Flul shot

[willowwoman7]

My pcp wants me to have the flu shot and my neurologist doesn't....I am soooo confused. I also have asthma/copd. Now I don't know what to do. Why did neuro tell me not to have flu shot? I keep reading that it is recommended for MS patients. Help!

[Lulu54]

yep - the live virus is absolutely out - which means none of us should have the nasal spray.

[beema36]

My neurologist, cardiologist and primary care Dr all told me to get a flu shot asap.
If I were u I would ask your neurologist why he doesn't want u to have one. That way u will know where he's coming from and make.your.decision about flu shot from there.

[Erin0313]

Willow -

   I think that you are going to get a bunch of YES YES & YES on this! I see 2 neuro's, a pcp, gyn, cardiologist, gastroenterologist and probably a few that I am forgetting, lol.

  Every single one of them has asked have you had your flu shot yet? YES I did on Saturday at the drug store because it was cheaper.

The live virus is a NO NO NO but with all of your health issues I think your neuro either mis-spoke or lost his marbles somewhere that day. Call and see if he found them and ask what the heck the reason for a no was - please share when you find out.

Hugs,
Erin :)

P.S. DH has always refused to get a flu shot and this year when he got dx with diabetes it was one of the first things they told him at diabetes ed - you need to get a flu shot! AMEN - he should have been getting them to protect me all this time for heavens sake.

[willowwoman7]

Wow!!! more confused than ever. It does bother me that the flu shot contains the vaccine for H1N1. We had 2 nurses wind up in the hospital AFTER getting the vaccine. I'll see what his reasons for not getting the shot is. I don't know why they had to add H1N1 to it. I've never had a problem with the regular flu shot, but was hospitalized with swine flu last year. So...that being said, I still don't know what to do. I'm scheduled to get the shot on Monday, so I've got a little bit of time to think about it yet. Thanks everyone.

[twist330]

Thanks for raising the subject as this has been on my mind. (Wow what a response!)

Last year I Had both flu shot and H1N1 shot the later made me really quite ill and although my neurological symptoms had started before this, it really put them into fast forward, never to rewind! huh!

This year I had decided I would have the flu jab but not H1N1, so the science guys decided to confuse me by mixing the 2 together. (I also suffer from asthma)

Firstly does anyone know if this mixed shot is happening in the UK?

Also having spoken to my consultant last week and him warned me over catching infections or running a temperature, what is a girl to do?

confused

[Quixotic1]

It's not uncommon to get a fever and achiness with any vaccine.  this is because the immune system is being stimulated to produce antibodies against the viral proteins in the shot.  The body produces interferons in good measure.  We all know that the interferons can cause fluish reactions, but these rarely last more than a day or two.  The flu, on the other hand can be a full ten days of high fevers and flat on your back with weeks to get back to normal.

I get this reaction to every tetanus booster.  Would I rather have tetanus?  No, I can put up with fever and the devil of a headache after each shot, thank you.

I agree.  the shot reactions are no fun and they can trigger a relapse.  But this is how you compare the two events:

The shot injects a finite amount of viral protein in you ONE TIME.  You react to it and there is no more stimulation.  The relapses are generally shorter and milder.  the shot stimulates the immune system, but allows it to function normally.  The fever only lasts usually a day or less and the fever is usually lower.  If you know you tend to react to shots, it is best to hydrate well, and premedicate with Ibuprofen or naproxin (Motrin/Advil or Aleve) and you will shorten the reaction time and keep your temp from triggering a pseudo-relapse.

The flu virus enters your body and immediately begins replicating and making millions of copies of virus each of which replicates and makes billions more virus and this goes on for more than a week.  So the immune system is inundated with constant HUGE stimulation every hour for days on end.  The influenza virus actually does weaken the immune system and make you susceptible to other viruses.  

The fevers in the actual flu infection can reach 105 in an adult and may last for many days.  This extended high temp will cause additional symptoms for the entire duration of the infection.  It is hard to completely treat the fever of the flu, because it is driven so high that the fever breaks through the meds.  You tend to dehydrate during the flu and taking so much med to lower the fever isn't great either as they all affect the liver - as does the flu virus.  The relapses that the infection causes are almost always MUCH more severe than any reaction to the shot.

Then there is the potential for the H1N1 to suddenly kill young adults and adolescents.  When you get the flu you can expose those you love and people who are weakened or who have respiratory disease or small infants.  You may not get severely ill, but they can.  And you are contagious before the symptoms start.

So the difference is a limited amount of viral protein to react to versus days of unlimited viral proteins to continue to overstimulate the immune system and chance severe illness or infecting others.

Does that help you put last year's reaction into perspective?

Quix