talking about.

 

[Falvlun]

Myth number one directly contradicts my recent personal experience, where I was in fact bedridden for two days with fever, chills, aches and pains, and unable to work.

How am I supposed to take the rest of the article seriously? either the doctors in the interview are lying or they don't know what they're talking about.

Sorry, but I think I'd trust the opinion of the medical establishment, over peoples' self-diagnosis.

 

[Alceste]

Sorry, but I think I'd trust the opinion of the medical establishment, over peoples' self-diagnosis.

Lol. Psst, that was a blog article you posted, not "the opinion of the medical establishment". Any ******* can write a blog. If I put my opinion on my blog along with some quotes from doctors who agree with it will I suddenly be more credible to you?

 

[Draka]

Everytime I get my kids their vaccines there is a paper of information that goes along with each shot that lists the possible side effects of the shots. Many of the times the side effects seem to mimic the actual symptoms of the said disease the vaccine is for. Why? Because...the vaccine does give you the disease in effect. Although supposedly dead in form, so that your body can build antibodies against it. Is it any wonder that some people have adverse reactions to even what is suppose to be considered the "dead" forms of the disease? Sure, the symptoms may not last as long, but for some unfortunate few, it can still be enough to land them in the hospital. If it wasn't, they wouldn't feel it necessary to put these warnings of what to look for and when to seek immediate treatment on these information papers handed out with vaccines. So, of course it is going to put out publically that the shot doesn't give you the flu, while that might be technically true by some extent, the side effects of the shot mimic the flu for many people and advertising that fact would decrease how many people seek the shot.

 

[MysticSang'ha]

I was given information of what possible side effects might surface due to getting the flu shot. My daughter got the same information. We were also told that it would probably take a couple of weeks before we'd have the immunity to the strain(s) our shots were giving us.

Neither one of us got sick from the shot.

 

[Panda]

I've never bothered with it. Other people need them more and I don't see the benefit in wasting my doctors time getting one.

 

[Alceste]

Everytime I get my kids their vaccines there is a paper of information that goes along with each shot that lists the possible side effects of the shots. Many of the times the side effects seem to mimic the actual symptoms of the said disease the vaccine is for. Why? Because...the vaccine does give you the disease in effect. Although supposedly dead in form, so that your body can build antibodies against it. Is it any wonder that some people have adverse reactions to even what is suppose to be considered the "dead" forms of the disease? Sure, the symptoms may not last as long, but for some unfortunate few, it can still be enough to land them in the hospital. If it wasn't, they wouldn't feel it necessary to put these warnings of what to look for and when to seek immediate treatment on these information papers handed out with vaccines. So, of course it is going to put out publically that the shot doesn't give you the flu, while that might be technically true by some extent, the side effects of the shot mimic the flu for many people and advertising that fact would decrease how many people seek the shot.

I was given information of what possible side effects might surface due to getting the flu shot. My daughter got the same information. We were also told that it would probably take a couple of weeks before we'd have the immunity to the strain(s) our shots were giving us.

Neither one of us got sick from the shot.

That's interesting. We weren't given any information about the side effects, but the doctor did explain that this year's shot is not well matched to the flu strain circulating in this area, and that the shot probably wouldn't do us any good as a result. He also expressed his opinion that the increase in flu hysteria he's seen over the past few years is not matched by any corresponding increase in the seriousness of catching the flu.

He still gave us the shot, of course, but made no secret of his opinion it was a complete waste of time. I had to ask about side effects and he said they are extremely rare. So either he's a quack or I was unlucky.

 

[bobhikes]

I got pneumonia from the flu one year. It got pretty bad. I was told that it could develop again with the flu. Since then I have gotten the flu shot every year and its great. My arm is sore for a little bit but no other problems. I always know when my kids get the flu because its the one time they don't get me sick.

My wife is against the flu shot and will not let the kids get the shot even though the doctor badgers her to do it.

 

[Falvlun]

Lol. Psst, that was a blog article you posted, not "the opinion of the medical establishment". Any ******* can write a blog. If I put my opinion on my blog along with some quotes from doctors who agree with it will I suddenly be more credible to you?

I didn't post that article.

If you think that any of those claims in that article are incorrect, then you are free to show that. But the standard cry "the flu vaccine gave me the flu!" without any confirmation that it actually was the flu, and in the face of scientific facts about how vaccines work, is hardly convincing.

 

[Alceste]

I didn't post that article.

