do you believe in getting a flu shot to get you through the winter months? if you do get them, have they helped? if you do get them, do you notice any BG changes afterwards. would you recommend getting one to a D friend? must you Temp Bolus for a period of time after getting the shot?
all info and/or opinions welcome
I get a flu shot almost every year and haven’t noticed a difference either way. But, in the past I’ve never had an A1c <7 when getting the shot, so this year may be different. I don’t think it benefits me much, as I rarely get sick, but I do think it’s important to get since there are some who can’t get the shot for various reasons and are vulnerable (infants, elderly, immunosuppressed) and I’d hate to pass the flu on to them.
I probably will, but I’m once again on the fence about this since I got mine last October and I got flu B anyway in May. I was quite sick with 102 fever and a terrible cough- then I got bronchitis right after. It took a few weeks to start feeling better. On average flu shots are only around 60% percent effective and last years were only 25% effective since the viruses mutated after the shots were made. I have never had the flu as far as I’m aware before getting a flu shot, I never used to get them until D. They do make me sick also with a low fever and muslce aches, malaise etc. Fortunately they don’t spike my bg much if at all.
I have never gotten one and won’t be getting one this year. I’m healthy (good A1C, well nourished, et.c.) and I think being sick every once in a while is good for your body (this is only my opinion from my own life experiences). Plus, the shot seems to be hit or miss anyways, I seem to come across people who get sick even after getting the shot. But again, all of this is is only my opinion a I may be totally wrong.
meee, thanks for your response. i am certainly on the fence, although my instincts tell me to get the shot. i ALWAYS get the flu, every year. i think that getting the shot minimizes the damage of a full blow flu. i don’t really know. i just know that i am a miserable stay-in-bed-and-isolate- type of person. and truthfully, there’s just so much chicken soup one can put up with.
yw 
That’s horrible you get it every year. I do wonder if mine would’ve been worse if I hadn’t had the shot? I will probably get it but I’m not looking forward to it because I got sick after it, more than the reaction, at least twice. I ended up teaching through mine because I didn’t realize it was the flu and I couldn’t cancel more classes. Fortunately no one caught it from me.
Nope, not for me. Instead, I take a quality vitamin C and herbal antivirals. If I do start to get a scratchy throat, a few drops of “Thieves” (a antiviral essential oil) every few hours until it’s gone takes care of it.
I get a flu shot and NEVER, EVER get the flu, unlike years ago when I didn’t get the shot. Pretty easy to decide what to do in the future. 
I’ve been doing that for decades. Never mess with what works (for you)
since i have been getting the flu shot, it reduces the flu symptoms, but i do get a bit sick just after the shot. so i don’t know which is the best option, so i put the subject out there. wondering what all others think about it.
I get the shot. I do it to protect my family, and grandkids, and friends from any nasty flu germs I might pick up on my trails. I know that not everyone covers their cough or sneeze, and lots of folks don’t wash their hands.
I don’t think you can actually get the flu from the flu shot. It’s made up of dead viruses that (I believe) were never alive to begin with. Your body may mistake it for the flu (as it should) and fight it off. But no one is going to catch anything from you. At least that’s my understanding.
get one every year and I will again. I am a big big believer.
rick
jen,
i thought that the flu shot was just a mild dosage of the virus, so that it built up your immune system, causing the potential of getting the actual flu wasn’t as severe.
i get a bit frustrated when i get the shot b/c, if i remember correctly, i need to up my basal profile to about 120%. i hate playing around w/ my basals (and i hate feeling below the weather).
thanks though, daisy mae
Rphil2, do you find that you BGs go up a bit after the shot? (maybe for about a week)
I looked it up and it seems there are different versions of vaccines, some are weakened viruses and some are dead. Interesting. I wonder which version the flu shot is. It’ll be interesting to see how my blood sugar reacts this year. I don’t usually notice any symptoms from it in terms of feeling sick, but I’ve never paid attention to blood sugar. This’ll be the first time I’ll be getting the shot with a CGM and excellent A1c. I change my basal rates drastically twice a month, and tweak them almost daily, so at least that wouldn’t be anything new.
I have never had an uptick in blood glucose when I get a flu shot. the flu shot is a dead virus, it cannot give a person the flu. No no please do not write telling me those stories about how you got the flu after the shot. (Think of it this way… maybe you were infected preinjection, maybe you do not have the flu… maybe maybe, who knows).
Here is the thing the virus is dead, I have never had a a surge of blood sugar post injection. i only get the flu when i do not get the vaccine. Yeah I am a big believer. Now i return all the flu shot haters to their regularly scheduled rant, I am off to get the shot. LOL
rick
I probably won’t get one this year. I havent had a full blown case of the flu since the swine flu outbreak of 09, and that was after everyone in my highschool was forced to get the vaccine. I haven’t taken once since and have been flu free.
I tend to be in & out of the local VA outpatient clinic at least 2 or 3 times a month for one reason or another. Since they will have it on hand and all I need to do is ask to get it, I will do so. As has already been said, even if it doesn’t help, it won’t hurt. And I’d rather have the chance of protection than no protection at all.
If getting vaccinated for the flu affects my BG, then I haven’t noticed it.
John,
after you get the flu shot, do you ever get a “mild version” of the flu later in the winter?
medicare pays 100% for my flu shot, so i tend to get it every year. just curious.
At this point, I honestly don’t recall. I’m not usually at risk for things like the flu since I live by myself and I am almost never around children of grade school age who are the most likely carriers in my opinion. But if I do get a bad case of the flu I’ll be managing it all on my own which for me is extra incentive to try to not get sick.