Flu shot warning

yes. nobody else should be taking it.

i got flu when i was a kid. maybe i am immune to it now because i have never had it since. even though im always surrounded with people who have it when working around this time of year.

Gulf war syndrome. Some of it is depleted uranium poisoning. Most of it i suspect is vaccines.
ie most of the troops where sent there doped up on all sorts of vaccines ie anti small pox, black plague etc jabs ie the stuff they thought iraq had in chemical warheads.

Iraq didnt have any of that stuff and now there are many many thousands of veterans crippled because of the vaccines they took.

The same can be said for some people who take the flu vaccine.

If you are fit and your doctor is telling you to take a flu jab he is probably doing it for the money.

A fit strong person should NEVER take the flu vaccine.

(Apologies to dunmugmeh. Quoting is royally f**ked up at the moment.)

Unless you want to lessen the chance that your fit & strong self is going to pass on that virus to, say, your elderly mother or infant child.

Herd immunity FTW.

Unfortunately I have a poor immunity due to my Sarcoidosis of the lungs, so it was never a option. But I will take my chances in the future because I refuse to go thru this again.

I'm sorry to hear what happened to Styx, I hope that there will be no long-term/permanent damage to your eye or nerves, thank you for the warning.


There are people in Canada who are forced to take the flu shot because they work in a hospital environment. That should be changed, no one should be allowed to force you to do something you do not feel comfortable doing.



Myself, I've never taken to flu shot and I'm one of the few in our building that doesn't get sick in flu season. Even when I have partners that are sitting 4-5 feet from me and are drooling and coughing and what not.

This is not to say that there are no benefits to the flu shot: we are not all built the same. There are people who are allergic to various proteins and substances found in our world and there are others who are not. Even closely related person can be very different: my sister has allergies while I don't. She is constantly sick while I'm not... The point which I am trying to make is some people can actually benefit from the flu shot while others don't as much.

I've been living my life avoiding taking any medication that I don't have to take. I refuse to take ibuprofen or acetaminophen for headaches. I prefer to wait out the pain or let my body take care of itself.

I believed that if take medication, my body would get used to always getting help from the outside instead of learning how to fight its own battles. Maybe it has helped me or maybe I have just been very lucky all this time. There is no way of proving or disproving either side. All I know is that I very rarely get sick, maybe once every 2-3 years. I don't avoid sick people, when my partner is sick, I don't tell him/her to stay away and not touch my stuff or not to pass me the paperwork. When my mom and sister are sick (usually happens same time), I still sit with them to watch the tv or eat meals.


When my sister was born, my parents were super careful with her; making sure she never touched dirty stuff, everything was always clean as if the house was a laboratory... When I was born, my parents were less careful with me. This could of contributed to my current immunity or it could be a coincidence. There are too many variable in life that affect us without us knowing or realising.


My closing advice? The same thing that Styx said: "So please consider before you just rolling up your sleeve."
It is your life, you will be the one living with the consequences of your actions or inaction.



V.

Uhm, sry you are 1 in 1 milion ppl or less that had bad reaction to it. ( ur 4th? in states.. and sooo many ppl got it )

Flu vaccine normally has little to no side effects. Yes older ppl over 60 and ppl who are at risk if they get sick should ofc take it. However, younger ppl who arent at risk should as well. Reason it rather simple, flu is contagious, so sure young and strong ppl wont die from it but it wont stop them from spreading it around to ppl who might die from it. And yeah most ppl that get vaccinated are less sick and/or less often sick from flu.

So simply put its not just about who gets it, its about who that person is in touch with. Might that be somebody sick, or old or small child we all get in contact with some or all of them. There is actually more chance of this happening (http://www.dedicatedtoallbetter.org/flu-virus-know-now/) then getting some bad ass side effect from the shot.

Until scientific evidence points to vaccines irrefutably causing your nerve damage and other supposed vaccine induced problems people espouse on here I will continue to promote herd immunity.

