Why You Should Not Hold Off on Getting Your Flu Shot

Spoiler Alert – I do not have the flu.

But, I thought I did.

Sunday Morning

It all started on Sunday morning when I woke up with a bad sore throat. I assumed this was mostly due to the fact that I had a sinus congestion

issue Saturday night. So, I did what I always do when I have a sore throat, go get a Medicine Ball from Starbucks. If you don’t know what aMedicine Ball is from Starbucks, then order one the next time you have a sore throat or cold and you can thank me later.

I had to attend my niece’s birthday party at a bowling alley that day, so I made sure to give pounds instead of hand shakes and hugs. Which, if you’ve ever met me in person, you know that I like to give pounds, not hugs or handshakes.

I took a Claritin D-12 on Sunday evening and everything was great.

Monday Morning

Monday morning, I woke up and my throat was still sore, but nowhere near as bad as Sunday. This was probably due to the Claritin clearing me up throughout the night and not having to be a mouth-breather while I slept all night, drying out my throat.

I followed the same thing on Monday night, lots of fluids and a Claritin D-12 and Tuesday was getting even better.

Until it wasn’t.

Tuesday Evening

In the afternoon on Tuesday, I started to feel very achy and my muscles were sore and I just wanted to sleep. My initial thought was ketones, so I tested for ketones, nothing there.

My second thought…..the f&cking FLU!

Now, let’s backtrack a little bit here.

I have never had the flu shot before.

Why?

I don’t know, I thought it was a scam. I’ve seen people get the flu shot and still get the flu. I also never had the flu, so I figured, why bother?

Well, this year, after moving back to PA in the cold, I said I was going to get the flu shot, next week.

Well, maybe next week.

Well, I’m busy today, so I’ll go in a few days.

Come back to Tuesday night, and I still never got the flu shot.

So, Tuesday night, I started to feel a little warm, so I took my temperature and it was 100.5.

Ooohhhh yea, it’s the flu for sure I told myself.

So, I ran out to get Tylenol, because like any other responsible adults, we didn’t have any in our house.

I asked the pharmacist if I could take the Tylenol along with the Claritin D-12 since I already took that for the night and she said, yes. She then asked my symptoms and I told her and she said:

Aww, I’m sorry honey, but it sounds like you have the fly.

I knew it! I knew I was going to get it because I kept putting it off!

I have anxiety problems, so when I thought in my head that I had the flu, that was it. My heart rate increased, I started thinking that about the stories I’ve heard of people with diabetes dying from the flu and this is what’s going to happen to me and now that my heart rate is so high, I might just have a heart attack instead.

So, when I got into my car, I sat there for a few moments to collect myself and do my breathing exercises to bring down the heart rate and calm my anxiety.

I took the Tylenol and my fever went down over night.

Wednesday

On Wednesday, I had a low-grade fever. It ranged from 98.9 – 99.5, but I decided not to go to the doctor just yet.

Thursday

Thursday morning came around and the fever was completely gone, but I wanted to go see the doctor just to figure out what was going on.

The good news is that I didn’t have the flu. The bad news was that the sinus congestion did make it’s way down and I have the early stages of bronchitis.

Antibiotics it was.

The story doesn’t end there.

Allergic to Amoxicillin, Maybe?

I am allergic to ceclor, or maybe not anymore, but I was when I was a kid. So, there’s a little less than 10% chance that I could have an allergic reaction to amoxicillin.

So, when the pharmacist explained that I would need to go straight to the ER if I broke out in hives, I’m sure you can imagine what happened with my anxiety.

I didn’t really have much of a choice but to use this antibiotic.

So, I did, and nothing happened.

Bringing this post back to full circle.

Get your damn flu shot.

Even though I didn’t end up with the flu, it could have been. And it could have potentially been avoided if I just didn’t keep pushing off the flu shot. And while you’re at it, get yourself the pneumonia vaccine as well.