# "Flu shots make me sick -- why on earth did I even bother?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 30, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-make-me-sick-why-on-earth-did-i-even-bother/604551 "2011-11-30T13:47:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![flushotsicko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c5a1d2/32.png) [@flushotsicko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flushotsicko)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-make-me-sick-why-on-earth-did-i-even-bother/604551/61 "2011-12-05T03:48:15Z")
the fact is, the flu shot has made me sick each time i have gotten it, i was sincerely curious to find out if i am the only one, and it seems that i’m not. i am actually looking for information based on other people’s personal experience, i already know that it is apparently ‘impossible’ but it seems to happen to me anyways. THAT is what has caused me to doubt whether or not i should be vaccinated in the future 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-make-me-sick-why-on-earth-did-i-even-bother/604551/62 "2011-12-05T03:52:45Z")
Here’s the thing, though - If the flu vaccine makes you “sick” every time you get it, do you keep track of whether or not you get sick around the same time every year, regardless of whether or not you get the shot? Do you keep track of how LONG it takes you to get “sick” from the flu shot? I’m not calling you a liar, or saying that your personal experience isn’t important. TO YOU. But the issue is that 1) what you’re describing is highly biologically unlikely, 2) your statement that half of the people who receive the vaccine get sick from it can’t be scientifically supported, 3) you stated that “nobody knows anything about these vaccines,” which is factually untrue, and 4) you seem to be willing to accept as valid information coming from non-scientific sources, while rejecting information from scientific sources. All of those things, especially the last two, indicate to me that you have an anti-science bias that might be, in turn, biasing your understanding of the issue. ---
**Author:** ![flushotsicko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c5a1d2/32.png) [@flushotsicko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flushotsicko)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-make-me-sick-why-on-earth-did-i-even-bother/604551/63 "2011-12-05T04:04:55Z")
You must be a scientist? maybe married to one? nothing against science or scientists, i love it, love them! They are valid!They are also human, and I’m sure that a couple of them have been wrong on occasion. not sure how aliens made their way into the convo…if i dont listen to everything im told by the scientific study, without question then surely i must believe in aliens?i must be crazy? what is art bell? ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-make-me-sick-why-on-earth-did-i-even-bother/604551/64 "2011-12-05T04:10:53Z")
The probably with your statement that scientists, being human, must have been wrong is that it ignores the scientific METHOD. Yes, scientists have been wrong, and that “wrongness” has been corrected using the scientific method, which continuously analyzes it’s own findings to determine if they are still valid. If a single scientist, or a single scientific study, is wrong, it’ll be discovered by other scientists engaged in research in the same field. This self-correcting mechanism isn’t found in the population of people who reject science because they think that their personal experiences trump research data about large groups of people. ---
**Author:** ![flushotsicko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c5a1d2/32.png) [@flushotsicko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flushotsicko)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-make-me-sick-why-on-earth-did-i-even-bother/604551/65 "2011-12-05T04:11:12Z")
hey maybe you are right, maybe i have taken that stance on this particular issue. I never claimed that my statements were scientifically supported ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-make-me-sick-why-on-earth-did-i-even-bother/604551/66 "2011-12-05T04:13:04Z")
> [@flushotsicko](#): > > Im just saying, they insist that it is impossible to get the flu from it, but it seems to happen anyways, alot of people whom i have spoken to about this also have the same phenomenon. Getting the flu just after getting a flu shot does not mean you got the flu _from_ the shot. Even if it happened twice. I understand why it’s easy to make the connection, but it’s not necessarily correct. December isn’t quite the peak of the flu season, but plenty of people have the flu, and if you’re in the home health care industry it’s certainly possible that you already got the bug from them before you got the shot. > [@](#): > > I will definitely follow up with my doc as u r right, there might be something wrong with my immune system after all? I’m not trying to make you think you have a serious problem. I’m just saying it couldn’t hurt to check. > [@flushotsicko](#): > > nothing against science or scientists, i love it, love them! They are valid!They are also human, and I’m sure that a couple of them have been wrong on occasion. Scientists can certainly be wrong. The issue is that we’re not talking about one scientists’ opinion here. If the vaccine is made properly, it shouldn’t be possible to get sick from it. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-make-me-sick-why-on-earth-did-i-even-bother/604551/67 "2011-12-05T04:25:50Z")
