Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...
read these two short articles:
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/flu-season-kicks-likely-affect-younger-adults-cdc-says-2D11811875
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/flu-worsens-across-u-s-hitting-younger-adults-hard-2D11851010
so the dominant strain appears to be H1N1. which sucks - dh and i had it in 2009. it is also more likely to effect young adults than other strains. there are a bunch of people in michigan on life support from the flu.
most, if not all, of us have suppressed or compromised immune systems. we are more susceptible to the flu. we should take advantage of the extra protection.
my rheumy said that my dh getting vaccinated will help protect me - if he doesn't get the flu, he won't bring it home.
be sure not to get the nasal spray - that is a live vaccine. do not allow anyone in your household to get the live vaccine. i even asked my close family members to consider it to help protect all of us, and to get the shot and not the nasal spray. so far only one taker, but that's better than none.
remember - you cannot get the flu from the flu vaccine. (we with compromised immune systems could get sick from the modified live nasal spray vaccine.) if it involves your gi tract (vomiting, diarrhea) it is most likely not the flu. vomiting and diarrhea are not common in flu except in children.
so many people say they get the flu from the shot, or even after being vaccinated. but we as a society call so many things 'the flu'. the real influenza includes a horrible dry cough, fever, chills, aches and pains, and comes on suddenly. there isn't really an 'i think i'm getting sick' period. by the time you think you might be getting sick, you already are sick and probably feel like crap.
people die from the flu every year. it's usually the young, the elderly, and people with underlying medical conditions like RA or diabetes. this year's strains are affecting younger adults particularly - 18-49 year olds. get the flu shot, encourage your loved ones to get vaccinated, and wash your hands all the time.
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/flu-season-kicks-likely-affect-younger-adults-cdc-says-2D11811875
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/flu-worsens-across-u-s-hitting-younger-adults-hard-2D11851010
so the dominant strain appears to be H1N1. which sucks - dh and i had it in 2009. it is also more likely to effect young adults than other strains. there are a bunch of people in michigan on life support from the flu.
most, if not all, of us have suppressed or compromised immune systems. we are more susceptible to the flu. we should take advantage of the extra protection.
my rheumy said that my dh getting vaccinated will help protect me - if he doesn't get the flu, he won't bring it home.
be sure not to get the nasal spray - that is a live vaccine. do not allow anyone in your household to get the live vaccine. i even asked my close family members to consider it to help protect all of us, and to get the shot and not the nasal spray. so far only one taker, but that's better than none.
remember - you cannot get the flu from the flu vaccine. (we with compromised immune systems could get sick from the modified live nasal spray vaccine.) if it involves your gi tract (vomiting, diarrhea) it is most likely not the flu. vomiting and diarrhea are not common in flu except in children.
so many people say they get the flu from the shot, or even after being vaccinated. but we as a society call so many things 'the flu'. the real influenza includes a horrible dry cough, fever, chills, aches and pains, and comes on suddenly. there isn't really an 'i think i'm getting sick' period. by the time you think you might be getting sick, you already are sick and probably feel like crap.
people die from the flu every year. it's usually the young, the elderly, and people with underlying medical conditions like RA or diabetes. this year's strains are affecting younger adults particularly - 18-49 year olds. get the flu shot, encourage your loved ones to get vaccinated, and wash your hands all the time.
But at the insistence of my regular doc and Rheumatologist, I did get my first one this year. I had no side effects at all.
i didn't have any side effects either - aside from a little tenderness around the injection site for a couple of days. i have really sensitive skin though.
i believe that people who say they get 'the flu' when they get the flu shot are exaggerating or mistaken. like i said in my original post, society overuses the term 'flu' for EVERYTHING. the flu hits you like a mack truck out of nowhere and puts you in bed for days. even a mild flu is worse than the common cold. can you still get the flu even though you get the vaccine? sure - because there are numerous different viral strains of the flu. so far the big one this year is H1N1, like it was in 2009. it sucks really bad, but is included in this year's vaccine.
it's also not too late to get the shot - my hubby is finally getting his today at the pharmacy.
i do clean the doorknobs, remotes, phones, faucets, almost everywhere we get our hands. i do this as a routine cleanup almost every week. and if anyone at home has cold, i do it everyday until they get better.
thanks for posting this. its a good reminder.
I think my immune system totally crashes when getting the flu vaccine is all I can say as I do get something horrid (usually some form of URI) and it has happened every time.
The injection site on me also tends to grow a golf ball lump about two hours after injection and is just flaming hot. They did test me for an egg allergy as we thought that might have caused it as apparently it's part of the vaccine but I didn't test positive for an allergy to that. So I have kind of stumped the doctors.
The last time I took it the next day I was started on a antibiotics because I came back in sick (don't tell me that was just a coincidence since the previous times that happened as well) so my doctor finally gave up and gave me the pneumonia vaccination as he figured we could try and protect me from one of the complications that the flu causes that really does the damage.
I still find it highly odd I did not react at all to the pneumonia vaccination but I appear to have no luck with the flu vaccination?!? If I didn't have a consistent bad experience after each flu shot I'd go for it. However, if your odd like me, or even if your not and just have a suppressed system, you might want to ask about the pneumonia vaccination.
Here's to happy vaccinating no matter what it's for!