To Flu or not to Flu ...

but I have had a cold and the flu once since getting it!

I Always get the Flu Shot ..... Will not prevent the Flu but it will greatly decrease the severity, if yo do get it. I feel it is well worth the time to stop in and get vaccinated.

Travel Safe!!

Some of the people I know who get flu shots every year end up getting the flu a lot more often than I do. Like I said, it's been a good dozen years or so (and that's a conservative estimate, it's probably closer to between 15-20) since I've had the flu. Maybe my body just deals with it better than most.

Whatever the case, thanks for your concern, and best wishes and best of health to you.

....but, you are better off tilting the odds in your favor by getting the flu shot. And, if you are 65 or older, get the Fluzone High Dose as it is 4 times stronger.

About the odds:
When you return from anywhere, especially Walmart wash your hands really good twice AND then use hand sanitizer. Always Aways, keep your hands away from your face. Avoid crowed places where one cough can be like a hand grenade of germs for everyone near by.

Remember, little kids are petri dishes. We don't know any, so we steer clear of them during flue season.

If you do get the flu, the shot lessons the symptoms.

Just sayin'

It is interesting that my family doctor doesn't recommend the high dose shot even for people over 65 except in special cases of which I am not one apparently. Hey says the regular strength shot is adequate for most people.

The pharmacist, AARP and other doctors I have asked about it do recommend the high dose shot, so I have stopped getting the shot at my Doctors office and get it at the pharmacy. That way I know I am getting the high dose shot.

The last time I got the flu (15+ years ago) I was not vaccinated. Since then I have always gotten the flu shot and (knock on wood) have never had it since. While the flu shot may not always prevent you from getting the flu, it generally will lessen the severity, and yes it can be very severe. If you get to the doctor quick enough after onset, most anti-viral drugs work (i.e tamiflu etc.), not always but again as quick as possible after onset as the clock is running.

I always get a flu shot. My doctor reminds me and asks if I want it and I always have him do it.

That's interesting. I guess your family doctor (PCP) thinks he/she is better qualified to give advice about the influenza vaccine than the CDC is. That's preposterous! I think I would be looking for a different family doctor.

There is a reason why there are two different doses of the vaccine - maybe your family doctor needs a refresher in medicine to improve his knowledge.

I don't think any pharmacy (e.g. CVS, Walmart, etc.) is allowed to give anyone age 65 or older the regular influenza vaccine - only the 'High-Dose', which is given at no-charge under Medicare Part B.

Insurance dictates how things are distributed. For instance at my age a shingles shot is suggested. My doctor can write the script but not administer the shot, insurance says I have to go to one of those mini clinics at local pharmacy, he wouldn't be paid for it.

yeah, you need to get a hazmat suit.

For those that refuse to get an annual flu shot, keep this in mind - your decision does not affect only you. A healthy adult who gets the flu could infect someone more vulnerable. You are culpable for spreading the disease. Do you feel good about that?

I've had the flu as an adult before and was off work for weeks. Drains the crap out of ya. I now get the shot every year. It's free, so why not. Yes, every now and then I feel a symptom but I haven't lost a day because of it. For me it's worth it. But I do know some who have bad experiences from the shot. Not everybody is the same. If it helps, get it.

Even though I spend my winters away from home, I do get my flu shots. Simply because where I am there is a stream of people coming down crammed with 300 other people in an aircraft where the air including germs is recirculated. Then they come to where I am possibly carrying the flu with them!

between Medicare and my supplementary insurance, it didn't cost me a cent.

We get the Shot each year.... The Senior version is stronger this year....Medicare pays for it anyway....

As long as we are talking shots....

Shingles shots, both shots, thought it knocked me out for a day for each....
It is far less than what I seen our neighbors go through! One got it so bad she spend a while in hospital, and it took over a year for symptoms totally to go away....and during this time she was pretty much out of circulation...

