Okay to get the flu vaccine?

Hi all,
Was wondering what everyone's thoughts/experiences were on getting the flu vaccine, since flu season is coming. For those of us who have been treating for months and are not having life-threatening symptoms, it should be okay right? I think it's probably a bad idea for those who are still very ill since they are very immunocompromised, but what about the rest who are sort of in the middle between sick and healthy.. thoughts?
Hope you're all doing okay <3

I don't ever get the flu shot. Getting the flu isn't a serious enough disease for me to get a vaccine.

I haven't had the flu for years...


...and now that you have lyme...it's not a good idea.

I read last year...that the flu shot didn't even work that well...

So glad you posted that article, cr3ativegirl -

I would NOT advise anyone get the flu shot, but particuarly anyone dealing with Lyme or treating. Mostly because it's not worth the risk and you'll be lucky for any MD (most get kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies) to honestly tell you what those risks truly are.

They're ineffective.

And they can be dangerous for some people.

It's taken me a few years to piece this together but I was very ill after being initially infected - severe bronchitis and sinusitis, upper respiratory infection, "flu". It took about a year to recover and then those sx would pop up when I got run down and maybe once every other month. And then in subsequent years they became a once/year occurrence.

Then my PCP talked me into a Hep B vaccination because I was planning to travel overseas. And BAM! I relapsed the first time. Took me a year to recover, had to resign from my firm.

That was in 2008 and when I did recover. I could NOT have felt better, healthier, I was 40 and people thought I was in my late 20s, I worked out over an hour every day, I was traveling for work and working late hours, engaged to be married, living high and just really doing very well - lasted for about 2 years.

And then, I got the flu shot.

And that started my most recent relapse although this time, I did eventually get diagnosed for Lyme & co after going 16+ yrs undiagnosed. So, there's that.

Not everyone is harmed from vaccines, obviously. But until it's clearly understood what is happening, I wouldn't get any vaccines that aren't life-critical.

-p

In our local hospital...there has not been any less elderly hospitalized because of serious symptoms since the heavy campaigning for flu vaccines started a few years ago.


There are no stats backing up that there are less deaths from flu either.


and last year - our health authority stated that the one given was ineffective for most people...

Unfortunately my husband is pressured to get it - he works in the health care field. If he doesn't, he is required to wear a mask from November to March. He goes out in the public...so it would be humiliating.

The theory behind the shot, not so much to keep healthy people from getting the flu but to keep them from spreading it.


https://www.popsci.com/you-should-get-flu-shot

"
Flu season is mostly a hazard for just a few categories of people: the elderly, the immunocompromised, the pregnant, and the very young. In other words, people for whom the consequences are huge.

These are the people for whom you’re getting the flu vaccine. Elderly men and women in nursing homes die from influenza regularly, and it’s not because they’re gallivanting around town getting infected—it’s because someone brought the virus to them. Maybe it was the man who brought their lunch, or their neighbor’s visiting granddaughter. Either way, it was probably someone who thought they weren’t likely to be affected by the flu—and they were right. It was someone else’s problem.
The beauty of herd immunity is that once you get above a certain threshold, it matters a lot less that the very old and very young don’t have protection. The virus just can’t spread well. To reach that point for the flu, we’d need to get around 80-90 percent of people vaccinated, depending on how effective that year’s shot was."


I don't know if we should get them or not. I got mine yesterday after talking it over with my pcp but i have to admit i'm second guessing it now.

Those of you that reacted badly from a flu shot when you were treating lymes, how long did it take to react? I had a pretty bad night last night after getting the shot but feel a little better today. Hope i didn't just set myself back.

Thanks for all your input. Just learned a lot about vaccines! I'm still on the fence, mainly because I figure the immune response to an inactive virus wouldn't be too bad compared with getting the flu. WV Mike, please let us know if you think you're reacting badly to it.

So sorry Mike. Thank you for posting

Oh no, thanks for the update WV Mike. Heart symptoms are the worst, hope you improve soon!
p.s. I wish there were more relevant emojis on here... like a bandaid on a heart. A lot of us could use that.