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flu shots

jojobeans
0 Recommendations

Has anyone gone for the flu shot? how about the h1n1 shot? Wondering if I should get the h1n1 shot....

Explore topics in this discussion:

Autism Pneumonia Cancer Chemotherapy Bronchitis Influenza Mercury poisoning

28 replies

Groovygirlcool

Timely comment/question Joell!

Just this morning I read in the weekend's paper - a half page govt advertisement promoting "Free Swine flu Vaccine available to Everyone(over 10 years of age)!" and stating how the threat is not over and how people 'at risk' (includes people with cancer) should all being getting vaccinated pronto.

Right next to this is a 'news' article of a woman 39, dying 9 days after giving birth to her fourth child - from "h1n1", accompanied by a tragic photo of her husband and children. The last line states the woman also had "heart problems" - I wonder - would she have died of 'heart problems' anyway.....looks like blatant product placement advertising to me.

I'd be VERY interested to know if anyone has info on the suitability of the vaccine for us 'metsers'.

xxxGGC

ReneP

my primary doc is recommending both, but i want to check in with my onc. first

Beachbabe

Thanks for asking the question that has been weighing on my mind! My GP says YES and is saying it's the first time SHE'S even getting a flu shot. My gut is saying, "No, no, no!" and for some reason I think I've got to listen to my gut. I've still got a wicked cough I can't get rid of--why introduce something else into the equation? I'm anxious to hear what others have to say...

Gentlenatured1

I have not had the flu in 19 years.

I don't get flu shots.

I'm going to take a chance and do without.

PAMELA

mlm

I had the flu shot last week along with chemo. My onc does not want me to have the h1n1 but wants all my family members to have it. He says he does not want to give me a "live" vaccine while on chemotherapy.
mlm

mom2acat

My oncologist always wants me to get a flu shot, and I get it either at his office, or my internist, where ever I happen to be first when the vaccines are out.

I don't know about the swine flu one yet; I'll probably find that out at my next oncologist appointment on the 13th.

I worked in retail for about 20 years before I quit working last November, and since then, I haven't had a cold or the flu; I don't think it was just having the flu shot that protected me. I think it was the fact that I wasn't around crowds of people 40 hours a week and exposed to their germs. Normally, even with the flu shot, I'd get the flu once or twice over the season and at least 2-3 colds.

jaf

I've had the regular flu shot but not the H1N1. I will ask my onc. at my next appointment

frannyv

I just discussed this with my Oncologist last week. He is recommending the regular flu shot, no nasal versions.(live virus) I have gotten a flu shot every year since 2004 and have not been sick. He didnt know yet about the H1N1. The first vaccines coming into our area will be for school children first and are live virus, nasal spray. Since I am still in chemo, no live virus vaccines at all. I will wait for more info on H1N1

PinkMelba

I am going to get one due to the fact I have a 6 year old and he is having lots of play dates not to mention school. Who knows what I will be exposed to this year. I still don't know how I managed to get pneumonia, but it was very hard on the bod and my emotional state. Exhaustion is so depressing.

Melba

KathyCB

I have already had the flu shot this year and have been taking it for the last 15 years and have not had the flu in all of these years. I am wary of the H1N1 but will be speaking with my onc about it at my next appt.

JuliePa

Haven't had one before and my Onc hasn't
mentioned it . Everyone around me has had a bad flu, I did get a mild cough. I would think they would have said during my visit. They say don't put yourself at risk being near anyone sick. My theory is that I don't want to be locked away and being out shopping it is in the air so I am living without the shot like I did before I was diagnosed.

jojobeans

Thanks everyone for your responses... I will talk to the onc when I go this month. Still haven't decided. I most likely will just get the reg flu shot, just not the H1N1.

IWILLBEATTHIS

Hi Gals,

I did get the Flu Shot and have been for about 15 years. My Onc said NO to the H1N1. He did not think there was enough testing on it and did not want me to be a Guinea Pig (No pun intended).

Deanie

My oncologist is the one who recommended I get a flu shot at the very least and we would discuss the H1N1 at my next appointment (this month). I have NEVER had one but he felt it was better to be safe than sorry. It has been a hard decision and as stated, I am still unsure of the H1N1 shot. On 3/31/08 I went to the ER with a horrendous cough. The chest x-ray showed the enlarged lymph nodes which led to the biopsy and the MBC diagnosis. Also, testing showed I had Type B flu which had no vaccine last year. I feel very vulnerable and want to protect myself and those around me if possible.

