I’ve never gotten a flu shot & have never gotten the flu, even when my husband came down with it. Lucky, I guess.
Any infection impacts BG, yep. BG can go quite high & it’s difficult to bring these kinds of highs down into range.
i didnt think about getting the flu vac till i was in see the nurse. she said all diabetics should have it.
so she stuck it in me then said you may feel bad for a few days… eek
boy was she right. numbers through the roof and feeling up n down was not a nice week at all. but its all good now
I never got the flu or the shot before I had D. But for the past 11 years I have gotten the shot. I have never had any negative reaction or increased BS from the shot either. I don’t want to take a chance of getting sick. But, I guess, it is a personal choice.
Scheduled for a flu shot this coming Friday …have done this for as long as I have diabetes ( 27 Novembers or is it 28 ?) .Still here to tell the story 
Need to check on the need of a pneumonia shot this year.
I recall a year in the mid seventies with the flu, well before diagnosis …no fun .
Yes I get one every year and I think the pneumonia is good for bout 3 years,
I do have to say I’ve often had higher BG levels after them and highs the last three days after the shot (bg 13-16 >canuck)
in the great white north Eh!
The one year I didn’t get it in time …Alone at home, looking after my daughter (2 at the time )
I was doubled over with an up chuck thrown in there and not able to keep anything down …
BG of 1.9…on the phone to 911.drinking honey and yes ambulance attended and went to the hospital.
Shot of gravol and sent on my way in better shape.Moral…No moral to the story…just get one.
I hadn’t had flu shots before 2003. I had a few flus here and there and was fairly sick with fever, coughing,and high blood sugars… But that flu in 2003 almost killed me. Of course, we were away for Christmas in the country. No Hospitals nearby. So that cut our Christmas short. Been getting the flu shot since then. I got it last week actually. It didn’t hurt, I had no ill-effects from it and my blood sugar was Fine. I guess I’m one of the 1/4 that it works for since I haven’t had a flu since(TW).
Diabetes itself makes us susceptable to illnesses. I also take drugs for my other disease that suppresses my immune system. So I Really don’t have a choice.
How many still have the mercury in their teeth?
I take the train to work everyday, so even if it only gave a 1% chance of protection then I would take it. it’s at the abosolute top of my list of worst bg offenders. I’ve had colds and a 2 week bout with Enterohemorrhagic E coli and there is no contest. Despite the latter being the most miserable experience of my life overall, it doesn’t even make the same list as the flu when it comes to bg problems. Before the flu I used to think that those ‘sick day’ checklists were overboard, but they really do apply to the flu. The flu is pure evil!
How many still have the mercury in their teeth?..
Well I’m 50% through my transition !!
Hi no your flu shot did not cause your diabetes! My doctor made me take the shot this year even though I have diabetes. Yes a cold and flu both can raise your numbers as well as stress can. I’ve had No problems with my flu shot it hasn’t bothered my numbers a bit!
I have only had the flu shot twice, decided it really doesn’t prevent anything since it is a wild guess as to which one is coming a year or more before it gets here. I have had almost no complications from diabetes and never had the flu during 55 years of life and 51 years of “D”. Just my 2 cents.
The H1N1 strain is in this year’s vaccine, and we know H1N1 is still around. It did kill people last year, so I think this is a good year to get the vaccine’s protection. Apparently sometimes one can catch the flu after the vaccination, but if the strain is one that is covered, it’s a milder case.
I wish diabetes was caused by the flu shot; then I would never would have been a diabetic. LOL
I am type 1 and a medic so that is double the reason for me to get it. I have gotten the shot every yr for about 17 yrs now and have never had a reaction to it and lucky me since it does not protect from all strains I have not gotten the flu ever so yes I think it is important to get it. I think any form of protection is better then none right?
so did the vaccine itself kill people!
Having the flu with diabetes sucks, so get the vacine. If you don’t want an IM shot get the mist. I think it is great, got it the last 4 years. No flu just minor bugs. I’m allergic to egg whites (very minorly) so injection sites swell like crazy but the mist is fine for me.
Oh, and when I get my mist I make sure that all the kids in the room get to watch so they can decide if they want the mist instead of a shot. I think it is just a good service – it really calmed down one little 4 year old girl who was plenty old enough to stiff in the agent.
Liz, you can’t get the flu from the flu vaccine. You’re NOT being injected with live virus, but an inactivated strain of the virus. See HERE for key facts on the flu from the CDC. The reason why you have to get immunized every year from the flu is because the flu virus mutates very quickly each year meaning the vaccine you got last year is no longer effective for this year’s vaccine. When the virus moves through pig or bird populations and picks up genes there before heading back to humans is when we’re most likely to have the least resistance and have the most problems fighting the flu.
