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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think the blasted Flu Jab is more trouble than its worth

119 replies

Oldsu · 28/09/2021 01:28

Had mine Sunday very early so went and had a full English breakfast, a lovely walk by the sea, a scenic bus ride and then a strawberry ice cream sundae I was just thinking life doesn't get any better than this and WHAM my legs went from under me, by the time I got home I was very ill, hot and cold shivers, headache, total fatigue the lot I was in bed by 7pm, still feel ill today and my bloody arm STILL hurts, DH had his at the same time and was fine . The thing is I have never actually had flu not until they inoculated me against it, luckily it didn't include the covid booster I have got that to look forward to

OP posts:
DuckWithOneWing · 28/09/2021 11:38

I had an awful reaction to my flu jab this year. I don't usually get ill after, but this time I did and it lasted about 5 days! I'd still rather have the vaccine then the flu though

ADreadedSunnyDay · 28/09/2021 11:38

I'm gonna be offered a flu jab this year. Not going to accept.I want to get my immune system up and running and if that means being exposed to illnesses so be it. Unlikely to get severely ill so would rather build up some natural immunity. Paid privately for flu jab a couple of times and to be honest, not entirely sure there was any point to it.

ADreadedSunnyDay · 28/09/2021 11:41

And yes, I think I've had flu previously but as there was no test for it, cannot be certain.

Skysblue · 28/09/2021 11:41

Yanbu. I’m fed up of being told ‘the flu jab can’t give you flu.’ It always gives me flu symptoms for 5 days and my mum gets really ill when she has it. Clearly different people’s bodies react to it differently. I never have sympoms from other vaccines (not even the covid vaccine).

I have the flu jab about once every 4/5 years now instead of every year.

ConstanceGracy · 28/09/2021 11:42

Blimey .. that was a quick reaction.
And no, I’d rather the jab as flu is most ill I’ve ever felt in my life.

ConstanceGracy · 28/09/2021 11:45

@Skysblue

Yanbu. I’m fed up of being told ‘the flu jab can’t give you flu.’ It always gives me flu symptoms for 5 days and my mum gets really ill when she has it. Clearly different people’s bodies react to it differently. I never have sympoms from other vaccines (not even the covid vaccine).

I have the flu jab about once every 4/5 years now instead of every year.

As you can apparently have flu and covid simultaneously I think I’d take 5 days of “flu -like” symptoms over that any day.
ImNotDancing · 28/09/2021 11:45

@SpindleWorld

Stop eating so much crap.
OP had breakfast and an ice cream. Bog off back to your competitive undereating
WiseUpJanetWeiss · 28/09/2021 14:29

@Skysblue

Yanbu. I’m fed up of being told ‘the flu jab can’t give you flu.’ It always gives me flu symptoms for 5 days and my mum gets really ill when she has it. Clearly different people’s bodies react to it differently. I never have sympoms from other vaccines (not even the covid vaccine).

I have the flu jab about once every 4/5 years now instead of every year.

But it can’t give you flu. It’s impossible. What it can do is cause an immune response, which is the whole point of having it. For some people that response might be debilitating for a few hours or days. It still isn’t flu.
Naughtypenguin · 29/09/2021 01:09

I have had the flu jab and the pneumonia one for the past 15 years and I have had both covid jabs and I had the booster on Saturday, I always have strange reactions as my immune system is basically rubbish some years I have no reaction to the flu jab some years I have up to a week of feeling awful last years jab gave me a full 7 days of feeling feverish and aching so badly I spent the week in bed but I will have the jab for this year next week because I always think that if the vaccination made me feel that horrible thank god I am protected from the full blown actual flu because it would probably kill me! Covid booster gave me 3 days of sweating and headache and aches but I would get it again if I needed it it was an improvement on dose 1 a full 7 days and dose 2 only 5 days!

SamanthaJayne4 · 29/09/2021 01:41

I'm 68. I had the flu vaccine on Monday and feel fine. Not meaning to sound smug, just reassuring. I had the flu many years ago and couldn't walk. Had the flu jab every year since. The main concern at the moment is people might get covid and flu at the same time.

nothingcanhurtmewithmyeyesshut · 29/09/2021 01:47

It is physically impossible to get flu from the vaccine. It isnt a live virus.

And tbh OP, if you had real flu, you wouldn't be on MN, you'd be flat on your back, too dizzy and exhausted to even walk to the bathroom unassisted and feeling like death warmed over. Trust us. No vaccine can compare to it.

GlitterNails · 29/09/2021 01:48

I’m sorry you are reacting to it so badly.

I will say my mum and I had the flu a couple of years ago. We were both so ill with it. My mum even worse - she went totally deaf with it for weeks, developed an infection that burst her ear drum and her hearing took a long time to come back. She never regained her highest pitch hearing either. She was so ill she couldn’t lift her head from the pillow to sip water.

