46 replies to this topic

[youngrunner]

Hi all, know its always a topical issue so thought i'd start it off. Had my flu vaccination yesterday, skipped my run last night as a prevention. On my 16km run today was a tad slower than normal for the same sort of HR effort and felt a little sluggish but just put it down to the body doing its thing.

Jimmy

[runningaway]

We get them at work and last year I didn't get it due to being too close to the Run4Kids- this year I will definitely have it.  Hope you perk up quickly Jimmy.

[Bellthorpe]

I've never had one. Can't see the need, except for the very elderly.

My wife has one each year, and as so many people, usually gets the flu almost immediately.

[kazz]

Thought about getting one a few years back and was advised against it (I think on this forum).

My dad and my inlaws get them every year and always get sick for a week or 2 afterwards. That's enough to turn me off it!!

kazz.

[tank girl]

I took one day off after fluvac last year and was fine. I wanted it to help ward of lurgies on an international holiday

[Bellthorpe]

Given that the fluc vaccine delivered in Australia is specifically formulated for expected bugs in this country in this season, I don't see that it would help a traveller much.

[lavenderlilly]

I had my first one last year and didn't get sick at all.
I didn't train the day I got it - was not sick, but just in case, started running the day after.
I will definitely have it this year again. Hope it works as good as last year!

[Bellthorpe]

How do you know it worked last year?

[lavenderlilly]

I always got the flu 2 - 3x a year, last year I didn't get even a cold.
And I just made an app for tomorrow!

Don't worry youngrunner, you'll be fine. Your body was just being a bit bussy this morning on your 16km run.

[Bellthorpe]

But the flu vaccine doesn't do anything to prevent colds ... so if you didn't get a cold last year, it has nothing to do with the vaccine.

I didn't get the flu last year ... and I didn't take any vaccine. Not that this has any statistical significance, of course.

My wife did take the vaccine, and she did get the flu.

[undercover brother]

Bellthorpe, on Mar 10 2008, 08:54 AM, said:

My wife did take the vaccine, and she did get the flu.

how do you know it was the flu ?swab.
and had she received the vaccine early enough?

[youngrunner]

Update: well it's 30+ degrees outside and I just put in my fastest run in this training block. I'd say the flu vax has had no detriemental impact - it's to be expected in the first day or two as your body builds up its immune otherwise it means it hasn't worked.

And given what I;ve been hearing from some of the american runners on their forums the so called Brisbane strain of flu is quite nasty - my vax included both strains of this one so hopefully I can miss out. Had flu vax every year for last 6 years as part of job and will continue to do so.

Jimmy

PS is there any better feeling (apart from on the run itself) than coming home from a run and looking at the data and seeing you;ve gone 15 secs per km faster than your best. Love it

[Bellthorpe]

undercover brother, on Mar 10 2008, 09:07 AM, said:

how do you know it was the flu ?swab.

I can't speak to the range of diagnostic tools available to her physician, but thus far he's proved to be a decent and honourable chap. After all, his cigar collection rivals my own! So I tend to believe him.

Quote

and had she received the vaccine early enough?

I think so. It was well before lunch.

[brizza]

hey young runner,what time did you do for the sixteen ks?

[youngrunner]

brizza, on Mar 11 2008, 11:55 AM, said:

hey young runner,what time did you do for the sixteen ks?

Was a reasonable run given it was a recovery week. 15.85km in 1:41:24 with average HR of 149.

In comparison Monday I did 7.2k in 41:37 (5:46p/km) @ 150HR and then today 12.4km in 1:07:41 (5:28p/km) @ 149HR.

Hope this is some help

Jimmy

MTA: As you may guess I'm in the middle of a Low HR aerobic basebuilding period.

Edited by youngrunner, 11 March 2008 - 04:49 PM.

[ican]

This thread has got me worried.  I was planning to offer my body for a fluvax study thinking there's no harm and stumbled across this thread.  I am planning to do Run For The Kids in 2 weeks.  I don't get the flu generally, touch wood, but thought with my plans for this year....RFTK, GCM and Melb Mara I thought it might be an investment.  However, I may just get a placebo and whatever...

AAAAHHHHH

What should I do?

