I finally registered with another GP on Monday after years of “wishy washy” diagnosis and a"keep taking the tablets" attitude leading to the faulty and broken body which I have at present! Sorry everyone if this sounds a bit … pathetic… but I’m not in the best of minds, I have an appointment with the Dr in a couple of days to make sure he has all my records from the other practice and to let him see me and just what state I’m in. I’m hoping he’s a bit more pro-active and will refer me for some Neurophysiotherapy, the Dietician, Chiropodist and possibly a councillor as I am terribly depressed.
The nurse there offered me the flue jab and as i’ve never had any problems from it, said yes. This time tho’ my arm is hurting like crazy and I’m a bit panicky as last night it seemed that all my core muscles didn’t want to work properly and my legs wouldn’t hold me up. I ended up crawling to and from the loo and had to give tea and supper a miss, didn’t even have my mugs of tea cos I couldn’t stand that long to make it. I’m hoping things will get back to normal today.
Has anyone else had any similar issues following their flu jab?
When I first had it done I felt a washed out for a few days afterwards and felt like my MS symptoms had flared up, it did panic me at the time, thinking I shouldn’t of had it done, I can recall ringing the MS clinic in a bit of a panic but they said it will pass in a few days and it did.
Dont forget, our immune system is a bit hyper, so any sort of influence on that will kick your immune system into overdrive, after all you have, in a round about way, introduced the flu virus into your body, so your immune system now needs to tackle it and then settle down.
I get it done every year now, sometimes I feel as if nothings been done and other times a bit low/fatigued/stiff, but only for a few days.
Thanks for replying jactac! I’m slightly more ‘upright’ today and think that my recovery is more due to the fact that I’ve been able to have a strong mug of tea! (Cures anything)!!! ;D
I must say that I wish I could look at things in a cool, calm and collected way when things go wrong. instead of immediately panicking. I could do with some counselling, what do you think?
I was dx 2012 after MRI with MS. It speedily progressed to SPMS. Gone are my Nursing days. (Hobbies) painting,cycling, driving,skiing, et al… I use scooters/wheelchairs as my transportation now.
re: FLU JAB. I was offered it via my local NHS surgery but had heard/read nasty reports! , so declined for the first few years. Then I decided to have it last year as an experiment really. luckily only had minimal side affects extra fatigue & stiffness. Apparently you are given a dose of flu ?. Really not sure this year or subsequent years. Have asked my OH whether I should.
Previously I myself avoided having the Flu jab as I’d heard all sorts of stories, some not good but a couple of years ago I thought what the hell and had it done and last year I also had the Pneumonia jab as well.
I can’t recall any major problems just felt like I’d got a bit of Flu (which obviously I’d been given a small dose of in the jab itself) and I maybe felt a bit off for a couple days then back to “normal” MS self.
I think it really is down to each individuals own personal choice - I have got my appointment booked for next week to have it done.
Sorry you’ve been having a rough time with your old GP and his attitude to what is a very complex disease.
I hope your appointment with your new GP goes well and that he/she is pro-active and starts referring you as you sound like you need further input.
Also, sorry to hear you’ve had a rough time of it since having your Flu jab but glad that you’re now getting through it. I think everybody reacts differently to it but I think it also depends on the strain of the Flu Jab that year, or at that time - please see my comment on Dizzys post as to my experience/thoughts.
This year had flu jab in one arm and pneumonia in the other. Arms slightly achy but that was all. Previous years (when I paid to have flu jab) I got red swollen lumps. So either due to strain of vaccine or the persons injection technique I think. Either way my sister died from complications of the flu virus, so after that, even prior to ms diagnosis I used to make sure I got the flu jab.
Jokes aside I think it all depends on the individual whether it works or not.
A few months ago my company actually offered to get a counsellor in for me to just have a “chat”, I wasnt showing signs that I needed to chat with a counsellor, or indeed asked for one, it just happened that another employee was going through a bit of a bad patch and begin have counsellor sessions and remarkably the counsellor actually had MS, so the personnel dept thought I might like to sit down and just chat with someone who might be going through same feelings/emotions as I do.
If I’m totally honest, I got absolutely nothing from it all !
As much as she was a lovely person, she couldnt really offer anymore advice than I was already getting from my MS clinic, she couldnt offer advice on how to deal with my MS because my symptoms were entirely different to her’s.
I just think each individual has to open up to the fact that they have this shitty disability, talk about it to family & friends, even make jokes about if it helps (I do ).
Sometimes just coming on here and venting is worth its weight in gold.
Like I say its down to each individual how they can accept, open up and deal with what has been dealt.
Dont get me wrong, I get really pssed off with my MS, really pssed off, but I also push myself to try and be “normal” again.
The MS finally wins every time when I physically push too hard, but at least I know in my head that I didnt give in straight away, so in a sense thats my own version of self-counselling.
If any of you ever had flu, (and I mean proper, diagnosed flu, not a bad cold) there is no doubt in my mind you wouldn’t risk having it again. Not as well as ms. Flu jab for me, every year.
Most councillors are actually very good listeners.
They don’t make suggestions, but they do ask questions that help the person being councilled to understand their own situation.
This may or may not help - and if you get a mediocre one, you may not even get what you have paid for.
I’ve just booked mine, I usually have it as soon as I remember and it’s never caused me any problems.
The last flu I had was swine flu, I was working in London and this was pre MS diagnosis. I went down with it the same day the emergency phone line went live, so after a morning of taking a mix of paracetamol, ibuprofen, then codeine I gave up, went home and called the line - so my hubby collected that prescription on the same day…and that’s all I can remember as the next 4 days were lost!
Every year I’ve had it so far I’ve gotten thru with just a few sniffly days, so it’s worth it as my husband has brought home some rotten colds and bugs and I’ve been relatively unscathed.
Sorry you’ve felt bad after this one, it might have been something else but hopefully you’ll notice some benefits as winter approaches
I’m going for my flu jab on Thursday. So far they’ve had no effect on me and we’re very lucky - the GP surgery gives us one minute appointments and we wait outside nurse’s room so very little queueing.
I’m not at all sure about the benefits of having a counsellor with the same problems as one has oneself. The way I see it, that’s what my friends - particularly my friends on here - are so helpful with, and I am very grateful for all the kindness and affirmation and general feeling of not being alone that I find on here - it’s immensely valuable, but it’s kind companionship, not counselling. I’m looking for something very different from a counsellor, and professional detachment is part of that. That’s not to say a counsellor with MS couldn’t do a good job - that would be a daft thing to say - just that having too much in common could muddy the therapeutic waters, or so it seems to me.
Anyway, nice ‘chats’ are not what your counsellor is for, that’s for sure, whatever cock-eyed notion your employer may have on the matter. It’s nice of them to try to be helpful, though.
I can well understand that you might have decided that counselling is not for you. In my personal experience it can be really helpful, but the timing has to be right and - most importantly - the counsellor has to be the right one.
I am totally against having Flu Jab…have a look at John bergman you are damaging your immune system more and worse…im against all jabs…do your research…
I can’t remembee why, but I didn’t have the flu jab two years ago. And ended up with flu. Which rapidly developed into sinusitis, tracheitis, a severe chest infection and pleurisy. I was very poorly for about twelve weeks. Never again.