Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => Other Health Discussion => Topic started by: honeybun on October 09, 2015, 08:16:20 PM
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Has last years slight failure put anyone off.
Hubby gets his tomorrow and the kids and me will have ours later this month. Sons work pays for his.....he has to get one because days off with flu are frowned upon.
Daughter in her finals year doesn't want to take the chance and I need to be able to do what I do....so my family are going for it.
Also as the jab is not 100% effective I don't want hubby up close and personal with any of the family if they have flu.
All precautions being taken as usual. Also the older you get...ie....over 60, the harder it hits.
Honeybun
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Hasn't put us off, hubby and I had ours a fortnight ago at the GPs(we are both over 65 so free for us) any protection is better than none, no reaction to the jab not even a sore arm this time.
Thorntrees
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Yes my opinion too.
Better some protection than none at all. I don't fancy hubby having flu at all being diabetic....or my mother at 93.
Honeybun
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We've got ours booked for later this month.
There's no way I want to risk flu.
Had it once it was truly awful, and that was when I was 17, no way I'd be able to cope with it now.
I know the jabs are not totally reliable, they can't be, the virus mutates. However they will give some level of protection. The other thing is OH hit 70 last month, so what with that and his heart issues, flu jabs it is ::)
I wouldn't forgive myself if I got flu and gave it to OH.
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It's the weeny ones and the over 60s and those with health issues that most benefit. I've only had true flu once. Fell asleep in the evening feeling not great, woke up an hour later with flu. I was 25 and have never felt so ill in my life before or since. Hubby had to take time off work to look after me....then he got it ::)
I hope the uptake this year is really big. Less chance of people like my hubby and my mother coming in contact with it .
Honeybun
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Better book mine on Monday as I'm having an op at the end of November. I had flu twice in my early 20s and my parents had to take me to their house as I was so ill. I wouldn't want to get it now with asthma complicating things.
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I had mine in September, little bit of a sore arm when you laid on it for a couple of nights, apart from that fine!
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My one has come up in a big lump this time. However, it would never put me off having it done. I get because of asthma.
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I always thought I didn't need a flu jab however after having flu last winter I have changed my mind it took me weeks to get over it and I certainly don't want to go through that again, luckily work pays for it so I will be having the jab for the first time.
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I'd have it done if I could but have had previous allergic reactions to eggs which are involved somewhere in the vaccine production!
Taz x
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Is there not an egg free version? Sure you just have to give them some notice so they can order it. Of course I could be talking rubbish.
Just found this Taz. If you scroll down you'll find piece about egg free vaccines.
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/pages/vaccine-ingredients.aspx
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Don't believe in it ……….. had 'flu twice, recovered. We've had this conversation before :-\
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Yes, we have CLKD. However, there are many on here who, if they were to get a full blown dose of flu, would become seriously ill or worse! I suffer with asthma & bad chest cold can be horrendous for me. Some have other long term ailments, which can be exacerbated by flu.
I could rant on, but I won't.
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I can understand that Prajna. Once bitten, twice shy as they say.
I've been having flu jabs ever since getting pneumonia. I'd been coughing & spluttering for years before & did nothing about it. I'd more than likely had asthma & I just thought it was a cough, nothing to concern doctor about. Now I'm never away from the blooming place. If they're not checking one thing it's another. ::)
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Don't believe in it ……….. had 'flu twice, recovered. We've had this conversation before :-\
Gosh CLKD you must have had a mild version of the "flu" to dismiss it so lightly.
Yes, the subject has come up before but some of us really don't want to get it and give it to those closest to us, especially when they are vulnerable.
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There is no 'light' version of 'flu, believe me! A person who walks around complaining that they have 'flu, doesn't. I couldn't bear light, noise, lift my head from the pillow, move ……….. aches and pains fortunately not in all the joints at the same time. Very thirsty. Rambling ……….. the first time for 3 days before I got up, the 2nd - exactly 12 months later! - 2 days of hot sweats, shivers from head to toe, aches, pains …….. left me weak for about a week.
