I had my flu jab on Saturday and was told I may have a slightly sore arm. I have an area roughly the size of grapefruit which is red, inflamed, swollen and with a rash and the area is increasing rather than decreasing. It is incredibly painful and I can’t lie on my left side. Saturday/Sunday I had what could be termed ‘flu like symptoms’. Ie achy joints, swollen joints, sweats/chills and headache which have all but disappeared now but the swelling and soreness hasn’t.
Am I being a wimp or is this a normal reaction?
My immune system is known to overreact somewhat.
Grateful for any thoughts.
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CDreamer
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I had a reaction like that years ago after a shot of penicillin for a bad cold and found out that I'm allergic to penicillin. My hip where I had the shot was swollen, red, warm, and itchy. Best to you.
Crikey ! That doesn't sound normal CD. I would seek advice from surgery re the skin reaction. I had quite bad flu like symptoms for about 24 hrs the day after mine.
I had mine 3wks ago and also had an unusually painful arm for almost 2wks. No swelling or redness so maybe muscle pain but like you, I couldn't lie on my left side or raise my arm above shoulder level which made dressing difficult as well as household tasks. Also felt off colour and very tired for over a week. Back to normal now but have heard from others having a similar reaction depending on which jab you had, I had the one for over 65yrs with 4 different types of flu strain.
Hope you feel better soon and arm not too painful.
There’s no harm in giving the surgery a call and getting advice from the GP or nurse. I had heard several people say that this years vaccine was responsible for more people having flu like symptoms. I wasn’t looking forward to mine as I’m sensitive to reactions that way but there was no way I was taking the risk of not having it. I had mine 2 weeks ago and the Dr also warned me and about a sore warm arm and flu symptoms. As it was I had a slight sore arm for rest of day and that was it.
I hope you feel better soon and give surgery a call and hopefully put your mind at rest. xxx
I had my first flu jab last week ... same reaction very sore arm, red & swollen and very tender and painful to the touch. Also could not lay on that side. Was particularly painful on the 2nd & 3rd day after the jab. Now 5 days later has subsided.
I had my flu jab as an afterthought when I was just leaving the surgery having seen the physio. She said I could have it straight away, which I did. I forgot all about it, and the following day was feeling quite out of sorts. I thought I was going down with something, then I remembered I'd had the jab. I would put it at about 25% of full blown flu but it did just last a day or so.
Sorry you feel so rotten CD. I would certainly get it checked out by your doc as it sounds like a bad reaction. A thought - could it be that this year’s strain of virus reacts differently? I normally have a mildly stiff arm and tender swelling at the site but this year have had no reaction at all.
Some ice might help and paracetamol, if you can take it and no, not a wimp at all - that is horrible. Hope you gat relief soon. xx
This year, for the first time ever, within 24 hours of the flu jab, I had my first atrial fib episode for three and a half years i.e. first one since my ablation in March 2016. It was followed by a bad lung infection needing steroids and anti bs. Maybe a coincidence but GP is taking "precautions" ...her term... next year.
I’m having mine this afternoon, really not looking forward to it now : )
Should have been six weeks ago but it was booked straight after my cardioversion and colds / flu is a big trigger for me so I cancelled, worrying about it sending me back into afib...
Ive just finished with an awful chesty cold though, don’t know if the jab would have helped. Will be so upset if I get afib now through it, it’s always arrived as a cold is finishing.
Thanks for all your replies, interesting that so many of you also had a reaction for the first time. I was expecting slight flu like symptoms - which did last about 24 hours and a sore arm but not this amount of swelling and irritation.
I had to think long and hard about having the jab in the first place and the surgery know my reluctance to take vaccines, however, because of all the other conditions and meds and history of chest infections in the last few years requiring steroids/antibiotics, they convinced me that it really was required - they seemed much more insistent this year and I think for good reason.
I’ve only had flu once and when I was young and fit and was very seriously ill and recovery took many months, I think it would finish me off altogether if I caught it again so a relatively minor reaction seemed the lesser of the evils.
I’ll give it another 24 hours and do a bit more research and certainly report the reaction.
I think your penultimate para says it all. There is no live virus in a flu jab but you may well be allergic to one of the carrier fluids or even the eggs it is grown in.
Even my husband thinks it’s a bit over the top Bob and I need to be gasping for him to notice! I am going to report it as an adverse reaction. I’m OK with eggs and last year’s vaccine was ok and I did most of the winter without serious infections.
I checked that it wasn’t a live vaccine as I can’t have those anyway - can’t even be in the same room as someone who has just had the Shingles vaccine nor be near the grandchildren if they have been recently vaccininated.
I have missed two flu jab clinics so far due to illness myself so what do I know CD.lol Not sure what I have had isn't a type of flu since it started at HRC!
