Unreasonable fear of getting my flu shot this year

Camper6 said:
My doctor insists on it. But my arm was sore for months after I got a shot one year so I refused. I now get it as a nasal spray.
It's important to wash your hands often.
That's how we transfer virus by touching our face.
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When you think about it, most of the orifices in our body are in the head, and only two in the groin area for men and three for women. Our hands are everywhere picking up germs and every time we touch our head with them we run the risk of infection. Hand washing is good, but when you turn on the faucet you do it with dirty fingers and after you wash your hands you again touch that dirty faucet. If survival depended on washing hands, we would not be here since the cave man probably never washed his hands. It's a good habit, but does not necessarily guarantee our safety.

Just curious, since you get your flu med with a nasal spray, aren't you afraid it will eventually ruin the lining of your nose? Have you noticed a change in your smelling ability?
 

PVC said:
I would really like to find out what percentage of doctors take the flu shot, it would be very interesting to find out. Do you think they would be truthful in a survey?
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I work with some that do not. They're the type that don't swallow everything pharmaceutical companies dish out.
 
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PVC said:
Our hands are everywhere picking up germs and every time we touch our head with them we run the risk of infection. Hand washing is good, but when you turn on the faucet you do it with dirty fingers and after you wash your hands you again touch that dirty faucet.
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Not if you wash your hands properly. Turn the faucet off with a paper towel if they're available in a restroom, if not carry tissues for that purpose. Also use one to open the bathroom door when leaving. I do this, have autoimmune disorders, work in an environment where infections cluster (nursing homes, dementia units) and do not get sick. I get no immunizations except the tetanus vaccine every ten years.

Related to discussion earlier in the thread: Just got off the phone with my mom. My brother's gf is a physician's assistant who got the flu shot long enough ago that she should've had immunity by now. She was supposed to visit this weekend but isn't now ...because she's got the flu.
 

AnnieA said:
Not if you wash your hands properly. Turn the faucet off with a paper towel if they're available in a restroom, if not carry tissues for that purpose. Also use one to open the bathroom door when leaving. I do this, have autoimmune disorders, work in an environment where infections cluster (nursing homes, dementia units) and do not get sick.

Related to discussion earlier in the thread: Just got off the phone with my mom. My brother's gf is a physician's assistant who got the flu shot long enough ago that she should've had immunity by now. She was supposed to visit this weekend but isn't now ...because she's got the flu.
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LOL, common sense, thanks for the hand slap. I'll have to remember that, also need to start using the disinfectant wipes on the store cart handle, no need to take chances at my age.

I wonder what excuse the gf is giving why she got the flu anyway?
 
PVC said:
LOL, common sense, thanks for the hand slap. I'll have to remember that, also need to start using the disinfectant wipes on the store cart handle, no need to take chances at my age.

I wonder what excuse the gf is giving why she got the flu anyway?
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Didn't mean it as a hand slap, lol! All that's drilled into our heads in health care. Another thing is, you'll never find twist faucet knobs in health care, but the lever type that can easily be pushed off with an elbow. If I could redesign every bathroom in the world, they'd have lever faucet controls and exit doors that push outward! 🙃

As for the gf, she's sensible and knows that many years the flu shot is a losing bet. She spends her days in exam rooms with sneeze germs on every surface. I'm mostly using charts in the nursing station, though I'm still vigilant because I don't know that not everyone who handles the charts has practiced good hygiene.
 
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PVC said:
I would really like to find out what percentage of doctors take the flu shot, it would be very interesting to find out. Do you think they would be truthful in a survey?
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No, they wouldn't. But I do know two RN's & one PA (Physician's Asst) who refuse to get flu shots. I asked the PA why. She said, "I know too much."
 
Camper6 said:
My doctor insists on it. But my arm was sore for months after I got a shot one year so I refused. I now get it as a nasal spray.
It's important to wash your hands often.
That's how we transfer virus by touching our face.
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We can't expect a doctor to suggest we don't get a flu shot. That would be like a business saying, "We suggest you don't use our product."
 
win231 said:
We can't expect a doctor to suggest we don't get a flu shot. That would be like a business saying, "We suggest you don't use our product."
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My internist's staff asks patients if they want vaccines, but doesn't push them. He's brilliant--med school at University of Virginia, former Air Force physician/officer--and has sense enough to realize, and the integrity to admit that vaccine safety research is woefully inadequate.
 
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The nasal spray is, I think, a live vaccine, so with my own health problems, that is one I would not get.

Also, I want to add that no vaccine could protect a person against all chance of something.
They aren't ever 100% effective, nor do any of them cover all the countless forms of flu's, viruses, infections/ or all forms of pneumonia, nor would they rule out anything possible for the immune system of an individual, from struggling.

It does make it a confusing individual decision for each person to make, imo.

I hope your friend improves, win123.
 
Bonnie said:
My doctor asks if I would care to get the flu shot.. when I say 'absolutely not', he doesn't say another word about it.
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So did mine & he also knew better than to give me the usual "You have diabetes, so you should get it."
My doctor also now asks three other questions: "Have you had a colonoscopy, pneumonia shot & shingles shot?" I want to stay on friendly terms, so I just say, "No." So far, no hard selling.
 
