Had to get a tetanus shot last night

[Emit]

I punctured my hand with a dirty pair of sharp scissors whilst cleaning out some gunk caught in my vacuum roller.

Anyhoo, I considered skipping it, thinking I'd be okay. But then, thought better of it - the puncture wound was deep and the scissors really dirty. I recalled the last time I got a tetanus shot, though, 18 years ago, and the reaction I had. Flu like symptoms, but I had just given child birth, and so my doc said my immune system was low and I was likely coming down with the flu anyway.

I mentioned that to the doc last night, as I signed the consent forms that said I'd likely experience soreness at the shot site. She said the same, that it was probably a coincidence, and that I had likely already been exposed to the flu and would've come down with it anyway, regardless of the shot.

So, I got the shot.

Today? I feel like shit. Flu like symptoms - body aches, left eye headaches. General malaise. Fatigue.

And of course, my arm hurts like hell where I got the shot. My 8 year-old bumped me earlier and I winced in pain - and I am pretty stoic about these things. I had to have him move away from me because his jostling was causing me so much discomfort.

My puncture was on my left hand, which aches to my elbow. They shot me in the right arm - so now I hurt on both sides. At least I'm even.

So, what is it in these shots that cause these flu like symptoms? Do all people have this reaction?

Or was I already coming down with the flu, and this is all just a coincidence?

Also, please do not interpret my post as 'anti-vaccine.' I do not know enough about the subject to advocate not having vaccines. The things I have read about tetanus, I would strongly advocate getting a tetanus shot when warranted. So as much as I ache today, and feel like I've been hit by a mac truck, I'd do it again if I had to.

[Kookaburra]

1. Possibly an allergic reaction to something in the vaccine?

I've never had that kind of reaction to a tetanus shot. I did get the swolen, red, sore arm, but that's all.

[TZ]

9. No it's a normal possible side effect

Everyone's immune system is different so everybody reacts differently to vaccines.

[seabeyond]

2. hubby family full of doctors, get flu shot religiously, and a brother got shot, came down with flu

and he and mother both said was from shot.

i have never had the flu so i dont know.

people say shot cant give flu.

[TZ]

6. Shot can not give you the flu

That's correct. However since it is stimulating the immune system often times you feel flu like symptoms because of that. Most of the times fly symptoms are a result of your immune system working. As for the OP reaction to tetanus shot- normal side effects to a tetanus shot or any vaccine really. Most of the time side effects depend on how efficient ones immune system is in quickly developing the antibodies. For instance, I rarely have side effects to vaccines. Last time I had my tetanus shot I had Hep A and B shots at the same time. Also remember for the most part the side effects are much less serious than the illness you are protected agaisnt. Flu like symptoms and a sore arm are much better than lockjaw!

[seabeyond]

8. k. so. you dont have the acutal flu, you just feel everything the flu gives you. got it.

bah hahahaha

i prefer not to have the flu and not to feel the symptoms without the flu

[TZ]

12. No. Even if you have flu like symptoms

It is about 100 times milder than the flu. Ask the many people who have gotten the flu lately . It's MUCH worse. Which would you rather have? Sniffles and sneezes or a 102 degree fever body aches head aches and possible pneumonia. The stories of flu vaccines being as bad or worse than the flu are absolute anti-vax nonsense.FWIW, I am an immunologist with vaccinology experience at NIH.

[stray cat]

23. Spoken by someone who has clearly never been sick with the flu - lucky you.

hope you never get sick with anything as it will be a shock to actually really feel ill.

[Emit]

11. Wondered if it had something to do with stimulating the immune system

thanks for you feedback

[Emit]

16. Question

You wrote: Most of the time side effects depend on how efficient ones immune system is in quickly developing the antibodies.

Should I be concerned that my immune system is not so efficient? Or, as you wrote elsewhere on this thread, everyone's immune system is different, and so maybe mine is just different.

I guess the question I have is, should I be trying to help improve my immune system, or is this just the way mine is?

[Warpy]

10. No, what you get are mild body aches and a low grade temperature

which indicate your body is manufacturing antibodies to that strain of flu, which is how the shot works.

People don't get the flu from a flu shot. They swear on stacks of bibles that they do because they don't understand that what they're getting is the immune reaction to the shot that will protect them from the real thing.

Unlike the real flu, the "flu" after a shot is gone in 48 hours and can be treated very easily with tylenol or an NSAID. The real flu lasts five times as long and is ten times as miserable.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

20. So a Doctor in your family said they got the flu from the flu vaccine?

[seabeyond]

25. no. he is the architect.but he and his parents said

they had gotten flu from flu shot. there is a brother and brother in law that are doctors. i would think that those poeple would correct them. these people advocate the shot and mil pays for everyones shots making sure they get them.

maybe that was just there easy way of saying it

i clearly said i do not know

the only reason i heard about it is he was suppose to come for a visit and had to cancel. so that too was talked about thru out family adn last ten years

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

28. Just a few facts.

People are infected with the flu and contagious with it 24 hours before exhibiting any symptoms. When millions of people are vaccinated in the middle of a pandemic some are going to get the shot after having already contracting the flu. About 99% of the current cases of the flu are swine flu, they got vaccinated for the seasonal flu. A test could reveal which flu they had. If they don't take tamiflu they should stay sick with the flu for 7-14 days, follow up with them and see if they are still sick in a week. Tamiflu will likely cut the severity and duration of the disease to 5-7 days, of course some people won't take it because of Rumsfeld. If they were only sick for a couple of days then it wasn't the flu. Many things are called the flu. Those 24-72 hours gastrointestinal bugs are often called the stomach flu, in reality influenza is in no way related. Lastly the virus in the flu vaccine injection is a dead virus incapable of giving you the flu. The flu mist is a live virus that cannot survive anywhere but the nose, that is one of the reason it is only approved for healthy people ages 2-49. There are more reports of sore throat, sinus problems, low grade fever, etc. with flu mist than there are with the injection. Those symptoms too only last for a couple of days.