DH had to carry me to the bathroom which faces East :o ……….. the sunshine hurt :-\
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Wouldn't you want to avoid that then CLKD? Being left weak for a week is very lucky. It can take up to two months to really recover and each time I've had it (three in total) it's meant two weeks off work. It's a horrible and dangerous virus - so clever at changing itself too. I'm going to investigate the egg-free version of the vaccination. I hate the way it strikes so quickly. The last time OH had it he was struck down while at a gig in Bristol. Left here perfectly fine but 80 miles later he could hardly stand up when he got out of the car. Luckily the pub let him lie down in their sitting room and gave him a hot water bottle to try to stop the shivers plus dosed him up with paracetamol or similar. I was really annoyed that he drove home as I would have driven down to collect him but the painkillers brought his temperature down so he felt marginally better. He still wont have a flu jab even though he has COPD! Stupid man!
Taz x
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My feelings about the flu injection are, that if it gives me some protection personally that can only be a good thing but also a good take up in the population should help protect the vulnerable-the young, frail etc plus those who for whatever reason can't have the jab. I know it's not the same with the flu as the strains vary each year but vaccination has brought about the eradication of some diseases- polio for example that was much feared when I was a child, but only if people take advantage of what research has discovered- doing something for the common good and maybe benefitting oneself as well seems a good option to me!. No doubt this will only fuel the should I shouldn't I argument so sorry about that.
Thorntrees
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CLKD you obviously know how bad flu can be - so why don't you want to avoid it?
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I get very very cross when people just dismiss the flu jab. Our NHS would not pay to have this available to everyone over 60 if it was not really important. Hubby went this morning for his and the surgery was packed with....SENSIBLE PEOPLE.....who have a bit of thought for themselves and the more vulnerable in society.
Unless you live in a field, do all your shopping online, and mix with no other people during flu season then get the jab that the medical community suggest you have.
DONT, go around spreading your flu to people like my hubby who has Type 1 diabetes, old people and children, and those who have health issues. There is enough of a strain on the NHS as it is.
It's a complete and utter no brainier to me. Why on earth take the risk. Ok if you are young and healthy but for the over 60s it's a must in my book.
If I had smilies I would be doing the exploding one as I get so damned mad about this. :(
Honeybun
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Well said HB, I was trying not to put it so bluntly!, but with the health service in the state it is before the flu season even starts perhaps a stronger message is needed.
Thorntrees
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I'm only blunt because it makes me so mad......don't want to offend anyone but would like to knock some common sense into the ones who choose to ignore recommendations from the NHS. They are there for a reason and we are very lucky to have the choice.
I also think I'm probably a bit scared of a diabetic having full blown flu as he would probably end up in hospital.
Not a nice thought.
Honeybun
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I can see that you do get really annoyed about this hb and I do too although, as has been pointed out to me before, if the vulnerable people have their flu jabs as advised by the NHS then, surely, they are covered anyway so the fact that someone else doesn't bother to get their's done shouldn't put vaccinated people at risk. I get in a muddle trying to work it all out!! My own GP doesn't recommend it unless you have an illness or are over 65 or caring for an elderly person - not because you put them at risk if you don't have it but because you will not be able to care for them if you get it. http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/pages/who-should-have-flu-vaccine.aspx
I think it's a good thing to have it because I would want to avoid feeling so ill - I hadn't thought of having it to protect others though I must admit. :-\
Thanks for the egg-free link CG.
Taz x
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You're welcome Taz. Just hope you manage to get it OK at your surgery, should you decide to go ahead with it.
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The dismissing of the flu jab is sounding very like the opposition to the MMR jab.
That work was ultimately found to be flawed, think it was somebody doing a PHD with no solid clinical research. The thing is while children weren't getting the MMR jab, Rubella got a spurt on. All very well till somebody who's pregnant gets it. As happened to somebody I worked with, her child didn't make it. All that for the sake of people being talked out of using a vaccine and Rubella getting a foothold.
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I think the thing is Taz the flu jab isn't 100 % so if a vulnerable person comes in contact they still run the risk of catching it. The more people who have it then the less risk there is of it being passed to someone who would find it very difficult to cope. I'm pretty sure flu would kill my mother, and my hubby would have dreadful problems.
How about those on chemo, they are still out and about.
That's the reason the kids and I all have it....we don't want to take any chances that we can possibly avoid.
Honeybun
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I had it done because I care for my mother who has severe COPD, she doesn't really go out but I didn't want to catch it and give it to her or be too ill to look after her! LOL
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Do you have to pay for it if you don't fit into the right category much like my son had to pay for his meningitis jab because he was 26 and not 25?
Taz x
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The GPs get paid a tenner for each jab. So of course they push it!
