Don't do it! Flu shots are one of the biggest scams perpetuated by CDC/Big Pharma.

I get a flu shot every year. I can't afford even the possibility of being out of work for 7-10 days because of the flu. I have a lot of public contact and although I am obsessive about washing my hand I like the idea of the shot as extra protection. While I supplement D with massive amount I am still low. I should also say that I'm not anti-vaccine or even anti-big pharma in a general sense.

I agree with the others, 1. big scam by Big Pharma 2. I double up on "D" thru the winter, I pretty much never get sick.

Dont do it! Who knows that they put in them and there are no long term studies done to see the long term effects- cancer and such with all the "new" strands of the flu they are concocting.... If you have a normal healthly immune system with no other underlying complications you should have NO reason at all why you can't fight the normal flu bug. I too work in the health field and do not get one. IT's all a sham!!! (lol)

This is one of those perpetual hot-button issues that people can become very emotionally attached to their own point of view and something you will need to decide for yourself. You can also search for basically this same discussion started Sept. 17 last year and I would imagine we will see it again next year (grin). In any case, I am going to cut/paste my previous answer here because I don't feel like typing it out again:

FWIW - been supplementing Vitamin D for 2yrs and my last level was over 50 somewhere so I'm good. Got the H1N1 shot last year but my doc says I must have been exposed w/in the week before (you need couple of days for full immunity). Following week I was COMPLETELY bed-ridden for 5 full days and totally whipped for another month. Haven't been THAT sick since the last swine flu in the '80's. And no, it wasn't the shot that gave it to me because my husband got his same day w/no problems AND he didn't catch anything from me since HIS shot kicked in before I got sick. So, I'm gettin' mine fo' sure. – JCB Sep 17 at 20:56 One addition for emphasis - my NON-paleo, wheat-eating, husband who got a flu shot too took care of me and my full-blown case for 5 solid days and DID NOT get sick. I guess that's what they call "anecdotal evidence"? – JCB Sep 17 at 21:03

For more Paleo hacks: http://paleohacks.com/questions/10492/are-flu-shots-necessary-if-living-paleo#ixzz1Wnt3qcSO

i never get the flu shot and never intend to. two years ago i got infected with H1N1. my immune system handled it and is now more robust from exposure.

You could not PAY ME to take a flu shot. Not even a million bucks!

No, but then I rarely get sick with colds or flu.

Vaccines generally don't agree with me (most recently - Tetanus/Pertussis took me out of commission for a couple of days) anyway. Based on my past history, there's more likelihood of me getting sick from the vaccine than from the actual flu. YMMV.

Would you recommend that (Paleo and healthy) pregnant women get the flu shot?

Just say "NO!"

My personal reasons are: * It's crap shoot if it will work or not. The virus mutates all the time. * I don't need extra poison in me especially on purpose. * This year's shot has more of the recycled H1N1 from back a couple years. I do recycle but not that way.... * Staying healthy is a concern of mine; it pays to make the effort all times of the year. It's not just for winter. Stay away from coughing, sneezing people if possible, wash your hands frequently, and don't touch your face (eyes, nose, mouth) to keep germs out. * I figure I come in contact with enough germs that my own immune system is reasonably okay. (work in a very large office building, work in the garden, care for cats--all places to find germs) * It's given at no charge in many places. Just how good is something free from the gov't? as good as their cheese?

If someone believes they really need it and it helps them, then go for it. A person's mindset does influence their body. I have no problem turning it down even though I fit several categories recommended for getting this thing.

The only year I ever had a flu shot, I got the flu. Just my n=1.

Two winters ago, I was pregnant and was really committed to not getting sick. But, I'm a public high school teacher. I mega-dosed Vit D all winter and did copious hand washing. I was healthier than I'd ever been.

I have been taking flu shots regularly in Fall for more than 10 years. I started taking Vit D less than 3Y ago, and my D level prior to supplementation was in the teens.

Sometimes I take it in early Fall and take another one in early/late December, when vaccines are updated. Soemtimes I even take additional shots in Canada while traveling where the vaccines are different than those made in the U.S.

Result: I caught a bad cold only once in the last 10 years, and that was the year when the vaccine had not been updated for the most common flu strain that was circulating.

So flu vaccines can and do work for many people. Whethere you're protected because your D-3 is high? Not sure. But I'm not taking the chance of not being protected. I think one of the reasons why our life expectancy is so high even though our diet is so terrible, is due to childhood immunization.

But never an influenza vaccine, just a flu vaccine. I don't think you need an influenza vaccine.

I don't do flu shots myself, and I haven't had the flu since my freshman year of college (15 years ago). Anecdotally, my mom dutifully got her flu shot a month ago, and last week, came down with a nasty case of it. I think I'll stay the course.

What kind of immune system integrity do you have???

My general philosophy on the flu is that if you have immune system that knows what to do, it shouldn't be that much of a problem, but that doesn't always help if it's a particularly bad strain going around. Which is another point, getting the flu shot doesn't not guarantee protection against the flu. THe strains of the vaccine they make are predicted well in advance of the flu season in order to allow for the lead time of production. Sometimes the predictions are right, sometimes they are wrong.

Good idea test Vitamin D levels. Some people have a weird variation, where instead of taking Vitamin D3 and seeing levels of 25 OH Vitamin D go up, we see the levels of 1,25 OH Vitamin D3 go up, a precursor to 25 OH D3 (the active form). In these folks, D3 supplementation is fairly useless. My point to you is though, just to make sure your D3 levels are high, there is a chance that they may not be as high as you think they are...