Get your flu shot. This is a personal warning.

The autism vaccine thing is more from childhood vaccinations than the one for the flu, and is probably a load of crap.  Guillain-Barré syndrome is what the flu vaccine can give you on rare occasions, or that is my understanding anyway.

I am a bit over 50, eat a healthy diet and am physically active.  No medical problems or medications.  I can count the number of times I have gotten sick since 1975 on one hand. 

Got vaccinated for pretty much everything when I went in the Navy, bubonic plague, typhoid, pneumonia, flu, everything.  Sick as a dog for a week.

5 years later, got food poisoning in college.  Felt like I was going to die, afraid it would not happen fast enough.  I can't recommend it as a weight loss technique, lost 20# in a week, sucked more than somewhat.

6 years after that, was compelled to get the flu shot going to grad school.  Was too sick to get out of bed for 3 days.  The following year they said I had to get the flu vaccine again.  I declined.  They told me I could not work in the clinic without the vaccination, and would not graduate if I did not work in the clinic.  I told them I would sue them for the price of my education if they tried that, and they caved immediately.

10 and 12 years later, got food poisoning again on two different occasions, sick for a day each time.

So in the last 40 years have been sick 5 times.  3 times eating food someone else prepared, twice immediately after getting the flu shot.  

With the lead time to produce the vaccine, they guess what the predominant variant of the virus will be next year, and make a vaccine for that.  They guess wrong a fair amount, and I have gotten extremely sick every time I have gotten the flu vaccine.  Consequently, I don't get the flu shot, ever.

All this conflicting information about getting or not getting a flu shot has been getting old over the years.  

Flu shot every year for the past decade-and-a-half, been sick from it maybe twice (mild snuffles).  It's a non-event for me.

Damned colds, though.  Still wheezing and hacking with every change in air temperature, three WEEKS after the rest of the symptoms abated.  The entire office block on the 3rd floor sounds like a TB ward from the Victorian era...

I've had the flu twice in the last 20 years.  Once was about 20 years ago, then once was about 5 years ago when I got the flu shot.

I realize that the flu shot didn't give me the flu it just triggered some antibody reactions, but it was two weeks of feeling just like I had the flu.

I think I'll keep not getting the shot.  If I did get a flu, I would sequester myself so as to not infect anyone and mumble something to myself about being a dummy for not getting the shot.  I do understand the science and think that vaccines are a good thing, but the flu vaccine isn't really supported by much science.  I have no problem getting vaccines.  Tetanus is a good one to have in my line of work.  I of course had the standard infant vaccines.

There are about 150 known influenza strains and the best flu vaccine protects against 4.  I don't really dig those numbers.

In reply to wearymicrobe :

Since you've been to the hospital, were the doctors able to test the virus you had to check if this year's vaccination would be effective or not?  

Sine_Qua_Non said:

All this conflicting information about getting or not getting a flu shot has been getting old over the years.  

Agreed.  Check the CDC website.  It talks all about how its the "best way to protect you and your family from getting the flu."  Then it goes on to talk about how "best" means that it MAY protect against 4 strains out of 150, there are about 15 different vaccines with questionable effectiveness, and new strains emerge every year.

All of this to protect against a bad cold that most people's bodies can fight just fine on its own.

Now... of course I think you should get the vaccine if you are immune-compromised, a young child, an elderly person, or anyone for whom the flu presents a significant health risk.  You should also get it (being snarky here) if you're one of the selfish bastards who gets a disease and still carries on their normal daily life by going to work, WalMart, restaurants, and Holiday parties, and spreads your festering mucus expectorations to everyone around you.  IMO, get the shot if getting the flu would be dangerous to your health or if you're one of those selfish bastartds.  Otherwise, stay home and keep your infectious snot to yourself.

There are three basic numbers you need to look at with vaccines: rate of infectious death (how likely a disease will kill people), its epidemiological R-value (ease of contraction), and success rate of the vaccine itself.  Something like Measles has a very high R-value of about 16.  It is rarely deadly, but its a very persistent and uncomfortable lung infection.  The success rate of the vaccine is nearly 100%.  Get the vaccine.  Something like the flu has a low R-value of about 2.5 meaning it is not as contagious.  It is rarely deadly, and it is uncomfortable like a bad cold.  The success rate of the vaccine is crappy.  That is why I don't get the vaccine.

I do understand the numbers behind vaccines and the health benefits to all involved.  In the case of something like Measles or Small Pox, yes get the vaccine.  It has an incredibly high rate of success for a disease that is easily transmittable.

I hope you get better!

Also, no.

Is it a coincidence that "flu" and "fluoride" both start with the same three letters?

THINK SHEEPLE!!!

I have bad asthma. I get the shot every year. Wife teaches little ones so she gets it as well.  I seem to still get the flu with regularity. She does not.   