The pharmacist I received my Shingrix from last week was my daughter. She emphasized that I might have some soreness from the shot but I had zero soreness or side effects. Perhaps she gave me a shot of distilled water and called it Shingrix. I had a flu shot a couple of months ago and same thing, no problem.

Both my pharmacist and my physician's assistant emphasized that quite a few more Shingrix recipients are having unpleasant reactions than for the other common vaccinations. Not at all everyone--but a bigger fraction, with more unpleasant effects.

My personal Shingrix experience differed from the first to the second. On the first I had injection site pain, swelling, and slight inflamation starting soon after the shot and lasting a day or so. More troubling to me was a general malaise that started the day after and lasted about a day or two. I'm 71, and it was my lifetime worst shot reaction.

I was not looking forward to the second shot, but was pleasantly surprised that it had no more effect on me than my usual flu shot response (not worth mentioning, so long as I get my arm muscle relaxed at the moment the needle enters, and knead the injection site several times in the first few minutes after the shot). Of course, even the first shot reaction was a picnic compared to a full-fledged case of Shingles, and Shingrix has quite impressive effectiveness numbers.

The kneading thing is something I stumbled on in dealing with my allergy shots. Those have hit both arms once every few weeks for the last five years. The side effects (which I think are mechanical response to injected fluid, not allergic response) varied from shot to shot and arm to arm, but at the worse end included a lump under the skin that persisted for a day or two, and discomfort in raising the arm sufficient to discourage me from piano practice in the next few hours. I learned that if I spent the half hour you are supposed to wait in the shot clinic in case they need to hit you with an epi pen because you went into a shock reaction kneading the injection sites vigorously once every few minutes, that while I'd still get the lumps, the actual pain would be minimal, and I've never subsequently limited my activity.

Decades ago a pharmacist administering a flu shot to my daughter advised her to swing her arms about afterward to reduce subsequent discomfort. I think my kneading is an upgrade on that advice, and easier to do somewhat discreetly.

Knead on, and get your flu and Shingrix shots, is my advice.

Our Hy-Vee grocery/pharmacy chain gives you a 20 cent per gallon credit on your "Fuel Saver" card when you get your flu shot with them. So in a way it is like they are paying you to get a flu shot.

how we all need gas, my dad was a fan of Cumberland Farms but that's linked to a debit card. Our CU has a permanent 5% cash rewards on gasoline automatically deducted every month from the credit card statement. So we ignore all the 5% revolving categories or 4% with Costco Visa--although Costco is great gasoline being Top Tier. We go to CVS out of habit but the clinic part. This fall had super long lines at all locations.

Back on topic really I suppose anyone is free to not get it. But I still feel it's a shame when a parent makes a poor decision for their children. Those children are not old enough yet to decide for themselves.

right after we got married. We were both in bed for several days. My mom would bring soup down and sit it outside the door. One of us, whichever of us that felt better, would get up and get the soup. We both felt like death warmed over. We have both gotten a flu shot every year since and neither of us has had the flu. Call it luck or by getting the flu shot, we are both happy that we haven't had the flu since.

I'm on day 8 of my bout with this flucrap and it stinks. This is a kids game for sure. At 61 I'm still weak, lightheaded, but I am coughing less. It's the first day I was able to take a full shower without feeling like I was going to pass out. The past two nights I was able to lay down at night a get a little sleep. The first 5 days (24-7) I spent sitting in the same chair, deteriorating. Once I finally get rid of the cough attacks I need to rebuild lost stamina.

Some people will go their entire life without such an illness, that's a beautiful thing. Me, in the past 10 years, I've had a bout with pneumonia and two with the flu. I plan to keep up with the flu shots whether or not they appear to work.

Hey, on the plus side, I've lost 25 pounds this past week (only 200 more to go). Heck of a diet plan.

Got my first shot and had a sore arm for 2 days. 2nd shot is in February. Wife had shingles years ago at age 22. It was hell on her. I'll take the shot

Hope you feel better, that's way more important than what we think about the shot. But if your sharing your experience helps even one person to avoid getting sick, you've done a great thing!