It was some of the worst weeks of my life being so ill myself but trying to look after her who as even worse. And neither of us ended up in hospital, which many do.

So we book our vaccine as soon as we can (have ours this week) and hope the flu never returns to either of us again.

Plus ever since I grit my teeth when people stand in front of me saying they have the flu when they mean a cold (which are horrible things and it’s fine to feel shit with a cold!).

EccentricaGalumbits · 29/09/2021 02:07

@DifficultBloodyWoman

I’ve had the flu. I prefer the vaccine.
This x a million!

To be fair though, I've never really had a reaction to the flu jab. Just a mildly bruised arm, nowhere near as bad as Covid vaccine.

I did, however, have the flu twice in 3 years. First time, bedridden for a full week, in tears because I was so exhausted but in too much pain to sleep. Second time, it developed into pleurisy. I was fit as a fiddle before I caught it, but short of breath walking at a decent pace for months afterwards.

MissTrip82 · 29/09/2021 09:47

This is one of those twitter things isn’t it?

‘Telling you I’ve never seen a 20 yr old die on ECMO from the flu without telling you I’ve never seen a 20 yr old die on ECMO from the flu.’

Lavender24 · 29/09/2021 10:01

Yep I know a few people who have been pretty ill from it. I'm type one diabetic so my GP surgery hound the living shit out of me to get it but I haven't had it for 12 years now and touch wood have never had flu.

Zippy1510 · 29/09/2021 10:04

Yes well if you feel that bad from a vaccine just imagine how unwell you’d feel if you actually caught flu.

WiseUpJanetWeiss · 29/09/2021 10:52

@Lavender24

Yep I know a few people who have been pretty ill from it. I'm type one diabetic so my GP surgery hound the living shit out of me to get it but I haven't had it for 12 years now and touch wood have never had flu.
Why on earth would you want to take this kind of a risk if you have T1 diabetes?
ancientgran · 29/09/2021 10:56

@Oldsu

Well if it isn't flu its doing a good imitation of it
If you've never had flu how do you know?
ancientgran · 29/09/2021 11:00

I had my jab on Monday, felt a bit achey on Tuesday but that was it. I've had flu and don't want it again if I can avoid it.

whatswithtodaytoday · 29/09/2021 11:02

@ADreadedSunnyDay

I'm gonna be offered a flu jab this year. Not going to accept.I want to get my immune system up and running and if that means being exposed to illnesses so be it. Unlikely to get severely ill so would rather build up some natural immunity. Paid privately for flu jab a couple of times and to be honest, not entirely sure there was any point to it.
Your immune system will be hit by all sorts of things in normal life, you don't need to expose yourself to flu to 'get it up and running'. Flu can be a very serious illness, it's not a cold.
TwooThirty · 29/09/2021 11:06

It can definitely happen.

The flu vaccine took down half our staff one year. Worked in a large school and it was offered to us on site. Most opted to get it and some didn’t. Of those that got it 90% of them were ill for the following few days. Not as bad as flu luckily but bad enough to nearly have to close the school with the amount of staff off sick. We were running on a threadbare team + cover staff + so much coffee.

Still, not as bad as having actual flu.

LagunaBubbles · 29/09/2021 11:10

I give the flu vaccine every year, it takes at least 2 weeks for your body to build up immunity. You can get side effects but it sounds like you would have been ill anyway and nothing to do with the jag.

knittingaddict · 29/09/2021 11:16

@ADreadedSunnyDay

I'm gonna be offered a flu jab this year. Not going to accept.I want to get my immune system up and running and if that means being exposed to illnesses so be it. Unlikely to get severely ill so would rather build up some natural immunity. Paid privately for flu jab a couple of times and to be honest, not entirely sure there was any point to it.
I'm in my 50's and fairly old school - a bit of dirt never hurt anyone, but I think this is ridiculous. Your "natural" response to illness isn't superior to a vaccine and is considerably more dangerous.

Do you take the same route with all medicines? After all your body will try to fight an infection, so do you rely on your body doing all the work or do you resort to antibiotics. Natural birth control? Home births?

Medicine is a wonderful thing that has transformed the health and lifespan of so many generations now. Why turn your back on that? I really do not understand it.

justasking111 · 29/09/2021 11:19

One year was rough they had put extra oomph into it. Had a duvet day and was okay. I never want flu again had it as a student.

mrsdavegrohl · 29/09/2021 11:25

My DS has been ill since having the nasal vaccine at school on Friday (think the nasal one is a live vaccine) never been ill from it before and hes been having it for the last 5/6 years so maybe its just whatever straint they have included this year.
Not had mine yet, I've never been ill from it. I never had any side affects from AZ covid vaccine either but my husband did and he is never ill