flu jab? worried about bad reaction. in ds.

[shelsco]

DS2 has brittle asthma and i've booked him in for the flu jab tomorrow. He had the swine flu jab 2 years ago and on the first dose he was fine but on the second jab he seemed to have a bad reaction. He was crying and saying he was in pain all over and really weak. He couldn't get out of bed or even lift his head off the pillow he was so weak. It really frightened me so I rang NHS direct who basically accused me of getting the vaccine off the internet! (I didnt!)
I later found out that they had changed the advice and stopped giving kids 2 jabs as a few of them had suffered bad reactions. My question is has anyone's dc had a similar reaction to a flu jab then been ok for subsequent jabs? I'm terrified that ds will have bad reaction again but am also terrified of him getting flu as every time he gets a cold his peak flow drops right down and he ends up on steroids. What would you do?

[AllIWant85]

I think I would speak to your GP and ask their advice. It could just be that the swine flu jab reacted badly but the normal flu jab would be ok.

I'm one of those people that gets very sick if I have the jab so even though I'm asthmatic I don't have the jab anymore. I understand that's an easier decision to make as an adult though.

[shelsco]

Well apparently the flu jab now incorporates the swine flu element which is one reason I'm concerned. He was absolutely fine after the first one, it was just the second one two weeks later which caused the problem. I did mention it to the nurse and she didn't really know what to say but didn't recommend that he didn't have the vaccine. I have a feeling that the GP would be the same. Have you ever had flu then if you don't get vaccinated? And, if so, did it make your asthma really bad? And what reaction did you have to the flu jab? Sorry to interroagate you but i feel i have no-one in a similar position to ask!

[pinkbuttons]

My DS is 1 and has had his first flu jab this, they still do the two injections just 4 weeks apart, but its the same injection both times. dont know if thts changed from when your DS last had it. Our GP warned of some side effects e.g temperature and possible illness but said it was up to me and DH. My DS ends up in hospital with his asthma whenever he gets a cold, so we decided to have it but can understand why you'd worry. Sorry cant be more help just wanted to send support.

[BeaWheesht]

Ds and I have had the flu jag last year and this year. He had to have it twice last year because it was his first time but only once this time. He is 5 now, he gets it because of asthma.

However, the real absolute reason I ensure he gets it is because we all has swine flu when he was almost 4 - it was the worst time of my life. He ended up with pneumonia and I, as an adult who had childhood asthma ended up unable to speak i was so breathless.

It's your decision - we've never had a reaction but don't underestimate how ba flu can be. It took ds a year to recover i would say and even now his asthma is much worse than it ever was before ( he is almost 6 now)

[dikkertjedap]

Both my dd and myself had a similar reaction to the swine flu jab (kind of paralysis which lasted only a short time). Neither of us has had any reaction to the flu jab which last year contained also the swine flu component.

[shelsco]

Thanks. I do know how awful swine flu was as my other sons and myself both had it. They don't have asthma so I didn't get them vaccinated. DS1 wasn't really too ill and seemed to have quite a mild version but Ds3 was ill for a couple of weeks and couldn't move from the sofa. I was pretty much the same and then suffered a post viral illness that seemed to keep recurring every time i felt run down so I am grateful that, because DS2 had been vaccinated, he didn't get it.

I think I was worried that if he had a bad reaction before he might have an even worse one this time. The paralysis that you talked about BEA was what made it so scary. I hesistated to call it paralysis because I thought maybe it was me being over-dramatic so I'm really glad you described it that way - because that is exactly what i felt it was at the time! Even though swine flu was terrible, the paralysis (albeit short-lived) was what scared me so much about the vaccine. I'm relieved to hear you didn't suffer from it with last year's jab. It makes me feel a bit less anxious about the vaccine now.

[AllIWant85]

In the last 5 years since not having the jab I've had flu once. It did affect my asthma but not too severely. I upped my inhaler use and was ok within a fortnight.

The first time I had the jab I became very feverish, headachy and had zero energy. I was in and out of consciousness and rushed into hospital. They ran tests but couldn't tell my why it happened but assured me it wasn't the jab and that I'd picked up a bug. So the next year I had the jab again, same reaction. Never again! I will usually get at least one cold over the winter but by managing my inhaler use I am ok.

[dikkertjedap]

As both in Dd's and my case the paralysis could be directly linked to the vaccine it had to be reported by the GP to the vaccine makers. Apparently there had been quite a lot of similar cases and at the time it was thought that it was a response to the adjuvant which the manufacturer had used to make the vaccine more effective. The normal flu vaccine which contains a swine flu component does not have this adjuvant and hence neither dd nor me had any reaction at all. We both have been vaccinated against lots of things and we had never previously had any adverse reaction, it was purely this particular adjuvant or the dose in which it was used.

I do mention before either myself or dd get vaccinated that we both have had a severe reaction to the adjuvant in the swine flu (single) jab, and I always ask if there is an adjuvant in the vaccine they are going to give and if there is any risk given the previous reaction.

Yes, it was absolutely paralysis. Luckily short lived though, but very very scary.

[shelsco]

Thanks for that dikkertjedap. I'm going to write it down and ask about it tomorrow. i did ring up and tell the receptionist at the surgery but it hasn't been recorded or noted or anything I don't think as it isn't on his records. He did have a reaction to his preschool booster in that his arm swelled up and bruised really significantly (for about 4 days afterwards) although he was fine in himself. Has been ok with everything else but that paralysis was horrendous. It's really reassuring to hear it wasn't just him.

[shelsco]

Btw thanks alliwant. I sort of feel tempted because i'm so worried to not get ds vaccinated but his asthma kicks in really quickly before his inhalers have time to work. Even with minor colds he tends to end up on prednisolone so the idea of flu is too much of a risk I think. I just hope I'm making the right decision!

[dikkertjedap]

Just wondering if he got the jab in the end and whether he had any reaction at all?

[DameSaggarmakersbottomknocker]

Hope it went OK if he had it OP.

Just to say - you can self report vaccine/drug side effects.

Yellow Card Scheme

[shelsco]

Sorry, very delayed reaction! Yes he had it in November and there seemed to be no reaction this time. Phew!