[angrycarpenter]

3. I cut my arm on some roofing tin last year

I had to get six stitches for a bone deep cut. I also got a tetanus shot, the next day the injection hurt twice as much as the stitches which hurt badly. It was like I had been punched in the arm by Mike Tyson.

[Emit]

17. Sounds like a nasty cut you got there!

Yeah, my arms hurts like heck. They gave it to me in the right arm - as I am right-handed, they want you to work it out. Been trying to do that - I'm working it out now by typing!

[vadawg]

4. i had to get a tetanus two days ago even though i had one last year i think

now i got to wait for the results from other tests and have to do follow up, also got my flu shot a few days ago as well, so i am feeling like a pin cushion between the needles and the knife.. so i sympathize..

[susanna]

5. I had a similar reaction last year.

First job in a commercial kitchen after starting culinary school. Got myself a lovely 2 & 3 degree steam burn on my left hand (still don't know how it happened; went to bed after my closing shift feeling fine, and woke up with the hand swollen and blistered...very weird). It had been 20 years since my last tetanus, so I needed it.

After all was said and done, I was really tired the first couple of days and then I did get a flu-like illness immediately following. Perhaps I was already coming down with something, but I remember wondering if the shot had anything to do with it. Was tired for a couple of weeks following, actually.

Hope you feel better soon. Take care.

[Warpy]

7. Well, the shot is supposed to hurt

Just about everybody hurts when they get it. You can lessen the pain somewhat the next time if you get it in your bum. It's a bigger muscle and it hurts a lot less there. I barely noticed the last one I got.

As for the flulike symptoms, it's probably just your immune system gearing up to prevent tetanus, which is a disease you really, really don't want.

Just keep an eye on your temperature. It should be low grade, under 100. If it goes above 101, then you could be seeing a systemic infection from the original injury and you'll want to go to the ER and get evaluated. You might need some antibiotics.

Deep puncture wounds can turn serious and not just from tetanus.

[Emit]

14. Thanks for your feedback, Warpy

what you say makes a lot of sense to me, and I wondered if that was what I was experiencing - my immune system gearing up to prevent tetanus.

I do have a fever - just under 100. And I do have a script for antibiotics, but I have not filled it yet.

[Warpy]

19. You should have started those antibiotics

If there is a drug store open where you are, please fill them now and start taking them.

Like I said, puncture wounds can turn very nasty very fast.

[REP]

13. I get a pretty bad reaction to the tetanus vax; better than lockjaw, though

For a while, I was getting pretty serious injuries every 10 years and getting a jab; made me really sick each time but that's how some people react to this vaccine. I had one booster without an injury and my last one with; still made me feel lousy for a few days but I'd much rather be immunized than not.

[DesertRat]

15. I had a tetanus shot this summer

I get one every 10 years (my doctor keeps track...) and my only reaction is a sore arm for a day or two.

I hope you feel better soon. :hug:

[DeepBlueC]

18. it simply triggered an immune response in you

Your body is reacting to it and making anti-bodies. Most people don't have such a dramatic reaction as you have had but it happens.

The symptoms that people refer to as "flu-like" for the most part have little to do specifically with the flu (except for the respiratory stuff); they are all the reactions of an immune system mounting an attack on the invading virus. So when your doctor tells you "it sounds like the flu" really that's all it means as far as I can tell. It SOUNDS like that. It also sounds like hundreds of other conditions, unfortunately, but your doctor thinks horses when he hears hooves. He'd be better off Googling IMO which is what many people eventually end up doing when the symptoms linger on and on. I may be exaggerating but I watch Mystery Diagnosis and the failure to investigate beyond the obvious really gets me down.

[Hekate]

21. From my childhood on, tetanus shots have always made my arm stiff, hot, and painful...

I don't get this reaction from other shots so I always figured it was specific to the tetanus vaccine. Since lockjaw is a nasty usually fatal disease, it always seemed like a fair-enough deal.

Try a pain reliever and alternate warm and cold washcloths, whatever feels good at the time.

If your punctured arm is sore to the elbow, I hope you got an antibiotic as well as the vaccination. You could still have a bacterial infection from that the wound.

You were very wise to have this medically treated.

Hekate

[ezgoingrl]

22. Put some ice on it for 24-48 hours

and after that apply moist heat. That will help a lot!!

[B Calm]

24. Punctured my hand with rusty wire making tomato cages. It's been

years since my last tetanus shot. With cobra insurance I waited several days before going to an urgent care walk in clinic. My hand was infected and sore. I didn't have any problems with the tetanus, but the cobra insurance was a whole other story that I don't care to revisit anytime soon!

[ensho]

26. I can't have the usual tetanus shot - very! allergic to it

doc gave me a skin test first and nearly swooned at the sight of the reaction.

I have to have the (horse?) kind, or visa versa - broken down into 3 shots, 1 each on 3 days.

tetanus shots are not to be taken without testing first.

[Liberal_in_LA]

27. tetanus shots hurt like hell, make your arm feel like it's going to fall off

[laughingliberal]

29. I always react to vaccines with flu like symptoms

but Tetanus is one I take, anyway. Tetanus is fatal and there is no treatment for it once you have it.

[Warpy]

30. Actually, people can and do survive tetanus

but it's a horrible, painful illness. Muscle spasms can be powerful enough to cause fractures.

The death rate with treatment is about 10%. It's 30% without treatment, although higher in kids.

[Hekate]

31. Emit, did you start on those antibiotics yet?