Time for flu shots!
It's that time of year again - flu season. It can start now and last through spring.
Anytime I am around someone who is sneezing or coughing, I back away.........I don't want to catch it! Any cold or flu is always worse when you have asthma.
CDC estimates that 226,000 people are hospitalized every year thanks to influenza (the flu.) 3,000 - 49,000 people DIE every year from complications of the flu. Yikes!
Complications can be pneumonia, bronchitis, sinus infections and ear infections. When my kids were little, they were hospitalized 12 times for asthma - and almost all of those were because they started with a cold or flu and ended up with pneumonia. It's scary stuff to watch your child struggling to breathe.
I also have asthma and have had pneumonia numerous times, so I know what it feels like. For me, it feels like I was hit by a truck. I get a fever and chills and my body hurts all over, and I am so weak that I can't eat or drink. It's also a big job to try to just breathe in and out. I really have to concentrate on that.
Once, I was so sick and coughing so hard that I pulled a muscle in my rib cage! You can search online and find many people who share their experiences. It is awful. When I get pneumonia, I have a hard cough that hurts my chest, but then I would also get a sharp pain in my side every time I coughed from the pulled muscle. It was miserable stuff. :(
Talk to your doctor about getting a flu shot. CDC recommends everyone over 6 months of age should get a flu shot every year.
My insurance pays for any immunization, so for me, it will only cost a little time. Many pharmacies chains also give flu shots. So I can get a flu shot while I am picking up bandages, heart burn medicine, etc.
Nobody likes to get shots, but if you get a flu shot now, it could protect you from a miserable case of the flu later.
Haha, I'm so used to allergy shots and blood draws that needles don't scare me. I think they have a much smaller needle option for adults 18+. There's the trivalent and quadrivalent shots. All nasal sprays are quadrivalent, but we wheezers can't get the nasal spray. Shame, the nasal spray is actually more effective because it is a live vaccine. My college was giving out free flu shots. I reminded all my friends about this opportunity, but most of them said, "Oh the flu shot gave me the flu." Oh how I wish I could convince them otherwise!
ReplyDeleteYes, I know what you mean! We were at our local health department to get shots, and there was a long line. They had a curtain set up for an extra area for giving shots. I asked if we could get our shots there. They said no because of my daughter. I said puh-leaze! She has had allergy shots for 6 years and was hospitalized 8 times. She is used to shots and IV's. Needles don't bother her.
DeleteThe nurse wouldn't listen. FINALLY she agreed to do it, and my daughter didn't even flinch.
I couldn't help saying "Told you so!"
http://news.yahoo.com/sanofi-recalls-auvi-q-injections-severe-allergy-204406219--finance.html
ReplyDeleteYou should make a post about Auvi-Q recalls to warn the readers that may not know yet. I use Auvi-Q, but it looks like I'll have to switch to Epi-pen until Sanofi fixes the problem.
Sorry, just saw this and I just finished my post about it. Once again - great minds think alike! :)
DeleteI have never taken the flu shots because I believe it does more harm than good. That was before I realized how they actually worked. The vaccines develop antibodies that fight infections present in the vaccine. In addition to the vaccines already available, there are some that fight four different flu viruses.
ReplyDeleteLeonardo @ U.S. Healthworks Medical Group