What Do You Think of Flu Shots?

[seoulsearch]

Hey Singles,

This is just something that's been in my own thoughts for a while and I wondered what the rest of you have experienced.

* Have you ever had a flu shot? Did it make you sick, or do you feel it actually protected you from illness?

* Do you feel that flu shots are worth it? How much have they cost? (I'm curious as to what one costs on average.)

* If not, why? And did you have a bad experience with a flu shot? Please share!

Several years ago I seemed to develop a pattern--every winter, I'd get knocked out by the flu for at least a week. The last time it happened, I tried crawling back to work after about 3 days--and my co-workers immediately told my boss to send me home again.

After moving to different areas, I haven't been nearly that sick in a long time (almost 4 years), but I was recently offered a flu shot at a very reasonable price. However, I've put it off for months. I've just been a little afraid.

I know the shots only work against a few select strains, and the reason I've been so apprehensive is because I have a family member who got a flu shot one year and became deathly sick right afterward. Since then, this person has never had another flu shot and never intends to again.

For me, being single often makes me extra cautious about things like this because many of us don't have anyone to take care of us or help us if we fall ill. Some winters I would find myself sleeping on the floor in between my shower and my room, because I couldn't pull myself all the way into my own room. And if I found enough energy to open a can of soup to eat for the day, I was doing pretty well--not to mention the added stress of missing work and still meeting the bills by oneself.

I am still trying to make up my mind.

Have any of you been through this and what are your thoughts? (I'm going to try to post a multiple choice poll... Give me a few.)

 

[James4redemption]

I've been so apprehensive is because I have a family member who got a flu shot one year and became deathly sick right afterward.

I always remember that girl that made national headlines in the news, she got that flu shot like 4-6 years ago, can't remember how long ago it was, but she ended up with some sort of disease that left her muscles all locked up and she could hardly walk or move her arms.

It's somewhere on youtube I'm sure, but yeah...I uh..kinda' can't forget that

 

[seoulsearch]

I always remember that girl that made national headlines in the news, she got that flu shot like 4-6 years ago, can't remember how long ago it was, but she ended up with some sort of disease that left her muscles all locked up and she could hardly walk or move her arms.

It's somewhere on youtube I'm sure, but yeah...I uh..kinda' can't forget that

I know there are a lot of people who are against vaccines because of this, and I've heard a lot of debate between using the live virus vs. the dead virus for the vaccination.

I'm rather torn.

I had all the recommended shots/vaxes as a kid and think that maybe only one or two made me slightly nauseous, but otherwise, no problems.

I don't get sick often (praise God), but when I do, it's all-out.

 

[Pemican]

I have had flu shots in the past, but not for 15 years or so. I never had a reaction. My old employer paid for it and made it easy to get, so I did. But what's in the flu shot each year is someone's guess before hand about what strains will be present in the next flu season. They might guess right or guess wrong. They have to make them up in advance so it's still a crap shoot.

But I seldom get sick. I take vitamin C every day, and in the winter months will double or triple my intake.

 

[James4redemption]

Yeah I had all the shots you get as a kid. I'm not sick that often though and when I am it's usually around this time of year and as much as I hate a bad head/body cold I can handle it for the most part. I don't know if it's worth some unforeseen side effect that could be long term, just to avoid a week of discomfort. But yeah, God willing, I hope I can avoid it this winter.

 

[lil_christian]

Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy adults. - PubMed - NCBI

This is a study I found on the flu vaccine. As the conclusion says, take the results with a grain of salt.

Influenza vaccines have a modest effect in reducing influenza symptoms and working days lost. There is no evidence that they affect complications, such as pneumonia, or transmission. WARNING: This review includes 15 out of 36 trials funded by industry (four had no funding declaration). An earlier systematic review of 274 influenza vaccine studies published up to 2007 found industry funded studies were published in more prestigious journals and cited more than other studies independently from methodological quality and size. Studies funded from public sources were significantly less likely to report conclusions favorable to the vaccines. The review showed that reliable evidence on influenza vaccines is thin but there is evidence of widespread manipulation of conclusions and spurious notoriety of the studies. The content and conclusions of this review should be interpreted in light of this finding.

