Be Sure to Get Your Flu Shot

already? <groan>

Hope you feel better soon squinney.

Already?

That's what I said. A local pharmacy contacted me earlier this week to have me notify residents that shots are being offered next weekend.

For the past several years I've been one of the first to get it in whatever form it has chosen for the season. The upside is, that when the holidays come, I can breeze right through.

Flu season is one of the times I find bodies terribly inconvenient.

RP and I have both had this. I had a 5-day z-pack (azithromyecin) and it seems to have taken me longer to recover than him! Feel better, this constant hocking up of stuff is as delightful as it sounds.

don't do it, the flu shot is how they get the chip in you

the illuminati will be tracking your every move

(or else it may turn into herpes....)

are there any downsides to a flu shot?

i'm not getting one, given that i hardly ever get sick with a flu and rarely even with a cold, just wondering, out of curiosity.

Dasha, the only side affects related directly to the flu shot are feeling mildly achy and flu-y for a day or two. Other symptoms seem to be more associated with vaccines and shots in general - your body could react to the shot with an allergy response, or some such (don't I sound like I know what I'm talking about!)

i guess i'm just wondering whether it's one of those - "don't get it unless you absolutely need it" (for old, often sick, working in hospitals, schools....) type of a thing... and if it is, why is that. Or is it a completely harmless thing? I am just suspicious of any chemicals injected within my body.

They give restrictions like that because they want to be sure that those for whom a bad flu might be fatal have a chance to get their shots. Sometimes they run out of the vaccine..... I think.

Here is a slightly exaggerated video about how flu shots are made
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2163175142473074044

Thanks for the heads up, Squinny. My wife and I get our flu shots every year. The downside is nothing like the flu full blast. I worry most about the effects of the flu on the lungs. Bronchitis is what I usually get WITH the flu, but not when I get the shot. As I see it, Dagmaraka, everything is a trade off and a gamble. You're young so it's not such a good bet for you.

They had restrictions a couple of years ago due to a shortage. They have to guess ahead of time what strain to anticipate, or something.

I've never gotten a flu shot. I don't usually get sick but once or twice a year. I'm not high risk. But, for THIS! I would have had I known.

Jes and RP - Sorry to hear you know what I'm talking about and had to feel this bad. Sounds like you got it early, too. Mom said my step-dad was a month recovering and did the antibiotics, but they didn't seem to help.

Yeah, it's a delight (hands box of tissues to squinstress). Chicken soup, dear?

dasha, if you think you'll be around people who shouldn't be getting the flu, you should get a flu shot. When my mother was going through chemo, I made sure to get a shot, and I even got one when there was a shortage, because she didn't need flu on top of lymphoma.

My company offers them every year. I think CVS offers them for $5 if you can't get one otherwise.

Is it that time, AGAIN???

The time for flu shots seem to come faster and faster every year.

I rarely get sick also, except for a mild cold here and there, and I believe it's Because I get the flu shot every year.

I have had the flu, and it's not, as many people seem to think, a mild cold. It pretty much puts you out of commission for a week, and takes another week or two to completely recover from. Every muscle and bone in your body aches, and you can barely move.

The the cost of a shot, and a trip down to Walgreens or CVS, it's not worth the risk.

I've never had any significant side effects. Each year of course the components of the shot are differenct, depending on what the medical people predict this years strain will be.

Some years my heart rate becomes slightly elevated that evening after the shot, still less than 100 beats per minute, but doesn't last long, I'll just take it easy if it does. Other years, I just felt like going to bed that day a little early.

Getting a flu shot is one of the easiest ways to avoid a week of misery, and 2 weeks or more of feeling lousy.

I thought the flu season begins in late October. Maybe it varies with region and weather. Don't know. Anybody?

Question: do you ever need the same flu shot twice? I understand that new viruses are found each year so the flu shot I get this year will be different from the one I would get next year. But say there were no changes to the vaccine, should one still get it? Or does it work for life for those particular strands of the flu virus that were in the flu shot?

As I understand it, the flu shots are a combination of new viruses. They look to the East (Asia) for new and strong flus. Perhaps they have some of last years in there, too. I feel like there are residual effects from LAST years flu shot. But, I'm no expert on the subject.

I also found last night that mercury might not be listed in flu ingredients as mercury. But, thimerosal contains mercury and is listed as one ingredient in one flu vaccine commonly used. Sorry if this is repeat info.....