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Got flu-mist vaccination -- and am sick. Shot seems less potent.

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Posted 10/29/2015 7:54 PM (GMT 0)
Be careful that you know what you're doing when getting a flu vaccine.

I went in and got the nasal mist version of the flu shot two days ago, and am sick now. I'm not as sick as if I had the actual flu, but I slept last night, and have slept hours today. I'm stuffed up bad and just trying to get a few things done seems difficult.

I had asked my doctor if I was okay getting the flu shot this year because I showed very low immune markers (eosinophils) when tested at Mayo in August. She said I was okay to, but to just get the nasal version.

I think there was miscommunication somewhere -- I think the nasal version is more potent than the shot. From what I read now it has a live virus, vs just a dead one in the shot.

Just wanting everyone to be careful knowing which is which... as I seemingly did not.
Posted 10/29/2015 8:00 PM (GMT 0)
I got my super potent old people shot 2 Fridays ago, felt a little strange/tired the next day, had sore arm
for 4 days, that's about it. Shoulder muscle seemed like it was swollen.
Last winter had flu 103 plus temp for 3 days, no thanks.

Old Mike
Posted 10/29/2015 8:17 PM (GMT 0)
I'm definitely not saying to skip the shots -- but to be careful which type (mist/shot) you get!

Post Edited (Thoreau) : 10/29/2015 2:20:22 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 10/29/2015 8:20 PM (GMT 0)
Sounds like the nurse got it backwards/reversed.

As, I always get the flu shot that's a needle in the shoulder and that isn't live. The nasal mist is a live vaccine, bad for those of us on immunomodulators (Imuran, 6mp, aza) and/or biologics (humira, remicade, simponi, entvyio).

The pneumonia shot isn't alive either, so okay for those on hardcore meds.

The shingles shot is a live vaccine. Avoid if you're on the hardcore drugs.
Posted 10/29/2015 9:08 PM (GMT 0)
My doc said no mist, yes to the needle. The mist is a live virus whereas the shot is not. Sorry you got sick, T-man. Hope everything else in life is going well.
Posted 10/29/2015 9:49 PM (GMT 0)
I never get the flu vaccine, never have and likely never will....if I get the flu then that's the way it goes....it'll either kill me or I'll get over it so getting a vaccine which most of the time is useless to the current season's flu seems pointless to me, besides I get enough pokes with Humira weekly and blood work every 3 months lol.

My mom (had uc) got the flu shot many years and still ended up with the flu every winter, then she finally stopped getting the vaccine and hardly ever got the flu.
Posted 10/29/2015 10:39 PM (GMT 0)
I have never gotten the flu vaccine and I can't even remember the last time I got the flu.

My 7 year old last year was unable to get hers when she went for her yearly well child visit because she had a slight fever from a sinus infection. I never took her back to get one and she didn't get the flu.
Posted 10/29/2015 11:01 PM (GMT 0)
Oh you got the flu by inhaling a sneeze in a box...

the irony, sorry flu vaccination is a huge scam.
Posted 10/29/2015 11:12 PM (GMT 0)
The flu vaccine comes in many forms and you need to know which is ok.
There are both tri and quadravalent injections. Those are both dead flu viruses. The quadravalent injection is recommended for people on meds that suppress immune system.
The mist is a weakened virus and is not save for those who are immune suppressed.

And the vaccine is not a scam. It works. Regions with higher vaccinations have lower incidences of flu.

a close relative of mine died from the flu, had he and his peers been vaccinated maybe he would be with us today? Maybe not. But I'm not risking it.
Posted 10/29/2015 11:51 PM (GMT 0)
Just as an fyi, there are things out there that are far more effective than the flu vaccine. Many articles have come out questioning the efficacy of it... they were particularly asking if it actually does induce herd immunity. I think the conclusion was that it is not strong enough to induce herd immunity. Look up Oster and his findings. There was also study showing colostrum being 3x more effective at preventing influenza.

I wouldn't go as far as calling it useless, but the strains change every year and there's no way to guarantee protection against all strains.

Work on raising vitamin D levels to guarantee surefire immunity against it. Invest in a decent COD liver oil brand.

Post Edited (Guardian7) : 10/29/2015 5:54:31 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 10/30/2015 12:37 AM (GMT 0)
I get the flu shot every year but always insist on the single dose vials and preservative free version. No mercury and no preservatives.
Posted 10/30/2015 1:29 AM (GMT 0)
Oh, wow! I don't think they should have given you the mist! The mist is a live virus and not recommended for anyone with any sort of compromised immune system or even sensitivity (I.e., elderly, ill etc). I got the shot in the arm, no side effects other than sore arm.

Sorry you're sick, hope it's short lived!
Posted 10/30/2015 4:00 AM (GMT 0)
Hey all - interesting posts!

I used to skip the flu vaccination after it seemed like every year I had gotten it, I got the flu anyways. I started getting it the past few years, and have seemed to do okay (no flu).

But yeah... I'd avoid the mist. I'm not even on any immune suppression... just naturally seem to have low immunity for some reason. At mayo when they did bloodwork, they wrote that my eosinophils (a type of immune cell) were just slightly higher than a transplant patient (whom is heavily immune suppressed).

I asked my GP about this -- and was told to go for it. Now I know for next time what not to do!
Posted 10/30/2015 12:19 PM (GMT 0)
Ya, don't ask that GP any more questions regarding health matters.
Posted 10/30/2015 12:54 PM (GMT 0)
"Live, Attenuated Vaccines

Live, attenuated vaccines contain a version of the living microbe that has been weakened in the lab. Viruses often are attenuated through a method of growing generations of them in cells in which they do not reproduce very well. This hostile environment takes the fight out of viruses: As they evolve to adapt to the new environment, they become weaker with respect to their natural host, human beings. They can reproduce but not very well. The remote possibility exists that an attenuated microbe in the vaccine could revert to a virulent form and cause disease.

Inactivated Vaccines

Scientists produce inactivated vaccines by killing the disease-causing microbe with chemicals, heat, or radiation. Such vaccines are more stable and safer than live vaccines: The dead microbes can’t mutate back to their disease-causing state."

I'm guessing the chem, radiation, or heat destroys the dna/rna within the virus but preserves the outer shell, which is all that's need for new antibodies to be developed, successfully dock to that viruses exterior, and those new antibodies produced en mass to thwart a perceived attack of non-reproducing viral material.
Posted 10/30/2015 1:27 PM (GMT 0)
When I got the shot I got the flu. I have not got it in 4 years and not even a cold. ?? Not worth it for me because does not work in my case.
Posted 10/30/2015 1:51 PM (GMT 0)
It takes about two weeks for the shot to work so if you got it before than it was related to the shot being effective yet.

When Children get the flu two days after the shot they may have picked it up at their pediatrician when they went to get the shot.
Also, many people mix up influenza with gastroenteritis or the "stomach flu"
Posted 10/30/2015 4:01 PM (GMT 0)
I got a flu shot once and only once, and a week later I got sepsis. I know it's not related but I will not get it again. I read that you get 2 flus or less in 10 years, I don't remember getting any flu so why bother...
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