Vaccination Reaction

I just got my flu shot today, and I am noticing an adverse reaction similar to one I had once before. I feel some very odd aches (almost twitchiness or jitteriness combined with mild pain) with accompanying sensation of weakness (very mild), a sensation of mild difficulty breathing (although no actual difficulty upon acute observation) along with mild chest pain localized to the middle-right side of the chest, and overall malaise and "fogginess." I had a very similar reaction to my second Gardasil shot, but not to the third (the last vaccination I got prior to today). I have had flu shots before with no reaction, and if I am developing an immunization sensitivity, I find it odd that I did not have any adverse effects from my third Gardasil shot (although ostensibly my body would have been well prepared for that one).

Has anyone else experienced this sort of "random" vaccine reaction? Anyone with medical experience - should I have this checked out, and would you suggest this may be an indication of an immune response that will cause a similar reaction in the future? It seems almost like watered-down Guillain-Barre, and it has me wondering if this may be a common acute quasi-syndrome in vaccine recipients...

I haven't found much useful on the web because side effect lists generally only include injection site reactions, low grade fever, and then the really severe ones. I don't think I am having an allergic reaction (I've had one before, so I know what it's like), but it seems slightly more serious than what it should be.

I'm involved with the flu clinic (did over 30 people myself in a day). Most of the serious reactions will occur within 15 minutes (the major one being anaphylaxis). What you might be experiencing is your body's natural immune response to the killed virus, people often get flu like symptoms for a day or two post vaccine. Do you have any problems with egg protein? (they should have screened for this before injecting you and should have asked if you had any previous negative reactions in the past).

Guillain-Barre affects about 1-3 in a million, its a total role of the dice. with GB you'll get localized numbness, then gradual increasing paralysis, resulting in total body paralysis lasting up to a year which self resolves. As far as I know GB is an all or nothing kind of thing.

If it persists more than a day or two or worsens (especially if you get flushing of the face, or any signs of anaphylaxis) I'd get it looked at, you may be developing an allergy to one of the adjuvent proteins, though if that were the case its odd that the 3rd gardasil shot didn't trigger an immune response (assuming the 2nd one primed your immune system and it was in fact an allergy). But it depends on how they made this years vaccine.

I've heard of people getting vaccinated in Australia and having a bad reaction whereas they have no reaction when they come back to Canada and get another vaccine, in their case it was self resolving but they were sick for a few weeks, I don't have the specifics unfortunately.

Don't know if that helps at all.

That would be the mind control devices they implanted in you 8)

wizekrak said:

Guillain-Barre affects about 1-3 in a million, its a total role of the dice. with GB you'll get localized numbness, then gradual increasing paralysis, resulting in total body paralysis lasting up to a year which self resolves. As far as I know GB is an all or nothing kind of thing.

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I heard it was as high as 1 in 100,000 with the previous swine flu vaccine from the 70s. About 25 to 75 people are thought to have died from the reaction.

What the OP is experiencing seems like your standard aches and pains that most people get from the vaccine....some people dont get them, but its not what I would consider a serious reaction.

Somebody was recently hospitalized for the N1H1 nasal spray after going into Anaphyalactic shock within minutes.

Another girl is believed to have gotten Dystonia from the seasonal flu vaccine.

These reactions are very rare though....I wonder if they are more common in people with auto-immune disorders than they are in the general populace.

As far as I know the current swine flu vaccine is manufactured using the same protocol as the seasonal flu shot (at least in Canada). I'll be getting the swine flu vaccine just because of the work I do and the patients I'm in contact with. A lot of my colleagues are planning on refusing it though. I'd also assume that the manufacture of the swine flu vaccine has changed dramatically since the 70's.

bit_pattern said:

That would be the mind control devices they implanted in you

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Nanobots!

wizekrak said:

As far as I know the current swine flu vaccine is manufactured using the same protocol as the seasonal flu shot (at least in Canada). I'll be getting the swine flu vaccine just because of the work I do and the patients I'm in contact with. A lot of my colleagues are planning on refusing it though. I'd also assume that the manufacture of the swine flu vaccine has changed dramatically since the 70's.

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The manufacturing process isnt the issue. Its that some people have an immune response to the proteins in the virus itself which is NOT bioidentical to seasonal flu despite similar manufacturing methods.

Also, in some places they are using an added immune stimulant that has been linked to some problems. They use it to make the vaccines stretch since they can give you less and still make you immune by kicking your immune system into over drive....not currently being used in the US, but might be in 2010.

People should be having an immune response to the proteins in the virus, that's how you make antibodies to protect against the virus. True, the virus isn't bioidentical to the seasonal flue vaccine. The seasonal flu vaccine does contain H1N1 viral protein, but the swine flu responsible for the epidemic is H1N1 Subtype, which isn't included in the seasonal flu vaccine.

Yeah, you should have a natural immune response but kicking your immune system into hyperdrive isnt done for YOUR benefit, its done so they can give you a smaller amount of vaccine which saves them money. It works pretty well and most people dont have problems.....however IF you have an auto-immune response to the virus the immune stimulant could make the difference between a hospital visit for anaphylactic shock or death. Also, if you already have an auto-immune condition like I do (Crohns) you dont want to amp up your immune system. My immune system is already amped up and I take drugs to calm it down.

Its not currently being used in the US, and I am guessing that they will have Squalene free vaccines even when they do start to use them.