I have to get shots...several...and I'm scared!

[Haole Girl]

I'm traveling through Asia in a few months and have to get several immunizations and take Typhoid pills (ick).

I'm being a baby, aren't I? It's just...that...I can think of many more pleasant things to do with my day off.

Please send me some good vibes, since I'm also afraid I'll pick up some bug while at the doctor's office. :scared:

I know, I have a lot of stupid fears.

:cry:

[miss_american_pie]

1. You'll be okay

:hug:

[Haole Girl]

2. *sigh* Thanks...

I know I'm being ridiculous.

[Katina]

32. no, you aren't

shots suck...but your reward is Asia! :D

[reyd reid reed]

3. Just think of the wonderful time you're going to have traveling

and how horrible it would be if you got sick and couldn't enjoy it.

I'll keep a good thought (or two or ten) for you. It'll be fine. And it could be worse...at least it's not the OB/GYN.

:D

:hug:

[Haole Girl]

4. LOL

Yes...on all points you're right. But, that last one made me laugh...thanks! :hi:

[Haole Girl]

5. UPDATE:

Well, they made me wait 3 hours (all together), but I got my shots....two in each arm. I have to go back for 2 boosters for Japanese encephalitis.

Thanks for all the moral support! :hi:

[pitohui]

14. japanese encephaltis????

where the heck are you going?

you don't need that to go in the cities of japan but if you are going to the countryside, start a blog or something, i would love to travel in the countryside of japan to enjoy their beautiful natural environment but i admit it, i doubt i will be getting the encephalitis vaccine unless a quite convincing argument is made as i have been through both st. louis and west nile epidemics in louisiana without problem

one good thing i will say about that shot, is that while there is not yet proof, there is some thought that it may be cross-effective for west nile, st. louis, and other mosquito borne encephalitis we can get here in the good ole usa

i have relatives living in japan who have had the japanese encephalitis shot and they asked me to research if they could get additional immunization for west nile, etc. -- i told them there is no such vaccine -- but my research has convinced me they have nothing to worry about -- "we need further studies" but i suspect having that one vaccine does mean you will have much less chance of having a bad reaction to a west nile/st. louis mosquito (these viruses are all quite closely related)

another thing, in japan, even in the city, be aware of a large bold snake they have, called the japanese rat snake, it is not poisonous, and it will not harm you, but it is possible to walk right up on it and startle it and get bitten, which is a nuisance (but which gives you a good story to tell) :-)

keep us posted!!!!

[Haole Girl]

15. I'm going into a rural area 8 hours south of Mumbai (India)

...it's a long story...but that's where I'm going. :hi:

[pitohui]

21. aha, that's cool!

i did not know this encephalitis existed outside of japan

i would love to visit india and pakistan one day

[Haole Girl]

23. Look how widespread it's become....

Scary, huh?

[pitohui]

27. oh wow no kidding

for all i know it was always that widespread

being from louisiana i just assumed encephalitis is the chance you take, since there is no vaccine for ours

[ThomCat]

6. Needles are nothing after a bunch of them.

Hang in there and enjoy the traveling. :hi:

Bring us back some wonderful pictures!

[Haole Girl]

7. Thanks

I'm not going until January...but I will definitely bring back some photos (hopefully, wonderful ones!). :hi:

[pitohui]

8. i had those, the pills too

you'll be fine

just set your cell phone to ring at all the times you have to take those stupid typhoid pills, but it's worth it -- significantly cheaper to do the oral vaccine for typhoid

i just wish they had a decent vaccine for malaria, i had a bad reaction to lariam and now i do without, but if i'm in a serious malaria area i will have to spring for the more expensive pill (is it malarone?) if the cheap stuff won't work there :-(

i got out of the rabies shots by saying i wouldn't pet any animals and out of the hep b shots by saying i wasn't going to be having sex w. natives -- that didn't work for my male friend tho, the same travel doc just assumes a male is going to do crap he won't tell the doc -- and it isn't sexism, she's a female doctor, but it cost him twice as much to get the shots when all was said and done because she gave him more

oh, and he got the typhoid shots to get it over with, rather than the oral vaccine, so that was an added cost

anyway, it's well worth it, you probably wouldn't get any of these diseases anyway but if that's what it takes to be accepted into the country/on the tour/in the program, it's well worth it


focus on the goal, you will never regret taking such a trip

[Haole Girl]

9. Did lariam give you nightmares?

They warned me about that...should be fun, especially since I have weird dreams anyway! LOL :eyes:

[pitohui]

19. hallucinations would be a better word

i am not bothered by nightmares, as i am a vivid/lucid dreamer so i'm rather used to violent dreams but i had an experience that seems real in every detail and to this day even knowing that it's a hallucination i have difficulty convincing myself that it did not happen -- paranoia is another cool if rare side effect, sigh

this doesn't happen to everyone, indeed, it did not happen to anyone else on my trip but it was an lsd like experience for me that was educational and all that but i wasn't really looking to get all enlightened and educated

i probably think about it every day

part of the experience was tactile and kinesthetic, my past experiences with hallucination and drugs have involved the sense of sound and sight, i suppose i always believed i could trust my kinesthetic sense

i now know that the brain, given the right conditions, can create a completely real and completely bogus experience involving EVERY sense, including kinesthetic

this is pretty rare but just be aware of it because if it does happen, it passes in a few hours, but the paranoia pretty much lingers -- and paranoia is something you can just keep reminding yourself to ignore

don't assume every weird paranoid thought that comes into your head while on larium is your intuition, just remind yourself "i'm taking a pill that does this, i can always jot down some notes and review these concepts later"

you probably won't have a problem, MOST DO NOT, but if you do experience this, just keep reminding yourself it's only a movie :-)

