Flu jab: I am worried about having my flu jab will I... - NRAS

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Flu jab

Elswick profile image
22 Replies

I am worried about having my flu jab will I get the flu any advise appreciated 😀

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Elswick
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Simba1992 profile image
Simba1992

An interesting analysis on statistics that tell us about what protection against the flu we get in reality.

newsletters.newsmax.com/bro...

Joy_1 profile image
Joy_1 in reply to Simba1992

If I did not have RA I would not have the flu jab.

Simba1992 profile image
Simba1992 in reply to Joy_1

I still think it's too much of a risk and since the real protection seems to be quite minimal, I do not take the shot inspite of RA.

Joy_1 profile image
Joy_1 in reply to Simba1992

I respect your opinion Simba.

For me it is a must. My lungs are involved in my RA so a yearly flu jab + a 5 yearly pneumococcal jab is a necessity.

I have really come to dislike this time of year.

I wish people would cover their mouths/noses when sneezing!!

Simba1992 profile image
Simba1992 in reply to Joy_1

Hello Joy, I do understand your situation. We all have our individual situations and the decisions we make are the right ones for us. Take care.Simba

Caza profile image
Caza

Hi, I had the flu jab for the first time ever a few weeks ago with no problems at all. I chose to have it because I had the flu last winter, I was ill for a couple of months. All really unpleasant with me ending up in a&e on Xmas day 🤦‍♀️ A stand in for my gp without reading my notes, deemed me fit enough to get over it on my own, I didn’t so ended up with pneumonia. We’re see what this winter brings.

Beachgirl profile image
Beachgirl

Hi it can make you have a few more aches & pains for a few days, rather have that than flu any day.

Ruth12345 profile image
Ruth12345

Ive had it twice and been fine. No you wont get flu my understanding is some may feell a bit rough for a short while. This year I was red and ichy round the site for about a week. Id rather that than get flu on top of everything else.

nablur profile image
nablur

No. You will not get the flu from a flu shot.

Possibly sore arm where they inject you. You can ice it and go about your day. 😍 And be a lot safer!

TPaine profile image
TPaine

Hi I have had the flu jab for the past 10 years while I have had RA and have only had flu once which was not when I had the vaccine but when I was very emotionally down and stressed so I can say that had affected my immunity and health so I was more susceptible. The flu jab cannot give you the flu as it only helps build immunity to flu. sometimes people develop flu or a cold shortly after having this and think that's why without considering they were not protected when they were sat in the doctors waiting room just before, or in the shops or on a bus etc... I think it is more likely to be coincidence than cause if you end up with it, hope that helps!

in reply to TPaine

Well said TPaine! Does the OP actually think that a drug company would get a license to produce a vaccine that gave people what it was meant to be preventing? Or that the WHO would put work and money into guessing which variations of the two seriously harmful strains of flu (influenza A and B) were winging their way towards us for winter then, apparently saying “sod it, let’s just give them the untouched virus, capable of killing people”?! The cash strapped NHS would then have to pay for a vaccine that not only didn’t work, but was actively trying to infect people - people they would then have to spend money on treating? Somehow I don’t see it. I’m aware people react differently to meds, but in this case it doesn’t apply. The flu vaccine just doesn’t do that.

One thing I have learned (for me, a few days before the turn of the century millennium party to end all parties 😡 I was supposed to be attending), is that other viruses can “mimic” flu. On this occasion I’d had the flu vaccine but was felled by what the two doctors I worked for called a “para virus”. It felt like flu but the organism responsible was a different class of bug 🕷 🙁 Tons of people caught it, I remember the two doctors being rushed off their feet!

The worst thing that can happen after a flu vaccine, apart from localised minor reactions, is that it does nothing at all. As happened with swine flu, when it wasn’t included in the first batch of vaccines produced.

nomoreheels profile image
nomoreheels in reply to

I feel for you Embriony3. I also had the HPIV at the Millennium. We'd gone out to Spain to celebrate with friends at a big party but my h ended up going on his own (at my insistence) because I couldn't move from my bed. I'm convinced I got it whilst travelling & having contact with so many people at the airport because it was about 4 days after arriving I was felled by it. Rotten luck for both of us.

in reply to nomoreheels

That sounds more horrendous than what happened to me 🙁. When you’re that I’ll, you just want your home comforts. The best I could manage was my husband driving me to a place we could see the fireworks, me in pyjamas and dressing gown wrapped in a blanket! But the atmosphere on the quayside and the drinking and dancing till dawn would have been amazing. I will say for my hubby, he cancelled going out himself to stay in with me which was nice.

nomoreheels profile image
nomoreheels in reply to

Aw, that sounds lovely. Never mind about the drinking & dancing till dawn, just the two of you was all you needed at the time. There was little point my h giving up his evening, I was no company & asleep mostly all the time he was out. He went to our local bar first as we'd arranged then checked in on me, it was then I made him go, he woke me & I was grumpy at him, that could have been the decider!

hawker955 profile image
hawker955

No, you won't get the flu from the vaccine. As RA patients under therapy you should not ever receive a live vaccine and a dead vaccine cannot cause flu. This should be on your medical records: No live vaccines! I have mine every year and have never had a problem. Nor have I had flu so it presumably works well enough as well? Just ask your GP to ensure that this risk with live vaccines is in prominent letters at the top of your records!

Good luck.

Caringcazz profile image
Caringcazz

I had flu jab last Monday and had no problems apart from a slightly sore arm that only lasted the day

beeckey profile image
beeckey

I have been getting the flue jab for years never had any trouble it is not a live vaccine .

Pulfs profile image
Pulfs

Has anyone had the flu jab while on biological infusions. Had mine the 2nd of 2 infusions last week. Haven't been able to find if it will be contradictive with it. Don't want to boost the cells that have been dampened.......

oldtimer profile image
oldtimer

If you look at the studies done in the UK you will see that they separate out the proven influenza cases from the ones with symptoms only. This gives a more accurate summary.

To say that flu deaths should have gone down with vaccinations is not comparing like with like - the incidence varies year by year and virulence similarly.

Last year the protection provided by the influenza vaccine was not high as many people caught varieties that had not been predicted when the vaccine was prepared. But they usually get it more or less correct.

Having had influenza once in my 40s, I was severely ill - the test usually recommended in jest is to ask someone to get out of bed to pick up a £100 lying on the floor - and they can't!

Hobbledehoy profile image
Hobbledehoy

Hi Elswick. I was told flu jab no problem for RA as not a live vaccine. I had no trouble. All the best.

Personally I’d rather have the vaccination as it lessens the chances of getting flu - and real flu can be a killer.

dozzer15 profile image
dozzer15

I have flu jab e every year and never have a problem. I think it's important to have it x

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