Curtis said:

I've had the flu twice in the last 20 years.  Once was about 20 years ago, then once was about 5 years ago when I got the flu shot.

I realize that the flu shot didn't give me the flu it just triggered some antibody reactions, but it was two weeks of feeling just like I had the flu.

 

From a practical standpoint, is there a difference between "getting the flu" and getting all the symptoms from the flu?

It's kind of like the ultimate disclaimer:  Our flu shot will prevent you from getting the flu, but it may give you flu-like symptoms.  LOL.  It's all about money, folks.

https://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/19/the-16-billion-business-of-flu.html

Nothing like trying to hit a moving target.

I agree about the symptoms. "Congratulations, you don't actually have the flu, you're just going to think you do for the next two weeks"

I've made it to forty only having the flu a couple times in my life and no flu shot.

I'll take my chances.

My friend said that when he had it last week, he couldn't concentrate on anything for more than 30 seconds.  I am calling this "The Millennial Flu."

The way I look at it, it can't hurt, so I might as well.  I mean, yeah, I know it can actually cause harm, but the risks are vanishingly small, certainly much lower than the risks associated with actually getting the flu.  Simple math tells me it's worth it.

Re: Toebra

I got it some years ago. First time. I was sicker than I've ever been, by far.  There are three days that I have absolutely no recollection of. I did not have the strength to lift a mug of broth to my mouth. Like it was full of lead. My wife said I sat in a recliner for three days. Tried to make it to the bathroom, didn't have the strength. 

My wife said my vitals were ok, little hot, not much, but I felt like my brain was lagging about three hours behind any external stimuli, and that my muscles had been removed and were sitting in a shelf in the corner of the room 

My doc said to never get it again. He would have admitted me to the hospital had I come to him. He said a small percentage have a serious adverse reaction. I am one of those people. 

He also said that it's basically a money grab and does little to no good for anyone, except him. He has a nice boat. 

On a ship one time, heading South.  Way South.  The whole crew was getting inoculated.  Came to the Yellow Fever shot.  Are you allergic to eggs?  Well, no, but I don't eat them.  What happens if you do?  Dunno.  I DON'T EAT THEM.  Mom says she would hid them in my food as a baby and I would just puke them back on her.  No yellow fever shot for me.  Everyone else on the ship got sick a few days out.

In reply to DrBoost :

Well the local drugstore gives them and accepts anybody’s insurance so it can’t be that profitable   

I can walk into any  urgent/ wellness care room and get one quickly, bypassing all the people waiting. 

But you can’t get one with the symptoms  that’s when you do get sick.  

I need one every year since I drive a school bus and get exposed to 529 kids every day.  Plus a pneumonia shot.  

The only time I’ve had the flue or pneumonia is when I failed to get them.  

IMO, anecdotal stories like the ones in this thread are of limited use when evaluating whether or not you should get one.  I prefer to rely on the larger sample sizes cited by the CDC, AMA, and others.  Established Medicine (tm) isn't always right, but it's right a whole lot more often than it's wrong these days.

In reply to wearymicrobe :

Feeling any better today?

I've never had an adverse reaction to the flu shot, other than a sore arm for about a day. On the other hand, the flu (meaning influenza), which I've had once, is miserable. 2 weeks of being unable to walk more than 20 steps without having to take a breather. I'd rather have pneumonia again, as in that situation the pain was mostly limited to my chest. 

Make sure you differentiate from "the flu" and influenza. 

Trans_Maro said:

Nothing like trying to hit a moving target.

I agree about the symptoms. "Congratulations, you don't actually have the flu, you're just going to think you do for the next two weeks"

I've made it to forty only having the flu a couple times in my life and no flu shot.

I'll take my chances.

Well by that logic you should remove the roll bar in your race car because you haven’t been killed yet!   

Dont forget the flu epidemic in 1918 killed millions of people.   So flu can be extremely serious

Being skeptical of the flu shot at first, I believed and relied on my immune system. That worked well when I was younger but after 50 ain't bouncing back as well. Only ever had one reaction to the shot, not much at all. Seems to me when they get it right, it's right, not even a sniffle. When they miss it, YMMV. One shot developed for millions ain't gonna work for all. Not looking forward to the 10% effective projection this year tho. Think I'll just hole up in my cave this winter. 

From my experience I'd rather have the flu shot than not.

I've never had the flu. My wife had it once. I had to carry her to the car to see the doctor. She was unable to move on her own and slept 20+ hrs a day for a week. I thought she was going to die. Doc said it was typical.

A cold is not the flu. Some people don't know that.

I’ve never had a reaction of any kind from a flu shot. I usually get them; not always. But saying the flu is like a bad cold is not knowing what the flu actually is. 

I wash my hands often. I haven't had the flu since a few years before the flu shot almost put me in the hospital. I'll continue to practice good hygiene and stay healthy.