About 2 weeks ago I got my flu shot. I was at an interpreting appointment when my client decided to get a flu shot. I went back with her to interpret and the funny nurse turned to me and asked if I had gotten my shot yet. I told her no and went on with interpreting, though the nurse just stood there and gave me this dirty look and said that I needed to get my butt back in there after I was done "doing my job" and get a flu shot. I didn't get one last year (yes, I know that diabetics are considered to be in the priority group, but I still didn't get one) and decided I would go ahead and get one.
So lo and behold about 10 days later I got the flu, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I was miserable. I was dizzy, feverish, coughing, headachey (new word!), lacking ANY energy, blood sugar all out of control 5 shades of crazy sick! It wasn't your run-of-the-mill 24 hour bug. This beast lasted 4 entire days. This is that miss2daysofworksickovertheweekend kind of flu.
This happened a COUPLE of times this past year because of having the boys and those annoying people that bring their kids or themselves to church to share their "love", or GERMS! I can't stand it when people come to church because they don't want to "miss" a Sunday, yet they are sharing just about every other unnecessary thing as well!
Climbing down from my soap box, my question is this: Do any of y'all get your flu shots and get sick, or not get flu shots and STILL get sick? Is it one of those things that you're "danged if ya do, and danged if ya don't" sort of things? What do y'all think?
3 comments:
I agree! It is a dilemma about should or shouldn't get a flu shot. I decided not to get a flu shot for that reason... I don't want to take the risk of getting sick. I prefer to let the nature take its course. If I get sick, I will get better. If I am healthy I don't get a flu shot. :)
It helped me this year. Normally I don't get one, but I did this year. My whole family is sick, but I am not. But normally I don't get one and never get sick.
I am expert flu shot woman! (: Ok, so here's how it works...when you get a flu shot, they put a live flu virus into your body. It's a very small ammount that gets your immune systme to attack it and then your immune system "makes a memory" of that virus and then knows how to fight it better when you inevetiably get it in the future. With that said, when you are infected with the flu in the future, you will still feel sick, but not AS sick for as long as normal because your immune system has been pre-exsposed to it already. When you get the shot, they will tell you one of the side effects is "flu like symptoms" a week to 10 days later. Some people will get sick, (duh! you just shot yourself up with the dang thing!) and other's don't. It's totally different with every person. I personally get sick every time, my hubby doesn't. HOWEVER, since there are hundreds of different strands of the flu (because it can change itself, don't ask me how) you are still suseptible to getting the flu because it's impossible to become immune to every newly morphed strand of the virus, every year! I read that the flu shot last year was only like 35% effective because of that very reason. SO...when it comes right down to it...it becomes more of a personal prefference I think. People who are at higher health risks should get it regardless, just because that "35%" effective rate is still better than nothing. Other people who are healthy as a horse, like my hubby who gets sick like maybe once a year, doesn't get it because he really doesn't need it. I'm a wimp, and have a crappy immune system, so I always get it, and ALWAYS have my kids get it. Anyway, that's the DL with the flu shot. I think when you start having kids and they get it from those lovely faithful (and sick) Mormon kids in nursery and start passing it around to each other until it's a never-ending vicious cycle of sick kids every other week, you'll realize the benefits of the flu shot a lot more. Lol! But I guess until then, do whatever the heck you want! (:
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