[mikel]

I agree with Bellthorpe, unless you are weak, feeble or elderly i would never get the flu vax!! It does nothing to prevent colds and only helps to prevent the top couple of likely influenza viruses. You would be much better off taking herbs such as Astragalus, Siberian Ginseng and Reishi Mushrooms to help build up your own immune system if you are prone to getting run down during winter but make sure you get good quality herbs!!
Mikel

[brizza]

i'm a big believer in just eating the best quality food i can get my hands on,i look for nutrients from a variety of sources and generally stay away from processed food as much as possible,i don't believe in vaccinations for a number of reasons,i'm not dogmatic and have no problems with other folk having them-briz

[Lilly Legs]

I've taken the option of a free shot offered by my employer for the last 5 years.

I have never felt any side effect, and never got the flu in that time either.  As far as I'm aware, no one else that gets the shots has any ill effects or has gone on to be affected by the flu either.  The only thing I have noticed is brief moments of schadenfreude when I see other people suffering from the flu.

[Bellthorpe]

Lilly Legs, on Mar 15 2008, 02:27 PM, said:

The only thing I have noticed is brief moments of schadenfreude when I see other people suffering from the flu.

You can get a shot to treat that also.

[tank girl]

Bellthorpe, on Mar 10 2008, 08:07 AM, said:

Given that the fluc vaccine delivered in Australia is specifically formulated for expected bugs in this country in this season, I don't see that it would help a traveller much.

Given that most of the people on my flight from Australia to America were travelling from Australia, and would have the Australian flu (if any), and that during this flight was the only time pre-race when I was sharing recycled air with the same people for 12 hours, and given that I didn't really give a damn if I got sick after the race, I thought it was actually a pretty big security.

[RunningWhiz]

Had my fluvax today and will be doing a 30k training run tomorrow. See how we go as I had a rest off training today but had a 16k hilly run yesterday in 2 hours.

[Ponytail]

I believe in childhood vaccinations; I would hate myself if any of my kids got a preventable disease because I didn't do the responsible thing.  We are also offered the free flu shot at work but, as someone who has a good immune system (especially since taking up running - don't even remember what a cold feels like anymore), I have never bothered.  I have a strong healthy body so will let my antibodies do their thing!

[Bellthorpe]

Maybe I should get a jab just because it's free?

Nah.

[undercover brother]

ponytail, on 13 April 2011 - 09:29 PM, said:

We are also offered the free flu shot at work but, as someone who has a good immune system (especially since taking up running - don't even remember what a cold feels like anymore), I have never bothered.  I have a strong healthy body so will let my antibodies do their thing!

i thought the same until i actually got it.
was pretty much bed bound for 2 days.
and couldn't run for 2 weeks.
jab me!

[WetWeek]

I had the jab ~two weeks ago and it's had no effect on my running.  I even ran the night of the jab with no apparent ill effect.

I wasn't a proponent of the jab until I got influenza two years in a row - the 2nd time I was in bed for a full two weeks!  
Never again, if I can help it.

[Boka]

Joining in with the anecdotes for and against...

By sheer coincidence, the time of my training run on the morning after the flu shot was the same as when I ran the same route two weeks earlier. But my average heart rate was higher:

16/3: 18.1km in 1:20:40 with average HR of 145
28/3: Flu shot!
29/3: 18.1km in 1:20:40 with average HR of 153

I did feel somewhat run down for a few days, but perfectly normal a week later. That's the worst reaction I've had to the flu shot, having it four times previously.

Anyhow, I give the flu vaccination the thumbs up!

Edited by Boka, 13 April 2011 - 10:23 PM.

[southy]

WE get the flu shot every year at work,  'line up & pull up your sleeve folks'.
Only side effect I've ever had is a sore arm, haven't had the flu since.
I did get the flu last about 15 years ago, 2 small children to look after and a husband with the 'man flu'. So needless to say I got very crook. I felt like dying and swore I never wanted to get that again. I ended up an antibiotics for weeks. Sore arm is a small price to pay for protection from that monster (imo).
I now haven't even had a cold in about 7 years now, get the flu jab every year at work, and don't even skip my run that day.

[bones]

Over the years, I've had a few bouts of flu and been terribly sick. My husband got flu too in 2006 and we decided enough was enough and since then have had the jab every year. I've not had flu since then and rarely have a cold. As an asthmatic, getting flu puts me out of action for a month or more, so I'm not willing to take the risk. As my husband has had Lyme disease twice, his immune system was also somewhat compromised (though you'd never know it, given his 34 min 10km running!)
It's absolutely worth it. The only side effects I've had so far are a sore arm for a few day. I'd as soon disregard the flu vaccine as I would MMR.