2xnow

I was reading an article yesterday that warned the some of the flu shot vaccines might contain mercury. Has anyone heard of this? I too have never had a flu shot even though I did get the flu last year along with five episodes of bronchitis. I am leary of getting any virus shot and have heard there has not been enough testing done to determine whether the H1N1 will have negative results on people with compromised immune systems. Anyone had a TB test that resulted in a postive/negative false reading after they were diagnosed with mets?

ElizabethA

I just saw my onc last week and he gave me a flu shot. Did not mention anything about H1N1.

Groovygirlcool

Hi 2xnow

It would appear multi use vials of h1n1 vaccine contain “thimerosal” – a mercury containing preservative, but the nasal spray vaccine does not.

Here’s some links with info on thimerosal, and the controversy over links to autism, which has seen it become something of a political football, with Arnie Schwarzenegger partially banning it (thimerosal/thiomersal) in California.

http://www.anapolschwartz.com/practices/vaccines/blog/California-Vaccine-La wsuit.htmlCalifornia Banned Mercury-Based Thimerosal in Vaccines

“Can you have it both ways? This is the first year that California banned the mercury-based preservative known as thimerosal from vaccines given to pregnant women and children younger than 3 years old.

Thimerosal, a compound that is 49.6 percent ethyl mercury by weight, has been used as a preservative in some vaccines and other pharmaceutical products since the 1930s. Its purpose is to prevent fungal and bacterial contamination in multidose vials. In 1999, as a precautionary measure, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Public Health Service urged drug companies to voluntarily remove thimerosal from children's vaccines.

The request came after the Food and Drug Administration concluded that children who received the full set of recommended immunizations could accumulate doses of mercury exceeding Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.

The problem is that pediatricians cannot get enough of the thimerosal-free version to inoculate all their patients. A temporary waiver has been sent to the California Secretary of Health requesting the power to use thimerosal-based vaccines to cover this flu season. (Bradenton)”

http://who.int/vaccine_safety/topics/thiomersal/questions/en/

http://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/QuestionsaboutVaccines/U CM070430What is thimerosal?

Thimerosal is a preservative that has been used in some vaccines since the 1930's, when it was first introduced by Eli Lilly Company. It is 49.6% mercury by weight and is metabolized or degraded into ethylmercury and thiosalicylate.

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/357/13/1278
To determine whether the amount of mercury in vaccines was safe, FDA scientists examined safety guidelines from three sources: their own agency, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. They found safety guidelines for methylmercury (environmental mercury), but not for ethylmercury (thimerosal).

Although these two molecules differ by only one carbon atom, the difference isn't trivial. Ethylmercury is excreted from the body much more quickly than methylmercury and is therefore much less likely to accumulate.

For this reason, the safety guidelines that had been established for methylmercury weren't likely to be predictive of the safety of ethylmercury.

http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/vaccines/research/vaccines.htm

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18172138

The controversy regarding the once widely used mercury-containing preservative thimerosal in childhood vaccines has raised many historical questions that have not been adequately explored. Why was this preservative incorporated in the first place? Was there any real evidence that it caused harm? And how did thimerosal become linked in the public mind to the "autism epidemic"? I examine the origins of the thimerosal controversy and their legacy for the debate that has followed.

More specifically, I explore the parallel histories of three factors that converged to create the crisis: vaccine preservatives, mercury poisoning, and autism.

An understanding of this history provides important lessons for physicians and policymakers seeking to preserve the public's trust in the nation's vaccine system.
........................................................................... ....................

Hope I haven't baffled you with bull@#$t!! Just been searching for info from various sources - not only "govt" sources, or worse - drug company info sites!!

Still looking for safety/efficacy of h1n1 vax for those of us with 'cells-behaving-badly'!! xxxGGC

EHM

I got the flu shot 2 weeks ago.. I'v been getting it for the past 15 or so years and have never gotten the flu. My onc suggests I also get the swine flu shot - I have lots of reservations about this. It is so new.. so much not known. I appreciate reading all your comments.

jojobeans

groovy - great information as always.... thanks for the research on this...

lauriem

I believe it depends on your white cell counts. Since the flu shots need you to have immunity to build immunity...they don't do you any good if you don't have much of an immune system. That said, my oncologist said no to me...I am on chemo and am in the low 4s white cell wise. He has seen too many problems with Guillian Barres sydrome (probably not how you spell it) after flu shots. I have also read that the H1N1 live one is a definite no no for us. I have contemplated having my family get flu shots but hate to do that to them since they never have gotten them before. Guess I will be praying over this too. Always a new wrinke eh?

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