Sorry to hear that you had such an adverse reaction. I myself never have nad never will get the flu shot. I rarely if ever get the flu. I feel that I prevent it by taking a tablespoon of probiotic liquids once a wee. The few times I felt I was coming down with something, I took two tablespoons every day for a few days and bang! Gone! I sometimes get lazy and forget to take "my med" (probiotic) and that's the only times when it even thinks of grabbing ahold of me. Those of you who adhere rigidly to the scientific method are missing out.
Minding your Microbiome is important and I certainly do that with prebiotics and taking fermented foods at every meal and eating plenty of fibrous veg rather than taking expensive probiotics which actually go straight through you within 24 hours so feeding the flora you have, knowing which flora you have and lack is also important - only possible with science. Gut flora is like a war with goodies and badies and you need to know which foods encourage the goodies and which the badies - eg:- tannin, garlic & various herbs and compounds.
Unfortunately flu is a virus so doesn’t matter how strong your Microbiome is or your immune system - if you have no immunity to that virus strain - you will become very ill - the 1918 pandemic killed more people than WW1. As we age our natural immunity declines and now I am immune suppressed anyway so much more susceptible, I’m not prepared to gamble.
I am interested this year there seems to be more people who have shown a reaction and think it important to report that.
And I just want to add that our daughters when they were little took the probiotics we gave them and only once in a blue moon did they get sick from flu, whereas others seemed to get it at least once a year.
Probably a reaction, but the swelling and soreness sound so severe it might be worth checking for an infection? Just to be safe.
I only suggest this because my daughter recently had a small procedure at the GP surgery which broke the skin and it turned very nast- red swollen and sore. It was cellulitis needing large quantities of antibiotics for a couple of weeks before the redness started to recede.
Ouch! That sounds extreme... I'd have it looked at - I had mine recently and apart from a very dark but not huge bruise I barely had any pain and no swelling. That's definitely a bad reaction and if it's getting worse it needs attention.
Bit late, but I hardly had a sore arm at all though I did feel rotten for a few days with mild flu symptoms. I wondered if a bad local reaction, which I have had before, indicated you already had good antibodies, whereas getting full body symptoms showed you needed the jab? Your reaction sounds extreme though. Please let us know how you get on.
I’ll ring the surgery today. It’s not gotten any worse, maybe a little better. As I said, my immune system is likely to over respond to most things. I just read the report - link kindly provided by AprilDay and decided it was a relatively minor reaction compared to full limb swelling!
The nurse asked me if I was allergic to eggs before she did the jab. Sounds you had a reaction to something in the jab. My arm was a bit sore for a couple of days but nothing like what you are describing. I think I would ring the surgery to let them know and to get some advice. Hope you feel better soon.
This doesn’t sound normal to me but haven’t had mine yet after 2 reminders from the GP surgery. Glad I haven’t now as still really suffering badly with these ectopics every other beat. I hope you feel better soon, you can well do without that. 🤗
I had mine this morning so asked the hca if side effects were more of a problem this year and she said the surgery staff who've had it reported increased arm swelling and pain 🙁
The link between vaccines and autism is false. A British physician fabricated the data on the study showing a link. He lost his license for publishing that data. There is no scientific proof demonstrating a link between vaccines and autism .
I had the same problem, a very sore arm and felt really rotten for a week or so. It also triggered off my AF and I haven’t had a bout for two and a half years. I’m ok now though. I didn’t have this reaction last year. Still better to have the flu jab and feel a bit off than a bout of the flu, that could be far worse! I hope you feel better soon.
This supposed cause of autism is completely wrong. No scientific evidence links autism and Mmr vaccine. Dr Wakefield was proven completely wrong and had his medical license removed for bad practice.
Yes thousands of kids did get measles before the vaccine and very many were ok, including me, but many died or were left with permanent damage to various parts of the body, including a friend of mines child. So please don’t spread facts that are very wrong and don’t suggest that someone’s child was already sick due to bad nutrition.
I just hope you never have to watch someone die from a condition that could have been prevented by a vaccine as I have done.
My brother in law died of complications from measles & UK has just lost it’s measles free designation - very worrying.
I remember having measles as a child, luckily not as badly as I had the flu but recall having 2 weeks isolation imposed - no school or interaction outside the immediate family.
HI CD I used to get a sore arm after the flu vaccination but it is not such a problem now with just the occasional slight soreness. The moment I get back to the car after vaccination I massage the site on my arm for about 5 minutes. At the first sign of soreness I apply an ice pack wrapped in a tea towel and repat ever few hours.
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I used to get a sore arm after the flu vaccination but it is not such a problem now with just the occasional slight soreness. The moment I get back to the car after vaccination I massage the site on my arm for about 5 minutes. At the first sign of soreness I apply an ice pack wrapped in a tea towel and repat ever few hours. 
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