So I recently got my anual flu shot -- I've gotten it a few times at the immediate care clinic up the road from my house and a couple of times at Costco, but regardless of the location, I don't like the shot for a few reasons:
- I can feel every last drop of liquid that goes into my arm.
- My arm is sore for at least a day after the shot. Yes, I felx my muscles and all that, but it never seems to make a difference.
- I usually get some sort of minor head cold-type feelings following the shot.
With the amount of travel that I do, the detractors above do far outwiegh the benefit -- I've done high volume travel without getting the shot and have been far more ill than the years that I have received it.
One thing to think about when deciding on a flu shot is the fact that the shots use a mercury-based preservative called thiomersal. If you're getting the shot, or, perhaps more importantly, if you have a child getting a shot, you may want to read up on potential affects of thiomersal. Some doctors have tied thiomersal to incidences of autism and one of my very good friends was able to actually reduce and nearly eliminate autism symptoms from his son through the culling of heavy metals from his bloodstream. Check out the Wikipedia link below to get started. Note that many vaccines, flu shots included, are available by request in thiomersal-free versions.
Link -- thimerosal on Wikipedia
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