It just dawned on me that the day before my daughter died, I had gotten the high dose flu vaccine. I don't know if the combination may have caused the A-fib to come back or not, but now I'm wondering.
Yoga, I felt fine for the first couple days too, and then wham, it hit me like a truck....but like I said, it could have been a combination of everything. Let me know how you feel as the week goes on. Now, I'm curious if it was a contributing factor.

My mother had a bad afib episode right after last year's flu shot (9 hr. episode of afib). We got to thinking that maybe we should request the shot without the preservative in it. We thought maybe she reacted to the preservative. Just a thought.

I got my flu shot today (I was at the doctors and he said because Im asplenic I should have it). Anyway, 1 hour later I flipped into a-fib and 6 hours later my heart is still doing the Rumba. Of course, it may have absolutely nothing to do with the shot
Im also sure my doctor wouldnt even consider not giving me the shot, a-fib or not, the consequences of me getting the flu with my immune system are pretty nasty.
atp

Ugh...now you guys have all scared me! The Army will pay me $191 to get the flu shot (I know, SCHWEET deal, huh?)..so I was going to get one this Saturday...but now am afraid of being sick for Thanksgiving...maybe I will do the Saturday after Thanksgiving. But don't worry taxpayers, my awesome gig of getting paid big bucks for doing stuff ends 6 weeks from today! Oh, I will miss the Army Reserve so! I will have to pay my own way to France!

Afraid of shots Bill

Bill, I cringe when I know where tax $ are going....especially today, since 10 minutes ago I sent in my over due estimated taxes....I could have mailed you my check......ugh!

OK....it has been over a month since I had my High Dose Flu Shot and Pneumonia Booster......Happy to report no reaction at all.

I just love all these comments. It's one of those times where I wish I was really an expert on the flu rather than just someone who studied it for a work project.

Hwkmn, I think you missed out on understanding the 50 studies where 100 people needed to be vaccinated to avoid 1 case of flu. I would be willing to bet they were talking about "herd immunity".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herd_immunity

Here's some better information: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/consumer/

Before I retired I put together a tabletop emergency preparedness exercise on pandemic flu. It was about government response to a worse case scenario with the flu. In order to write the exercise, I had to learn a lot about the flu so I had to ask a lot of questions. This didn't make me an expert but it did give me a lot of knowledge on the subject.

For the purposes of the discussion going on here, your individual experiences with the flu vaccine are true for you and you should try to understand why they are true for you. But they aren't true for everybody, and in some instances, they aren't true for anyone but a few others.

I had a 26 to 28 hour bout of afib about 2 weeks ago. I went to my cardiologist and had an ECG done which confirmed the afib. After talking with a nurse practioner in the cardiologist's office, I went to get some blood work done to see if there was anything in the blood work that would show why I was in afib. After exiting the lab where they drew my blood, I stopped at the table that was set up for flu shots and pneumonia shots. I got both shots including the one that is just for those of us that are over 65. That all occurred at around 2 PM. By 8 PM, I was NSR. Coincidence? I think so. I doubt very highly that my sore shoulders were the reason I resumed NSR. I did get Metoprolol, a very low dose. I took 1/2 tablet of that at around 5 PM. Could that be the reason I went out of afib? More likely than the flu shot and pneumonia shot.

Now, besides the science behind vaccination, which is very convincing, why do I personally get a flu shot?

I used to get the flu at least twice a year. I had a good diet, got plenty of sleep and exercised but had the flu twice a year. I also had a cold on average 6 times a year (that's another story). I was sick more than I was well. Since getting a yearly flu shot, I haven't had the flu. Coincidence? Maybe. But with the science behind vaccines, I believe it's my best chance of avoiding the flu.

I know that stress can be a trigger for afib. Both of my longer afib episodes occurred while running on a cold night. I'm guessing my own stress was a bit higher than usual both times. Whether it was causative or not is anyone's guess. I don't know. Many of the comments about afib and the flu or the flu vaccine also referenced some stress. I'd have a tendency to look at stress first before looking at the vaccine.

One last note. During my research on pandemic flu, I had a question on flu mutation. I asked a virologist how often a flu virus mutated. The answer I received was at least "10,000 times a day". There is no perfect match for any flu strain each year. Vaccines, although not perfect, can strengthen our immune system's response to flu viruses. We rely on herd immunity aided by vaccines and the efficacy of those vaccines to protect us all. If those of us that can get the vaccine do, it helps protect those that are the most vulnerable and can't or won't get vaccinated.

Stay healthy,

Todd

Yoga,
Glad to hear it! I will get the shot and hope for the best!

Bill

Todd, that's amazing. Thanks for all the interesting ideas, facts, etc . That's why I really like coming here to this board. So many kind people willing to take the time to share.
June

ultdd, Herd of cows, of course Ive heard of cows! Of course I respectfully disagree with your opinion of vaccines and the great myth of herd immunity. 2 recent cases blow that theory all to pieces. Quebec measles outbreak in the 90s where the "herd" had 99% vaccinated and 1996 Vt whooping cough outbreak where their was an 80% failure among the herd vaccinated and 97% of that herd had 3 series of shots.
As one who has never been vaccinated and limited exposure to my healthy grown children, who will never let a needle near their children, Im highly offended by those who insist my child made their vaccinated child sick.
Bottom line Todd, I respect your right to vaccinate, and wish to have my right not to.

Thanks Todd, great post. I got my flu shot and a pneumonia shot. some people will dismiss scientific evidence no matter what; then invent a conspiracy to explain why the facts are being reported as such.

Last year in Marin County, where everyone can afford a vaccine, a number of parents refused to get their children vaccinated for chicken pox, or anything else. the thing is, their rationale, their fears about vaccines, are entirely misguided. As a result, there was a large outbreak because the unvaccinated kids were attending school. Those parents remain unapologetic and frankly,misguided. Against overwhelming evidence that the vaccines are safe--millions get them every year!--these parents demand the right to expose their neighbors kids to chicken pox.

the thing is, usually when someone learns that the basis of their fears if invalid, they experience relief. But there's always those who will insist that everyone else is wrong and trying to deceive the world with science.

If you're not too old, remember Polio. We ended that through vaccines. thank god!

Oh p.s., I agree with Todd's observation that stress was often involved in the afib/flu shot 'correlation. But who knows? correlation does not equal causation, as Todd also points out.

Bottom line for our condition, if that shot with less than 10% success rate among seniors, causes you to go out of NSR, take the illness instead.

How long before the flu shot throws you into afib? Had mine 3 days ago, have been getting shots for 20 years. Had the flu once & that convinced me. Sickest I've ever been & if I had that on top of afib, well, I'd hate to think about it.
June

June, I went into a-fib almost exactly one hour after my shot and it lasted about 25 hours. I had been getting shorter a-fib episodes (about 4 hours tops) so 25 hours did seem long. The length of the one after that was only 6 hours. Maybe a coincidence and the shot had nothing to do with it, maybe not.

I would think that 3 days after your shot any a-fib reaction would already have been had. Enjoy Thanksgiving!
atp

You guys are silly with all your triggers. It's all in your head.