> [@flushotsicko](#): > > I dont believe that anyone really knows the truth about these vaccines. Does the term “large sample double-blind placebo testing” mean anything to you? It’s a test where a large number of people are given what both they and the doctor believe is the drug/vaccine in question. However, about half of them receive (unbeknownst to them, although they generally know that they are part of the test, just not in which group they fall) a placebo instead; be it a sugar pill or an injection with nothing but blood plasma in it. I’m fairly sure that someone has already posted the results of one such study in the thread: after sanitizing all other variables, the results between those who got the vaccine and those who got the placebo were virtually identical in regards to their illness directly afterwards. > [@](#): > > I personally have gotten very sick each and every time i have received a flu shot, and im not allergic to anything Two things may be at work here (other than what you claim): 1. Placebo effect. 2. Timing/other outside factors. The flu is _not_ a rare illness to get, especially around this time of year. > [@](#): > > I will never get another flu shot, I dont even trust the info/hype about them anymore as it seems inconsistent with reality The actual scientific research backs it. Not sure what else there is to say on the matter. ---
**Author:** ![flushotsicko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c5a1d2/32.png) [@flushotsicko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flushotsicko)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-make-me-sick-why-on-earth-did-i-even-bother/604551/68 "2011-12-05T05:58:00Z")
Ya, its probably just a coincidence. I probably ended up getting a different virus and/or the flu shot supressed my immune system briefly making me more vulnerable to other viruses. is that possible? ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-make-me-sick-why-on-earth-did-i-even-bother/604551/69 "2011-12-05T06:15:21Z")
> [@flushotsicko](#): > > Ya, its probably just a coincidence. I probably ended up getting a different virus and/or the flu shot supressed my immune system briefly making me more vulnerable to other viruses. is that possible? The first of these is the most likely. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-make-me-sick-why-on-earth-did-i-even-bother/604551/70 "2011-12-05T09:43:57Z")
> [@j666](#): > > With respect, the flu of 1918 did NOT kill people who were typically seen as at risk; the young and healthy were the most seriously affected - the strength of the immune response couple with less advanced treatments for the symptoms, I believe. And we do have much better treatment for the symptoms now. It’s still better to prevent the flu than to treat the symptoms afterward. Even where it is possible to treat the symptoms, doing so is also enormously more expensive than a vaccine, and bed space for flu complications is limited. Your point about the 1918 flu is the one I was making - flu is NOT always a “minor illness”, its NOT just certain risk groups who have to worry. Right now it takes 4 to 6 months to produce flu vaccine. If the 1918 scenario happened again that would _not_ be enough time to avert the peak deaths. If we could get a flu vaccine produced in 3 months, however, it would be. Given that the group most at risk from a cytokine-storm inducing strain, such as the 1918 one was, is also the group most effectively protected by vaccine (the young and healthy), it makes even more sense to continue to research better means of making vaccines. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-make-me-sick-why-on-earth-did-i-even-bother/604551/71 "2011-12-05T09:47:51Z")
> [@flushotsicko](#): > > Ya, its probably just a coincidence. I probably ended up getting a different virus and/or the flu shot supressed my immune system briefly making me more vulnerable to other viruses. is that possible? Since the _point_ of a vaccination is to _stimulate_ your immune system how you got to the flu vaccine _suppressing_ your immune system is baffling. It makes me think you’ve haven’t a clue what you’re talking about, in fact. Do you even understand how vaccines work in a general way? ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-make-me-sick-why-on-earth-did-i-even-bother/604551/72 "2011-12-05T10:21:15Z")
> [@flushotsicko](#): > > I personally have gotten very sick each and every time i have received a flu shot, and im not allergic to anything.. the only people who say it is impossible are the ones whom it has never happened to. So you’ve ignored page 1 and the point that serious doctors never claim that getting a flu shot doesn’t make you sick? Getting a flu shot means that you don’t get the flu, which is a serious, sometimes deadly (even to healthy people) disease with very high fever that makes you feel like crap. Feeling a bit sick as reaction to the flu immunization is to be expected and several orders of magnitutde different ballpark than getting the real flu. > [@](#): > > I will never get another flu shot, I dont even trust the info/hype about them anymore as it seems inconsistent with reality So you ignored page 1 the personal stories of Dopers like Broomstick who can’T get immuzation herself, but can die if somebody else infects her, and who therefore depends on everybody else getting the shot to stop the spread? Because if nobody becomes sick with the flu, the virus can’t spread. You also seem to have ignored the Wiki links to past flu epidemics and pandemics, where millions of people died. And every year thousands of people die during normal flu season. Feeling a little sick after the shot should be worth it compared to people dying because you don’t believe facts and skip the shot. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-make-me-sick-why-on-earth-did-i-even-bother/604551/73 "2011-12-05T10:33:58Z")
