Monday, March 9, 2015

Don't Bother With a Flu Shot

I hate shots. I have had to have many of them and I know for a fact that I could never ever be a junkie if it meant giving myself injections. No "high" is worth that silliness.  But I bought into the propaganda this year and paid good money for a flu shot. I might as well have taken the money to a casino for all that I have to show for it.
It started not soon after my birthday.  I knew it wasn't from over indulging, I barely indulged.  So I thought maybe it was a cold. No luck. I was running a temperature of 103 for six days. Acetaminophen would knock the fever back, but it never successfully killed it.
 Then there were the lovely side effect. I won't give you too much detail but I will tell you this: when vomiting and diarrhea strike at the exact same time- you have to make a choice.  Neither choice will be good.  Ask my cat.
When I finally broke down and saw my doctor-he told me that the flu shot was zero percent effective this year-in his opinion. I won't get another one unless it comes with a money back guarantee.  And as for those people who told me it was probably less severe because of the shot- I would ask which part was less severe? The 11 days of nausea? Or maybe it was the earache, sore throat, runny nose or stuffed head that was lessened. Nope. I know my chest wasn't less congested because of the shot.  I tool so much medicine that it ended up jacking my blood pressure up 86 points.  Yeah, it was less alright.
I understand that it is a guessing game when they concoct the formula for the flu shot. I know that there are a lot of algorithms involved and that it isn't a perfect science.  I would have done better to just drink schnapps.  At least I would have been getting more sleep.
But maybe there is some lucky soul out there who was helped by the shot. How nice for them.  It sure wasn't me- I can tell you that.  Think about it, you'll thank me later.

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