Fall back…

Of course, this weekend, all that daylight savings change does is get me an extra hour of being sick.

After my surgery, I was out of sick days at work, so this year thought I’d get the flu shot, something I haven’t done before.

Big mistake! I felt ok immediately following the shot, except some soreness at the injection site, normal for hypodermics. The next day, however, I had a sore throat, then the day after that started to sniffle… this weekend I spent mostly laying on the couch, coughing, sneezing, going through a couple rolls of toilet paper blowing my nose, and popping Halls like they were M&Ms.

I expected some minor symptoms for a day or two, but not a week or more of being sick. Next time, no shot, and if I get sick, I get sick. In retrospect, the shot was a dumb idea, since I am taking a *possible* event (getting sick through day-to-day life) and turning it into a *probable* event (getting sick from a direct injection).

I thought, since they use an inactive version of the flu, there would be little or no reaction – wrongo. The analogy I came up with is this:
There is a criminal firing his gun at cops. Regardless of if he is using live rounds or blanks, the cops are going to fire back.

So even if it is an inactive flu, my body’s immune system is still kicked into high gear, putting me into full-on sick mode to combat a perceived threat.

My advice: unless you are elderly or enjoy being sick, avoid the flu shot.