flu and the "new pneumonia" shots UPDATE

Falcon said:
I'm like Phil..........don't get the shots (for Anything). Seems my body takes care of itself. I haven't been sick in YEARS!
Click to expand...

I hadn't been getting the flu shots and hadn't been sick in years either, until I got the influenza. I NEVER want to go through that again. I was really, really, really sick. It kept me flattened and bedridden for 10 days to two weeks, and then was a while till I really felt OK. And there isn't hardly anything they can do for it, either. I was so sick I had to get my son to come in and feed my dogs. I couldn't stay on my feet long enough to do it. The real flu isn't anything like what most people talk about when they say they've got the flu -- it's about a hundred times worse. I really thought I might die.
 

I'm getting my flu shot next week... I had the shingles shot last year.. and the old pneumonia shot a few years ago.. I'll be getting the new one the next time I see the doc.
 
Butterfly said:
I hadn't been getting the flu shots and hadn't been sick in years either, until I got the influenza. I NEVER want to go through that again. I was really, really, really sick. It kept me flattened and bedridden for 10 days to two weeks, and then was a while till I really felt OK. And there isn't hardly anything they can do for it, either. I was so sick I had to get my son to come in and feed my dogs. I couldn't stay on my feet long enough to do it. The real flu isn't anything like what most people talk about when they say they've got the flu -- it's about a hundred times worse. I really thought I might die.
Click to expand...

I think anybody that has ever had the real flu would get the shot. It is a killer, especially for older people. One person has died from flu in NC this week.
 

The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 killed more people than the Great War, known today as World War I (WWI), at somewhere between 20 and 40 million people. It has been cited as the most devastating epidemic in recorded world history.
More people died of influenza in a single year than in four-years of the Black Death Bubonic Plague from 1347 to 1351.
Known as "Spanish Flu" or "La Grippe" the influenza of 1918-1919 was a global disaster.

 
flu-timeline.png
 
I'll get my flue shot on the 23rd of this month. Didn't know they had a shingles shot so I'll ask for one of those too.
 
Shirley said:
I got my pneumonia shot and the shingles shot. I will get my flu shot about the end of October. I almost never get sick but I want to keep it that way.
Click to expand...
I have never heard about a shot for shingles ? Is it on the free list over there ? Quite a few of our dancing friends / colleges have had it , one friend has had it three times .. It sounds terrible ..
 
Kadee46 said:
I have never heard about a shot for shingles ? Is it on the free list over there ? Quite a few of our dancing friends / colleges have had it , one friend has had it three times .. It sounds terrible ..
Click to expand...

The Shingles vaccine is NOT free (costs about $250 USD +/-) Sometimes it's covered by insurance.
 
Kadee46 said:
I have never heard about a shot for shingles ? Is it on the free list over there ? Quite a few of our dancing friends / colleges have had it , one friend has had it three times .. It sounds terrible ..
Click to expand...

Shingles shot has been around for awhile. Boy, be sure and get one, nasty, nasty stuff. Painful is an understatement for it. It runs down your nerve endings and as the blisters burst, the pus makes it spread.
AKA Old Peoples Chicken Pox ��
 
Sorry to upset our American friends here.....

In the UK, the shingles shot is recommended to people in their 70's, and your doctor will tell you when you should come in for it.
It is free under the National Health Service.

If you are even thinking about not bothering - change your minds.
Shingles is a terrible thing to have to suffer with, and it is avoidable.
Even a light 'episode' will be very uncomfortable for a few weeks, and a bad incident can last for the rest of your life.
 
AZ Jim said:
The sore arms (one in each arm) are a little sore but I have a little fever and just feel funky. I don't know which shot did that.
Click to expand...

You're not alone Jim. My mom who is 80 decided last year that she wouldn't get flu shots anymore because she has a very bad reaction to them as well. Like you've described, she feels unwell and her arm usually swells up for a week from wrist to shoulder and it's quite painful she says. Some people just can't take them. Personally I don't get vaccinated but then I'm very careful when I go into town (lots of hand sanitizer!) and we live a pretty simple, private life so we don't come into contact with too many people who might be carrying a bug. Hope you feel better soon.
 
Shalimar said:
I had shingles as a child, my doctor feels it is unnecessary for me to have the shot. I will get the flu shot in November.
Click to expand...

The shingles virus is the exact same virus that gives kids the Chicken Pox.. Once you have it, it stays in your body.. generally living at the base of major nerves.. As we age our immunity to the virus decreases and the virus can become active. Since it clusters around the nerves.. instead of giving an over all outbreak of blisters like chicken pox.. it stays pretty much around the nerve.. which is why shingles appear along only one nerve track. Having chicken pox or shingles as a child does not mean you will not get shingles as an older adult.. this is why you should get the shot.. not sure why your doc thinks you cannot get shingles... he is wrong..