Not vaccinating because of the scaremongering and fear in the anti-vaccination movement is completely stupid as you not only put yourself at risk of unnecessary illness but you also put that elderly person next door at risk, the child with no immune system from receiving chemo down the street at risk etc etc

Dude you have no clue what your talking about, I have a poor immune system due to sarcoidosis of the lung. I was always the first person in line for the flu shot due to instant lung infection when the flu hits, it is life threatening for me, I was always the one to harp on my family and friends that I am around so I don't get sicker. I took it Oct. 5th, the symptoms hit almost instantly. I was hospitalized on the 12th and remained in a critical care facility until the 8th of Nov. (roughly) The doctor that was treating me said she seen FOUR the exact same problem after getting a flu shot. Bad batch, maybe or this years vaccine maybe tainted. Who knows, if you choose to take it, then take it. This is just a warning for those who think nothing of rolling up your sleeve every year.

I am a older lady (54) with several medical issues and I should be the first one to get in line for it, not any more. I will pass thank you any ways.

Huh, that sounds like really bad luck.

That seems a bit juxtaposed.
For you:

Flu = life threatening
Flu jab = single reaction among many successes

For me the odds would seem stack in favour of getting the jab in future.

Firstly I am not a dude but will let that insult slide. Secondly as a frontline healthworker I always get immunised against any possible bug out there, I was in the first group of people in Australia to be immunised for H1N1 and if a vaccine for ebola came out I would be rolling my sleeve up instantly.

As harsh has already pointed out your position is juxtaposed in that you have had 1 reaction among many years of having the flu shot. And it is also extremely irresponsible of your Dr to say that as they have NO evidence that the causative factor was the flu shot. In fact it could of been something completely unrelated.

This is the problem. Thousands of people will hear the scaremongering from a handful of rare cases or just crazy people and suddenly think they know better than the doctors/nurses that are on the front line and the scientists that develop these vaccines and extensively test them.

The doctors probably realise there is some side effects or rare conditions associated with this particular vaccines and they probably weighed this against the danger the flu has on vulnerable people.

This is no more an argument than saying people shouldn't take antibiotics in the case you might have an allergic reaction.

One thing you all fail to comprehend: Styx NEVER once said "Don't get the flu shot". She has not been trying to scare people: she stated facts that happened. How people interpret those facts is up to them. She simply wanted to make people aware of risks that come with taking the flu shot. People should always be aware of both sides of the coin and make an informed decision.

Health professionals, more than anyone else, should be aware how important it is to give full disclosure about potential risks for any operation, treatment, or medication. When you get your prescription pills, it always comes with warnings: warning may cause diarrhea, warning may cause drowsiness, warning do not mix with alcohol, warning may cause depression, warning may cause constipation, etc... Why don't people get informed that flu shots have possible side effects as well, regardless how low the probability is. Even condoms come with warnings: guaranteed to work 99%, even lysol wipes say guaranteed to kill 99.9% germs.

I currently work in a military hospital. Often I ask patients what they think of the flu shot and what information they have been given. What gets on my nerves is that people think that there is no risk to taking the flu shot. People need to know that most of the time, or the majority of the time; there is no complications from the flu shot, but there is always a risk. People tell me that if they tell patients that there is a risk of side effect, patients will be afraid to take the shot(getting immunised is very important in a military environment). But that is very unethical. The first rule of a health professional is do no harm. You are not here to make a decision for the patient, you are there to give ALL the pertinent information so that the patient can make their own decision. Everytime you omit information to your patient, you are disgracing your profession and betraying your patient. Your personal opinion on a matter is irrelevant unless the patient asks for it. You are there to guide them, not decide for them. It is their life, their choice.


I see soldiers in the rehabilitation clinic after their deployment everyday. You know what is a persons greatest fear is after an injury in combat? Losing their independence. How would you feel to not be able to dress yourself, to wipe your own ass, to put food in your own mouth?

