I got my flu shot today, and lived to tell about it!!!!

[kestrel91316]

Went down to the local independent pharmacy today - they had a nurse come in to give flu shots for $25, and it was convenient, so I went for it. I am almost 50, and flu hits me harder than it used to. My clients are forever coming in when they are sick in the winter, or bringing in their sick kids with them, and so I almost always catch the flu. Then I have to take 2-3 days off work, and that costs me $$.

So I got the first flu shot I have had in many years.

It was a simple intramuscular injection in my upper left arm. Hurt just a little going in, but other than some residual soreness when I press on the spot on my upper arm, I have no symptoms. The flu vaccine is killed virus, so it is physically impossible for me to get the flu from it.

I don't even know which strain it's for, but I know it's not H5N1 (the killer bird flu). That's not why I got it. I just don't want to catch the normal everyday flu that goes around. It's always a crap shoot as to which strain dominates in any given year, but apparently there can be MANY strains circulating so I will be protected against ONE of them, lol. That, plus residual immunity from all the cases of flu I have had over the years, should stand me in good stead for this season.

I just thought people might want to know about the process (simple, easy, painless) since there is so much hysterical anti-vaccine misinformation circulating.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

1. I did that same thing at our pharmacy (CVS)

But mine cost $30.00 bucks. But I did just turn 50 and with the avain flue thing being a possibility I figured I need any edge I can get.

[Fridays Child]

2. The two providers in this area are restricting shots until 10/24.

Until then, they'll give them only to those who can prove that they're at risk. We'll have to wait.

[kanrok]

3. Don't be surprised

if you feel a bit "under the weather" for a couple of days after the shot. You're getting a dead virus, but your bidy initially reacts like it's infected and "protects" you. Good on you. Great idea to get it done. My kids are going tomorrow. I'll go next week.

[kestrel91316]

5. Lol, I am a veterinarian. All day, every day, I am telling people

that their kitty will be a little under the weather for a day or two after vaccinations. So I know about that part!

Just means the immune system is doing what it's supposed to do.

But I don't have much experience personally with killed vaccine, IIRC. Didn't the flu vaccine years ago used to be modified live??

[kanrok]

6. Good question

Don't know... But I do know, I feel like i've caught something for a couple of days afterward. Good luck!

[Elwood P Dowd]

4. I've never had a flu shot and never had the flu

and I'm almost 60. My uncle had one a few years ago, and it almost killed him.

[amitten]

8. Same here

Never had one. Had the flu I think twice in my 35-year-long life. And every year I meet people who got the shot, but still caught the flu. So I figure, the odds are about the same either way, why bother?

[beam me up scottie]

9. A flu shot almost killed him?

How?

[longship]

7. Let us know how you feel in 48 hours....

Sorry. Had to say that.

Some people swear by flu shots. I've never had one in my life (57 years). I'm not saying I'll never have one. I just have never felt that I've needed one.

My wife got hers yesterday. She gets one every year without fail.

I hope everything goes well with everybody, whether they get a shot or not.

[kestrel91316]

10. Well, I'm at the 20 hour mark, and I feel ABSOLUTELY NORMAL........

just some soreness at the injection site.

No fatigue, no fever, nada. Killed virus vaccines don't cause near as much reaction as the live vaccine. But you have to get a bigger dose, IIRC, because the response of the immune system is not as great.

[kestrel91316]

11. Flu shot update - 29 hours and counting.............

I feel completely normal.

Just in case any of the flu-shot-phobics wanted to know.............

[fortyfeetunder]

12. Last fall I didn't get the flu shot

thanks to that alleged flu shot shortage. By early this year I got two different types within a two week period. I am not waiting one moment longer to get one....I don't want to go through that again.

[hallc]

13. got mine last week

only thing i got was a sore arm for a couple hours. Not even a sniffle.

[Jose Diablo]

14. Did you get a "T" shirt? n/t