Emphasis added by me.

 

[James4redemption]

I take vitamin C every day, and in the winter months will double or triple my intake.

I'm going to try this and advise my fam to do the same. My mother can get sick up to 3 or 4 times during this time of year, its crazy.

 

[melita916]

i've never had the flu shot. the worst time i got sick was about 2 winters ago when i actually had to stay home from church on a sunday. (fyi: you know melita is REALLY sick if she misses church on sunday! lol). i didn't go to the dr so idk if it was the flu, but i assume it was because i was in bed for a couple of days.

 

[JeniBean]

I had the FLU shot and got terribly sick. So I haven't done so again. HOWEVER - several years later I was helping a friend being a tour guide and must have been exposed to the FLU. I seriously didn't know what the FLU was until those 3 weeks of laying in bed. Regardless, I will not get the shot as otherwise I am not surrounded by thousands of people and the shot does NOT cover all the strains. So why get a shot, sick for a week and then possibly sick again? It's the Chicken Pox vaccine in the 90's that didn't work and all the kids got the chicken poxs even though they were vaccinated....meaning later in life they will have Shingles since they got the Poxs.

 

[FallenHearts]

I don't like them. The flu shot contains thimerosal, which is a mercury based preservative. Mercury is a neurotoxin and toxic to the human body. Most vaccinations have removed the thimerosal from the ingredient list, but the flu shot still has it. The Center for Disease Control has confirmed the inclusion of mercury in the vaccination. Thimerosal in Flu Vaccine | Seasonal Influenza (Flu) | CDC

If you must get the flu vaccine, I would call around to try and find a mercury free one. I tried hunting around for a preservative free flu shot about 2 years ago, and the only pharmacy/doctors office that carried them was a rite aide 45 minutes from my house. You can always call ahead and ask around. Good luck.

 

[wwjd_kilden]

The whole point of inoculations are to make the population immune to something

The flu virus mutates every year

Pointless

NOTE: I am very much for ordinary vaccines , it has been clear the latest years that diseases that were "gone" are coming back and ruining / taking lives because parents of healthy children won't let them be vaccinated just because some people trust false claims about the dangers of them.

 

[seoulsearch]

These posts are quite fascinating, thank you! I certainly hope the discussion will continue.

Personally, I never saw the point of a flu shot since it only works against a few strains, and I'm very hesitant to "get sick on purpose" by exposing myself to something that seems to have such little payoff.

It's been 4 months (since I could have had the shot) and from reading the responses here, I probably won't get it.

I'm wondering if we'll see anyone post who felt the shot actually did some good (for example, they got the shot and were fine but the people around them who didn't got sick, etc.)

 

[lil_christian]

The whole point of inoculations are to make the population immune to something

The flu virus mutates every year

Pointless

NOTE: I am very much for ordinary vaccines , it has been clear the latest years that diseases that were "gone" are coming back and ruining / taking lives because parents of healthy children won't let them be vaccinated just because some people trust false claims about the dangers of them.

In risk of being called a anti-vaccine hippie who and listens to pseudoscience:

Since I'm big on statistics and studies, are there any statistics showing the amount of people that don't vaccinate and the amount of people who do? Maybe one of the past and one of the present, alongside the increase or decrease of disease?

And even then, correlation does not always equal causation. Has there been an actual study, a doctor, or anything that has actually tried to pinpoint the cause of increase in diseases, rather than simply going by propaganda? And I've honestly heard nothing beyond the media and angry blogging parents.

I'm not saying I'm anti-vaccine. I am however, all for people educating themselves and keeping informed and heavily researching what exactly we're directly injecting into our bodies.

I also need to do more research on studies on overall vaccine safety and read the ingredients for the vaccines. (Not about whether the vaccines cause autism thing. There's other ways a person could get harmed by a vaccine beyond the autism claims.)

 

[Miri]

Hi, not really sure how to vote. I've never had the flu and I've never had a flu vaccine.

In the UK flu vaccines are free to elderly people, and they are routinely given to medical
staff, care workers and asthmatics. But I don't think many of the general population
go out of their way to get them, most don't.