[RunningWhiz]

Cost me only $23 from my local GP and I think thats a good investment in health. As per Bones post above, catching a flu in conjuntion with our asthma sets our training back at least a month. And we all cant afford such set back in training.
I had the flu early last month coming home from a 4 hour interstate flight while 5 passengers coughing around me. I had no chance at all...The flujab had no effect in my training today, I still ran 3:20 on a 31k long run which is my average.

Jaime

[Bellthorpe]

Am I reading from a number of you the belief that taking the flu shot prevents you from getting colds throughout the year?

Quote

We get the flu shot every year at work, 'line up & pull up your sleeve folks'.

Not that I take the flu shot, even though it's free, but I surely cannot think of a better way to guarantee that I would not take it.

[serena]

The common cold can be pretty awful but until I had the actual flu (as opposed to a really bad cold) a few years ago I had no idea what it was like to get that sick. There was an hour in that awful two weeks where I honestly thought I would be dead before by husband and kids got home from school/work. I usually have a flu shot these days because the flu scares me. As far as I know it doesn't prevent anything else other than the specific strains of influenza it's designed to combat, and those strains aren't always the only ones that come to town.

[bones]

There is no evidence that the flu shot covers anything other than flu. However, I have been prone to colds most of my life (I'm prone to all respiratory illnesses) and since having the flu shots both my husband and I have had very few colds. It could be a coincidence but I'm not going to dismiss it. As for the flu, we've both been so ill with the flu that I couldn't imagine getting out of bed again, so it does rather annoy me when people call a bad cold the flu

[Ponytail]

I had the flu once when I was a teenager and was in bed for a week with the muscle pain being the worst symptom. I hear you when you talk about people going about their daily business with a stuffy nose saying that they've got the flu.  It's like being out with someone and they say they have a migraine.  If you've got a migraine you are not capable of being anywhere except in bed and if you've got the flu you're not capable of being anywhere but in bed.  That said, I've only had it the one time in my life and I am lucky enough to never get sick.  I think if I'd had a more recent bout of the flu I'd probably get an annual shot, too.

[TheRuns]

I receive the fluvax each year. I cannot unequivocally state that it prevents me getting sick each year. I can state that if I get sick, I tend to recover very quickly. My illnesses are probably coryzal, as opposed to influenza.
I work in a hospital where the patients, visitors and staff spread disease. Think of an airplane full of sick people. This is how bad a hospital can be with everyone coughing and spluttering.
I get the fluvax not for myself, per se, but because if I was sick, I could not work. If I cannot work, patients suffer. If I tried to go to work, I may make immunocompromised and already sick patients unwell. Unfortunately, many hospital workers feel that they are indispensable and must work.
There is ample evidence to show that the fluvax works. It is a gamble in that the strains chosen are basd on the predicted pathogenic strains each season. I, for one, would rather the discomfort from the jab, than be bedridden for days.

[Bellthorpe]

Quote

Think of an airplane full of sick people

Indeed. Good analogy.


But why limit it to the USA?

[Ponytail]

I think in the argument of whether to get the vaccination or not to, it is purely individual.  I personally don't bother with it because it is not an issue in my life but if I worked in the health care industry or I had had recent bouts of the illness I'm sure I'd be there.  At my local GP's rooms as soon as it is flu season one of the doctors constantly wears a surgical mask in addition to having his regular flu shot.  He works in a high risk profession so I don't altogether blame him (even if I do think he's a bit over the top - maybe I would be, too if I was constantly in an environment surrounded by sick people).  Each to their own, I say!

[TheRuns]

Bellthorpe, on 14 April 2011 - 09:45 PM, said:

Indeed. Good analogy.


But why limit it to the USA?

Did you want me to say aeroplane? Sorry, 'tis true. Aeroplane, not airplane.

Ponytail, please inform your GP that the only way he could thoroughly prevent himself catching a virus with a mask is if that mask was impermeable. Given that a virus is the smallest pathogen known to medicine, a mask that allows bacterial transmission is going to do little. However, changining the mask every 8 hours or if it gets moist and avoiding touching it may help reduce the incidence to about 25% of normal.
My understanding is the mask is as much an aid to other people as it is to the wearer.

[Bellthorpe]

Quite. When I lived in Japan, those with a cold wore masks.