The flu is an extremely serious disease. In 1918, a flu epidemic swept through the majority of the world, killing an estimated 20-40 million people, though other sources put the mortality figures in the 50-100 million range. In America alone, more than 600,000 people died. Additionally, 1/3 of the entire world’s population at that time, or around 500 million people, were infected with the virus. To put it simply, influenza is wide-spread, highly contagious, and when the strain is “just right”, is more lethal than some strains of the boubonic plague. It’s for these reasons that the CDC and the WHO recommend routine vaccination for most of the population.
I got mine just a few days ago. When you’ve had cases of the flu as bad as I’ve had them, where your muscles ache all the way down to your bones, you have a dangerously high fever (104F or more), you’re unable to keep anything down, you can’t stand, sit, or really do much of anything, you cough constantly and have a difficult time breathing, and you’re severely nauseated, chances are good you will want to avoid having the flu again.
It is extremely strongly recommended that diabetics of all types get a flu shot. Any infection can cause problems with bgs (generally raising them sky high), but the flu can also cause loss of appetite, which could potentially cause crazily swinging blood glucose levels. In addition, diabetics are considered “immuno-compromised” and are believed to be more susceptible to more severe problems with the flu, i.e. it is more likely to kill you than it would a non-diabetic.
It is highly unlikely your flu shot last year caused your diabetes. While there is a theory that the immune attack that ends up destroying the beta cells starts with a normal attack on a virus, no one knows for certain what causes the body to decide to turn on itself. Plus, the virus that has been most often associated with this theory of type 1 development, the cosackie4 virus (aka, German Measles) is not the same as the influenza virus. So, while I’m not willing to say with 100% certainty that the flu shot didn’t cause your diabetes, the chances that it did are quite remote, imo.
I almost always get a flu shot. As a type 1 who also has asthma, I am particularly susceptible to the ravages of the flu. I’d rather protect myself from the most common strains going around atm than take the risk of contracting a terrible case of the flu and ending up in the hospital.
i don’t think getting a flu shot gives us diabetes . i really think it is what were eating and how much at one time
were eating . and i do think if we come down with cold’s are sugars go up don’t know why .
Hi all… and Thank you for all of your warm welcome notes.
In response to the Flu Shot Trigger … I must tell you that my Son (Zack) had a Flu Shot I know that it was a CATALYST. I didn’t see it while it was happening, but when I looked back it was obvious. He go sick immediately after the shot. Within 4 or 5 months lost 10 lbs. ( he was onLY 4 yrs old, so that is ALOT ) However, I do not believe it was the only cause. There are many things that stress our immune systems. Yes, vaccines are DEFINITELY one of them. The thing that makes a vaccine more taxing is that when you inject a virus, it bypasses all of your natural, first lines of defenses. (mucus membranes, skin etc) They basically go right into your gut and directly into your system. It is a bit of an ambush.
Zack had eczema as a baby. He had an allergic reaction to the antibiotic, Zytrhomax. These signs were signs in his first year of life that something was “brewing”.
He also had a LYME TICK bite almost 1 year exactly, prior to diagnosis. Yes we treated with the round of antiobiotics, but now I have learned that even though you think it may be gone, the bacteria from LYME buries itself deep with in your system. Even still… that was hard on his immune system.
There were some other traumas too… but the point that I really want to make is that YES, anything that shocks your system can be a trigger or a catalyst for autoimmune disease. You combine that with the SAD (standard american diet) and your body just cannot handle everything.
The choice to vaccinate or not really should not be taken lightly. Knowing that what I know now, I would have proceeded more cautiously.
My children, I and my Husband, do NOT take the FLU vaccines. Instead we use preventative methods to keep our bodies strong… like homeopathic remedies, and vitamins. This year a local Doctor suggested a homeopathic rememdy called “TRIPLE FLU DEFENSE” which is developed every year based on the virus strains put out by CDC. If you prefer not to take the flu vaccine, then this might be of interest to you.
We have leaned towards more natural, homeopathic ,and herbal ideas since Zack’s diagnosis. We have learned so much about the bodies ability to heal itself. (which is what all of your RAW FOODIES are doing, I think, but that is for another day!)
I am happy to say that we rarely get sick. When we do ( and EVERYONE DOES- we are all exposed to viruses and germs everyday) we recover quickly, with proper rest. That is what a good immune system should do!
Again thanks for your warm welcome! Stay healthy!