Losing 25 pounds in a week is alarming. Consider that a pound of fat contains 3,500 calories. At your age, you probably need only 1,500-2,000 calories per day when you are healthy. You've been sick, sedentary and lost 25# in a week. That wasn't fat you burned.

The flu dehydrates. Make sure you are consuming fluids, electrolytes, minerals, etc. You have lost much weight, but that has been mostly fluids. Get yourself hydrated.

I have been keeping hydrated, about 8 bottles of water a day, with a powerade mixed in every now and then. A few days ago I finally got a little bit of an appetite, a banana, couple oranges at first, last couple days I've been able to tolerated some homemade mac and cheese wifey made. Tonight I hope to tackle a meal.

After getting the shots for flu, Shingrix and pneumonia this fall, I thought I was all caught up on vaccinations, but the Dr. told me today I am overdue for a Tdap shot. So I guess it's back to the pharmacy tomorrow for another shot in the arm.

Chicken soup works miracles.

must have same dr. I got that too and I think it was much more costly though insurance paid.

My dr. is a braniac and states, got a cold? Chicken soup. Orange juice. Never take cold medicines, they lower your body temp. Stay warm (resist the urge to remove clothing because of sweats). If you are laid out big time, get into the office to be checked.

Recover with vegetable juices. The vegetable juices will give you much needed eletrolytes, fiber, minerals. Consider the low sodium versions if you will be consuming a couple glasses a day. Veggie juices are far better than sports -ade drinks. Be careful of fruit juices, they do have lots of sugar. Use fruit juices sparingly because of the sugar.

There's an old wives saying. Treat a cold, it will take 24 days to get over. Leave it alone, you will be better in 7 days.

Been getting them after the first heart attach and have not been down with the flu since, Also got the shingles shots as advised by our doctors.

I have been drinking some veggie juice as well, but mostly plain water. I don't drink fruit juice but do eat a lot of oranges and bananas.

Ha, like others, I figured I was up to date with everything only to hear at my last checkup that I was due for a TDAP which I got and paid for at my local pharmacy.

Another thing mentioned earlier in the discussion was some doctors telling their patients that the hi-strength flu vaccine wasn't required for Seniors and that what is important is to get a flu shot at the appropriate time. (And I think it's still true that there's variability in thinking about when a Senior should receive the vaccine, some saying get it as soon as it's available and other suggesting Seniors should wait until Oct-Nov for the vaccine to keep antibody levels high at the end of the flu season.) I haven't checked recently but back when I was wondering about that advice, I checked and saw that at least up until a year or two ago, there were no studies showing a benefit to Seniors in getting the hi-strength vaccine and it may not exist even now. Yes, it makes sense that a stronger vaccine makes more antibodies and I think that was even confirmed, but what was missing were results showing a lower incidence of flu or a weaker flu in Seniors receiving the hi-strength vaccine vs the standard vaccine. My primary care MD at the time was one of these physicians who wanted evidence of benefit before recommending the hi-strength vaccine so I received the standard vaccine for several years into my Senior life while the hi-strength vaccine existed. This is my first flu season having received the hi-strength vaccine. I see no problem with physicians being cautious when new drugs, procedures, etc. come out and not recommending a new item until it's been shown to be better.

When younger I usually had a bad reaction to vaccines, so I chose to stop getting them in my 20s. I don't know whether the problem was the thiomersal used in vaccines then, or what.

When I got to my early 40s, I had the flu a couple of years and pneumonia a couple of times. I will echo what others have said here: as you get older, the flu hits harder and takes longer to recover from.

So after the second go-around I started getting vaccinated every year for the flu. Got the pneumonia vaccines. No more reactions. No more flu or pneumonia.

I'm on a waiting list for the Shingrix shingles vaccine. It's hard to come by here. My dad had a brief painful encounter with shingles. My aunt never recovered from it. It changed her life to one of chronic burning pain, and she went downhill slowly over a period of several years and eventually became bedridden and then died. It's worth making an effort to avoid.

