Flu Shots

[dieselhead]

"Find a doc that you trust the judgement of, and follow their lead. And wash your hands."

Excellent advice! I have a primary care physician who is actually offended when I refuse to take the flu vaccine, the Pneumonia vaccine, the Shingles vaccine and a statin drug for my high overall cholesterol number. I also get a yearly check up from a cardiologist who doesn't have a problem with my high total cholesterol number because I exercise and my HDL is always high. I only go to my primary care physician for a yearly blood test because I'm concerned about prostate cancer and want to get a PSA test. One of my Grandfathers died undetected prostate cancer when he was 89, otherwise he was otherwise perfectly healthy. My primary care physician told me few years ago that a PSA test was unnecessary because I would probably die of something else before I got prostate cancer but I insisted on the test. I haven't had a common cold since 2006 and the reason I remember it is because I had a bad cough and my primary care physician prescribed an antibiotic (Levaquin I think) with the possible side effect of tendon detachment or damage. A few months later I partially detached the bicep tendons in both arms and partially detached a rotator cuff tendon in my left shoulder. The shoulder required surgery to reattach the tendon and remove scar tissue from the other tendons that had ruptured. Now I study all the possible side effects of every prescription drug before I take them. I don't take any prescription drugs daily like most of my friends do. The drug companies test drugs on a few thousand people but after approval they are prescribed to many millions of people. Our FDA is quick to approve drugs but slow to remove them from the market when they cause harm. Drug companies can even pay the FDA to "fast track" new drugs.

[AndyB]

For reference, PSA is a marker. Not wholly diagnostic, and has a pretty good miss rate.

[JRoberts]

I get a flu shot every year. Like Dan, I have a lot of medical problems and I am not going to take a chance of getting the flu. We have had two people die from the flu already this flu season in NC. I rarely get colds even during the cold season and I give the flu shot credit for that. Before I started getting an annual flu shot I got colds and/or the flu every year. That was a long time ago. I am a retired school teacher and found that kids really are carriers for things like the flu. Again, once I started getting my annual flu shot, I got it no more.

[fatguyzinc]

of the 4 times i got the flu shot, i got
SUPER sick all 4 times.

no more for me, thanks--ill take my
chances. aside from those 4 times
i may have been sick a total of 5 more
times my entire life.....

[68scott385]

Some years ago a couple co-workers were all talk about getting their flu shots and how they weren't getting sick because they didn't get a flu shot. Within three days both were sick as hell and the rest of us were fine. If/when I get flu-like symptoms I get a bottle of whiskey and drink a couple tall glasses of water before going to bed.

[dieselhead]

"For reference, PSA is a marker. Not wholly diagnostic, and has a pretty good miss rate."

But it's all there is. By the time you get (or if) you get symptoms of prostate cancer it is has usually already spread. A good friend had a normal PSA reading one year and the next year his PSA reading was sky high. He had fast growing prostate cancer that bad enough that they had to totally remove his prostate. The PSA test saved his life.

[dieselhead]

" I have a lot of medical problems and I am not going to take a chance of getting the flu."

I don't know if anybody keeps up with world news but during Australia's flu season last year 90 percent of the people who got the flu vaccine got the flu. I do feel sorry for teachers these days because a lot of people send their sick kids to school. I don't know how accurate the statistics are about various illnesses are because a lot of people (like me) don't go the doctor unless they think they are about to die. I got real sick when I was working on the Texas coast after a major hurricane when I was 18. It was the sickest I've ever been but I was afraid to take off work because I was a new hire. After a few days I went to the local emergency room after work and the EM doctor he told me I had just been drinking too much beer. I told him I didn't drink any alcohol but gave me a prescription for nausea medication that pregnant women take and sent me on my way (it didn't help). After 3 weeks of being sick one of my friends noticed that the whites of my eyes were yellow. I went to my hometown doctor that weekend and he told I had Type A hepatitis from contaminated water on the coast and I should been put in the hospital when I went to the emergency room. There was a Hep A epidemic on the coast and the emergency room should have known about it. He sent me home for 2 weeks bed rest.

[SuperBuickGuy]

The paradox for me is I catch whatever is going around at the gym.

[JOES66FURY]

I find that if I take a allergy pill everyday called Aller-tec it keeps my sinuses from getting infected which seems to bring on everything else . It may just be my superstitions but it seems to work .

I had similar issues. Once I got my allergies in check with Singulair I do not get infections anymore which means I don't get pneumonia or bronchitis anymore and *knock on wood* have not had the flu in many years....

[RockJustRock]

Flu shots suck. Many medical professionals suck. I have a totally non-aids related auto immune disorder. The only time I get a respiratory infection is when exposed to a lot of new people. Because my immune system is so out of synch they last 2-3 days, linger a few weeks. Good thing I don't have the really bad immune disorders. People with THOSE get vaccinations from uninformed technicians and complicate themselves critically all the time. Out of the pan into the fire. I decline your immunization. I feel no need to limit risks to OTHERS by getting one. The system is BROKEN!

[Deaf Bob]

Son's girlfriend works in the hospital, she and her daughters are ALWAYS SICK, noe the son is sick alot..

[stroker al]

I agree with dieselhead get hooked up with a doctor you trust.
I’v had testicular,lung and now prostate cancer along with open heart surgery since 1987. Being in AF for 22 years means you get the flu shot or flu shit every year so I think my body is immune now. To each his own and everybody is different.

[SuperBuickGuy]

Son's girlfriend works in the hospital, she and her daughters are ALWAYS SICK, noe the son is sick alot..

taking care of yourself is far more important then choosing the right vaccination package.

as for doctors - as someone who has heard two doctors with diametrically opposed viewpoints testifying on the stand (both calling the other a quack); even heard a doctor who was the treating physician, then later the subject matter expert refute his own original opinion on the stand - I seriously say that anyone who blindly trusts any doctor gets what they deserve. Until a doctor can make life, they really should dial back from "diagnosis" to "reasoned opinion."

or let's put it another way, in 1900 a Doctor was both published and peer reviewed (all to wild support) that women could not, physically, care for children and have an education. Yet here, 100 years later, suddenly you should "find one you trust".... yeah, I'll remember that trust when they tell you how much money they make from office visits compared to kickbacks from drug companies.....

[Deaf Bob]

taking care of yourself is far more important then choosing the right vaccination package.

as for doctors - as someone who has heard two doctors with diametrically opposed viewpoints testifying on the stand (both calling the other a quack); even heard a doctor who was the treating physician, then later the subject matter expert refute his own original opinion on the stand - I seriously say that anyone
who blindly trusts any doctor gets what they deserve. Until a doctor can make life, they really should dial back from "diagnosis" to "reasoned opinion."

or let's put it another way, in 1900 a Doctor was both published and peer reviewed (all to wild support) that women could not, physically, care for children and have an education. Yet here, 100 years later, suddenly you should "find one you trust".... yeah, I'll remember that trust when they tell you how much money they make from office visits compared to kickbacks from drug companies.....

. To prove your point yes they do not eat healthy.. Boxed dinners, fast food and pizza
Eating healthy helps alot!