Flu Shot Risks - Nurse Hospitalized

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paucek.sheldon1

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I might get flamed over this. But with this BFS I got enough problems.This article explains why I will not get a flu shot.A nurse was stricken with a rare nerve disorder that can cause paralysis two weeks after receiving a seasonal flu shot, the New York State Health Department confirmed Wednesday.The unidentified female nurse has been diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome and has been hospitalized at North Shore University Hospital on Long Island since September 14th, the department said.
 
Okay, so I left for about a month/am back now because I am flaring pretty bad, I am trying to keep my posts to a minimum though because I feel my health anxiety is typically better when I am away, BUT, I am choosing to respond to this post.I have been agonizing about the flu vaccines this year. I have never gotten the seasonal flu vaccine, and I don't recall ever getting the flu... maybe a bacterial sinus infection once or twice a year, but nothing REALLY bad *knocks on wood*. Anyway, I have gotten millions of opinions on these vaccines this year, and two specifically from both my neurologist, and my rheumetologist. My neurologist said that there is the risk of Guillan Barre' syndrome but its very low, and that quite frankly the swine flu vaccine was developed the exact same way the seasonal flu vaccine was developed. He also said, the seasonal flu vaccine is remarkably safe, and that he has no reason to think that the swine flu vaccine will be any different. My rheumotologist said that unless you have been told otherwise by your doctor, it is highly unlikely that your twitching has anything to do with Guillane Barre' syndrome, or that it puts you at higher risk of developing it. I also have elevated ANA antibodies, and she said that is is still safe for me to get either vaccine. Although she did note that she only recommends the injection, not the nasal administered vaccine.Some reports say that Guillan Barre' develops in 1 in every 100,000 people, other reports I have seen say 1 in every 1,000,000, take that with a grain of salt I guess... However, all of the CDC reports and other articles I have read (sorry I have none to site as I am at work, so you don't have to believe me if you don't want!) say that of people who develop Guillan Barre', which is INCREDIBLY rare, there is still less than a 10% mortality rate.... its a very slow recovery, but most people recover completely within 2 months to a year, depending on the person. It should also be noted that Guillan Barre' develops after other viral infections as well, not just from vaccines... so people who were going to get Guillan Barre' from the vaccine probably had a good chance of getting it from a serious infection as well. I imagine that you probably have similar odds of actually developing serious complications from the flu, as you do of developing Guillan Barre' from the vaccine (this is completely unsubstantiated, for the record, but just my hunch...I am no doctor). One thing to remember is that while you may be healthy, young, and able to fight off the seasonal or swine flu, the sick, very young and very old are not. So while you may get it, be sick for a few days, and feel better, you may also give it to someone else who can't fight it off.... Which is why I assume they go on large vaccination campaigns with the flu. I am not saying get it, or don't get it. It's your body and you have every right to do with it what you will, and nobody has a right to tell you that you have to inject yourself with something (I think the mandate in NY is unfair). After a lot of thought and consultation I have decided I will probably get the seasonal flu vaccine for the first time, and if it is available to me, the H1N1, but that is my decision. I guess I would just like people to really do their research by asking their personal medical professionals what they recommend, and going from there. I know that I have been incredibly alarmed by all the news reports on both sides, and that's why I had to turn off the TV, stop reading the articles in the paper, and actually ask my physicians (more than 1, I might add!).Whatever decision you make, only you can make it, and you just have to hope it'll be the right one.
 
Megan,I totally agree that the decision is difficult and personal. There are pros and cons and no one has a crystal ball to know for sure which is the best way to go. Doctors speak from their knowledge and experience both of which vary. In the end, you will feel best if like you said you investigated it and made an informated decision that was truly yours.I am a school teacher and am exposed to lots of sick children every day. I am still not getting the shot because I have lots of evidence that my neuro problems are related to an overactive immune system and I am more concerned that the shot will trigger it in a negative way. Of course, I can still be exposed to the virus through people/children and have the same problem occur. Psychologically for me, I could deal with it better if the problem happened inadvertantly through casual exposure than if I had a shot and suddenly got worse. But like you said, even if the worst happens and you get a GBS type reaction, there is treatment and most recover. And we would all probably be right on the treatment faster than any patient without our experience ever would.Krackersones
 
P.s. I just want to add that the likelihood of young and healthy individuals suffering severe enough complications, from either the flu or the vaccine, to warrant a hospital stay, or for any of those complications to be fatal, are incredibly low. You probably have a better chance of getting hit by a bus walking to work.
 
I have gotten the flu shot for the past 20 years and just got mine this past Monday. I do not wish to get the flu and haven't had it since 1987.
 