So, that family doc you once had thought the CDC needed to prove to him with evidence of benefit before he recommended the high-dose vaccine to seniors. Wow! What a kook!

Maybe that doc needs to do a little researching to learn what the CDC has determined about the Influenza vaccine effectiveness for the senior high-dose. Data is readily available from the CDC and medical journals for his learning knowledge. It sounds like he is no longer your PCP, which is a good thing!

► https://www.cdc.gov/flu/vaccines-work/vaccineeffect.htm

► https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/qa_fluzone.htm

► https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1315727?query=fe...

► https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2...

► https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal...

And the list of available VE (vaccine effectiveness) documents for the high-dose senior vaccine go on, and on, and on...

I assume you have CVS in NC, they claim all their locations have Shingrix.

oy vey meshuggeneh goyished

Just to show that there was a debate going on when my previous primary care doc was sticking with the regular vaccine in and around 2014:

https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/time-...

Is it worth getting the high-dose vaccine if you're over 65? "I think it's an area of much debate and discussion," Dr. Choi says. While some studies have found the high-dose vaccine stimulates a higher immune system response in the lab, it's not yet clear whether that translates into better protection against the flu in the real world.

There are currently no official recommendations advising seniors to switch to the high-dose flu vaccine. Dr. Choi recommends weighing the pros and cons with your doctor to help you decide.

But then, I'm not sure if you were suggesting my previous doc was the kook for his belief or if I am the kook for accepting the doc's advice when I asked back then.

Haha! I was referring to your previous doc.

In the article (link you provided above) Dr. Choi states no (repeat 'no') medical-related downsides to receiving the high-dose vaccine. The temporary minor muscle pain side affect that Dr. Choi mentioned in the article was stated [as though] the muscle pain side effect would definitely occur to anyone receiving the high-dose vaccine - something that is absolutely not (repeat 'not') true. That alone strikes the entire article as bunk! (Maybe the article was just poorly written.)

Dr. Choi goes on to say; "While some studies have found the high-dose vaccine stimulates a higher immune system response in the lab, it's not yet clear whether that translates into better protection against the flu in the real world." I find this messaging quite interesting - that while Dr. Choi says it is not yet clear whether the high-dose vaccine translates into better protection, she does not say anything about the high-dose vaccine providing less or inferior protection. Dr. Choi insinuates there is perhaps a reason for seniors not to receive the high-dose vaccine, but she never comes clean and actually says what that reason may be.

Further, Dr. Choi states; "There are currently no official recommendations advising seniors to switch to the high-dose flu vaccine." This is about as wrong, as wrong can possibly be! Again, such a false statement makes the entire article not only highly suspect - it makes what is said by Dr. Choi pure nonsense!

Dr. Choi should know full-well that the CDC has numerous years of solid data collected from millions of seniors concerning the effectiveness of the high-dose vaccine for seniors age 65 or older. This data indicates beyond any doubt whatsoever that the high-dose vaccine provides better protection with no medical-related downside effects...and only marginal temporary non-medical (e.g. muscle soreness, etc.) downside effects which some people receiving [either dosage of] the influenza vaccine may be subject to.

Maybe Dr. Choi should contact the CDC and Medicare to learn the truth about the high-dose vaccine before contributing to such an incorrect, borderline 'scare tactic', article. I wonder if maybe Dr. Choi thinks that Medicare only pays for seniors to receive the high-dose vaccine for some bizarre sinister harmful reason - like killing off senior citizens. Now, that would be about as much nonsense as that article proclaims...

Thanks I'll check again. That's where I'm on the waiting list, my local CVS, about two miles away.

My wife and I were on the waiting list at our local Hy-Vee pharmacy for almost a year before our turn came up. When they finally called us, we didn't go in for a couple of weeks. When we went in to get the first round of Shingrix, the pharmacist said it was a good thing we came when we did because they were crossing people off if they didn't show up after being called. If we had been crossed off, we would have had to start over on the waiting list. The vaccine apparently is rationed so most pharmacies can't meet the demand. I am sure that problem will solve itself once they get through the population of old people waiting to get the shots.

