flu jab

Diawara said:

today i have been invited to have the flu jab by the doctor and to have blood pressure taken
dont know whether its a good or bad thing,...any opinions ? not advice as we are not allowed to give it. i understand
i add i have never haid the full blown cant get out of bed type flu....

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I think we can discuss a flu shot here... The jab spiked my bs for a day or two, up to 9 I think, but that was about it. The two years where they got the mix wrong I had the flu both times... I hadn't been diagnosed yet at the time, but I felt absolutely horrible and took forever to recover. Now I know why! So while the shot aggrivates my rheumatism for a week, and I don't feel too hot (From what I hear it isn't common to feel ill after the shot, but I always do... I'm insanely sensitive to side effects though, so don't let that put you off), I much prefer it to going without the flu jab. I just suffer in relative silence every year, haha. From what I understand, the flu is something diabetics really should try to avoid... High bloodsugars, possible temporary insulin, more vulnerable to pneumonia etc....

Have to ask though, with flu jabs usually being handed out in october/november... Aren't they a bit late to offer one at this late date?! Or are they just extremely early for this year's?

In any case, I'm pro-jab.

Diawara said:

today i have been invited to have the flu jab by the doctor and to have blood pressure taken
dont know whether its a good or bad thing,...any opinions ?

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I have had the fluvax for years, and have never had problems with it.

JoKalsbeek said:

Have to ask though, with flu jabs usually being handed out in october/november... Aren't they a bit late to offer one at this late date?! Or are they just extremely early for this year's?

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I thought the same, to late for this winter, to early for the next one.

Diawara said:

thanks @Tipetoo and @JoKalsbeek good question about timings ..iwill ask this afternoon the only thing that i have been to the doctors about are bronchial matters over the last 35 years ..the nurse doing the jab is the diabetic nurse whom i havent seen since june when she gave me the in remision apparently quote...things still seem on track ..im going to rub it in about low carbs ..
still unsure iff ill have the jab though....

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If you've been in for bronchial matters, I'm surprised you weren't on their jab-list before. And late now. Weird...

Diawara said:

maybe they invited me in autumn and i didnt open the letter one of my bad traints...yes near pneumonia early in 1984 three weeks off work then every year for maybe twenty years every cold would turn into chest infection which wouldt go with or without anti biotics the worst one was early 1998 ithink i had it from march till at least june a lot was down to immune systym low .. stress /relaitionship problems etc. i dont want to push fate but the last few years have been free maybe 6 years since last bout...coinsides with cause of stress leaving me about 5years ago!

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Then I'd really seriously consider getting the jab. It's two seconds, (and most of that time is spent getting your sleeve up), and it might prevent another infection.

Up to you of course.

Hi @Diawara, The usual reason given for diabetics to receive 'flu vaccination is that the flu itself, being an infection, can cause BSLs to go high and that some of us may have less strong immune systems and the flu can predispose us to the secondary infections; such as pneumonia. As other have noted you sound like a prime candidate for pneumonia if you contracted the flu.
In fact in Australia not only are we offered free flu vaccination but we are also offered a pneumonia vaccination to further protect us against the possibility of getting pneumonia. (Aussies pay for a subsidised flu vaccination unless they have diabetes, renal failure, asthma or other respiratory disease, > 65 years old or have immune system problems).

I'l second/third/fourth the advice to have a flu jab.
In previous years it has pushed my BG up but this year, it had no impact.
Whilst it does not protect against every flu strain it should protect against the strains which are predicted to be most at risk this year (which is why it differs every year ... and possibly why you have to take it every year).
If it does raise your BG for a couple of days, that should be far more preferably to having full blown flu.

I know some people have experiences major side affects to "the flu jab". However, when questioning everyone I know who had experienced this (and declared they will "never go through that again") it has always been when they had the pneumonia jab at the same time. Thankfully, the pneumonia jab is a one off so no one should have to "go through that again"..

I happened to be one of those Wallies who seems to have to push up insulin doses by 30% from day 2 after vaccination with flu vaccine until about day 5. Only the past 3 years has it been this 'severe', maybe 10 % up kin insulin requirements for a day or two in the years prior to that.
I figure either I am reacting more strongly to the same or similar components of the vaccine or there is something a bit different in the recent flu strains in the vaccine.
This is still better than getting the flu or pneumonia. But despite the 'enormous imposition of unwellness and abject prostration' that these flu vaccinations visit upon me, it still does not get me out of the washing up and other chores !!