 

[BruceWayne]

I usually get one. I've only had the flu once in the last 15 years or so that I can remember. Whether the shot has helped that or I just haven't gotten it, I don't know, but I've never had a bad experience with them. A lot of reactions could be due to egg allergies, but aside from that I see no harm in them personally, so I will continue to get them. I try to stay away from sick people and I tend to keep my hands super clean anyway, so that helps too lol.

 

[Donkeyfish07]

I don't like them. The flu shot contains thimerosal, which is a mercury based preservative. Mercury is a neurotoxin and toxic to the human body. Most vaccinations have removed the thimerosal from the ingredient list, but the flu shot still has it. The Center for Disease Control has confirmed the inclusion of mercury in the vaccination. Thimerosal in Flu Vaccine | Seasonal Influenza (Flu) | CDC

If you must get the flu vaccine, I would call around to try and find a mercury free one. I tried hunting around for a preservative free flu shot about 2 years ago, and the only pharmacy/doctors office that carried them was a rite aide 45 minutes from my house. You can always call ahead and ask around. Good luck.

Thats my issue too, you can't argue the science of vaccination itself......same principle that gives us antivenom and venom immunity (yep, some of the crazy snake lovers actually purposely inject themselves with small amounts of venom to build immunity). It is the industrial man made preservatives that can do damage.

A lot of it has to do with patenting, how much they can charge, how much longer it gives shelf-life wise. This goes for a lot of stuff though beyond vaccines. BPA in plastic, regular pharmaceuticals, etc..

 

[seoulsearch]

Thats my issue too, you can't argue the science of vaccination itself......same principle that gives us antivenom and venom immunity (yep, some of the crazy snake lovers actually purposely inject themselves with small amounts of venom to build immunity). It is the industrial man made preservatives that can do damage.

A lot of it has to do with patenting, how much they can charge, how much longer it gives shelf-life wise. This goes for a lot of stuff though beyond vaccines. BPA in plastic, regular pharmaceuticals, etc..

I enjoy reading or listening to articles about health and nutrition, clean eating, the raw food movement, etc., but man...

Eventually it makes you feel like all you can do is seal yourself inside a (BPA-free) plastic bubble and eat grass (organic, of course.)

 

[NukePooch]

...also, toxins are added, purposefully, to vaccines to make them more effective. They are called 'adjuvants'.

The story goes, that back when vaccines were first introduced, the companies noticed that some batches worked better than others. It turns out that those batches that were contaminated by dirty instruments and containers seemed to work better, as the contamination caused the body to fight more.

So, now all vaccines have "contamination" (such as aluminum salts, acetone, random non-human animal tissues, cells from human aborted fetuses, and the aforementioned thimerosal (and many, many others)) added...on purpose. Then injected into the patient.

No thanks.

 

[NukePooch]

I enjoy reading or listening to articles about health and nutrition, clean eating, the raw food movement, etc., but man...

Eventually it makes you feel like all you can do is seal yourself inside a (BPA-free) plastic bubble and eat grass (organic, of course.)

As long as your organic grass is grown indoors. If the grass was grown outside, the heavy metals present in the grass will cause you many health issues. The heavy metals build up due to the chemicals that the airplanes are spraying into the atmosphere...otherwise known as 'chemtrails'.

Proper protection of the head will help as well.

 

[Donkeyfish07]

I enjoy reading or listening to articles about health and nutrition, clean eating, the raw food movement, etc., but man...

Eventually it makes you feel like all you can do is seal yourself inside a (BPA-free) plastic bubble and eat grass (organic, of course.)

This is how I justify my sugar intake and eating mass quantities of greasy things. Lol. Its like Weeeelp, im not letting them inject me with neurotoxins so im good there. I don't want to live in a bubble worried about every stinking thing and dying without enjoying myself either. So greasy cheeseburger, here I come.

I tell myself im better off than the skinny vegan girl who is on three different prescription drugs for depression and gets several routine injections a year. I dont know if this is true or not but I am submitting to bro science on this one because it helps me justify my junk food addictions .