Its that time again. We went yesterday an it hurt. For a full 5 seconds. Not bad after the first 2. I still don't like people sticking me with needles.

I had the flu long ago, and it sucked. After that one brief experience, I swore I'd start getting the shots every year. Now I'm old and the pain and suffering would probably kill me.

Work offers a free flu shot so I got it last Wednesday. I seem to get sick every year after getting it. Felt crappy on Saturday, but it usually only lasts a day or two. Sunday sucked. Wound up getting Strep throat Was able to get an 8:30 AM appointment Monday with my doc and got some amoxicillin (rapid culture test, or whatever it's called). Prescription was filled at 9:30, and the soreness started going away by 3.

Leaving for my yearly elk hunt tomorrow afternoon. 7 days in the Mt Zirkel Wilderness area. I'll be sure to take the amoxicillin as I need to take it for 10 days. 3 guys, 9 llamas and it snowed 10" in our area yesterday. Should be interesting!

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/65over.htm

For the older folks. Information from CDC. No cost for Medicare patients. Most pharmacies now have the vaccine available.

We offer them to our staff every year. I haven't gotten the flu for years since doing them.

Got my shot at WalGreens. No cost and they txt to the VA so it's in my records. Easier to go there than drive 15 miles to the VA. Got the senior size shot (over 81). Did not hurt a bit and no reaction to it.

quote:

Originally posted by esdunbar:
I haven't gotten the flu for years since doing them.

I haven't either, and I've not gotten the vaccination in over 20 years.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
I haven't either, and I've not gotten the vaccination in over 20 years.

Got ours through work a couple of weeks ago. The company worked with our health insurance provider to provide at minimal/no cost.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

quote:

Originally posted by esdunbar:
I haven't gotten the flu for years since doing them.

I haven't either, and I've not gotten the vaccination in over 20 years.

I'm always interested in this line of thought.

Had a similar discussion with one of our staff who declared she is never getting the shot. Apparently one year she did and ended up later that year (weeks, not days from then) getting the worst case of the flu she could remember.

I asked if she recognized the shot was a "best guess" and sometimes they miss, you might still get it. Also that she ended up unlucky and got it in spite of the fact she'd had the shot, not BECAUSE she had.....

Oh yeah - we work in a hospital!

My wife is required to get a flu shot because she works for a hospital. She's been having upset stomach issues weekly since getting it. Yeah I know correlation/causation. Just seems funny (not). I don't get them.

Boy...I hate to even say anything for fear of "the jinx", but I don't think I've EVER gotten a flu shot and have been totally blessed with good health! Not enough "AMENS" for that!!!

I work in a pharmacy. I'm around sick people all the time.

I actually had a 9 year old, um, decide she wasn't getting the flu shot as she hid under the table and I had already drawn it up. I had to use it or toss it, so I did gave myself the flu shot this year...

quote:

Originally posted by tigereye313:
I work in a pharmacy. I'm around sick people all the time.

I actually had a 9 year old, um, decide she wasn't getting the flu shot as she hid under the table and I had already drawn it up. I had to use it or toss it, so I did gave myself the flu shot this year...

^^^ Funny.

I have taken seasonal flu shots, seems like, forever. I offered to pay ($20 each back then) for my 8 employees' shots each year. Had a deal with the Doctor's office next door; just walk over. No takers. Never. And I didn't offer sick pay.

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:
. . .Apparently one year she did and ended up later that year (weeks, not days from then) getting the worst case of the flu she could remember.

I asked if she recognized the shot was a "best guess" and sometimes they miss, you might still get it. Also that she ended up unlucky and got it in spite of the fact she'd had the shot, not BECAUSE she had..... . . .

It's been several years since I got the shot.

Georgeair's (see quote above) tells us that getting the flu after getting the shot is merely coincidence, NOT causation, and I believe him.

My issue isn't catching the flu after getting the shot.

My issue is that I get sicker than a dog for a couple of days after I get the shot. Puking. Fever. Headache. Sick.

People have told me that's just not possible, that the shot can't do that. And yet I can show a 100% correlation between the times that I have gotten the shot and the times it has made me sick. If it is all in my head, then it's a pretty damned powerful phobia.

So, no, I do not plan to get the shot this year. Or in any other year between now and my death, either.

Get it every year. Haven't had the flu in 20 years. Never got autism after the shot either. Doesn't give me the flu, I do feel a little strange for 48 hrs, usually slight headache. My arm is sore for days after though.

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

quote:

Originally posted by esdunbar:
I haven't gotten the flu for years since doing them.

I haven't either, and I've not gotten the vaccination in over 20 years.

I'm always interested in this line of thought.

Had a similar discussion with one of our staff who declared she is never getting the shot. Apparently one year she did and ended up later that year (weeks, not days from then) getting the worst case of the flu she could remember.

I asked if she recognized the shot was a "best guess" and sometimes they miss, you might still get it. Also that she ended up unlucky and got it in spite of the fact she'd had the shot, not BECAUSE she had.....

Oh yeah - we work in a hospital!

Whatever, I still will never take one of those shots. Nope, no way.

Having said that, we did get the shot for our 18 month year old daughter.

I'd get the vaccine if I didn't have to go out of my way to do it. I don't come into contact with people so as to put me at high risk for the flu. Plus, while I am a near-geezer, I'm not there yet.

I seem to be blessed with a better than average immune system - I rarely get sick. Must have been all the dirt I ate as a child and the fact that I am willing to touch bathroom doorknobs without using a paper towel.

I had the flu once, 30 years ago. It sucked. Way worse than the bout of hepatitis A I had, in terms of misery. The flu killed my great-uncle in 1917.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
Get it every year. Haven't had the flu in 20 years. Never got autism after the shot either. Doesn't give me the flu, I do feel a little strange for 48 hrs, usually slight headache. My arm is sore for days after though.

In 20 years? I've never in my life had the flu, and I've never had the shot (as far as I know). And my arm is never sore for days...

Just ressurrect the old thread of 20 pages of everyone not convincing each other to get or not get the flushot.

Seems were destined to do this every year...

I really like my general practitioner, but I very seldom need to see her because of illness. So I go to her once a year to get a flu shot, even though it would be more convenient to get it at the drugstore, just to make sure that I keep her. I never have any ill effects from the shot.