Also - by vaccinating every one allows more viruses to enter the populous. We didn't have HIV/Aids before …….. 'flu alters it's genealogy on a regular basis so the medical profession is 1-step behind ::).
I don't have a problem with getting 'flu again. I haven't had it since 1988 and '89. Even though it's 'been about' the locality on a regular basis. DH had it once. His Mum never had it - except twice, 24 hours after the 'flu jab. Which was pushed by her GP as he was getting paid a tenner ……. she had no reason other than being 70 to be injected. After the 2nd time she didn't bother and remained well until a brain tumour in her mid-80s.
Surely mixing with people encourages the immune system to 'kick in'.
How is DH today Honeybun? Any soreness in the arm? Mum had a large bruise and a heavy feeling in hers for 3 days.
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You don't get flu immediately after a flu jab according to nurse at my surgery. If you catch flu within 3 weeks of jab, the flu was already in your system.
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'flu happens so fast it is unlikely to be 'in the system' :(. Both times I went to bed OK and the next morning woke ill.
Mum in Law was so ill she couldn't move from the settee after the 2nd jab. She couldn't get to the 'phone …… so sat for 3 days dozing, sweating, hoping that someone would call in …….. fortunately his brother realised something was amiss.
The medical profession are renowned for not acknowledging that the 'flu jab can produce 'flu ! Over the course of 45 years I've known several 'healthy' people suffer within 24 hours of getting the jab. Fortunately my Mum seems OK this time.
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'flu happens so fast it is unlikely to be 'in the system' :(. Both times I went to bed OK and the next morning woke ill.
Mum in Law was so ill she couldn't move from the settee after the 2nd jab.
CLKD - The reason flu happens so fast is because it is already in the system.
Especially when you woke up with it, where'd it come from if it wasn't already in your system?
Also - by vaccinating every one allows more viruses to enter the populous. We didn't have HIV/Aids before ……..
So, What caused HIV, is it the Flu Jab or the anti HIV medication?
I seem to remember AIDs was prevalent in Africa way before either the flu jab or anti HIV
stuff were widely used.
You don't get flu immediately after a flu jab according to nurse at my surgery. If you catch flu within 3 weeks of jab, the flu was already in your system.
That's exactly what the nurses have said to me when getting the flu jab.
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Don't we have this discussion every year? ;D
Taz x
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Probably .............. ;D
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We do indeed, and the nurses in my surgery along with the GPs have the vaccine every year.
Hubby is neither up nor down.....absolutely fine as he always is. I started getting my children vaccinated as soon as they were old enough and my neice had her young ones done last year.
I bet you CLKD if there was a vaccine against the Noro Virus you would be at the top of the queue, oh and I would be next in line ::)
I hope we all stay flu and Noro virus free this winter.
Honeybun
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;D so do I.
Because various diseases are no longer prevalent it allows other viruses to take over or mutate.
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The flu vaccine is not a live vaccination therefore you cannot catch the flu from having the jab, you may of course develop a virus around the same time but that is coincidental.
That at least is my understanding.
Thorntrees
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That is what the medical profession leads us to believe - but I have many friends/relatives that know differently.
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I still think the sensible and safe thing to do is to take advantage of the flu jab.
None of us have access to the research that has been done, but I do know that it does give some protection against a virus that can potentially kill the vulnerable and the elderly. I neither know nor care whether GPs get paid to give us the injection.
You are absolutely right thorntrees. It's scaremongering for some bizarre reason.
CLKD can you quote your sources.
Honeybun
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Sorry you've lost me :-\
GPs have been telling patients that it isn't possible to 'get flu from the vaccination' …….. ever since God was a lad ;-). But I have friends/family that have suffered 'flu, only when they have had the jab :-\
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Then they have been incubating the virus.
It's not a live vaccine so it's simply not possible. You may feel a little bit off, but that is rare. The most common side effect is a sore arm.
NHS website says
Can the flu jab cause flu?
No. The vaccine does not contain any live viruses, so it cannot cause flu. You may get a slight temperature and aching muscles for a couple of days afterwards, and your arm may feel a bit sore where you had the injection. Other reactions are rare, and flu jabs are very safe.
Honeybun
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Can't be a co-incidence though. If that is the case, then the jab has triggered the virus …….. enough to make M in L very ill. She'd never had 'flu symptoms until those two injections. After she didn't have the 3rd she never had 'flu symptoms :-\
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It can't cause anything....it's not a live virus.