I'm still undecided but my decision will not be based on the slight possibility of getting GBS. I'm more concerned about my apparent hypersensitivity, such as tendency to have various allergies (related to autoimmune processes). Through the years, I developed mild allergies due to a variety and completely unrelated pathogens, i.e. iodine, pollen, NSAIDs. I started getting hives following exercise, or being exposed to hot/cold temperatures. Luckily, the reactions were always mild from the medical point of view, but my swollen face and tight throat caused me enough panic at times to bring me to the ER. Most recently, I took a muscle relaxant with aspirin in it, and voila - in the middle of the night I awoke to not being able to swallow and having a facial edema. I can't rule out at this point that my neurological symptoms are not related to an overactive immune system. If there is a relationship, the last thing I need to trigger the immune system further.Like Krackersones, I'm also exposed to children through my work - sadly, many of these kids are often ill because they are chronically neglected. However, the exposure to kids has never seemed to effect the incidence of me getting the flu, even though I've never had the seasonal flu shot. If anything, I think the increased exposure just helped develop some natural resistance,and I only had the flue twice in my life. So far, the overwhelming majority of H1N1 cases seem to be mild. So far, there are no signs that the virus mutated into a more dangerous form where it is capable of causing cytokene stroms in healthy, young (under 60) individuals. I keep monitoring the situation for now and weigh the risks and benefits depending on how the flu season develops. For me the best scenario would be to contract a mild form of H1N1 and get naturally immunized - this could keep you safe for a long, long time.
 
There is also a chronic form of GBS called Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP) It often presents with symptoms that include tingling or numbness (beginning in the toes and fingers), weakness of the arms and legs, loss of deep tendon reflexes (areflexia), fatigue, and abnormal sensations. CIDP is closely related to Guillain-Barre syndrome and it is considered the chronic counterpart of that acute disease. Patients usually present with a history of weakness, numbness, tingling, pain and difficulty in walking. They may additionally present with fainting spells while standing up or burning pain in extremities. Some patients may have sudden onset of back pain or neck pain radiating down the extremities, usually diagnosed as radicular pain. These symptoms are usually progressive and may be intermittent.On examination the patients may have weakness, and loss of deep tendon reflexes (rarely increased or normal). There may be atrophy (shrinkage) of muscles, fasciculations [/b](twitching) and loss of sensation. Patients may have Multi-Focal Motor neuropathy, as they have no sensory loss.The patient may present with a single cranial nerve or peripheral nerve dysfunction.Autonomic system dysfunction can occur; in such a case, the patient would complain of orthostatic dizziness, problems with bowel and bladder functions, and cardiac problems.Most experts consider the necessary duration of symptoms to be greater than 8 weeks for the diagnosis of CIDP to be made.Electrodiagnostics - electromyography (EMG) and nerve conduction study (NCS). I have wondered about for me as I have most all of that along with the twitches and My stuff came on pretty fast and tingling in toes and fingers was early on too.. George
 
Georgef,I have done a lot of research on CIDP and asked my neuro about this diagnosis for me as well. From what I gathered, and what your research shows as well, is that this is something that has many different presentations and is a clinical diagnosis.My neuro does not want to say I have this at least in its typical form but he does think my symptoms are related in that they are likely caused by an immune-response and would likely benefit from the same treatment were my symptoms to progress. Right now they are stable and do not cause weakness and the suffering aspect is controlled with Klonopin. I have seen several papers written by experts in this condition that start out saying it is underdiagnosed and is extremely heterogenious in presentation. These doctors see this as a real problem because sometimes the criteria are too rigid and people who could benefit from treatment do not get it because the insurance company says they don't fit the diagnosis. Some people get the diagnosis not because they fit the criteria but because their symptoms progress and get serious and the treatment works, so by virtue of their response to treatment they get the diagnosis.Krackersones
 
George,If you have had a full work up by a neurologist, clinical, Emg/nerve conduction, and blood work, and have been completely honest with your doctor about your symptome, AND your doctor has told you that you do not have this, then you likely do not have this. If you feel like you still think something else is going on then please either follow up again with your doctor, or find one you are satisfied with, but I find it can be counter productive to try and play connect the dots (and please I don't mean this to be condescending or anything, I have done this so many times, and in the end it gets me no where). Megan
 