Chickenpox is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, a member of the herpes virus family. The same virus also causes herpes zoster, or shingles, in adults.

Shingles and chickenpox (Varicella-zoster virus) | University ...

umm.edu/.../shingles-and-chickenpo...University of Maryland Medical Center

Loading...
 
QuickSilver said:
The shingles virus is the exact same virus that gives kids the Chicken Pox.. Once you have it, it stays in your body.. generally living at the base of major nerves.. As we age our immunity to the virus decreases and the virus can become active. Since it clusters around the nerves.. instead of giving an over all outbreak of blisters like chicken pox.. it stays pretty much around the nerve.. which is why shingles appear along only one nerve track. Having chicken pox or shingles as a child does not mean you will not get shingles as an older adult.. this is why you should get the shot.. not sure why your doc thinks you cannot get shingles... he is wrong..



Chickenpox is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, a member of the herpes virus family. The same virus also causes herpes zoster, or shingles, in adults.

Shingles and chickenpox (Varicella-zoster virus) | University ...

umm.edu/.../shingles-and-chickenpo...University of Maryland Medical Center

Loading...
Click to expand...
Absolutely those who had chicken pox as a child are most vulnerable as an adult. I had them as a kid but I have had the shot so I am somewhat protected but they tell you when they administer the shot is not 100% protection.
 
I am torn re the shingles thing. I certainly would hate to get it again, yet I have difficulty with shots. Invariably, I have side effects. Also, according to Dr Oz, and the Honour Society Of Nurses, fewer than four percent of people get shingles twice. I presume that is why my doctor does not advise me to get the vaccine.
 
I'm thinking that they mean fewer than 4% of the people who get shingles as an Adult get them twice.. You had them as a child.. that I'm thinking was a long long time ago... Your immunity is about gone by now I would think.. Remember.. it's the very same virus that causes chicken pox.. and people that had chicken pox as a child get shingles.
 
QuickSilver said:
I'm thinking that they mean fewer than 4% of the people who get shingles as an Adult get them twice.. You had them as a child.. that I'm thinking was a long long time ago... Your immunity is about gone by now I would think.. Remember.. it's the very same virus that causes chicken pox.. and people that had chicken pox as a child get shingles.
Click to expand...

QS, I never got chicken pox as a child. My sister, did, and we slept in the same bed but I never got it. Does that mean I wouldn't get shingles as an adult?
 
My brother-in-law, who lives in Canada, is in his early-70's. A few years ago, he developed shingles, mainly on his left chest and shoulder area.

Although he has received medical assistance throughout, he still suffers greatly from it. On the pain levels of zero to ten, he often is at the ten level.

His consultant has told him that it is incurable - he will have to live with this for the rest of his life.

He has told me that the pain becomes so intolerable at times that he has often considered suicide.

Never underestimate shingles. The lower levels of this terrible condition normally are on only one side of your body - your head and neck, your shoulder and chest, or your abdomen.
In the bad cases, it will affect both sides of your body.

This is pure torture, and for the unfortunate few, they may not be strong enough to endure the pain.

http://patient.info/health/shingles-herpes-zoster-leaflet
 
This post made me ask my doc how long this pneumonia shot lasts?

He says 5 years and I though it was like the flu shot ,every year.
 
I've had shingles, not severe, once -- 25 years ago. I've been meaning to get the shot, but haven't yet. It's free. Covered by Medicare and all I've ever heard is that it's covered by all other insurances as well. I'd guess it's less expensive for insurance companies to pay for the shot than it would be to treat someone for a nasty shingles outbreak.

As for the flu shot -- never get it. I'm told it does, quite often, bring on a relapse of CIDP, which is what I have. Since CIDP and MS are in the same "family", I wonder if MS patients ever get flu shots?
 
Rocky said:
I've had shingles, not severe, once -- 25 years ago. I've been meaning to get the shot, but haven't yet. It's free. Covered by Medicare and all I've ever heard is that it's covered by all other insurances as well. I'd guess it's less expensive for insurance companies to pay for the shot than it would be to treat someone for a nasty shingles outbreak.

As for the flu shot -- never get it. I'm told it does, quite often, bring on a relapse of CIDP, which is what I have. Since CIDP and MS are in the same "family", I wonder if MS patients ever get flu shots?
Click to expand...

Bad news! It's not FREE and covered by Medicare. I paid $250 for mine. It might be covered by some insurances but definitely not medicare.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top