Got a flu shot last week, got a wog this week. The same thing happened last year.

Perhaps next year I'll try a little experiment & say no to the flu shot & see if I still get the flu. After all it can only kill me, & the way I've felt for the last 3 days, I just might welcome that.

Any one else had similar experience?

No. Don't even remember when I last had a cold, let alone the flu. Keep your feet and head warm, don't mix too much with the great unwashed, don't listen to the scare tactics about people dying from the flu (they were probably on their last legs anyway) and don't take medical advice from politicians or talking heads on TV claiming to be from the 'health department', where they are probably just desk jockeys. Most of all, realise that your health is of monumental dis-interest to others. We have one person here keen on talking about her health problems and history. Just try to soldier on, mate.

Dear Hassie,

I had my flu shot on the 3rd May this year
- and so far so good.
My husband and I get our flu shots
every year. Some years I've come down with the
flu not long afterwards but this year I've been
lucky (touch wood).

I feel obliged to get the regular shot every
year because I volunteer at an aged-care facility,
and I look after my grand-kids as well.
I'll keep right on getting my shot every year.
because I believe that if I don't do it, I'll
infect others and come down with much worse.

Had it for years, never got the wog after it and never got the flue
I am all for it, but understand some do get [as warned] the symptoms after the shot

Each year the influenza virus changes, the vaccine
that was made to combat last year's strains will be
no longer effective (or as effective) against the current
year's strains. In addition these antibody levels
reduce over time. So annual vaccination is required to
ensure you have optimal protection.

I haven't had the flu or a serious cold since the late 1950s.

I was one of a group of servicemen who "volunteered" for a shot of an experimental flu vaccine, many had a reaction to the shot, (pustule/s).

We never heard anymore about it, but didn't get the flu.

Asked the Doc one day what the verdict on the experiment was and he told me that it was apparently effective but too costly.

I still have the yearly shot though, even if I, maybe, don't need it.

Dear Hasbeen,

First, I hope you are well now.

«Perhaps next year I'll try a little experiment & say no to the flu shot & see if I still get the flu.»

Then we need to pray hard that next year you will still be allowed this "experiment", for the way Australia is going, this might no longer be legal.

«After all it can only kill me, & the way I've felt for the last 3 days, I just might welcome that.»

I know the feeling as I just had the real thing, no artificial shots for me. Had I died, I would be doing so proudly of a natural cause!

Yet here I am, back in the land of the living, for now. I could recommend lots of rest, lots of water and a visit to the naturopath, they have good products to ease the symptoms.

Seems some are prone to being sick after the injection , not sure we can do much about it

I dare say everyone with shares in pharmecuitical companies are 100% for the shot.

Dear Hasbeen,

The vaccine will take about two weeks to give you enough protection.
http://www.health.com/cold-flu-sinus/how-long-for-flu-shot-effective

Of course your body will sometimes react in a way to the injection that will mimic a mild case of the flu. A bit of a fever for instance. A 'man flu' if you like.

My sibling recently had a full blown flu attack and he was that crook he thought if given a gun it was a line ball decision on whether to use the thing.

Dear runner,

It seems you might have caught the anti-vax crap which have infected some of my in-laws who are also fundamentalist Christians. Highly immoral stuff.

I'm probably not that sick. I have heavy chest congestion, & any temperature below about 23C triggers heavy coughing, causing a lack of oxygen.

Use of an Expectorant cough mixture & Ventolin, will bring it under control for a while, but the Expectorant is only a 3 times a day medication. This greatly limits the outside work I can do in this cold early winter.

I can't complain, for my first 65 years the only time I went near a doctor was when I broke something. With 3C last night it is the first time I have tried the Air Con reverse cycle heating, & it works.

Hassy you might have Distemper, the major symptoms include high fever, reddened eyes, and a watery discharge from the nose and eyes. Those infected will become lethargic and tired, and will usually become anorexic. Persistent coughing, vomiting, and diarrhea may also occur.

Then again it could just be THE COMMON COLD.

While owners of medications have much to answer for jumping on the latest bandwagon and implying vaccinations are in any way fraud or a danger is mad
Still sorry it make you sick, aware it makes some ill,as has been explained well here, I would never go without it

Hi there HASBEEN...

I'm sorry to hear you're feeling a bit crook ol' mate. I've been receiving the anti-flu vaccine for the past 15 years or so, purely on the recommendation of my GP. Though I get the occasional cold, I've never had influenza since receiving the vaccine?

At nearly eighty, I've been informed, that someone of my age would not go so well, with a full bout of flu. My advice to any of the high-risk groups; the aged, chronically ill, and others who the Doctors have identified as being at risk, should have the shots, in consultation with their 'docs', if for no other reason than affording some measure of protection.

I would agree absolutely with the comments supplied by STEELEREDUX (on this occasion at least), and continue having the yearly shots (as recommended by your GP), understanding some of us, do have a mild reaction to the vaccine. Take it easy old fella, OK!

Dear Hassie,

Sorry you're not well. Stay in bed and lots of
chicken broth. I wish I lived nearby - I'd
be over with my chicken soup.

o sungwo now and again oldmate we agree, your post was my thoughts every word
And can I add a few concerns about men's health?
We tend to ignore it until it is too late, my doc has had me on Aspro for twenty years, it works, please consider
About now free bowell tests are on their way pease please use them

Thanks for all the advice folks. I'm afraid I can't follow yours Foxy. My lady is off all week minding our youngest grand daughter, so I'm a fancy free bachelor all week.

I think it is only a chest cold, but once the congestion starts me coughing, it's hard to stop. Taking the wheelie bin 75 metres out to the gate this morning, up hill all the way, in the cold was a bit of a struggle. Inside in the warm with the reverse cycle at 25 C I'm getting pretty good now.

' Dear runner,

It seems you might have caught the anti-vax crap which have infected some of my in-laws who are also fundamentalist Christians. Highly immoral stuff.'

come on Steelie. You have to be chief hypocrite. Your mob hippie mob around Byron Bay are the biggest anti vaxers.

I used to get extremely severe bouts of flu, which aggravated my asthma. Genuinely thought I might die a couple of times, such as when living in the highlands of PNG a long way from any town when the Hong Kong flu pandemic swept through in 1969-70, killing lots of people. Under medical advice I started having flu shots as soon as they became available. I have never had the flu since.

Hi there COSSOMBY...

That sounds like a brilliant outcome for managing to stop those dreadful bouts of Influenza. As you say whenever you got the flu, it exacerbated your Asthma attacks, even triggering them as well perhaps? Asthma is a truly debilitating disease, and if severe enough, can prove fatal without any medical intervention at least. I'm so pleased to hear, you've finally beaten the yearly flu season, with annual flu vaccinations. Take care.

Hi there BELLY old friend...

I certainly hope you're taking care of yourself as well. No heroics, keeping yourself rugged up against the cold, and having the necessary vaccinations as recommended by your GP. As we age, we need to look after ourselves and each other, and once past seventy-five, recognise we're no longer invincible, and must heed sound medical guidance. Yet most of the blokes I know, don't for some crazy reason, unbeknown to me?

o sung wo very true oldmate,that is why I highlighted it here
OK like all our age things are not always great, and like the very men I try to get involved in their health have a problem but not taken it to doctor
Will next week , still able to garden and building new Budgie aviaries, two, do a bit every day but it will get done