H1N1 and Hepatitis C

[RKinaz]

Should I get vaccinated for the swine flu? I am not on treatment and still waiting for initial lab results. I go in tomorrow for an ultrasound? on my liver.
I'm over 65 and have high exposure to people. I got the reg flu shot 3 months ago but at that time the swine flu shot was not available to most people.

My thinking is get one soon, weather conditions here is cold and rainy to warm and sunny. My health is ok but not great and should I get the swine flu I could be in trouble, may not have to worry about Hep C if I get done in with the flu. LOL My Doc wrote me a script for the shot but that was before my Hep C diagnosis 3 months ago. I tried to research this but had little luck. What do you all think especially those of you in my age range?

[becksta29]

thats gr8 that u had the h1n1 shot n flue shots all b4 tx cos i didnt have the best gastro doc n he didnt tell me nothin,i had to ask him the questions id found out myself most of the time n i had worked it all out while i was on tx bout all this stuff that he should have done n told me but by then it was too l8.people on this site have filled me in on whats the go n what we should n shouldnt do n i wish i had of found this site b4 i started tx.i did ask me doc if i could have flue shot on the tx n he said no that i shouldnt but im not sure but u dont have to worry bout that now,i think its better to have them all b4 the tx for sure.

my white cells dropped very low on tx n my immune system got that bad i had every flue n cold n bug there was goin round last flue season,i never had the shots b4 tx but i wish i had of had them cos my tx was horrible cos i was flue ridden the whole time but i did my tx in flue season n my tx might not have worked cos of all the flues i had cos the flues r viruses too n if ya body is fightin them then it will prob have less wbc to fight the hep c n i had to get my interferon lowered n all cos of the darn flues cos me wbc got sooo low.

i find out my 4 month post tx pcr on monday so im hoping im still und cos i was und at the end of tx  luckily but cos my gastro didnt want me to get a 3 month pcr during tx i will never know if i was a fast responder n he didnt want to do a 3 month post pcr either but i went and got another doctor to write me out a 3 month post tx pcr  cos im entitled to 1 where i live.

good luck with ur tx n im sure u will b fine n u shouldnt get the flue etc which should help keep ur wbc from gettin too low.there was a period of 4 wks while on tx where i was actually ok n not sick with flue cos i was keeping away from all the sick people and my wbc was increasing n i found that my wbc seemed to drop lower on the weeks when i was very fluey,but thats my experience n my oppinion n my gastro agreed with me too that the flues were not helping my wbc but of course the tx alone does it too.
       all the best

[RKinaz]

Thanks everyone

I got the H1N1 and a pneumonia shot a few hours ago. All is well but I did feel a little light headed a few minutes after. I think that was from the pneumonia shot. When I searched earlier there seemed to be some controversy on the subject which is why I asked.

[meakea]

Oops, I need to proof-read my posts before I hit the button -- sorry.  I should have said:  ...finished Hep C treatment successfully 6 months ago..."

[meakea]

I got the H1N1 shot last month.  I'm 55 years old and finished Hep C successfully 6 months ago.  My doc said that the H1N1 is now available for everyone...so I got it.  No side effects at all.

[newleaf09]

I've always done the flu shots with no problems and was advised while on treatment to keep doing it.  I now realize that my immune system was so hyped up on interferon that no virus could possibly survive in my body.  Now that I am off of interferon I am back to all the crummy little colds and the flus.  Since you haven't started on immunotherapy, why not do what you can to keep potential problems at bay?

[RKinaz]

I never knew there was a difference, thats good to know but I was going to get the shot. Thanks

[Isobella]

I'm not a big flu shot fan, but the hepa thought it best, so we did it.  You can't use the nasal spray one, tho because it's a live virus. Be sure it's the shot-it's the dead virus version.

Better safe than sorry worked for us =)

[RKinaz]

Thanks, that is my general opinion as well. I have not read any bad stories and I think in my case the good out weighs the bad.

rk

[nygirl7]

Our doctors all advised us to get flu shots and I think if I had the option to get the H1N1 right now I'd go for it. I ALWAYS get the flu shots and I've been done with treatment for over three years now. Anyone with a chronic illness is advised to get it.  Better safe than sorry.