Flu Shot? or not?

No way would I volunteer for a flu shot. I've had exactly 2, and I was flat on my back for several weeks after each one. Even when I get a bad cold, I'm only immobilized for a day or two. Those flu shots were a wipeout.

Adequate vitamin D will rev up your immune system far better than a virus specific treatment like the flu shot. My doctor put me on 50,000 IU per day for several months, and now I'm down to 50,000 IU once a week. He said it didn't make any sense to do a blood test at the start, since all it would show is how deficient I was. Contrast this to the usual upper limit of 400 IU. I get blood tests for the vitamin D level, and particularly for the blood calcium level. My only complaint is that when I cut back from 50,000 IU per day to the same amount per week, my allergies came back. Long term safety of these high levels concerns me, so I've decided to limit my usage while the science develops. But it looks like 50,000 IU per day would give me the best health.

Scientists are currently arguing about how much cancer could be prevented with adequate D. It seems clear that 1000 IU per day cuts most cancers by 50%. A number like 4000 IU per day seems like the best general recommendation. I don't know how far they're going to take therapeutic levels, but my 50,000 IU per day is only the start.

Please note that I'm talking about vitamin D3 here, NOT D2. And not cod liver oil. Cod liver oil has too much vitamin A in it to be a safe source of high dose D.

A good place to start researching vitamin D is at http://www.vitamindcouncil.com


Another immune booster is EpiCor. This is a yeast-derived supplement that has been used for decades as an animal feed supplement. Turned out that humans who handled the stuff daily were not using their normal expected level of medical visits. They just didn't get sick anywhere near as often as people working at the same company who didn't handle the stuff. The animal feed product is Diamond V XPC, while the human product is EpiCor. There's a good introduction to EpiCor at http://www.naturodoc.com/library/cancer/epicor.htm

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Oct 25 2007, 12:15 PM) [snapback]530312[/snapback]</div>

Nice bed side manner. :blink: j.k.

You bring up good points and analogies that make me feel as if I may be a tad paranoid and over reactionary. I'll have to being my introspection.

But what of the available statistics that reflect that death from prescription medicines is now among the top five causes of death in this country? I've heard different statistics from different sources, but all have noted that this cause of death is among the top five in this country.

 

i don't see anything about rx drugs in the cdc stats, ssimon.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm

a lot of rx drug deaths are due to abuse/misuse. narcotics and such that are available on the street, dangerous combinations of rx and other substances, things that were not disclosed to the prescribing doctor, can all add to that total. not to mention failing to follow the label directions.

 

I got my flu shot at a Target store about 2 weeks ago. Although I'll be eligible for Medicare on December 1, the pharmacist suggested that I shouldn't wait until then to be immunized. My insurance would pay for the shot if I went to my regular MD (and paid the co-pay for the visit), so I opted to just get the shot when I saw the poster.

I used to work for a subsidiary of Blue Cross of Wisconsin, and one of our job perks was a free flu shot every year - but there was no pressure to get the shots.

I have no interest in getting the flu, so I'll get the shot every time. And either the needles are really sharp or the people that gave me the shot the last few times have been really good - pain at all at the time of injection. I will admit that I did get a sore arm a couple days later once or twice, but not this year.

 

Don't know if the CDC would include this cause of death as the fatality isn't caused by a disease.

But it just occurred to me, it would probably be wise to look at the percentage of deaths caused by prescription meds to that of the percentage of lives they save. Maybe the causes of death from the other top five health problems would have risen to a much greater degree had prescription drugs not have been dispensed at all.

And yeah, this scary sounding statistic is all over the place.

 

Accidents (unintentional injuries): 112,012

#5 on the list.

also included are suicide, which is debatable in terms of "disease" and homicide, which is distinctly not a disease. i wouldn't rule the cdc's numbers out so easily.

i suspect drug-related deaths are included in the accidental death category.

 

Last time I was talked into a flu shot I got the flu. Was sick as a dog. And pissed.

I haven't gotten a shot since and haven't gotten the flu.

I know that doesn't mean I won't get the flu. But I think I'm going to pass on the shots until I'm a little farther into the age zone.

 

Okay I'll bite.

For starters, I wish I was healthy enough to say I avoid all prescriptions as a rule. Before I started taking a daily Rx for migraines, I experienced headaches every single day. So I would have been home in bed every day for the past 20 years (or probably in a homeless shelter, since I wouldn't have been able to work) were it not for that drug.

Then there's the asthma that runs in my family. Growing up I watched my grandmother suffer from asthma. She rarely went out because of the problems she had breathing, and eventually she developed emphysema and had to be on oxygen. Fast forward a couply decades to when my father was diagnosed -- by then the medical community had a better understanding of what causes asthma symptoms and how to prevent them, so he has been able to remain active for 20 years thanks to advances in prescription medications. I've been on those same meds since 2001 and they are the reason I'm able to stay active and exercise regularly.

Unfortunately the meds are not a cure, so I am more prone to upper respiratory infections than the average person, and when I do get sick it tends to last longer. Similarly the flu is potentially a greater problem for me, so I always get a flu shot every year.

Yeah I wash my hands often and stuff like that, but here in the cube farm there's no way to avoid the airborn germs. I'll take every defense I can get.

