Flu shot?

[kangasox]

Originally Posted by evasimone I agree. I've had it once and I actually felt like I was dying, I've never experienced anything like it. If you have the sniffles and feel under the weather but arent curled up in the fetal position for several days you do not have the flu. It took me 4-5 days to get over the worst of it and then I had several more weeks of feeling weak and awful. I can very easily see someone hospitalized from complications, I was a healthy 21 year old with good lung capacity and it knocked me flat on my butt. I get a flu shot every year, I am not willing to go through that ever again.

Dp

[lynn97]

Originally Posted by Steph Ed I think a big concern with getting the flu for anyone is not only the flu itself, but it could develop into pneumonia. Here is an article I found. Of course, it is recommending the vaccine, but I am really passing it along because there are a ton of commenters giving their own experiences. www.babycenter.com/404_is-it-safe-to-get-a-flu-shot-when-im-pregnant_2488.bc

This is one of the bigger concerns I have read about.

I got one when I was pregnant with DS b/c that was the year H1N1 was out there. I wont get one this year, though. Re: people ending up paralyzed and other RARE complications, you have to realize that illnesses themselves cause all sorts of awful things too. I have an aunt that got strep throat as a healthy woman in her early 20s. Basically, it attacked her body and she ended up with sever kidney damage which required a transplant. My mom had life-threatening complications from a basic medication a few years back too. Sadly, you just have to weigh the risks versus benefits for anything.

[kangasox]

Originally Posted by evasimone I agree. I've had it once and I actually felt like I was dying, I've never experienced anything like it. If you have the sniffles and feel under the weather but arent curled up in the fetal position for several days you do not have the flu. It took me 4-5 days to get over the worst of it and then I had several more weeks of feeling weak and awful. I can very easily see someone hospitalized from complications, I was a healthy 21 year old with good lung capacity and it knocked me flat on my butt. I get a flu shot every year, I am not willing to go through that ever again.

Yeah, I had the flu (tested and confirmed by a dr) and thought I would die. Like, lying on the bathroom floor too sick to move or get back to bed and calling my husband to come home and get me off the floor sick. While we have little ones (under 3 or 4) we will get the shot, after that maybe we'll skip it. I just had a baby so didn't get the shot until I had had him but the rest of the family did.

[dagmomma]

I honestly have had Dr tell me that they themselves would not get the flu shot. I never had a Dr try to convince me while pregnant to get one. I did have a Dr convince me to get it PP when ds was only a couple of months old.

Durig the H1N1 I actually had a ped rec that we did not get the vaccine and rec I did not give it to my children. She felt there was not enough info.

I have been to alot of different Dr bc we move alot. AL is the only place where they were pushy about getting the flu shot for my children.

My ob this time has actually not mentioned flu shot at all to me. Not sure he will either.

[songbird516]

I've never gotten the flu. Last pregnancy I got a couple of stomach bugs, but nothing that rest and hydration couldn't take care of. I would NOT get a flu shot during pregnancy. There is way too much crap in that shot for me to risk it, and it hasn't been studied much at all in pregnant women.

[Steph Ed]

Originally Posted by songbird516 I've never gotten the flu. Last pregnancy I got a couple of stomach bugs, but nothing that rest and hydration couldn't take care of. I would NOT get a flu shot during pregnancy. There is way too much crap in that shot for me to risk it, and it hasn't been studied much at all in pregnant women.

Where did you find this information?

[evasimone]

Originally Posted by snugglesnsunshine I hope you don't mind me posting. I have not personally been hospitalized from a flu shot. I did, however, meet a very sweet lady last year that works at a nearby college campus in her early 50's that said she got a flu shot about 8 years ago, and the flu shot paralyzed her. She is still paralyzed to this day and must walk with a walker. She was much worse for the first 5 years after it happened. She said up until that point, she and her dh jogged, golfed, went scuba-diving, tennis, etc.--very active. She was also a very talented painter--that was ruined also. I was scared of them before, but I just don't think I'll ever forget her. We read stories and such, but meeting someone in person and watching them have to use a walker---there are just no words.

That's very scary but I am fairly certain that what the woman you spoke with experienced was Guillian Barre' syndrome. Their is a very, very low chance of contracting Guillian Barre' syndrome from the flu vaccine or another vaccine (some statistics I found stated 1 in 1 million but I couldn't find satisfactory verification of that figure). However your chances of getting it from contracting influenza is higher, Guillian Barre' basically is caused by your body attacking itself and the nerve sheaths and it follows an infection. The largest cause of Guillian Barre' is infection from camplyobacter and cytomegalovirus infections. To give you an idea of how many people contract Guillian Barre' syndrome every year it's around 3,000-6,000 people who were not given any vaccine at all or 1 in 100,000 people.

[pagodagirl]

As a surgeon who works in women's health I have personally seen several women who have been hospitalized, intubated and die from the flu while they are pregnant. The problem with the flu in pregnancy is that for some reason the virus is much more likely to cause pulmonary problems in pregnant women than in other folks. Not being able to breath is not good for you or or baby.
I do not usually post about medical related questions because, frankly, I want to keep being a mom and diapering separate from my work life. And I don't really want to be in the role of being a doctor over the internet.
But getting the flu in pregnancy can be fatal. That's the truth. No ifs ands or buts.
The American College of Ob/Gyns strongly recommends all pregnant women get the flu shot.

[leviandgarettsmom]

There was a story on the national news a few weeks ago about how important it is to get the flu shot if you are pregnant & the risks to your baby if you don't get it & get the flu. Maybe you don't get sick very often if hardly ever, but getting sick is like getting pregnant...it only takes one time. JMO

[canadianbakers]

Originally Posted by JaylasMommy So, for the first part, refusing the flu shot and getting the flu will build my baby's body to fight it later? Or the opposite?

If you get any infection, your body fights it and by doing so becomes immune to it in the future - for colds/flu/etc, there are MANY strains, so you can get the "same" cold over and over again, but it's really not, kwim?
Baby will be born with mom's immunity that lasts for the first few weeks (6 I think, but I'm not totally sure), and antibodies are passed through breastmilk.

Originally Posted by evasimone Canadianbakers- do you mind providing where you've seen the contraindications? I've done a lot of research and Mayo clinic, the CDC etc. All recommend it. I am not trying to stsrt a debate on this thread but I am curious about where you've found that at?

It is on the package insert itself.

Originally Posted by Belle For example my friend declined the flu vax while pregnant, so her doc gave her a supply of tamiflu, just in case. Tamiflu has the same contraindication on its insert as the flu vax.

I would rather take tamiflu (or other meds) if I get the flu, rather than get the flu shot just in case.

Never mind the fact that the flu shot only covers 3 strains - whatever ones they predict will be most prevalent this year. There are many, many strains out there and you could contract any of them. If you contract any other than those 3, you would still get the flu and be sick - and they would then give you tamiflu. In this case, someone getting the shot would have the shot + tamiflu while pregnant.

At the end of the day, it's a personal decision whether or not to get the flu shot while pregnant. You make the best decision, like with everything else, for you, your baby, and your family. That's all you can do.