Thursday 12 November 2009

Would you Adam and Eve it?

I always say I really have nothing to complain about, but every once in a while I do anyway. Well this time it's about the flu shot/jab that I had three weeks ago.

I was strolling around a local supermarket, desperately trying to come up with something interesting for dinner, when there was an announcement that the pharmacy was open for flu shots. Some years I get one and others I don't, and I haven't had flu for as long as I can remember. Who knows if they worked, but I've never had a bad reaction so I decided to bite the bullet. The pharmacist made me roll my sweater right up to my shoulder and was most specific about this shot having to be in the deltoid muscle. I really barely felt the needle and didn't show any ill effects in the 15 minutes they asked me to stick around in the pharmacy aisle.

Well, about four hours later I could barely move my arm although the injection site itself was fine. I didn't think too much about it all until two days later when I still couldn't move the arm. Called the pharmacist who said that it was an extremely rare reaction (of course) and only one other person out of about three thousand customers had called them with it. To be fair, he called me two and four days later to see how I was doing.

At the urging of everyone, and getting weary and cranky from constant pain, I went to my doc yesterday and explained that although I have some movement back, the shoulder joint is constantly, very painful. I can't even sleep because no position is comfortable. One possibility is that it's become infected inside, (oh great) so he took some blood to have a look at, and told me to buy a good digital thermometer and monitor my temp till Monday when he wants to see me again. Gulp!

If it isn't an infection, I'm being referred to a shoulder specialist to see what damage has been done. I have been back in touch with the pharmacist who has to report the whole thing to the government's adverse reaction committee (or some such group). Because there's the one other person reporting the same thing, I'm at least I'm being taken seriously.

So now I'm officially a statistic!

.

17 comments:

  1. Oh no! Hope that it is just one of those things and it all clears up before you know it!

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  2. That's really scary. A shoulder specialist?! I hope it ends up not being serious.

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  3. man that sucks. hope you get it all sorted out soon.

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  4. It's interesting that you don't distinguish whether it was a regular flu shot or the H1N1 flu shot that you were given. Here in Canada there is a ridiculous amount of hype being given to H1N1 shots - it is literally all they can talk about on the news. Line ups around the block to get it, the blame game for celebrities and VIP's jumping the queue. It seems that like most of the rest of the world (UK included) the US is taking a more sensible view of the situation. :) Hope the shoulder sorts itself out soon.

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  5. Nope - it was the regular flu shot. My kids got the H1N1 last week but my shoulder was so painful by that point I skipped it.

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  6. Yikes. Sounds nasty; what bad luck. Hope you feel better soon.

    I'm off to get the boys' swine flu shots this afternoon, hope they don't get any reactions.....

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  7. @softinthehead. Wish I could say that the US was being more sensible, but there's been absolute chaos here over the H1N1, huge lines and camping out to get the shot. My kids and I still have not got it as our district is now doing it be appt only through your doctor......if you're lucky enough to have one!
    EM - Thanks for your comment. I've had a good rant about COBRA ;-)
    Hope your shoulder improves soon.

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  8. Oh poor you.

    Hope it gets sorted out.

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  9. That's brutal! I hope you get better soon!

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  10. and that is the reason why I won't be getting one, as I too would be the one who would have a problem!!

    Gill in Canada

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  11. All I can say is- ow and you don't deserve it. Why is it that in an attempt to stay well you ended up not well- it ain't fair

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  12. Well, I could have been having my gall bladder removed so I'm not complaining. Glad you are home and well!

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  13. Far out, that is.. well, pretty outrageous. And in the joint? (The weird thing, reading this, is that I've had sudden (and inexplicable) shoulder joint pain over the past few weeks, but it's definitely not related to an injection. While the dr thinks it's arthritis (blah!), I'm starting to wonder if it's an alien virus. Or voodoo. Or something equally weird.
    Good luck with your test results, and hope it's all immediately curable once diagnosed!

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  14. Good God woman what did he do to you?? I had a flu shot too and didn't hear any nonsense about muscles. Hope you feel better soon X

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  15. Oh my! I'm sending good thoughts your way and do hope you feell 100% soon.

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  16. murphy's law innit?
    you try to prevent the flu and instead get a disability. hope it heals up soon.
    :-)

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  17. Sorry to hear about your arm. I had a similar thing happen to me when I got a tetanus shot earlier in the year. I had an allergic reaction and the muscle became infected. Like you, I couldn't move my arm, (nor did I have an allergic reaction within the first 15-20 minutes after getting it) either. My doctor gave me some antibiotics to clear it up.

    Hope you (and your arm) are feeling better soon.

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