flu jab

I had the flu jab for the first three years it was available to me for free. I have never experienced such awful colds as in those three years following the flu jab. The last time I was ill for 3months. I am tempted not to have it this year to see if I get a less severe cold.

If over 65, you can have a free flu jab at your doctor's surgery. Why not have it? It may be the right vaccine for the coming winter, but nobody can be sure. Better to be protected then risk getting flu. I always have a jab every year and, apart froma sore arm for a day or two, I have had no reactions.

Have been having it for years, and always get feverish and ill for a few days a week or two later. But, saying that, for the rest of the year I am totally cold/flu free. Well worth having.

Anya - I know they haven't all been conquered, and it was the wrong word to use, but it is indisputable that the more people who are immunised, the fewer people who contract a particular illness.
The OP was inviting opinions on whether to have the flu jab. My point is that while understandably one's own health is a first priority, in the case of a potential epidemic we also have to consider whether we have a group responsibility for 'the herd' as someone else put it. That forms part of the decision, or should do. I didn't use the word 'irresponsible'.

Yes. Every year. Why would you not?

Yes indeed. Since having flu a few years ago, I always have the jab. This year I qualify for a free one which was nice. I used to have it done in whichever supermarket pharmacy was cheapest.

Last year I had it done at Asda and the conditions were far from sterile.

No, I will not be getting it. I don't think it's irresponsible. It is up to the individual to decide. I have never had the vaccination and I have never had the 'flu.

I first got a flu jab when I was going to visit my granddaughter in Australia who has viral induced asthma. I now pay to have one every year as I have no reaction to it and don't want to get flu.

We had our jabs on Friday. By Friday evening we both felt a bit shivery and achy, a bit weary and apathetic Sat morning but firing on 4 cylinders by Sat night. This is the strongest reaction I have ever had but it will not, under any circumstances put me off from having it again. A reaction shows that it is working. If I felt that crummy after an injection, how much worse would I feel with flu!

Flu and colds are two different things. The flu jab does not prevent colds - would that it did!

Yes, definitely! Been having it for years. Had flu about three times in my life and it's very nasty! The possible post-flu complications can be even nastier. My son ended up with pneumonia as a young fit 30 year old!

Like nanalyn53 I've had real flu'. I was in my 40s and it was awful. DH had to nurse me whilst he was also working. (Luckily he was on an early shift. Equally luckily he didn't get the flu'. ) I had a chest infection with it as well, (GP did home visit and put me on drugs.) With all the coughing and wheezing, at one point I was literally oozing from every orifice. (Sorry to be so graphic, but it's true.) I fainted when going to the loo and hit myself on furniture. It was truly awful for two weeks and I really thought I would die, despite being a usually fit and well woman. I'm 66 now and get the jab for free, but after having flu' I bought the jab annually, when it became widely available. A small price to pay for the chance to avoid having flu' again. Flu is a killer and we need to remember this.

I'm going to try Tea Tree on the feet - great idea!

I'm glad I read this thread. I had no idea you could be protected against shingles. I've been an ostrich about my health - grip wood- because I've been healthy by and large. Just palpitations, which I cope with, and there doesn't seem to be any underlying physical reason for them. I try and stay as far from the doctors surgery and the NHS as possible.
I shall go and ask about both injections tomorrow and stop being a wuss.

I've had the flu jab every year for about 7 years with either no reaction or a very slight one. Had the pneumonia one this year and got a large, hot, red and painful lump on my arm which lasted a few days. However you only have to have the pneumonia jab once. My DH died very suddenly two years ago of pneumonia at only 64 so I reckon a few days discomfort is a small price to pay for staying alive.

Get it! I always used to be ill with flu over Christmas. Now I might have a bit of a cold but I don't need bed or hospitalisation.

I have been getting flu jab for years, as I have underlying medical conditions and flu can kill. I had jab last week and felt under the weather for a few days, but it is better than dying from flu.

I am 68 and just had it for th first time. I don't k is if it is true but I had mine because "it is important to protect others". . We have babies in the family.

I had swine flu radialnan and wish I had been offer the jab

Since the flu virus enters the body by the nose or mouth, I am not convinced that applying tea tree oil to the feet will stop its ravages, any more than wedging a paracetamol tablet between the toes will cure a headache.

In the laboratory it has a mild effect as an antiseptic and anti-inflammatory, but it doesn't seem to have been proved definitely effective in real patients. I don't think I shall be relying on it to protect me from the flu - the flu jab may sometimes have side effects, but the bad effects of the disease itself are proportionately more frequent and more severe.

"A wealth of in vitro data now supports the long-held beliefs that TTO has antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. Despite some progress, there is still a lack of clinical evidence demonstrating efficacy against bacterial, fungal, or viral infections."
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1360273/

Have never posted before but just to say I had flu jab 2 winters ago & have been ill ever since. Always feel as if I have got the flu. Horrendous cough, runny nose, achy limbs. Have seen every specialist sometimes NHS sometimes private no-one can give me a diagnosis.If I could put the clock back no way would I have had it. There are always side effects for some people and you don't know till you have had the jab. My symptons began within 24 hours & and I am now dreading this winter.

I probably won't have the flu vaccine. I appreciate some people think this is anti-social and I am putting others at risk. I would point out that 'flu is substantially different to the other illnesses mentioned such as smallpox. They are specific and individual, the term 'flu denotes a range of illnesses which vary and in fact change from year to year. The 'flu vaccine is a scientific 'best guess' about what types of flu may be around in any one year. So you may think you are protected, but the 'flu you encounter may be a strain which wasn't in your vaccine. There appears also to be considerable confusion about colds and flu and this is understandable, the symptoms are similar, although 'flu is much worse. Both are viruses and both have variations. The reason there is no cold vaccine is because it has over 250 variations.
In my opinion it is better to know you are at risk, take precautions and act if you feel ill, than to imagine you are protected, encounter a different type, and become very ill because you didn't take it seriously

I've been having mine for several years due to medical conditions - never had to pay as I was eligible for free one. I have twice had "flu" - it is very debilitating (not just a bad cold - you can't get out of bed & feel like death)

Had Pneumonia jab about 5 years ago which is supposed to give life-long protection - guess what, 5 weeks in Hospital last year with severe Pneumonia (I was only 60) I took months to fully recover

I would any-one to have "flu jab" - I do feel "under the weather" for a few days & injection site may be a bit tender afterwards but far better than getting flu

It's not a bad reaction that concerns me. A friend's sister, who works in a scientific/medical research field, warned her that, though it might help prevent flu, there are elements of it that are very harmful in other ways. This makes me hesitate.

60 years ago my DH, then a 16yrold apprentice was offered the Polio vaccine at college. His mother refused consent as she had believed all the scare stories. He contracted Polio at 17, the only new case in the city, (thought to have contracted it at the Scout's International Jubilee Jamboree at Sutton Coalfield) and has had to live and work with a disability the rest of his life. Thankfully he did not infect anyone else. In fact he was the last patient in the polio isolation ward which then closed.

We have had our flu & pneumonia jabs, our DDs and DGC have had everything they were offered - you know it makes sense!