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It's that time of year so Thursday when geomar had an appointment to see a respiratory therapist at the VA about his Cpap machine he also got his flu shot and yesterday afternoon I got “shot” at one of our local Fred Meyer's pharmacies.
If you haven't gotten your flu shot this year, go get one as soon as possible. But, MAKE SURE THEY DON'T GIVE THE SHOT TO CLOSE TO YOUR SHOULDER AREA!!!
I've had two neck fusions, heart surgery five eye surgeries and NEVER have I had something hurt like that shot and the after effects did!
Within 20-25 minutes of leaving there my whole arm started aching like a bad toothache from my shoulder down to my wrist and in all the joints as well. Then the aching was up my neck and my left ear to the point that I had to take off my glasses cuz their weight made my ear hurt even more.
I've never had a reaction to a shot before other than the usual localized soreness in the shot area and a bit of fever, so I this time I thought I might be allergic to something in the shot. I have a lot of allergies to some medications. so after a couple hours when the pain didn't get better I called my hubby who was visiting with a friend of ours and we went to my doctors' office and one of the Physician's Assistant looked at my arm. She said the shot was in the joint/ligament area and that a shot should never be given that close to the shoulder. No wonder it hurt so badly when the needle went in! The PA gave me a short course of Methylprednisolone that is reducing the soreness. I hate taking any form of medication! But when I have to I do. I've found that most meds have side effects that can be worse that the health issue you're taking the med for!
I guess in comparison to getting a serious strain of the flu, what I went through for one day isn't as bad after all. I know that you can learn something from everything you go through and I've learned an important lesson this time. Convenience one-stop shopping isn't all it's cracked up to be (LOL); next year I'll get my flu shot at my doctor's office.
When we were at the VA I saw a great saying on a poster and will add it to my photos.