A person loses a lot of independence from losing their vision partially or totally. I would challenge you to cover up one of your eyes for a period of 24hrs and go through your daily routine and see if you feel any different. Things you might notice if you spend you day with one eye: reduction of the peripheral vision, reduction of the ability to focus, reduction of the ability to judge distance/depth perception, reduction of the ability to distinct shapes and colour, reduction of the ability to grasp objects, reduction of the ability to maintain you balance, reduction of the ability to spatially orient yourself, etc... You also have to consider the emotional trauma that derives from the inability or difficulty of performing everyday tasks like going up or down the stairs, crossing streets or just eye-hand coordination. What about constantly bumping into objects or people that are in your blind side or the ridicule that ensures when you bump into a door frame or object? There is a reason why we have two eyes.


Bottom line is: I'm not saying don't get the shot, all I'm saying is don't let someone make a decision for you that should be yours to make. Make sure you have all the information so that are conscious of what you agree too. Just like when you sign a contract: read the fine print. Just like when you vote: make an informed decision instead of voting for who has a cooler name or smoother voice. Take control of your life and your destiny. You are the one who will be stuck with the consequences of your actions or inaction.



V.

Becasue side effect lists are massive and scary and for the most part <1:10000 probability of occurance.

If you tell people the 1:10000 risk of things they do (aside from taking drugs) we'd all be wrapped up in cotton wool balls in sealed sterilised rooms.

I do agree that people have the right to be informed, but they need to understand probabilities to really grasp it.

In her opening post, Styx said that she was the fourth(4th) case in the US of A. Right there she is saying that it is very rare because of only 4 in how many millions that got vaccinated without issue. She was trying to help people understand the risks and probabilities. How many of you here knew that it was possible to get optical nerve damage from the flu shot?

When I say full disclosure, it means giving ALL the information and explaining it; the risks and probabilities.

The difficulty in explaining probabilities is that they are hard to calculate and predict; it is near impossible to predict with certainty the outcome a drug will have on a patient. Even if you've been taking the same medication all your life; you can wake up one morning to find your body reacting to it and rejecting it.

In North America, prescription medication don't provide probabilities; they just give you a list of possible side effects.

Omitting to give disclosure of risks to the patient because you are worried they will refuse the drug or treatment is unethical and illegal in the majority of cases.

I have heard of orders to hide side effects from patients because they had a mental illness that would cause them to believe and actually show symptoms of the side effects, just because they read them.


Btw: by definition of 'drug', vaccines are part of the term. It is why it is regulated by the FDA in the US of A.

No I said I was the 4th case in the Metro area (Mpls-St.Paul, MN) which does make you wonder if it was not a bad batch of vaccine, and that is just one doctor that has seen it (that I know), so who knows how many were not reported. I would assume that I was one of those that got it bad. But I am just thankful it is not permanent. My eye function is coming back better each day. Thank God.


I would never say not get the shot, just want you all to be aware of there is possible nasty side effects.

I had never been one for getting extra injections for any reason, but 2 years ago, I caught the flu. I usually just tough out any illness and in a few days, no problems. This time it persisted till I ended up with a sinus infection and pneumonia, was off work for 3 weeks, lost 25 lbs and thought I'd be better off dead.

Last year I got the shot and never so much as had a sniffle let alone catch the flu even though my kids and grandkids did everything they could to test it.

This year Im hoping my immunity persists, but I do believe in immunization for "at risk" types.


see: polio/Pakistan

So, moral of the story...

Vaccines can be a good idea, but be wary of possible unexpected side effects, just like any form of treatment.


While I seem to have no reaction to vaccines, I do get very bad digestive problems when I take certain medications, despite that not being a "normal" side effect. Do I still want to try other medications? Yes. But I'm more wary of what could happen.

I don't ever get any of them shots my government tells me I should get. I don't trust any of them. I'm almost never sick as well. I'll likely never get the flu shot, nor the Ebola shot when that comes out. I'll take my chances with my immune system.

Besides, my immune system knows kung fu.


Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Hope you get everything sorted.