[Haole Girl]

25. Thanks for the warning!

This should be an interesting ride...all the way around! Whew! :scared:

[hedgehog]

24. One of the guys my son works with started hallunicating from

his anti-malarials while he was 40 foot in the air climbing a cooling tower. It made for an intersteing day.

[pitohui]

26. oh my god

i bet it did

what is so hard to accept is that what happened seems real in every way

a part of me still believes the hallucination is true and everyone, including the entire internet which i used to check on events which i thought had happened and which would be a matter of public record, must be fibbing somehow

the paranoia just adds to the fun

:-)

[texanwitch]

10. How are your arms feeling.

I remember shots from my Army days, my arms didn't like it.

[Haole Girl]

12. My left arm feels a little heavy...

..but, otherwise I'm doing great. Thanks! :hi:

[graywarrior]

11. Try getting a pap when you're low on estrogen.

:scared:

[Haole Girl]

13. Eeek!

Hope this isn't TMI for the guys, but isn't that why the doc uses KY? You need a new doc if it's painful at all! :shrug:

[graywarrior]

17. Big tube of KY, but still not the best experience in the world.

Good thing it was a lady doc, or I woulda kicked in some teeth.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

16. Glad you survived the shots OK, sweetie!

:hug:

[Haole Girl]

20. Thanks!

You probably hated patients like me when you were a nurse! :hug:

[cwydro]

18. Been through it

you'll be OK. Of course, I stay away from that whole flu shot thing...:scared:

[Haole Girl]

22. Oh...I'm so glad I did have the flu shot already...otherwise....

...with all the sniffling and coughing I heard at the doctor's office!! :scared:

[cwydro]

28. Hate shots

I'm with you...but still laughing about the doctor's office:rofl:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

29. It beats the hell out of typhoid.

:shrug:

[Haole Girl]

30. Yes!

That's what I thought!! Otherwise, I wouldn't have set foot in a doctor's office during cold & flu season!! :hi:

[Katina]

31. I'm jealous! If all I had to do is get a few shots to go to asia

I'd do it in a heartbeat!
Don't think about the shots, think about the adventure you are going to have in a few months. :D
Think happy thoughts!

[yellowdogintexas]

33. don't they give typhoid immunizations any more? I had them

every other year when I was a kid because we had well water..in the country..where there are farm animals and outhouses...and a brazillion subsurface streams which are connected to at least half a brazillion sinkholes.

Recipe for serious health risk.


I had to have a typhus shot before I went to Germany in the 1950's and that sucker made me sick!

My doc used to give the typhoid shots in our forearms, just below the elbow.using a subQ needle (little teeny one) like they use for allergy tests and all we usually had was a very localized shot reaction in the forearm. When they gave them in the upper arm, IM style we got sick.

[Haole Girl]

34. The doc convinced me to do the pills, though I begged him..

..to just give me a shot. He said, twice, "The pills are more effective." (in his tone, there wasn't an option :-(). I figured a little inconvenience is worth having the most effective protection.

[ScreamingMeemie]

35. No you're not. Shots can be very scary...and I hate them.

:hug:

Just tell yourself it'll be over with by a certain time. That's how I get through awful things... like shots and visits to the OB. :D

I tell myself,"By this time tomorrow...I'll be all Done!" :hug:

I wish I could hold your hand and have MrG make funny faces for you. It always worked with our kids. :hi:

[Haole Girl]

37. Thanks...and...

I am almost done (for this trip, anyway). I just need two booster shots...one in a week, and another one in a month. And, I know it will be well worth it!

Thank you, and thanks to everybody, for your support!! :hug: :grouphug: :hug:

[BarenakedLady]

36. Eeeks

I'm petrified of needles too. You'd think after having 3 c-sections I wouldn't be such a wuss. hehe.

It's the anticipation that is the worst. It'll be over quickly.

Have fun in Asia. I'm so jealous!

[Haole Girl]

38. Thanks!

I'm not going for a few months...but I'll bring back lots of photos! :hi:

[u4ic]

39. When I was younger,

I was terrified of needles.

Then I had to get allergy shots in my late teen's. Every week, so some of the fear wore off me.

Then, got sick and they were trying to find out what it was - it became nothing to have 12,14,16 vials of blood taken out of me at once.

Now, I give myself shots - b12. And it's kind of fun. Usually grosses people out if I ask if they want to watch.


You'll be fine. :hug: Just don't hang around in the latest greywarrior thread. :P

Could you get a few beautiful pics of some of the areas you will be visiting, and take them to the dr's with you? Look at them, and see the needle - those pics (well, the real thing) is why you need it.