Comments on: Is the Flu Shot Safe What are your Thoughts? http://managing-multiple-sclerosis.com/ms-symptoms/is-the-flu-shot-safe-what-are-your-thoughts Wed, 30 Mar 2011 06:10:12 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Voelven http://managing-multiple-sclerosis.com/ms-symptoms/is-the-flu-shot-safe-what-are-your-thoughts#comment-3143 Voelven Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:15:10 +0000 http://managing-multiple-sclerosis.com/ms-symptoms/is-the-flu-shot-safe-what-are-your-thoughts#comment-3143 Denmark is one of the countries that only offers H1N1 Vaccinations to a limited group of people. It's not because there is not enough vaccine to treat more, but it's a matter of weighing up the pros and cons of the vaccine. H1N1 has been found to be less severe than an ordinary Danish winter flu and has been categorized in strength as a mild summer flu, the only difference being that H1N1 is much more contagious than a regular flu. People who get H1N1 are being told to stay at home, get plenty or rest, drink plenty of fluids and wait it out and only contact the doctor if the H1N1 does not go away after a few days or if the symptoms become more severe than that of a regular flu. Regarding flu vaccinations in general. Again it's a matter of weighing up the pros and cons. I do believe it's better to let your immune system deal with the flu by itself, but the sick and the elderly often are not strong enough to fight off a flu, in which case a vaccination can be necessary - and still it's no guarantee, as the vaccination is based on the flu strain the doctors find most likely to hit, but sometimes another flu strain takes the center stage or sometimes the flu strain mutates. As an adult, I rarely get the flu. I've had it maybe 2-3 times in the last 20 years and my symptoms have been pretty mild. Same thing happened when I had it beginning of last year. 3-4 days of feeling under the weather and then it was over - only now I have Multiple Sclerosis. The problem with getting a regular flu when you have MS is that it can leave you utterly exhausted and fatigued for months afterwards, and I had 3 months of a zombie like exsistance, where just staying awake during the day was a huge effort, so autumn 2008 I got my first flu shot. PS. Could you post a link to the documentation that links Thimerasol to MS, because to my knowledge nothing like that has been scientifically proven. Denmark is one of the countries that only offers H1N1 Vaccinations to a limited group of people. It’s not because there is not enough vaccine to treat more, but it’s a matter of weighing up the pros and cons of the vaccine. H1N1 has been found to be less severe than an ordinary Danish winter flu and has been categorized in strength as a mild summer flu, the only difference being that H1N1 is much more contagious than a regular flu.

People who get H1N1 are being told to stay at home, get plenty or rest, drink plenty of fluids and wait it out and only contact the doctor if the H1N1 does not go away after a few days or if the symptoms become more severe than that of a regular flu.

Regarding flu vaccinations in general. Again it’s a matter of weighing up the pros and cons. I do believe it’s better to let your immune system deal with the flu by itself, but the sick and the elderly often are not strong enough to fight off a flu, in which case a vaccination can be necessary – and still it’s no guarantee, as the vaccination is based on the flu strain the doctors find most likely to hit, but sometimes another flu strain takes the center stage or sometimes the flu strain mutates.

As an adult, I rarely get the flu. I’ve had it maybe 2-3 times in the last 20 years and my symptoms have been pretty mild. Same thing happened when I had it beginning of last year. 3-4 days of feeling under the weather and then it was over – only now I have Multiple Sclerosis. The problem with getting a regular flu when you have MS is that it can leave you utterly exhausted and fatigued for months afterwards, and I had 3 months of a zombie like exsistance, where just staying awake during the day was a huge effort, so autumn 2008 I got my first flu shot.

PS. Could you post a link to the documentation that links Thimerasol to MS, because to my knowledge nothing like that has been scientifically proven.

]]> By: Kaitlyn94 http://managing-multiple-sclerosis.com/ms-symptoms/is-the-flu-shot-safe-what-are-your-thoughts#comment-3144 Kaitlyn94 Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:15:10 +0000 http://managing-multiple-sclerosis.com/ms-symptoms/is-the-flu-shot-safe-what-are-your-thoughts#comment-3144 What shots do is strengthen your immune system against that one kind of infection, which can be a bad thing. For instance, if you get a shot for one kind of the flu, and the swine flu is going around, you are more likely to get the swine flu than you were before because your immune system is only working to prevent that one kind of flu. The doctors can predict what kind of flu will be going around in flu season, but they can't be positive. So I would recommend not getting a flu shot, but that's just my opinion. What shots do is strengthen your immune system against that one kind of infection, which can be a bad thing. For instance, if you get a shot for one kind of the flu, and the swine flu is going around, you are more likely to get the swine flu than you were before because your immune system is only working to prevent that one kind of flu. The doctors can predict what kind of flu will be going around in flu season, but they can’t be positive. So I would recommend not getting a flu shot, but that’s just my opinion.

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