A close friend, who I see at least four time a week, and I both got something... There were no general body chills and aches, just stomach pain and difficulties. By the end of the day we were each reporting that all we could do was lay down. The next morning we'd be slightly recovered, but then it would return as the day progressed. My doctor said it sounded like acid reflux, which I've never had before. The zantac she recommended did nothing. These minor (compared to the hardcore flu) symptoms went away after about a week.
I'd just gotten my flu shot, but my friend hadn't, so that was not a commonality.
What's your general locatio? Nasty, nasty stuff in Utah. Z-packs won't kill it. Both my wife and kid had to take antibiotics called Cefdinir. Only thing that worked after 3 weeks of crap.
Zinc and oil of oregano for me. I can't take any of the over the counter flu and cold medicines because of the heart med I'm on so I just suffer and drink hot toddies.
Apply it topically? Use it on phones and doorknobs in an anti-germ wipe? I'm not trying to be sarcastic. I use many different essential oils for a number of things. I just hadn't heard that one before.
There have been a lot of respiratory problems going around my school building. But no flu as yet. My immune system seems pretty strong this year, knock on wood. Working around little kids, I have good years and bad years. I am really putting a big emphasis on hand washing for my class this year.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/21/2017 06:15PM by summer.
Good point. I know that Docs are hesitant to prescribe antibiotics, supposedly because the Bugs will mutate stronger, and make you less resistant. But they make them for a reason, and you need to knock the crap out of your system. They are freer in issuing opioids than antibiotics.
It's true, antibiotics do NOT cure viruses, only bacteria. They can stop you catching a secondary infection, but taking antibiotics indiscriminately has the unfortunate effect of contributing to bacterial resistance, making antibiotics much less effective, even for bacterial infections.
This is the ninth year I've been getting my flu shot. The only time I've come down with the flu in the intervening years was from the flu shot two falls ago. The person giving the shot gave it deep into the muscle. I knew when she was giving it that it wasn't right.
Otherwise flu shots have helped me immensely. I used to catch whatever was going around the office before getting them. Nine years without catching the going bug is a record for me.
Hope you feel better ASAP. When I start to feel sluggish like am coming down with something, is the time I really baby myself. Ain't no one else going to do that unless I do.
Influenza injections only use killed virus "parts". There is no live virus. It is impossible to catch the flu from the shot.
A live, "attenuated" nasal spray vaccine was offered for about 6-7 years. Attenuated is when the antigens on the surface of the virus are left intact, but the virus is extremely weakened. The people at risk for catching the disease from that version of the vaccine are people with little to no immune system, such as cancer patients in chemotherapy. They stopped offering the vaccine in that format this year because it was found to be wholly ineffective - it was so weak that the body didn't bother even mounting an immune response to it.
True, real, influenza is respiratory. Not nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Those symptoms are also caused by viruses, but it is not true influenza. Flu is like a cold on 'roids with a really bad attitude. It kills thousands of people every year and has been a major cause of death throughout history.
It is possible you did have the flu - and it may have coincided with the time you got the shot. If you were exposed close to the same time, your body would not have had time to make antibodies to fight off the disease. You might have even caught it in the waiting room of the Dr's office (which is the best place to get sick).
and I don't get pneumonia shots, etc. I had the flu this past year, but it was the first time in a long time. I used to get it a lot when I was working 2 jobs and raising 2 kids.
My sister used to get a flu shot every year. She got really, really sick every year. She quit getting them. Guess what? She hasn't had the flu since.
My ex told me I had to get the flu shot and I had to get the shingles shot. I had shingles for a year a few years back. Still have postherpetic neuralgia. I typed up a guy who got a brain abscess from the flu shot and died. I think I'll take my chances.
I've had both pneumonia shots. For me they were under doctor's orders (along with yearly flu shots.)
I've had pneumonia before, bronchitis, and have dealt with asthma off and on for a few years.
They've bolstered my immune system - for me they've been worth it.
If you don't have to have them, then can see why it's a judgment call.
My dad got terribly sick from a pneumonia shot in his later years. He thought he was going to die from it. He was so weak he couldn't reach the phone on his bedstand to call for help.
He fell out of bed onto the floor and couldn't get up for a day or two, with a severe nosebleed. He lived alone and there was no one to check on him. Fortunate for us he pulled through and recovered.
I haven't got it yet, but since I'm a major sinner now, I'm sure that one fine day soon Gawd almighty will send me on a gut wrenching Hurl mission to the bathroom for a few days. I will go without purse or script, and just like the real mission I was coerced to go on, I will endure to the end somehow.
According to "doctor" Dorothy, the reason people get sick after a flu shot is that the shot gets their immune system busy and the next ugly bug says I'm in!!
I have not had flu shots in 15 years. I have not had the flu in 15 years. The shots always made me sick for two to three days when I was forced to get them. The medic said I was probably reacting to the medium they grew the shot in and not the virus itself.
I've never had a flu shot or pneumonia shot. AND I'm in my 70s. I don't get the flu & I've never had pneumonia......at least so far. I've been around very sick people with the flu....Dad had virus B flu before there was a shot for it & I didn't get it from him. My TBM sister gets the flu shot yearly....and the pneumonia shots. She gets bronchitis & sinus infections every year. And she's had pneumonia a few times. She's very sick right now....on her 3rd antibiotic.
My adult kids don't get flu shots....and they don't usually get the flu. One is with preschoolers weekly so does get sick from time to time....bronchitis.
Yes....I wash my hands often. And I don't go to movie theaters or group events IF at all possible.
Hang in there Try oil of oregano....use topically to help with breathing & kill viruses & bacterium. That's what it does.
Adenoviruses cause a lot of respiratory infections. Most aren't serious. I got pneumonia from an adenovirus infection one year, started out as just a nasty cold but ended up a full 21 days of sheer misery and bluish lips and fingernails. I thought I was going to suffocate, and walking from the house to the car felt like a marathon. I'd doesn't have to be influenza to be completely awful.
I started getting a flu shot the year I missed 6 weeks of work one nasty winter. 2000 or 2001. I get so ill when I have the flu. I nearly landed in the hospital a few times due to a temperature over 103. I think I missed Christmas that year too.
I’ve never reacted to the shot and I’ve only had one flu since, which was much milder than usual. Unfortunately I got a chest infection following that, which was long-lasting.
The last hospital I worked in would allow employees to sign a religious exemption. Then they would be required to wear a mask at all times except while eating, for the entire flu season.
While knocking on wood, I haven’t had the flu for years. I take a chelated zinc tablet every morning. No other vitamins or supplements, unless the evening toddy is one. The other thing I do is wipe the handles of shopping carts and wash my hands after going to public places like grocery stores. I also avoid touching my face in those places. Not a germophobe. Raise livestock, etc. But other people carry ‘germs’ to avoid. I also don’t shake hands. Just a fist bump. Try THAT at tscc....
Washing hands regularly and often is one of the best defenses there is.
There was a time my (now retired) rabbi would shake everyone's hand at synagogue every single Shabbat service. Then he started doing the fist bump after a bout or two of flu and cold.
Now he's happily retired to Israel, land of flowing milk & honey.
They urged me to get the shot every year and take other precautions. Once the flu hit me hard in spite of the shot. I happened to have a doctor's appointment that day and she gave me a shot to counteract it. I left feeling much better. That shot isn't available after the first day or two of illness.
I think they don't always have good flue shots for whatever bug is out there. They're usually pretty good, but sometimes the germs mutate and the flu shot doesn't help.