If you think that any of those claims in that article are incorrect, then you are free to show that. But the standard cry "the flu vaccine gave me the flu!" without any confirmation that it actually was the flu, and in the face of scientific facts about how vaccines work, is hardly convincing.

The flu shot gave me flu symptoms - fever, chills, muscle aches and two days of headaches that made it impossible for me to work. I'm pretty sure I never said "the flu shot gave me the flu", but I can't be bothered to reread the whole thread to find out.

Sorry for mistaking you for the person who posted the blog article I was responding to in the post you quoted. These things can get confusing, can't they!

 

[AdityaMookerjee]

It's serious, because no one dies of normal flu. Normal flu was like Bird Flu and Swine Flu is now. We found the cure, when flu was an epidemic deadly, and then people didn't die of flu, without the medicine. We must not treat swine flu, bird flu, without regard, and also not normal flu.

 

[HonestJoe]

Myth number one directly contradicts my recent personal experience, where I was in fact bedridden for two days with fever, chills, aches and pains, and unable to work.

Just because you caught flu after getting a flu shot doesn't automatically mean the flu shot caused your flu. That's a correlation/causation fallacy.

There is nothing in a flu vaccine that will give you flu. There are though lots of different strains around and a vaccine will only protect you from the most common. It will also only protect you after a shot period of time following the jab.
How can you honestly dismiss out of hand the perfectly reasonable possibilities that you either caught flu before the protection of the vaccine had set in or you caught a rarer strain that was not covered by the vaccine?

How am I supposed to take the rest of the article seriously? either the doctors in the interview are lying or they don't know what they're talking about.

Well they're saying one thing and you're saying another so there is an obvious alternative to your conclusion.

 

[HonestJoe]

It's serious, because no one dies of normal flu.

That isn't exactly true. Healthy adults don't die of flu. Patients with existing vulnerability can and do die of flu every year. Vaccination is (should be!) about protecting them, directly or indirectly.

 

[Draka]

Just because you caught flu after getting a flu shot doesn't automatically mean the flu shot caused your flu. That's a correlation/causation fallacy.

There is nothing in a flu vaccine that will give you flu. There are though lots of different strains around and a vaccine will only protect you from the most common. It will also only protect you after a shot period of time following the jab.
How can you honestly dismiss out of hand the perfectly reasonable possibilities that you either caught flu before the protection of the vaccine had set in or you caught a rarer strain that was not covered by the vaccine?

Well they're saying one thing and you're saying another so there is an obvious alternative to your conclusion.

I keep seeing reading comprehension issues here. First off, as I've said before, if you only have it a day or two it's not the actual flu. She said a couple days and she didn't say she had the flu...she said she had flu symptoms. That the shot gave her flu symptoms. That the shot gave her flu symptoms so bad it took her out of commission for a couple days. That she was so sick she missed work. So, yes, the shot made her sick. It may not have given her the actual flu, but the shot did have such bad side effects on her as to lay her out for a while with symptoms equivalent to the flu itself. The very thing it was suppose to keep her from suffering from. That is indeed possible as many vaccines have side effects that can range up to the very symptoms of the very things they are suppose to immunize you against. Anyone that has taken children for vaccines and gets the little handouts on each vaccine and bothers to read them can attest to that. Yes...you can feel sick as a side effect of a vaccine. That is what Alceste is saying happened to her.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

No scientific studies? Really?

CDC- Flu vaccine effectiveness

So, how much has the use of flu vaccines reduced the number of people who get the flu in the general population? Please be specific.

 

[HonestJoe]

I keep seeing reading comprehension issues here. First off, as I've said before, if you only have it a day or two it's not the actual flu.

In which case her example isn't a contradiction of the myth being referred to, which is that a flu vaccination can give you flu.

So, yes, the shot made her sick.

No, she got the flu shot and she was ill shortly afterwards. Correlation doesn't prove causation. It could have been the cause but so could countless other things.

It may not have given her the actual flu, but the shot did have such bad side effects on her as to lay her out for a while with symptoms equivalent to the flu itself.

It's possible she suffered from a very extreme side-effect of the vaccination but it isn't the only explanation for her experience and I don't think the most likely based on her limited description.

That is indeed possible as many vaccines have side effects that can range up to the very symptoms of the very things they are suppose to immunize you against.

Vaccines containing live viruses can indeed give you mild symptoms of what they're vaccinating you against. Flu vaccines do not contain live virus though.