Why not just get an Rx of Tamiflu and keep it around the house? With knowledge of my nerve and muscle weirdness, my GP thought this may be the best alternative for me. 43RichyThe43rd - if the nurse had gotten the flu, this also could have caused GB. Who knows? All that we can do is keep as healthy as possible, both mentally and physically, so we have a strong immune system and are not susceptible to whatever is going around (see below). Jro - How can you say that you're a teacher and you don't have any kids (the L-carnitine post)? You have more than most.....you just don't take them home with you. When I was teaching I sometimes felt like a I had this huge extended family.....Hey, we're always going to wonder what brought on our current state of peripheral neuropathy - but eventually you will not care so much about it. As with many physical problems in life (whether near-sightedness, old age, or puberty) you can learn to cope, focus on adapting or healing, any of which is better than stressing about what-ifs and how-comes. I just read an article about how we need to all change our attitudes to fix the health care systems by beginning to stop believing that medicine has an answer to everything, and also that doctors should stop placating patients this type of patient with unnecessary tests, treatments, and drugs.Darn! I couldn't find the article - however, here is a good blog about the discovery of a virus that is linked to Chronic fatigue Syndrome. What is interesting is that a test for it is expected out soon so those bsf'ers out there with fatigue may be interested:Happy weekend to all.
 
43RichyThe43rd I'm so glad you brought this topic up. As with any vaccine there are risks associated with it. For most people evidence suggests that the risks of serious complications is very very low. My mum died from ALS 5 months ago and I suspect that she developed ALS soon after she had her one and only flu jab. A good friend of my mums tried to discourage her but mum went ahead with it. the other thing was that my mum had a bout of shingles, which obviously is nerve related and no sooner had she recovered from it then she had the flu vaccine and then after that ALS. The medical profession is still at a loss to work out the cause of ALS. Personally I think that the flu jab coupled with shingles may have caused my mums ALS. Maybe my mums immunity was very low due to the shingles. Who knows? I know I will never have the flu vaccine regardless of the risk of swine flu or whatever type of flu there is around. Most people recover from the flu and it is a very small % that don't. maybe there is some sort of genetic make up in my body that makes my risk of complications with the flu vaccine higher than the general population. At the end of the day we have the right to be well informed about the risks associated in any vaccine as well as the benefits. To me the flu vaccine just isn't worth getting. The other thing is that I live in Australia and we don't have harsh winters so the likelyhood of getting the flu is a lot less than many of you that have true winters.
 
Mariaj,I am sorry to hear about your mother. I hope she was able to get good care for her condition and that you had some great quality time with her before her passing. I can also totally relate to wanting to understand cause and effect relationships when it comes to health. Not knowing makes you feel helpless in stopping or preventing future harm. There are so many things you can look at that occurred before the onset of something bad and think maybe that was the cause but without proper scientific studies it is just speculation. Many people here remember viruses and anxiety events as preceding their symptoms but this is still not hard evidence without a study. The problem is even more complicated when the preceding factors are somewhat common like getting flu shots, shingles, other viruses, and anxiety. This does not mean our hunches may not have validity and we all have to trust and act on our own instincts when there are not studies to guide us.Krackersones
 
Maria,I'm very sorry about your loss. :( I was 13 when my mom died of a rare type of cancer and I understand about all the feelings that come with trying to make sense of this and trying to get through this difficult process. There was a period in my life when I focused a lot on what could cause terminal illness, and made efforts to avoid certain things. As the years went by, I simply was unable to store further information, as the potential culprits in our environment (and in our own bodies) are sadly, plentiful. By now I came to the conclusion that serious illness is a complicated process and there are many factors and combination of these facors that ultimately influence the outcome. My efforts are now focused on a reasonable lifestyle in hopes of having a body/mind that may be able to correct environmental effects. It is all but impossible to hide from the various toxins out there. Having said that, we all have to make decisions based on what we believe is best for us based on our experiences, knowledge and beliefs. I certainly respect your decision and I hope you will enjoy your days in good health. Take care, Kat
 
you can still get a flu even after a flu shot so flu shots don't always work. i just got over the flu. i didn't get a shot but my immune system is still good enough to fight it off naturally. that's why we have it. unless you have a compromised immune system i dont think a flu shot is necessary.cheerleader gets dystonia after flu shot
 
I have just about decided not to get a h1n1 shot for myself as I am in the age group that seems to already have some immunity (over 55). However, I have two teenage daughters. In the past couple of weeks a 26 year old healthy new mother in BC and a 13 year old healthy boy in Ontario have died from h1n1 infections. I really feel that I should have my daughters vaccinated, as I could not forgive myself if something happened to them after I refused the vaccine for them. I think the risks of the vaccine are minimal as they have had other vaccinations with no ill effects. Sandra D
 
Just on the news. There will be no h1n1 vaccine available in BC until December unless you are in a high risk group. This government is sooo inept...
 

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