Never had one but I need to take Mom in for it. I'll be on alert over subsequent symptoms and how she handles them.

got flu shot in August when first available.
No side effects, got .20 cents off 20 gallons of fuel reward from HyVee pharmacy.

Got stuck yesterday. Around 2 hrs. later, Got aches in my old joints. Took an afternoon nap, woke 2 hrs. later, no more aches or
tenderness where I was stuck. Nurse said should be good til March or April.

Don’t do the annual flu vaccine. Rarely get sick, and rarely for long when I do.

Whenever I got them I got sick for days...turns out I never got shots in the 70s because I was allergic to the base they use for the shots...wish I’d have known that when I went to bootcamp...got all my shots in one Friday and was in the ward for sat sun and Monday...

Now I’m not forced to get it and I don’t.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
Never had one, never will until the day all possible strains (not very likely) are guaranteed blocked. As to symptoms, several people I know that gets them experienced some degree of symptoms from marginal to feeling like they have the flu for a day or two. Some that get the shot have gotten the flu anyway.

All the available evidence suggests that regular annual flu vaccinations decease the likelihood of getting the flu more than occasionally getting the vaccine.

The vaccine contains only half the virus, the part necessary to create the immune response. You cannot get the flu from the vaccine, it is inactive. You can acquire the flu prior to your body building up resistance, or simply acquire a different strain than that contained in the vaccine. Generally the vaccines contain 3 or 4 components to protect against the most likely strains predicted that year. Sometimes they guess incorrectly.

If you are feeling discomfort like swelling near the injection site, headache, fever, nausea, body aches which are not uncommon at all, it is simply your body's immune system responding to the vaccine. The vaccine symptoms can vary a bit from year to year, and can be different with the mist versus the injection. The symptoms can last a day or two, and are a reasonable trade off given how many people the flu incapacitates and even kills each year.

It is possible to have a severe or potentially life threatening allergic reaction from the vaccine, but this is fairly rare and these symptoms usually appear within minutes to hours and can include difficulty breathing, hives, weakness, dizziness, or swelling around the eyes and mouth.

Bottom line is flu vaccine saves lives, and helps us all stay more healthy than we would otherwise.

Wife and I had sore injection site/shoulder into the next day. I have been getting flu shots every year for past 30+ years.

As a brand new rookie cop, I was in the E.R. with a guy who got stabbed and nearly died. Nurse working on the trauma team asked me if I got my flu shot yet. Told her I didn't really believe in them. Next thing I know she is pulling up my sleeve and giving me the shot.

I get one every year since.

Mild flu-like symptoms for a couple few days.

Got mine 2 weeks ago. I requested and received the quad-strain version instead of the standard 3-strain. I did not experience any negative effects. God Bless

Got my flu shot yesterday at noon. Felt a bit lethargic in the afternoon, but I also spent the weekend hauling multiple truckloads of downed tree branches from our ranch over the weekend. I feel fine today, and I was strong during my early morning workout.

I've had true influenza twice in my life -- once in 2nd grade in combination with pneumonia, and the other about 5 years ago. My parents said I was extremely ill when I was young. I missed school for 5 weeks. During the worst of it, the doctor was concerned that I wouldn't make it, and I was just a few hours from going to ICU. I didn't have a flu shot back then.

The flu from about 5 years ago occurred the year the vaccine was considered ineffective. Flu ran rampant around our office. I caught it, immediately went to my doc, and received tamiflu. I felt better for a day, then went straight down hill. I bottomed out the 3 days later, and seriously considered calling an ambulance for a trip to the ER. I couldn't sleep, didn't want to eat or drink, nausea was horrible, cycled between severe chills and massive sweating -- roughly on the hour.

I finally decided to pound fluids hourly until I was close to throwing up. After maybe 20 hours of sitting on the couch, watching TV & nodding off, peeing like a race horse -- the flu broke. It took another day of rest to feel good.

Influenza isn't anything to mess with. I get a flu shot every year. This time of year I try to wash my hands immediately after shaking hands with another person.

Got the shot. No pain, no reaction. Only thing, I got a 10% off coupon to shop.

Never had one, never gonna have one

Im immunocompromised, so my doc gives it to me free every year. Ive not ever felt any ill effects.

get 'em every year, had a reaction to the shot one year & have never been down with the flu.

I got mine yesterday.

I have gotten one every year for the last five years. The previous year I did not get one, and I got the Flu. I got it bad, real bad. I nearly died. I had Pneumonia and kidney failure. I was on a ventilator for six months. I was hospitalized for a year. I suffer from nerve damage in my legs and arms. I can not walk for more than a few feet while wearing braces on my legs and using a walker, and that is after over a year of physical therapy. I have some brain damage. I have short term memory loss. I can not remember some peoples names. I am sure my IQ has taken a hit.

My life has completely changed. I was an independent person, now I am a burden on my family and friends. I used to roam the southwestern US from Phoenix to San Diego to Los Angeles to Las Vegas, now I am Housebound.

Still It could be worse, a half dozen or so other people were admitted to the same hospital that I was within the same week also with the Swine Flu. I was the only one who survived.

It was difficult for me to type this, I have to poke at the keyboard one letter at a time, making many mistakes, I can no longer type.

Maybe a shot could have prevented my being in this situation. Who can say.

I recommend the shot

No, I'm not getting one. I'm not in the high risk of death group. In the last 10 years I have only had two or three instances of mild cold symptoms.

Sore arm for 2 days, that was it. Of course the soreness for 2 days may be directly related to a vengeful charge nurse...

quote:

Originally posted by 2000Z-71:
Sore arm for 2 days, that was it. Of course the soreness for 2 days may be directly related to a vengeful charge nurse...

Got mine the other day and this was the first time I can recall not being sore after a flu shot. Usually I get the shot in the muscle above the tricep, but this time I got it way up near the shoulder socket. Don't know for sure if that's why I didn't have any after-effects but whatever the nurse did, she did it right!

quote:

Originally posted by 2000Z-71:
Sore arm for 2 days, that was it. Of course the soreness for 2 days may be directly related to a vengeful charge nurse...

Were you required to get it? Your business exposes you to sick people all the time.

Got mine yesterday. 24hrs and no after effects, yet. but I did start dropping Tylenol every 6 hrs after, as a hedge.