Well folks all the tests are in and I am totally healthy and my chest is clear. Now what am I going to do for the incentive to quit smoking, sheesh.
Got my shot about a month ago and it's saved me from the most awful flu that's been making the rounds of the uninoculated. Like others here, I skipped last year and suffered for it. It cost me $20, but I figure if I HAD gotten the flu instead of the shot, I'd have spent at least that much in Kleenex and over-the-counter meds. From now on, I get one every year!
blacksmithn- Smart- very smart that you got the shot. Years ago, probably when the flu vaccine was in short supply, it was reccommended for the elderly, and those with chronic ailments, like asthma.
Now I have been reading that MDs feel that the flu shot is valuable for everybody. I have a friend who is a nurse. She was working for a service that was giving out flu shots all over the area. She told me that she was surprised to see so many kids taking the shot!
Glad to hear it JD! Now, quit smoking!
No! I will not be getting a flu shot. I 'm pretty healthy and so, I don't anticipate getting the flu.
NOBODY anticipates getting the flu. Then you get it.
blacksmithn's got that in one.
Joanne...
Glad to hear you're doing so much better! If you need help quitting smoking, just ask on here, and your friends will give you encouragement. We care, and we know you can do it.
New Haven...
You are a very brave person. There are 5 different strains of flu in vaccine this year. That's a lot. Usually there are only 1 or 2. The odds are not in your favor...I'd get a shot.
I got my shot a couple of weeks ago. Like Joanne, I had a very hard time recovering from the last flu I had.I've gotten the shot ever since.I have a $10 copay at my doc's office, so that's what I paid. but there are lots of places around which are giving them for free. (Mostly in the mornings, or before 2 or something. Too early for me.)
My ex is a mailman. He would get the flu every year. It's VERY hot in the PO, where they have to stay for a few hours, getting their routes ready to take out. The mailmen pass the flu around every year-it's like a flu breeding ground in there. So of course I was treated to it every year. The last time I caught it, not only was I weak for months afterwards, but that flu went through my entire body, so that every muscle in my body ached severely, in turn, for about 5 days. A regular anatomy lesson. So educational....NOT!
The only thing I learned was..to get mt flu shot every year hence!
As to sinus trouble-I'm the queen. My doc had me on daily Claritin for years. But Claritin didnt really do the trick. I had a very bad sinus infection a couple of years ago and saw a specialist. HE put me on Guifenisin, which is like Robitussin in pill form. Helps enormously w/post-nasal drip. And then one-spray-a day Rhinocort(water-base). They've been doing VERY well for me. I use them both year-round.
And Echinacea and Astragalus tinctures all winter.
My doc wants $25 for the flu shot. I said, "no. Your price is too high."
Maybe a less mercenary provider will appear before it's too late to get the shot. (I am over 50, have respiratory problems and should have the shot. But $25 . . .?)
Yes, and never again. I was so ill for about two weeks.
Tommy- Did you have flu like symptoms, or was your illness an allergic reaction to the shot?
Just re-checked the link that Phoenix posted at the top of this thread. Mass. has jumped to twice the occurance of flu reports than the nat'l average.
Gottagettaflushot!