Has anyone ever actually had "proper" flu..?
I guess because most people have the jab then not..
My dear old 92 year old mum gets one every year and without fail a week later gets very ill.
Last year it was a dose of shingles that lasted about 4 weeks..the year before it was a chest cold that had her at the doc multiple times and the ambulance once and lasted months..
I always refuse..

I have had proper flu twice in my life. The first time it was the Red Flu and I was a strapping young wench of a lass but it laid me low enough to ask family to care for my then toddler. The second time was in the 90s and it took me months before I could say I had made a full recovery. Some people seem to think that flu is just a case of infection like a heavy head cold with an accompanying chest infection, it is not. It can be life threatening to vulnerable people.

A big yes from me. Go get it done, even a late flu jab is better than no flu jab
I have never had a problem with BGs after the shot, maybe a sore arm for a few hours but nothing major

I had my flu jab a couple of weeks ago - just had a sore arm for a while. I have it due to being diabetic and also because my husband has heart problems so anything that prevents him from getting flu is a good thing in my book. He also had the pneumonia jab a few years ago.

Hi @bulkbiker, Not as professional advice or opinion:
What my doctor says is that there is a problem with the timing of flu vaccinations.
The vaccine only becomes available when some cough and cold bugs have already started.
So if you have one of these lurgies, the doctor will not usually give you a flu jab, because your body is already fighting off one bug.
Apparently once our immune system is targeting one bug, there is a crucial time window of about 10 days to 2 weeks or so in which it cannot re-orientate its cannons as it were to take on the second invader, be that a vaccine or an another bug.
Now think of it the other way around: if I, being in good health, have a flu jab I know that it takes about a week to 10 days to 'take', that is for the protective antibodies to form. But I may be vulnerable in that time to anything else out there.
They say that shingles happens when our bodies are lower than usual in immunity and the chicken pox virus which causes shingles has been asleep in a particular part of our body ever since we had chickenpox. Unfortunately an infection or a vaccination can trigger off an attack, wake up the virus..
But also note there is a vaccine against chickenpox which has been re-purposed to use to prevent shingles.
Similarly a number of people may be unlucky enough to pick up a cold or other virus in that time period, and interpret this as saying the flu jab caused them directly to have the flu.
My doctor opines that if the flu jab was available before the winter bugs were prevalent that there might be less of this viral or other infection following a vaccination.
The very reason for obtaining the flu vaccination is that if someone contracts the flu, the nature of the flu and its main attack being on the nose and breathing system, can then make us more susceptible to pneumonia appearing in that crucial window of time whilst our immune system is battling with the flu.
Add the the immune system problems that can trouble diabetics, and separately those with failing kidneys, plus those prone to respiratory problems, the elderly and pregnant women you have a rationale for offering it particularly to these groups.

Diawara said:

today i have been invited to have the flu jab by the doctor and to have blood pressure taken
dont know whether its a good or bad thing,...any opinions ? not advice as we are not allowed to give it. i understand
i add i have never haid the full blown cant get out of bed type flu....

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Personally I don’t get the vaccine. Personal reasons and I don’t like the grim list of ingredients. I’ve had flu twice in my life. Not pleasant at all but both many years ago.

I've had proper flu three times, once as a child and twice as a young adult, the last one of which ended me up in hospital with pneumonia because I have asthma. Ì have had the flu jab since my 3rd dose of flu and that long predates diabetes. I've never had problems with it, couple of times I've come down with a cold afterwards but that's just coincidence. Ì would be too scared not to have it and too worried about the consequences if I did get flu again.

I used to get a free flu jab in my job til I retired in 2016, I then paid for one for the winter 16/17, then got diagnosed Type 2 so have them free again, every cloud! And yes @bulkbiker , I caught the dreaded swine flu and it’s true what they say:
"A silly test to differentiate between cold and flu would be to leave a £20 note on the floor. The person with a cold will pick up the money, but the person with the flu won’t even care that it’s there!"