- I got a flu shot today, and almost immediately began experiencing a strong metallic taste in my mouth. Within twenty minutes, I began to feel woozy. The nurse who administered the shot said she’d never heard of the metallic taste side effect, but advised me to eat and drink something. I did, but both symptoms have continued throughout the day. Only after getting the shot (and starting to experience my weird symptoms) did I have a conversation with a coworker who told me what she knew about the suspected hazards of flu shots (with mercury looking more and more like the culprit for my metallic taste), and now I really wish I hadn’t gotten that damn shot.
- Work is pretty hectic right now, and looks as if it will continue to be hectic for the rest of the month. Can’t really talk about it, but hey! Great timing for NaSoWriMo, right?
- But Rummy is out and Webb is in, so Democrats appear to have the Senate, and we can all wish Donald a fond farewell. That’s at least a halfway decent consolation prize for the shock and frustration that was the landslide passage of Amendment 1 in Tennessee.
Update: Just adding a link, for my future reference, to the entry I went back and found from three years ago when I got a flu shot and also described my state as “woozy.” So… I’m thinking this’ll be my last flu shot.
Scatterlings
Might you have an allergy to eggs? I believe flu vaccines are grown in an egg based culture and can trigger reactions in those who are allergic to eggs.
I’m not aware of any egg allergy I’ve ever had. But I do know allergies can develop over time, so who knows? Thanks for the idea.
I haven’t had a flu shot since posted her note to Wombat a few years ago about why she doesn’t get them herself. It made sense to me at the time, and I also figured that since I’m young, reasonably healthy, and don’t have small children or contact with anyone in the healthcare industries, I probably don’t need one anyway — if I get the flu, it’s highly unlikely to kill me. And I have not actually gotten the flu since 1995.
Flu shots are for herd immunization. The more animals in the herd that are immunized, the healthier the herd is. Same goes in humans. Any human who doesn’t get a flu shot, in a large group that does get flu shots, is still a carrier and is a source of infection for the rest of the group.
The chances of the metallic taste being mercury are almost 0. Its much more likely to be zinc, which your body is now using in larger amounts because zinc is used to produce antibodies which is how the flu shot works.
And remember, the plural of anecdote is not data.
Yes, your first point is, I’m sure, exactly why employers tend to encourage flu shots, which is why they have been offering them at my places of employment for years.
And I realize that anecdotes are just anecdotes, but that doesn’t make them useless, either.