Sore arm after flu jab

My arm was sore for 2 days afterwards as it was for the pneumonia jab . A small inconvenience that is normal and of no consequence in my view for the benefit .

Both ours this week with no reaction apart from a slightly tender arm. I made sure I had it done in my left arm as I’m a right side sleeper.

I guess we are talking about hundreds of thousands of people who will have had the flu jab especially this year so quite obviously some of them will be harbouring various viruses beforehand which will give symptoms after the jab.

It’s all down to cause and effect isn’t it?

I think a slightly sore arm at the injection site is very common and mine was like that for a couple of days.

Maybe with all the social distancing, mask wearing and frequent hand washing still in place, we won’t have a bad year with flu this year.

Nevertheless, I hope the uptake of the vaccine is high this year.

How would hospitals cope with the double whammy of both flu and covid patients?

DH and I have had flu jabs for the past 7 years, also shingles and pneumonia and have never had any problem whatsoever.

Isn’t it strange how they can affect people so differently.

I’ve never had a reaction, sorry you are experiencing problems.
TBH I would happily swap with you. We can’t even get an appointment.?

I had my flu jab on Tuesday. I went to the local pharmacy as I could not get an answer when I rang the Health Centre. The Pharmacist was really good, very quick and efficient. I barely felt anything, and my arm was sore for only one day afterwards.
I think a lot depends upon who delivers the injection.
My arm was painful for almost a week last year. The Nurse at the Health Centre was rather rough.

Espee, if you are in the Greater Clyde and Glasgow Health Board area, some areas are sending appointments out by letter to aged 65 and over and holding in large open air places like a football stadium.
Our surgery website has a notice about this on their website.

They are being done by age, then birthday month.
I'm 65 and had mine at St Mirren football stadium two weeks ago.
My neighbour and my husband who are seventy are having theirs next week. It may be worth checking this out.

Have been having flu jab for past 19 years, some years get very sore arm, only one year did that get particularly bad. I have to sleep on my left side (due to have ostomy on my right), so have this done in my right arm.
It is a not a live vaccine, so cannot give you any sort of illness. It does not actually kick in for about 10-12 days after receiving it, so if you have anything in your system prior to having it, or catch something in that first week,you will feel unwell (not the vaccine),
Do think some people have a pyschosomatic reaction to this vaccine, expecting to feel ill afterwards.
Also do note that it is not totally effective, different years, according to flu strain it can be as low as twnety percent, other years as high as 80 percent, so normal hygiene precautions still need to be taken.
Influenza and and Pneumonia kills thousands every year. We just have never had daily figures shown on the news on how many people infected and dying - as they do with Corona.

I've been having this jab for many years and never have a bad reaction other than my arm is sore for about three days.
It's normal I think.

It is a not a live vaccine, so cannot give you any sort of illness. It does not actually kick in for about 10-12 days after receiving it, so if you have anything in your system prior to having it, or catch something in that first week,you will feel unwell (not the vaccine), Do think some people have a pyschosomatic reaction to this vaccine, expecting to feel ill afterwards.

Well the leaflet for this year’s over-65 adjuvanted vaccine states quite clearly that during clinical trials, very common side-effects have been observed (headache, muscular pain, pain at injection site) as well as common ones (including nausea, diarrhoea, fever, generally feeling unwell).

Our pharmacist warned us when we had our vaccinations that people had reported these to him as well.

We’ve been lucky like you and not had symptoms in previous years, but I have never thought that those who had were imagining it! Just as well, as this year DH and I had some of the common side-effects (headache, upset stomachs, fatigue) starting the same evening. And as we hadn’t been anywhere else for quite some time beforehand, it’s pretty certain that they were related to the jabs.

Obviously being mildly unwell is a very small price to pay for the protection given by the vaccine, but side-effects do actually happen!

Where there's no sense there's no feeling with me, even though the nurse botched up and drew blood which ran down my arm
It was even okay next day, arms like pipe-cleaners but skin like a rhino.

I’m having my flu jab tomorrow. I always feel ‘off’ for a few days afterwards. It’s normal for some of us.

I had mine on Weds all fine, started to walk home got about half-way there and suddenly remembered I had left my car in the carpark. Does it effect memory

Probably a very rare side-effect, lindiann.

Not psychosomatic if your arm swells up is it?

Anyway, all done. Long queues but sunny and warm, nurse said they expect to do 1000 today.
The only problem (apart from asking if you are generally well and haven’t had a bad reaction in the past) is if you have an egg allergy.

I don’t know when we’ll get flu jabs, if ever, unless we pay for them, as the NHS in our area seems a complete shambles. I’ve only had two flu vaccine so far and apart from a vaguely sore arm, had no side effects. Dh has never had any side effects.

We’ve both had many vaccinations over the years due to having lived abroad and we’ve never had reactions apart from the aforementioned sore arms. I always think that a sore arm isn’t unexpected when someone has just jabbed a metal pipe into your flesh! There’s definitely a skill to administering it, as well. Some nurses/doctors have that skill, others don’t.

I had flu three years ago and felt like death warmed up for weeks. I do not want to experience that again.

I too was warned about side effects when I was getting it.
Due to my medical history, I had to stay for a while, until staff were sure I had no severe reactions.
I passed the time browing GN on my phone. .

What I experienced was certainly not psychsomatic, I can assure you.

Espee. I checked with our surgery a couple of weeks ago inquiring as to when we will be having our flu jabs and was told we will be notified with a date for our appointments.
The letters arrived with our dates, DH had his yesterday and mine is next week. Greater Glasgow Healthboard and ours are being done at the surgery. Appointments are appearing later than usual this year due to the addition of covering other age groups and most vulnerable.

We’ve both had many vaccinations over the years due to having lived abroad and we’ve never had reactions

Me neither, until this year, apart from when I had a smallpox vaccination at 18. I was thrashing about in bed for two days hurting all over and hallucinating from the fever. No illness I have ever had has come close.

This was the first time ever I’ve had any reaction at all, and that was just pain at the injection site. I was very impressed by the organisation, and I was in and out in about five minutes.

I wouldn’t read this thread earlier because both of us had our flu jabs this morning. They also gave us the pneumonia one in the other arm. Both arms a bit sore but it looks as if we’ll be sleeping on our backs tonight.

Another Greater Glasgow Health board here ,OH had his yesterday I had mine this morning.Local community centre with six stations set far apart ,enter by automatic front door,sanitise hands ,directed to station for our practice ,jabbed and sent out the back door.Sanitiser at the door .No queue I was the only person in the hall .
I've never had it before OH has the past few years since his heart issues,never had a problem with it.

Last night I went to the bath and when I took off my jumper I saw a large red patch over the site of the injection. It must have been three inches across!

It's not as red now, but my arm is still sore, and I had another poor night's sleep. I don't think that the red patch is psychosomatic, somehow.

Maggiemaybe I think the smallpox vaccine used to be a ‘live’ one. I wonder if that’s why you were so ill?

Some years I have a slight reaction; this year nothing whatsoever.