Is that your reason for not wanting a vaccination.
Honeybun
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;D so do I.
Because various diseases are no longer prevalent it allows other viruses to take over or mutate.
This is interesting. Are you saying that somehow the flu virus kills other viruses so that it can keep the upper hand but if we get rid of the flu virus then the others can rub their hands in glee and become stronger? Don't understand that.
Taz x
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Can't be a co-incidence though.
Yes it can.
Co-incidence happens, it doesn't prove anything at all, it's like correlation.
Correlation is not causation.
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;D ……….
Nope Taz ………. not my point ::)
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But you said that if we wipe out some illnesses then other viruses can get a hold which does seem to say that one virus stops others?
Taz x
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Sorry, I'm not explaining myself well at all am I ? ::) …….. have to get my brain together, I knows what I means ::) but am having difficulty putting it clearly :-X
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Maybe tomorrow? :lol:
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We will wait with interest CLKD.
Maybe your hubby could help, does he not have a scientific background.
Honeybun
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OHHH he doesn't get to read anything on here :o mine, mine, mine ……. ;)
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I give up.Those who won't have the jab won't be persuaded otherwise. All I can say is when I was having chemo I couldn't have the jab but was grateful that family members did to help protect me, now DH and have it to protect not only ourselves but hopefully others who are vulnerable. Whatever GPs get paid is irrelevant it's just how the system works.
Just been face timing with our daughter in Canada and she is getting the jab next week, it's free for everyone there it seems.
Thorntrees
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Reading the uptake figures for last year it seems that my daft husband with his COPD but "forgetfulness" when it comes to being vaccinated isn't alone!! https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/418428/Annual_flu_letter_24_03_15__FINALv3_para9.pdf
Taz x
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Such a shame that the message just isn't getting across.
Some people just won't budge though......although I still haven't heard a reasonable explanation as to why :-\
Honeybun
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Ok. I 'll confess. I get offered a free injection every year (due to asthma). I have never once had one. Why? I hate injections (bad reaction to holiday shot when I was younger). I hate the thought that I will be the one that gets severe side effects, as a colleague did last year. I also struggle to get time off work when the nurse is available.
However, before you tell me how stupid I am, please read on ...
This thread has genuinely changed my opinion. I'd never realised how selfish I was being. Guess I'd never thought it through logically (despite having had flu and nursed family members with it two Christmases ago). A friend's partner has terminal cancer and if I get the flu, I could inadvertently pass it to her. That had never crossed my mind before . Feel v guilty now! ???
I know it is not really hormone related, but thank you for opening my eyes! X
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Don't feel guilty get jabbed ;D
Chemists do it for about £10.
Honeybun
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Rights that's one down.....heaven knows how many more to go.
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Currently trying to book it online at half term ;)
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Well done you.
Honeybun
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Surgery have given up offering my hubby flu jab. He has mild asthma, mainly around hayfever season. I was glad I'd had mine last year, as daughter was really bad with it & needed help. Previous year son & fiancé had it. I had to get all the necessary for them tissues, paracetamol etc. His fiancé ended up in hospital. They reckon she had swine flu. I had to go & look after her when she got home as nobody else had had jab.
I for one think one little pin **** is worth it! Be it free or £10.
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Currently trying to book it online at half term ;)
Well Done
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:thankyou: …….
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Got mine booked for next Wednesday ;)
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Can you take CLKD with you Dyan ::)
Going to try and book mine for Saturday.
Honeybun
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:P ;D
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Whether you choose to have the flu jab or not it's always worth making sure you are not Vit D deficient.
Vit D, goes a long way in boosting the immune system and as the flu jab is not 100% effective it is also worth paying attention to this. :peace:
I've always spent quite a lot on the more expensive vitamins and minerals as they have the higher doses of the crucial nutrients woman need (you know the make I mean!). As a vege with iffy hormones and very low vit D, this is important to me. I've tried others but when you compare their content, it's not as good (especially with iron). My GP also recommended this brand. Anyway, in Waitrose last week I noticed their new women's health range of vits which had exactly the same nutritional break down as what I took previously (£14 per month) for just £4! Not normally where I'd look for bargains, but on this occasion, I was very pleased!
B
PS Hope I have not broken any rules by writing this? Apologies if I have - I will delete.
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You can mention any products you like as long as you don't post a " buy " link.
It's always good to hear what things others find successful.
Honeybun
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