I would ask "how would that help you?"

The answer was "it's to avoid infecting others".

I had a cold once in Japan. Co-workers asked me what the doctor said. I said "huh?"

[Huff]

Bellthorpe, on 14 April 2011 - 10:27 PM, said:

I said "huh?"

You'll have to translate.  I don't speak Japanese.

[Bellthorpe]

It means ¿Qué?

[twosheds]

ponytail, on 14 April 2011 - 08:43 PM, said:

I had the flu once when I was a teenager and was in bed for a week with the muscle pain being the worst symptom. I hear you when you talk about people going about their daily business with a stuffy nose saying that they've got the flu.  It's like being out with someone and they say they have a migraine.  If you've got a migraine you are not capable of being anywhere except in bed and if you've got the flu you're not capable of being anywhere but in bed.  That said, I've only had it the one time in my life and I am lucky enough to never get sick.  I think if I'd had a more recent bout of the flu I'd probably get an annual shot, too.

I agree with you Ponytail. When i lived in Houston 20 years ago I had what was being touted as "Hong Kong Flu" I was literally too sick to even watch TV-couldn't even sit up for at least a week. A head cold can be nasty but it is nothing compared to real flu. Its like people who say they did a 10km marathon. Cold is 10km - flu in the marathon. I think once you have had a good dose like this you have strong immunity against the flu- at least until it morphs again. I haven't had anything since.
My husband was offered the flu shot through work for many years- every year he had it- every year he got sick. I didnt and never got anything.If I was vulnerable i would get it ( Ie elderly, poor immune system etc)but seems to be too hit and miss to me.
twosheds

[twosheds]

southy, on 14 April 2011 - 11:08 AM, said:

WE get the flu shot every year at work,  'line up & pull up your sleeve folks'.
Only side effect I've ever had is a sore arm, haven't had the flu since.
I did get the flu last about 15 years ago, 2 small children to look after and a husband with the 'man flu'. So needless to say I got very crook. I felt like dying and swore I never wanted to get that again. I ended up an antibiotics for weeks. Sore arm is a small price to pay for protection from that monster (imo).
I now haven't even had a cold in about 7 years now, get the flu jab every year at work, and don't even skip my run that day.

Hey Southy
Flu shot wont stop you getting a cold. I believe its running that does that. Since taking up running I have had 1 very mild cold in 10 years- after going 8 without any. I dont get flu shots.
twosheds

[julia]

Ironically, I was sick when I was meant to get my flushot at work last week...but I am lazy and don't know if I'll still bother to go get it.

Last year was the first time I had it and last year was the first time since I had glandular fever, that I did not get the flu. My boyfriend didn't have the shot, and did come home with the flu, and normally he has to stay at his parents house when he has the flu because I always catch it from him...but last year I didn't get it!

I felt a bit off the afternoon I had it done...but other than that I didn't find it affected running at all...

[southy]

I never said the flu shot would stop me getting a cold. But the flu shot does help prevent me getting the flu, one thing I can live without.
The flu is musch worse than any cold, and often leaves a person's body weak and very vulnerable to other viruses and bacterial infections for several weeks. I also am an asthmatic and suffer asthma, chest infections & sinus infections after the flu. But for many years now I have been healthy and not had any colds or infections. And no it is not just the running, as I have been a runner ever since about 1970.

I do believe that without the flu weakening my body that I am therefore healthier, stronger and more able to fight off other viruses that are around. And yes, I do believe that running helps make me healthier and stronger too as well as eating well, getting enough sleep and staying warm.

[Ding]

Had my first flu shot this year & apart from a sore arm for a few days, no lingering effects.

Why did I get it...?  If it knocks an otherwise debilatating version of the dreaded man-flu down to a more manageable & easily recoverable dose, then that's a good thing.  If I miss less training or I am able to get back to work quicker, then that's a good thing too.

If it doesn't make any difference, then I'm no worse off....

[Shankate]

To add to the collection of anecdotes:

Ive had the flu vaccine for the past 5 years, initially because i worked in public health and (basically) had to get it; and then in subsequent years because i felt confident that it not only had no adverse effects but also because i did not get the flu during this time.

I had this years yesterday afternoon and did a 5 hour ride this morning. I feel ordinary but i suspect its got less to do with the flu shot and more to do with the 5 hours in the saddle !

Touch wood i havent spoken too soon as i have a 30k run tomorrow