Flu after flu jab?

[Lazymumdinner]

Had the flu jab last week through work felt abit crappy after but was ok. Today I’ve been ill all day full of cold nausea fever dizziness. I had it when I was pregnant years ago and was the exact same.

Has anyone else reacted like this to the jab?

It’s not a live vaccine, it can’t give you flu, although full immunity isn’t instant so you can still catch flu and be pretty poorly before immunity kicks in.
Lots of people have side effects, but usually a day or two after having the vaccine, they are generally short lived though.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/flu-influenza-vaccine/
Side effects of the flu vaccineThe most common side effects of the flu vaccine are mild and get better within 1 to 2 days.
They can include:

• pain or soreness where the injection was given
• a slightly raised temperature
• an aching body

More serious side effects such as a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) are very rare. The person who vaccinates you will be trained to deal with allergic reactions and treat them immediately. The injected flu vaccines used in the UK do not contain live flu viruses. They cannot give you flu.

You most likely have a cold, or maybe flu or even Covid, but the vaccine didn’t cause it. It’s impossible.

I had exactly those symptoms. Except they were a fortnight before I had the vaccine last week.

It's quite late in the season to have the vaccine because flu is already doing the rounds - nearly three months.

Ive heard you can still get flu after you've had the jab but it would be milder if you do - like the covid jab. Not sure if that's true or not. You could have picked up a different virus with flu like symptoms as well.

The flu vaccine is very unreliable because it's difficult to predict what strains will be around.

Some years they get it right, others they don't.

So you might have flu despite the vaccine. Or you "just" have a nasty cold.

Whatever the reason, I definitely felt quite “ropey” after having the vaccine one year (within 12 hours or so) but I’ve been fine in other years.

I’m the same OP, how are you feeling today?

I don’t get the flu jab, sadly, because it knocks me out for a week or so. I’ve had it five times and the same, pretty much, each time. Each time I’ve had at least one nurse say that it isn’t possible and I was probably already ill, but thankfully the GPs are more understanding.
I’d really like to be able to get it as flu can and has hospitalised me twice, but can’t afford time off work every year. I have to rely on herd immunity and practicing good health and handwashing etc…

It can take up to 2 weeks for the vaccine to be effective, and even then you can still get flu, just milder than if you hadn’t had the vaccine. So perfectly possible to have flu, or it’s a cold ..

I’m still not feeling great!

I've had my flu/COVID jab and I had very similar symptoms to you over the weekend - as did dd last week. I don't think it's flu, I think it's some other virus that's going around (possibly even a new COVID variant). It happens, but yes, obviously you can still get the flu after the flu jab, often it's more mild but not always.

These can be symptoms of your immune system reacting to the vaccine. I get it every year from the flu jab despite people telling me it's impossible! I'm not saying I have flu, but my immune system reacts as if I do have flu so gives me the same symptoms. It has happened literally every year for the last 8-10 years so not a coincidence!

For the last 10 years my dad has had a full blown, week long nasty cold within 24 hours of his flu jab, but he still insist on having it!! Totally wipes him out every single time.