I can surely understand other people's decisions, and I support those.

For myself, as part of my own decision for me, I make a distinction between the live vaccines and the not-live ones.

The flu and pneumonia ones are not live. The immune system may react, but it is not being given the live one to contend with.
The shingles shot, that was around for many years, is live, so I did not get it.

Now there is a shingles vaccine that is not live, and I will consider that. I know shingles is very common, and I have known people who suffered greatly from having the shingles, and for myself, with poor immune system, which gets worse when aging in addition, I might opt for the newer vaccine for it, at some future point.

But yes, I will decide for myself. I will not go by what a doctor or another person tells me, though I will listen to info and views, to consider, when making my own decisions.
 
I received my “high dose” a week ago this past Monday, 10/21. The next morning after I stepped out of bed, I immediately felt like I was freezing. I checked my temperature and it was 100.2. My joints also ached. This lasted for about three hours and left just as quick as it arrived.

Your fear is real to you. I can tell you sincerely that if it were me, I would risk the possible reaction instead of perhaps getting a nasty dose of the flu. The flu is known to take its toll each year on seniors.
 
I too, for myself, am more afraid of those illnesses, than I am of the not-live vaccines.

If it has any possibility of lowering my chances at all, of the possible additional illness, then it is worth it for me.
 
win231 said:
I posted previously about a similar topic:

"Not to discourage anyone from getting a flu shot - confidence is half the battle, but.....
The flu shot is heavily marketed to people with "pre-existing conditions." A good friend of mine who is 62 & has a pre-existing condition just got out of the hospital with a high fever & breathing troubles. Since he had a hernia surgery 3 weeks ago, his doctor suspected a possible infection. And, since he had a lung infection 2 years ago, they suspected it was a re-occurrence. After those were ruled out, they verified that it was a reaction to the flu shot.
Well, perhaps not everyone with a "pre-existing condition" should get a flu shot.
And, no....I'm not against all vaccines. I simply note the fact that many people who get a flu shot still get the flu, so I don't have confidence in it. I've never had one & the one time I got the flu was 37 years ago, so I'm not interested. But to each his own."

I have an update. After my friend was sent home, he again developed breathing trouble & chest pain. He's back in the hospital.
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Another update: He was sent home today. His doctor said "likely pneumonia." Well, people usually get pneumonia when they're already sick with something else. Besides the flu shot, he also had a pneumonia shot a week ago.
 
Kaila said:
I can surely understand other people's decisions, and I support those.

For myself, as part of my own decision for me, I make a distinction between the live vaccines and the not-live ones.

The flu and pneumonia ones are not live. The immune system may react, but it is not being given the live one to contend with.
The shingles shot, that was around for many years, is live, so I did not get it.

Now there is a shingles vaccine that is not live, and I will consider that. I know shingles is very common, and I have known people who suffered greatly from having the shingles, and for myself, with poor immune system, which gets worse when aging in addition, I might opt for the newer vaccine for it, at some future point.

But yes, I will decide for myself. I will not go by what a doctor or another person tells me, though I will listen to info and views, to consider, when making my own decisions.
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Something that I often wondered about is; if a person gets the Shingles, can they get it again? Also, if you had the Shingles, say 35 years ago, are you still a candidate for the vaccine? I had the first Shingles vaccine, but am debating on getting the newest version.

Something that’s almost ridiculous is when I was in elementary school, I had 3 doses of the polio vaccine, plus the booster, then when the oral vaccine came out and I was in high school, I had 3 more doses of the oral, then when I went into the Marines, I was asked if I wanted the polio vaccine. I jokingly asked, which version do you have, the live or the dead stuff? The officer watching over the dosing was a female Captain. She said, “Hey, smart ass, you’ll get what we give you.” I didn’t know what to do, so I just took another injection of the vaccine.
 
911 said:
Something that I often wondered about is; if a person gets the Shingles, can they get it again? Also, if you had the Shingles, say 35 years ago, are you still a candidate for the vaccine? I had the first Shingles vaccine, but am debating on getting the newest version.

Something that’s almost ridiculous is when I was in elementary school, I had 3 doses of the polio vaccine, plus the booster, then when the oral vaccine came out and I was in high school, I had 3 more doses of the oral, then when I went into the Marines, I was asked if I wanted the polio vaccine. I jokingly asked, which version do you have, the live or the dead stuff? The officer watching over the dosing was a female Captain. She said, “Hey, smart ass, you’ll get what we give you.” I didn’t know what to do, so I just took another injection of the vaccine.
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I think the Shingles virus stays in your system forever & it's possible to get it again if your immune system is weak. I had shingles 37 years ago & it never came back.
 
win231 said:
I think the Shingles virus stays in your system forever & it's possible to get it again if your immune system is weak. I had shingles 37 years ago & it never came back.
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My father had shingles, a fiery red rash on his abdomen that he said was excruciatingly painful. I don't remember what shots I've had, except for a tetanus shot eons ago, and have no record of any other shots. So, I don't know if I've ever had chickenpox (I don't think so, but not sure).
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Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus — the same virus that causes chickenpox. After you've had chickenpox, the virus lies inactive in nerve tissue near your spinal cord and brain. Years later, the virus may reactivate as shingles.
 

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