Perhaps a real medical professional can confirm or deny this, but I’ve always heard that feeling a little off for a day or two after a vaccination is actually an indication that it “took”, that your immune system is gearing up in reaction to the vaccine. Last time I got a tetanus booster I felt a little tired for a couple days, had a mild headache, that sort of thing, but I didn’t view it as “getting tetanus”, I thought it was proof I’d actually had a vaccination and thus would be _protected_ from an illness. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-make-me-sick-why-on-earth-did-i-even-bother/604551/74 "2011-12-05T14:02:54Z")
Feeling “something” for a few days after a flu shot is perfectly normal, but what you are feeling is not the flu, unless you already have the flu from a source other than the shot. If you have already been exposed to the virus, getting the shot does nothing. I got my shot a few weeks back and for a couple of days afterward, I had noticeable discomfort from the lymph nodes under my armpits. This was nothing more than my lymphatic system reacting to the flu shot. Which is, of course, exactly what you want to happen. ---
**Author:** ![flushotsicko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c5a1d2/32.png) [@flushotsicko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flushotsicko)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-make-me-sick-why-on-earth-did-i-even-bother/604551/75 "2011-12-05T17:35:56Z")
Wow, there are alot of people on here who know everything about the matter, as opposed to me, I obviously know nothing. Looks like I came to the right place to find out the truth! I really had sincere doubts about the vaccine, but not anymore… Anyways, it wasn’t a case of just feeling ‘something’, I actually came down with another virus, which my three year old daughter now has, so i will be taking her to the doctor today . there is no need to continue to demean my overall intelligence, just because i questioned the matter, my doubts were sincere. ---
**Author:** ![flushotsicko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c5a1d2/32.png) [@flushotsicko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flushotsicko)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-make-me-sick-why-on-earth-did-i-even-bother/604551/76 "2011-12-05T19:16:46Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Since the _point_ of a vaccination is to _stimulate_ your immune system how you got to the flu vaccine _suppressing_ your immune system is baffling. It makes me think you’ve haven’t a clue what you’re talking about, in fact. Do you even understand how vaccines work in a general way? did you notice the last thing i had said is “is that possible?” You really don’t have to be mean.. superiority complex much? ---
**Author:** ![DaveBfd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DaveBfd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveBfd)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-make-me-sick-why-on-earth-did-i-even-bother/604551/77 "2011-12-05T19:27:52Z")
They have that attitude because your opinions that you stated as fact earlier were already discussed in the second post and proven wrong. It is seen as ignoring evidence because of an agenda, and people have little patience for it regardless of your true motives, especially on a topic so widely misunderstood as vaccines. While you may have symptoms resulting from the flu shot, it is not necessarily because of the flu vaccine itself. You may have other issues affecting your body, or it could just be a coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-make-me-sick-why-on-earth-did-i-even-bother/604551/78 "2011-12-05T19:28:09Z")
Everyone here needs to take a step back. Personal comments aren’t allowed in this forum, and while everybody likes sarcasm, it’s pushing the conversation in the wrong direction here. ---
**Author:** ![flushotsicko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c5a1d2/32.png) [@flushotsicko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flushotsicko)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-make-me-sick-why-on-earth-did-i-even-bother/604551/79 "2011-12-05T20:17:10Z")
Yes, you are right, and I am convinced that i was wrong. for real, this has definitely helped to change my mind about the flu vaccine, because I really did think that it was what had made me sick. I will make sure I continue to get the vaccine every season from here on. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-make-me-sick-why-on-earth-did-i-even-bother/604551/80 "2011-12-05T20:47:57Z")
If you are not whooshing us, as you are a home health care worker working with people whose heath is precarious enough already, your patients will be thankful. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-make-me-sick-why-on-earth-did-i-even-bother/604551.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots-make-me-sick-why-on-earth-did-i-even-bother/604551.md?page=5)