Jenny Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional when it comes to immunisations, just a Multiple Sclerosis patient! As such, everything I chat about in this blog post is my own experience and research regarding the topic, please ensure you speak to your own health care provider for further information. Thank you.
It’s that time of year again – colder days and, especially if you’re a parent or work with the public, the time that illnesses come out in full force.
I absolutely love autumn, The changing leaves, the crisper air, snuggly warm clothes and dark nights, but the illnesses that often come along with it are not fun!
As someone with Secondary Progressive MS, I now find that everyday illnesses make my symptoms much worse and tend to hang around for longer than they used to when I was feeling well. I’ve just had my first cold since having my HSCT treatment. Although I didn’t have the full-on flu, it did wipe me out for a few days, I guess because my new immune system is getting used to germs again.
My Experience of Flu
As someone who used to work for the NHS, I was offered a yearly flu vaccination as standard. I worked in a hospital and hospital workers are encouraged to protect themselves from flu in order to both reduce their own risks but also reduce the risk of infecting people within the hospital and people coming to see you as patients.
My personal experience of flu has been awful, there is no other way to describe it! Basically my worst Multiple Sclerosis symptoms are heightened – so rather than just a numb leg that doesn’t move, my whole body doesn’t move. I struggle to sit up, I struggle to walk, I find holding things difficult and my brain feels so completely fuzzy so that I can’t follow conversations easily. My waterworks go into shut down leading to urgency (and what with lack of mobility this sometimes leads to not very nice consequences!) I am very keen to avoid this as much as I can and I know that the year that I didn’t get my flu vaccination, I ended up having a really, really bad time of it.
The Big Question
So something that’s come up quite a lot in my thoughts is whether I should be having the flu vaccination again this year. I’m conscious that I have a new immune system, following my stem cell transplant so, in theory, I have not been exposed to it before. I have been advised to have all of my previous immunisations readministered – I’m meant to start next year, but I do plan on checking whether I have actually retained any immunity to diseases that I’ve already had vaccinations for. The flu vaccination is different though; they adapt the yearly vaccination according to the strains that have hit other countries, including Australia.
Now though is the time that my local GP surgery and Boots are offering the flu vaccination for those of us who qualify for it free on the NHS – is it something I should go for?
For me, it is a definite yes.
How Have I Made That Decision?
My worries have been in regards to whether the jab might trigger my MS’s immune response again – I have only just had an MRI that showed no new lesions, after all. I also worry that the vaccination itself might make me ill.
According to the MS Trust:
You may be concerned that having a vaccination may make your MS worse or trigger a relapse. Some kinds of vaccine may be more risky than others. Vaccines that are ‘live’ and consist of weakened versions of the disease (as the nasal spray does) may be more likely to trigger a relapse than vaccines which consist of dead or fragmented parts of the disease (as the vaccination does).
and
In exceptionally rare cases, having any vaccination can trigger complications. However, people with MS have no greater risk of complications than the general population. On the other hand, getting an infection strongly increases the risk of a relapse. People with MS are advised to protect themselves from infectious disease by having the vaccines that are recommended.
These articles and excepts that I have read have also helped me come to my decision:
Clinicians should recommend that patients with MS receive influenza vaccination annually.
Some think the vaccine actually gave them the flu. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) says you won’t catch the flu from a shot, but you might catch the flu even if you’ve been vaccinated.
The injected flu vaccine is offered free of charge on the NHS to anyone with a serious long-term health condition, including: chronic neurological conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), a learning disability or cerebral palsy, or a weakened immune system as the result of conditions such as HIV and AIDS, or medicines such as steroid tablets or chemotherapy
So, for me, it is a no-brainer. However, I will be making sure that I have the injection rather than the live nasal spray.
What About my Family?
My daughter, who is nine, is offered the nasal spray through school due to her age. However, last year, because I was immunocompromised because of the chemotherapy that I just had, she had an injection rather than the nasal spray that her friends had. I think this year I will request the injection again, to reduce the chances of her passing on any live flu.
In addition, my husband and my son (who is almost 12) will hopefully be allowed to have the injection, as they are in close proximity to me, someone who has a relatively new immune system. Carers are entitled to the flu vaccination to protect those they care for, but my son having one is something that I will have to discuss with the GP. In the meantime, I have booked my vaccination in for tomorrow.
A Personal Decision
Of course, not everybody may agree with me and instead will decide that the flu vaccination is not for them. I think that it is important that everybody reads the evidence and makes their own decision based on what they have read. As such, I would like to reiterate that this post is purely my own personal view on what I think would work for me.
Whatever you decide to do, I do hope that you have a happy and healthy autumn and winter – enjoy the cooler weather and all the lovely treats that can bring 🙂
Till next time
i find that having the flu jab makes it lot worsor for me .great deal more Snotty Nosed .people never see the every day effects .i have M.E . Allergies ,migraines .ibs ,i have BOTH Bladder and Bowel problems /long list health issues .i take part in a lot lot research..
my blog.http;//mark-kent.webs.com
twitter,supersnopper
On balance, yay.
You’ve gone through this really well and I hadn’t really considered your needing to have immunisations done again but it’s logical, given the new immune system. It’s a tough one with these flu jabs in general, and more so with chronic health conditions. I’ve had two flu jabs; the first year went fine, then last year two days after the jab I had a hellish flu like I’ve never experienced before and felt like I was dying, then it made a return a month later. It just seemed a little too coincidental. The same thing happened to my mother (who never seems to get colds or flus) and she had the flu jab two years ago, then came down with an awful flu as well. They say it’s not possible, and I would have agreed, but my own experience now makes me rather sceptical. The other concern is that these jabs don’t cover the major strains that head our way this year, much like last year when they admitted the main strain wasn’t covered. This year, I’m really not sure, might have to toss a coin! 😂
It can be a difficult decision, can’t it Caz? I have heard of people who have had the same experience as you, I think it is a very personal decision, isn’t it? Only the individual knows what is best for them and often we have to balance out the plusses and minuses! I ended up going into the hospital with the flu last year, unbeknownst to me, and I had had the vaccination, so it just shows it doesn’t get all strains. xx