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Flu vaccination

May i ask whats the reason why some decline having the flu jab?

This is my first winter diabetic was told in January i would require one this year but not heard anything from the DN or Dr

I can’t remember the last time i had the flu I always have problems with my sinuses through the winter which does make me feel rough but not bed ridden
 
zeeeee said:
May i ask whats the reason why some decline having the flu jab?

This is my first winter diabetic was told in January i would require one this year but not heard anything from the DN or Dr
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My own personal experience was with my mother.. Living in a wardened flat they were all encouraged (semi-forcibly) to get the jab. Nurse would come to the communal lounge and dish them out.
Every year without fail a week or so after the jab she'd be ill for at least a month.
I avoid medication of any kind whenever possible so don't really see why a jab which appears to be mainly ineffective at best should be a requirement. Thousands of people die every year from influenza so the jab doesn't seem to be especially effective.
 
I asked for a pneumonia jab when I had my flu jab the year I was diagnosed with T2. I was told I wasn't eligible. On my records it says consent not given so it sounds like I refused it myself but I didn't.

I refused the flu jab for 2 or 3 years while swine flu was around as I didn't feel the vaccine had been tested well enough.

My surgery won't give me a flu jab until they send me a letter inviting me to have one. So the last couple of years I have gone to a pharmacy to have one...less stressful. This year I also paid £70 for a pneumonia jab.
 
I resisted for many years until the year I got flu. Had one ever since.
 
zand said:
So the last couple of years I have gone to a pharmacy to have one...less stressful. This year I also paid £70 for a pneumonia jab.
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I hope you don't mind me asking, but did you have your pneumonia jab at Boots?
My mum paid to have one at Boots as her GP didn't have them in stock and was told she needed one, but the ones at Boots are the ones for children, so when the GP had them in stock she had to get one of those as well

From Boots website:
Under 65s with a long term condition such as diabetes may also be eligible for a free NHS pneumonia vaccination. See www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/pages/pneumococcal-vaccination.aspx or ask your doctor for more information. The Boots Pneumonia Vaccination Service does not replace the need for the NHS vaccination.
 
Yes it was from Boots. The leaflet says it is for adults and children. It protects against 13 types of pneumonia. If I could get the NHS one I would have one as well but as a T2 under 65 my surgery won't give me one. I did have a pneumonia jab booked last January but was ill at the time so had to cancel. Then I caught Covid-19 in March and couldn't have one. I have to beg for a flu jab from them each year which is why I go to Boots now, plus my surgery only gave me the 3 in 1 flu jab not the 4 in 1 that the under 65s should have.
 
@zand Why won't they give you the flu jab and pneumonia jab if you're entitled to them? Do they think the cost comes out of their salary? having looked at the pneumonia vaccines the ones from Boots are indeed also for adults, I was just going off what my mum was told at her GPs, the nurse was actually very angry at how much Boots were charging for a jab that wasn't the 'full' one.

While we're on the subject of flu jabs, has anyone heard of family members of people with diabetes getting one on the NHS? My husband pays for his, but a lady I know who has a type 1 husband gets a free one, as does their daughter, who is an adult but still lives at home
 
I think there is a prejudice against the obese who are deemed to have 'brought it on themselves'. I have been told by 3 doctors that I chose to be this way. I have been scorned by another and also a nurse when I said I had stuck to their diet but not only did it not work but it made me gain 8 pounds in 2 weeks.

And yes, as your Mum can testify, we aren't always told the truth by our surgeries. I suffer from depression and just can't be bothered to argue with them anymore.