Incidentally, our co-pay was $165 for each of the two doses (taken 6 months apart). Kind of expensive, but worth it if it prevents shingles.

You can occasionally find online coupons for expensive medicines.

.

Hasn't changed much, same list in 1983, + BCG I do not know what BCG stands for, but it was special to the initial deployment to Somalia, I have not been sick with whatever it was

BCG is a tuberculosis vaccine used for people at high risk of contracting tuberculosis or those going to TB-prone areas as was the case for you in your deployment.

It's not routinely given in the US since the incidence of TB in the US is quite rare and also because people who have received BCG will likely test positive with the tuberculin skin test as well as for TB-infected people. Therefore the tuberculin test won't be useful as a diagnostic test for active TB in those who have received the vaccine.

Almostbob, should you ever need a tuberculosis test for anything, I suggest telling them that you've received BCG and that a tuberculin test may give a false positive result. If a test for TB is still needed, possibly a chest x-ray will satisfy those asking for the test.

everyone going to get their "Wuhan" virus shot

Treat a Cold and it will be gone in only a week, leave it alone and it alone and it will take 7 days

I got the first of the two Shingrex shots last week. Insurance paid 100% which was a nice surprise, as I was prepared to pay. When I checked several times last year, Shingrex was always sold out. Looks like supply has finally caught up with demand.

A friend had shingles a few years ago and was miserable, so I wanted to prevent it.

... and I get the flu every year. I guess it all works out, somehow ...

--

it's the dog's fault

In the wake of this post, I went back to my local CVS and asked how things were going with their Shingrix waiting list, specifically, about how long it was taking people to bubble up to the top of the list and get called. The pharmacist said there was no way to answer that question reliably, because she now has an eight-page waiting list, and since starting the list, her store has only received enough vaccines to get halfway down the first of eight pages. (I think I remember being on page three when I signed up, but I didn't ask her to check.)

Bottom line, hardly any Shingrix vaccines have come in to this CVS since it became "available." CVS may claim "all their locations have" Shingrix, but that may just mean all their locations will be getting or have received at least some vaccine doses; they don't all have Shingrix in stock now.

The alternative, the local Walgreen's, does not keep a waiting list. All you can do is ask when you go in if they have any Shingrix available, and the answer is always "no." This is a little risky in the sense that you're supposed to get the second dose within about six months of the first dose. (I've seen different figures for the correct interval between doses: 2-6 months, or 6-12 months.) Obviously when you get the first dose, you want to try to get them to reserve a second dose and call you within six months. But if you can't get the second dose for more than a year after the first one because Shingrix continues to be very difficult for you to find, you may have to repeat the first dose before getting another vaccination 6-12 months later. Although the evidence isn't in, the suspicion is that Shingrix doesn't work as well if a second dose isn't given in that timely fashion.

The Shingrix supply situation is apparently very regional; there are areas of the country where it may be a little tough but is not nearly as hard to come by, at least so I've heard.

I had the older shingles vaccine, Zostavax, about five years ago. That is providing me with some limited degree of protection now.

I think we are a selfish society.

Take the gym for example.

Etiquette says, wipe the machine before use, wipe afterwards. Same with free weights. Many do not do the above.

Common sense says, do the same. For one's own protection, and others. I cannot tell you how many times I get on a machine, and a person gets on next to me (by the way skip a machine lol), and is coughing without covering. Usually males, but not always, sometimes females.

I notice my 6 y.o. comes home, and if he coughs? His bicep covers his mouth. He learned it in school. What's the excuse of someone 25-40 y.o. for simply coughing without covering?

Same is true with sickness. It seems that it's the old I got mine and you got yours. It would make sense when sick, stay away from the general public. But look at what's going on today.

Oh well, it's all good. I think what I'm driving at is that in public schools, certain vaccinations are not subject to debate. There's a reason.