 

I was one who never got the flu shot or even a pneumonia shot until 6 yrs ago.

We were out at a social gathering while fulltime rving and some woman had this nasty cough and sneeze going , I wanted to leave but the wife said lets stay. Well the very next day I became sicker than Evan even described, I even quit smoking then, it lasted about a month, finally saw a doctor while we were on the road, he gave a shot of penicillian, a whole gram . still did not kick it completly , then chronic bronchitus came about. The flu will bring out all the underlying problems you have just waiting around.

Then I thought I was healthy as a horse, who would have thunk it.

Now Flu shot every year and (pneumonia shot every 4-or 5 yrs , I think thats what they told me, only had 1 so far) maybe Evan can enlighten the pneumonia shot. such as how often etc...
and especially now being diabetic a pneumonia shot is a good idea.

So stay well everyone, ( stay home)

 

I used to live with a couple of other guys. One of them and I wouldn't get a flu shot. The other one would. Guess which one of us got the flu every year?

Funny how every year The Experts say "OH NOS! WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A PANDEMIC THIS YEAR! GET A FLU SHOT OR DIE!!!!11!!11!!!eleven!!!!"

Then last year when there wasn't enough vaccine to go around, that was the one year The Experts said, "Well, this year you don't NEED a flu shot."

So, no flu shot for me, KTHXBYE.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Oct 25 2007, 10:15 AM) [snapback]530312[/snapback]</div>

It seems to be human nature (but I suspect it's only a religious upbringing which suppresses the ability to think rationally) but anecdotes seem to play a greater part in many people's decision-making than sound data.

The description of a serious allergic reaction (even if you have no allergies) carries a greater emotional punch than sound scientific data which shows that you are more likely to suffer miserably or die from the disease than from the vaccination.

It's like the folks who cancel airline trips in favor of car trips when there's a hijacking scare: Even at their height, you were more likely to die if you took a trip in a car than if you took one in an airline. But the car is familiar, and the airplane is spooky. You feel that you or your family member driving are/is in control in a car, whereas you feel that you are out of control in a plane. So many people choose the more dangerous activity, not out of a desire for the adrenalin rush, but rather out of unsound thinking.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Oct 25 2007, 10:30 AM) [snapback]530324[/snapback]</div>

I was once terrified of needles. Then I became dependent on levothyroxin (thyroid replacement hormone, for those who don't know) and had to get a blood test every year. There was no way out of it. And then (horror of horrors!!!) someone I really could not say no to asked me to donate blood.

I'm still scared of needles. I turn my head the other way and clamp my eyes shut. But it's not as bad as it was. And the shots and blood tests use a much smaller needle than they once did.

Even a conditioned fear can be un-conditioned. You gotta face your fears and defeat them, or they'll own you for the rest of your life.

Sorta like jumping off the deck of the boat, five feet into the water. Talk about pure, white-knuckled terror! But now it only takes me 5 minutes to get up the courage, instead of half an hour.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PaPrius @ Oct 25 2007, 10:37 AM) [snapback]530332[/snapback]</div>

Consider the legal status of mercury.

In your mouth, mercury amalgam fillings are entirely safe.

In vaccines mercury is entirely safe.

Everywhere else mercury is dangerous.

Oh, and when your dentist removes those perfectly safe fillings, they become hazardous waste.

Aren't you glad the human body can tolerate mercury in the mouth and as vaccines? If it couldn't, several medical practices would have to change.

 

I have not had a flu shot, although I probably would if my MD recommended it. He has not yet done so.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Stev0 @ Oct 25 2007, 04:10 PM) [snapback]530441[/snapback]</div>

The year that there wasn't enough vaccine to go around, that was the year I got the flue The worst part was that my wife and I had to be effectivly isolated from each other for fear she might get it despite the vaccine.

Before my wife got her insulin pump, it was 4-6 shots a day, now it's one every 3 days when she changes the infusion set. Yup, you can get over the fear of needles!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RobH @ Oct 25 2007, 12:47 PM) [snapback]530340[/snapback]</div>

where do you get your vit d3 and what brand? i've been looking for d3 not in cod liver form but can't seem to find it. thx

by the way, i never get flu shots because i don't need it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Oct 25 2007, 02:04 PM) [snapback]530384[/snapback]</div>

The media peddles a product of fear. Take crime for an example. Nationally crime has seen a steady decline since peaking in the late 80's / early 90's. However, coverage of crime has gone up significantly. I never watch the local news because it is just a list of who was shot, robbed, or kidnapped.

However, if the media isn't trying to scare us with crime, it's disease, terrorism, immigrants, etc. There is always disaster just around the corner. Heck, we even had the summer of shark attacks a few years ago. The strange thing is that the frequency of shark attacks were lower than average that year, but the national media decided that sharks were scary and would sell adds.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(saechaka @ Oct 25 2007, 07:25 PM) [snapback]530543[/snapback]</div>

The brand of D3 that I've used is Bio-Tech-Pharm. Do a Google search for "vitamin d3 50000 price". They have capsules available at 1000, 5000 and 50000 IU potencies. There are several manufacturers who package 5000 IU D3. Life Extension (www.lef.org) sells 5000 IU D3, as well as blood testing for D level.