FLU JAB-YES OR NO. I have just attended my annual asthma check at my surgery and was offered a flu and pneumonia jab.I do tend to come down

[JANJAN2]

with infections in the winter.Is a flu jab a good idea for hashimotos sufferers as our immune systems are already compromised.? I am also going into hospital in the New year for surgery, where there may be infections around.

[shaws Administrator]

This is an article by Dr Lowe in January 2003 in the USA.

web.archive.org/web/2010103...?

[Tatty10]

I had the flue jab last month and paid for it, i had tt in august and taking 125 micro levo 1000g calcium couldnt bear the thought of getting full blown flue i had no ill effects from it.

[lilliput]

A big yes to both; I was getting several chest and/or throat infections every year before being diagnosed hypo. For 18 months, touch wood,since having the jabs I've had none. The Levo since March may also have made a difference, plus giving up smoking.

I was on at least two courses of anti-bios per year, for about 5 years, so the jabs also protect against anti-bio resistance and the joint pain which came with any infection.

[Hidden]

Please have your Flu/Pneumonia Jabs. Being an Asthmatic you could become severely ill or worse....Exposure to flu as an Asthmatic would, if it doesn't make you severly ill cause much more damage to your lungs which would be permanent.

[HarmonyAngel]

A definite yes!! I had mine a couple of week's ago & a sore arm for a few day's is far better than the flu!!

I had my first flu jab 6 years ago when I didn't know I was hypo & had Hashi's but since having the jab it's kept away not just the flu but also horrible colds!! On the couple of occasions where I've though I might be starting with a cold then some Echinacea tincture immediately stops it in its tracks :o) I'm on my own & there's no way I could manage if I came down with the flu!!

[Hidden]

I am a Hashimoto's sufferer and apparently I'm not eligible for a flu jab.

Jo xxx

[JANJAN2]

Thank you folks for your replies! I will definitely have the jabs! x

[Pink_Bear]

I think you should discuss it with your GP and ask him/her to weigh the risks and benefits. My endo does not generally advise flu shots for patients with auto-immine problems and he thinks the costs/benefits of the whole programme are highly dubious. - but your asthma might sway it?

[JANJAN2 in reply to Pink_Bear]

That is what I was wondering in the first place-thanks for that.My GP says it is up to me as I don't think she knows!

[JudyS]

I am also asthmatic and always refuse the flu jab. My mother was a perfectly healthy 82 year old when she was persuaded to have it. A couple of months later she was in a wheelchair, the jab having brought on a particularly severe form of auto-immune poly-arthritis. She had to take a mixture of steroids and methotrexate (a chemotherapy drug) for the rest of her life, along with other drugs to counteract the effects of those two - like bone strengtheners, which also had their side effects. She because registered disabled and virtually househound. She was a nurse, and was convinced that the jab had done it, and after some straight talking between her and her consultant, he admitted to her that yes, it almost certainly was.

My problems (fibromyalgia and myxoedema) began between two and three months after I was persuaded to get the pneumonia vaccine. To me, it doesn't seem worth the risk.

I'm not advising your NOT to take it. I'm just giving you one of the possible downsides. You may need to consult an endo for a fuller picture of the pros and cons.

[JANJAN2 in reply to JudyS]

Very interesting. You see I did have the flu jab once and ended up with pneumonia-I will never know if it was just coincidence.I am reconsidering my decision.

[kiltis]

I would personally NEVER have the flu jab as I know what's in it. I boost my immune system with good bacteria and vitamin C and zink instead.

[JANJAN2 in reply to kiltis]

Sounds like a sensible plan!

[Glynisrose]

I would never again have the flu jab either, while your body is trying to make anti-virus you are wide open to other infections!!

[jaxnbreeze]

I have had the flu jab a couple of times at this time of the year and each time I have come down with a nasty cold. Apparantely this happened because I had already been in contact with bugs and my immune system was compromised because of this so I reckon I need to have the jab in the summer when everybody is healthier. I would never have it again but I am lucky that I don't have any chest problems.

[lola1956]

A friend who is a nurse told me not to touch flu jab now I have hypothyroidism. .I also have slight asthma but am prepared to risk catching flu

[JANJAN2]

I have totally reconsidered my decision and think it may be better NOT to have the flu jab!!!

[Angel_of_the_North]

I have seen no scientific evidence that the flu jab works. Apparently D3 is more effective. the stats are something like 3% of people get flu in a given year. If they are all vaccinated 1.6% of them get flu. It doesn't protect you against bad colds (aka flu-like illnesses) or viruses that weren't around last year. If you have a depressed immune system, you are more likely to suffer ill effects from the jab than a healthy person and apparently the so-called hypo-allergenic one is made from caterpillars ,... ewwww!!

But you should read up on it and make up your own mind. The Cochrane Report did a big study on it in about 2010 - they are real medical researchers.

[JANJAN2 in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

I have decided that i won't have the jab.! x

[tarotreader]

I have just had mine (asthamtic) and I have recently been diagnoised as hypo.!

I am on 75-100mg of Levo and HRT , I was told this was not avisable (not by a GP) ?

So confussed, I also have HBP taking medication for that and a low dose of setraline.....

I feel so not well

[JANJAN2 in reply to tarotreader]

Sorry you feel so poorly.As you can see on here it takes a while to get thyroxine levels right.x

[Hidden]

I had it for the first time this year. I will never have the jab again as within 48 hours I had a cold which lasted some three weeks. I have not had a cold for ten years and put it down to the vaccine.

[JANJAN2 in reply to Hidden]

The jab really does seem to cause a lot of problems!