Does the flu shot really work?

[gitana1]

Gee, thanks, the first one sure made my arm sore & I'll have the second in October.

I had no side effects from either. So maybe you won't either!!!!

 

[Auntie Cipation]

Agree with that. But the vaccine is not a picnic. It comes in two shots. The 2nd one was such a Dozy, I thought that I had Covid.

Same for me. I got the first shingles shot in July, had a fever and body aches and exhaustion, spent a day on the couch and it took another day for the fever to disappear and yet another day before I was back to full energy.

Then the second shot, a little over a week ago, was even worse. Same mostly low grade fever, a day or two of chills and body aches, but this time I also got a welt on my arm and queasiness and a metal taste in my mouth that took a few extra days to go away.

Thankfully this is one you only need once (set of two shots but not repeated yearly etc).

I had them both this year. Wasn't a thing for me! No side effects, thankfully.

Wow, you're lucky!

I also got my first flu shot this fall and had zero side effects from that.

 

[mickey2942]

Same for me. I got the first shingles shot in July, had a fever and body aches and exhaustion, spent a day on the couch and it took another day for the fever to disappear and yet another day before I was back to full energy.

Then the second shot, a little over a week ago, was even worse. Same mostly low grade fever, a day or two of chills and body aches, but this time I also got a welt on my arm and queasiness and a metal taste in my mouth that took a few extra days to go away.
Thankfully this is one you only need once (set of two shots but not repeated yearly etc).

Wow, you're lucky!

I also got my first flu shot this fall and had zero side effects from that.

Wow! Interesting. I wonder why we had such a strong reaction. I had such a bad reaction to the 2nd shot, it was awful. Same thing.

 

[Auntie Cipation]

Wow! Interesting. I wonder why we had such a strong reaction. I had such a bad reaction to the 2nd shot, it was awful. Same thing.

I'm not sure, but I seem to remember reading that a strong reaction is good in a way, because it demonstrates that you have a strong immune system? Maybe?

I asked the pharmacist as he was giving me the second shot and he said that the second shot usually has lesser side effects than the first. Not sure what it means that it didn't work that way for us.

I also wonder about my getting the second shot about 20 days after the flu shot -- I don't think they would combine effects but -- who knows.

 

[AC4RD]

The Great Influenza!! Great book. They describe the evolution of the germ theory a bit in it and I love that stuff.

@AC4RD if you're interested and haven't read, there are two other books that were fascinating to me about medical history (germ theory and vaccine history). One was The Speckled Monster (Smallpox/innoculations) and another was The Strange Case of the Broad Street Pump (cholera/germ theory). Fascinating and very good reads!!

Thank you! I wasn't familiar with either--I'll check my local libraries!

 

[Laughing]

I can recommend this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Flu-Influenza-Pandemic-Search-Caused-ebook/dp/B004YEJ6P8

Not promoting Amazon, just a good source for links.

jmho ymmv lrr