I am grateful to Boots for providing me with at least some cover and also for allowing me to have the flu jab early in the season...and the right one for my age group too.
 
this is anecdotal but illustrates a problem with the flu jab for type 1s at least. An elderly chap in my walking group had his flu jab then I am guessing his immune system kicked in and his insulin requirements went through the roof for 3 days or so!
I am more likely to take a flu jab than a Covid vaccination but then I've never had a bad upper respiratory infection other than the 1 time I had a flu jab and certainly the thought of taking up a hospital bed because I hadn't had the jab makes me feel guilty.
However flu jabs do not work for every variety of flu and it should be recognised that the vaccination can only work if your immune system is otherwise healthy and can therefore create a reaction. For the very elderly they may succumb because at some point their immune systems have given up (typically why deaths rise after the first round of Winter bugs).
As for Covid I am nervous about a vaccine that has been through an expedited licensing process for which the manufacturers seem to have been indemmnifed against unforseen side effects (consultation for this proposed legislation closed last week).
Not an anti vaxxer btw (kids all jabbed up to the hilt) but don't feel that for me Corona virus vaccination is worth the risk.
 
I have mentioned before that I have had the flu jab every year for the last 8 years or so with absolutely no side effects. In fairness I should mention that this year I have a 5 cm diameter pink patch around the injection site. I only noticed it in the mirror and it isn't sensitive to touch. My wife has an identical reaction so maybe something different in this year's trivalent vaccine. I will report back if my arm falls off.
 
It is easier to get an interview with Elvis than a flu jab in West London- they have all run out of jab.
 
I was worried they would run out so as soon as availabile went to the pharmacist and skipped the doctor. Seen immediately and no worries

looks like I was right to do so.
 
I had mine a couple of weeks ago, walked to the surgery's car park, jab was done in few seconds, then went shopping in the nearby Asda and got the bus home.
 
I only had the flu jab once - some years ago and had the worse bout of flu right after. Never wanted or had it since, and have not been as ill since (touch wood ). I haven’t been offered the flu jab since diabetes diagnosis and no one’s mentioned a pneumonia jab. Didn’t know you could get one.
 


This, everyone I know that has the flu jab is ill for 4-5 weeks not seriously but mild flu symptoms. I used to have it and it made me feel very low and coldy for weeks. I teach in a physical job so I used to find it difficultt to work.

After stopping having it, I watched people stopping training as they felt low and had 2 weeks away recovering from cold/flu mild symptoms.

My dad also had the flu jab in his mid 70s a quite active person, but bad rhumotoid arthritis, I had told him not too, but like the 'poster' above it was almost forced upon them using the guilt trip by nurses.

1 day later he was in hospital, day 2 in ICU, I knew the head of this ward and he commented that nearly everyone in there was elderly with similar symptoms and typical at this time - flu jab time . We asked relatives of their situation nearly all had the flu fab in the past week - 10 days. Nearly all died on that ward including my dad after a 2 week battle.

So the 'inert' statement and it won't bring on an infection, I do not believe is correct. Many doctors tell you it doesn't bring on flu or colds, but it does.

So I don't have it. Tbh if we get the 2nd strain of the covid19 it would kill most of us anyway (one is mild the other the killer) , flu jab is ineffective against covid19 and if it lowers the immune system opening you up to other colds and covid then it's not for me. After 6 months of isolation our immune system is not upto much anyway.

Its a personal thing of course, but improving sales of lemsip and beachams powders isn't a good reason to have this jab, that's made by the same type of manufacturers.

Good luck either way, as we'll all need it this winter.
 
MrsA2 said:
Rang our surgery again today. Still no supplies
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If you're in the UK you can still have it "free" at a chemist, takes a bit longer as they have to ask some questions 1st as they don't have access to your medical records like the GP does, but simple and quick. I've had mine done there for the last 2 years, simply because they're open later than the GP's and on a Saturday
 
Counter to this is that I have never been ill from the jab and nor were my parents or anyone I knew

everyone has a choice. But if people choose not to take the jab and then get seriously ill with flu...

I am finding this thread erring a little towards conspiracy theory which is unfortunate
 

People still get seriously ill with the flu even having had the vaccine.

Flu and other respiratory diseases are currently killing more people per week than COVID according to the ONS

 
Lemonie said:
I've tried searching for this but nothing came up. Is everybody having their flu vax this year. I'm not sure this time after reading around.
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Just had my pneumonia jab, and booked for flu jab next week.
 
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