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Retired Community Manager

Do you get a flu shot?

Do you get a flu shot every year? Why or why not?

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Periodic Contributor

I have got my Flu Shot ever year in Oct. it is just one of those things I do.. This year I got another pneumonia shot for people my age(83).. This is something new and I get a booster in April.. I haven't talked myself into the Shingles shot yet.. I so far haven't had any problem with Flu shots other than a sore arm every now and then.. 

 

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Super Contributor

Yes, every year.  This isn't a conscientious topic, but I can't remember the last time I had to barf anything.  Over 5 years at least,  So much for delicate subjects.

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Trusted Social Butterfly

Never, and I haven't had a fever in over 40 years.  I'm not going to let idiots from the CDC get credit for my natural immunity.

 

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Periodic Contributor

I am 83 and get my flu shot every year.. I have had the flu shot this year for 65+ as well as my Prevnar that needs a booster in April 2020..  No real side effects, guess I am a lucky one, or so I hear..  Can't decide on the Shingles yet, but had a series of the Hep B shots.. 

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Newbie

Yes
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Newbie

Yes. 

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Regular Contributor

I got one every year for a long time as i am both diabetic and have a condition that makes me immuno-suppresant. then, for 2 yrs i did NOT get if and i was fine.  last year, i woke up  one morning (jan 2) with extreme body aches, weak, could not eat, barely could walk to bathroom, terrible headache. i got scared thought i had some disease like  ms or something. my husband said i had the flu-- he was right. i was in bed for 2 weeks and lost 10 lbs.  i thouoht the flu included a lot of cold symptoms, as many times the flu is described as a really bad bad cold. i had not had a flu shot BUT that year (2018) i had been to 3 parties,  including new years day. well the previous 2 years i did not go anywhere at all. 

all the years i was getting flu shot, for many my husband never did-- said he did not need it -- he's very healthy and never sick. until a few years back, he had a bad case of the flu and was in bed for over a week.  he works with a lot of peopla and a lot of students who show up to classes sick! 

this year we both got it and will continue to get it.

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Periodic Contributor

I have been getting my Flu shots for many many years and never had any adverse affects.. One year I got the flu in Jan. which was 3 + months after the shot I got in Oct.. It was a different strain from what the shot covered.. I am 82 now and just got a Pneumovax shot and a Senior Flu shot the first week in Oct.. I guess I am lucky to not have had any problems so far, but you never know, nothing is 100% but GOD..

 

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Contributor

Nope.  Ever since I started maintaining the optimal levels of Vitamin D3 about ten years ago, I virtually never get a cold (twice in ten years), and have yet to get the flu.  And D3 doesn't have the side effects of flu shots.  However, it's important to have your D3 levels tested occasionally to make sure you're not getting too much or too little.

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Retired Community Manager

Here are some reasons why some people do and don't get flu shots: https://www.aarp.org/research/topics/health/info-2019/midlife-older-adults-views-vaccinations.html

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Trusted Contributor

yes! be sure to get the high dose vaccine if you are over 65 yrs.

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Periodic Contributor

I get my flu shot every year in Oct.. Last year I got the shot as usual but in January I got the flu.. I read up on things and I knew it was a strain of flu my shot didn't cover..  However it might have been worse if I hadn't got my shot..  I am 82 and this year they gave me a special flu shot, I also get the pneumonia shots, but not every year of course.. 

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Social Butterfly

I just got my flu ๐Ÿ’‰ yesterday.  Ouch!  I've been getting one for many years now.  Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.  Two years ago, I didn't get sick at all.  Last year I had the flu twice!  Grrr.  ๐Ÿคฌ

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Regular Contributor

Absolutely, it's the responsible thing to do!

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Periodic Contributor

I do indeed, I have never missed and  got the second pneumonia shot as well.  This year I finally got the new shingle shot, shinex something.  I am gratefel to every reseacher and every volunteer that shows up every single working day.  thank you people.

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Periodic Contributor

Absolutely!  I had the flu in 1963!  The year I was married and I thought I was going to die.  As soon as flu shots were available, I started getting mine.  I do not think I ever missed a year and would feel uncomfortable if I did.  I know they are never 100% effective but I will take the protection they afford.  I fear a pandemic.  With the world as mobile as it is now, it pays to be protected as much as possible.

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Contributor

Yes - whole family gets flu shots!  You bet!!  Reason - back in 2000 my best friend Mike (no flu shot) died of the flu.  Reason enough.

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Contributor

Yes, I got my flu shot as I do every year.  I feel for me it is necessary as I am a cancer survivor and it is highly recommended by all of my Doctors. I have not ever had a side effect from the shot.  At the injection site my arm is sore for a day but I highly recommend getting it if you work with the public, work in a hospital and have young children.  The last thing you want is to get the Flu and let it go into pneumonia  

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Newbie

Yes, I get one every year. I have not gotten the flu since they began offering them. My late husband never believed in flu shots and never got one. That is until he got the flu and was so sick he could barely move. After that, I think he was the first person in Iowa to get a flu shot each year. He never had the flu again.

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Bronze Conversationalist

Yes I get  a flu shot every year.  I've had Crohn's Disease since childhood and got the flu when I was a young teen.  Then got a relapse which was worse than the original.  Got pneumonia last year for the first time in my life even though I've had the pneumonia vaccine, so I'm not convinced that the flu shot will do much for me.  However, better to try than die!

My older son, a paramedic for 37 years and who is exposed to everything you can imagine, never gets the flu shot and has never been sick.  They say it's in the genes, but we wear the same brand!!                      

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Contributor

Yes, every year.

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Contributor

Yes

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Conversationalist

I have suffered the flu many times, long before there was a vaccine.  The first time I was 10 years old!  I was knocked out for weeks and had a slow recovery.  So , yes, I go for a flu shot every year and highly recommend it.

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Newbie

Yes. Working with immunocompromised people, the flu shot isn't just about me, it is also about protecting others.

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Super Contributor

Absolutely!  Even if it's only 50% or so effective, that's better than nothing!

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Contributor

No.  Last year I contracted Gillian Barre Syndrome.  Very scary.  One possible way to get it is via the flu shot.  Prior to that I got it every year without fail.

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Newbie

No. At leaste not for me. I also was afflitected with a varand of Gillian Barre Syndrome called Acute motor axonal neuropathy (AMAN). A flu shot was also suggested as a possible cause.

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Regular Contributor

Yes for many years. Two years  ago my 88 year old mother got the flu and pneumonia at the same time, was in the hospital for 2 1/2 weeks. Doctor said if she hadn't had either of those shots she would have died.  If I wasn't convinced before that I would be now. 

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Honored Social Butterfly

Don't get them. Doctor doesn't think it's necessary as the flu 'morphs' every year and you often have a less than even chance that the vaccine is good against the strain going around.


"...Why is everyone a victim? Take personal responsibility for your life..."
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