UKC

Well, first of all, an apology. Normally a fit and very healthy person, I seem to have now posted two threads about injury and health in a short space of time.

I'll try not to make a habit of this, I promise

Anyway, seeing as plenty of you guys galavant around the world on expeditions and trips etc, I figure you must all be pretty familiar with getting the jabs etc needed to do so. I have most, due to my job. Anyway, on Thursday I had a full medical for a new job, which included some top-ups on jabs etc.

I got two inoculations, one for Typhoid and another for Meningitis, both in the left arm. Just before I had these, the nurse took some blood samples for testing. Other than feeling a touch sore (my arm swelled up beautifully where the blood was taken for half an hour or so) I was fine on Thursday. However, almost immediately after the jabs and bloods, I had to do a fitness test that included strength tests, which obviously I had to use my left arm for.

However, yesterday (friday) my arm was very painful, I could neither fully straighten it nor bend it (maybe 25/30 degrees of movement). As I had some more interviews for the new job, I had to suck it up and get on with it, however I was not right, and realised when I got back home I was running a temperature. So I treated it the same as any other illness I get, I went to bed and sleep. After a good decent sleep, I woke this morning feeling fine, though the arm is still sore, but improving.

Now, I know side effects are a danger with any medicine, but I have never had them before (and I have had both jabs previously, these were simply repeats to top me up). I wondered if maybe the fitness/strength tests could have triggered something? Anyone here had similar effects?

I add, I am fine now, just interested if anyone else has had similar and could maybe narrow down a cause, For instance, if it was the strength/fitness tests that can trigger, when I go for my next medical I would request doing the tests before any jabs are done. (My medicals are done every two years.)

Cheers

In reply to thebrookster:

nothing to worry about, feeling rough after vaccinations isn't considered unusual and i'm assuming the jab was IM a strength test could probably lead to increased soreness

In reply to thebrookster:

The one and only typhoid I jab knocked me sideways for the rest of the day. I felt somewhat delirious and had to go home from work and to bed. Your reaction was more delayed though.

In reply to thebrookster:

The first time I had a typhoid jab it knocked me for six just like you experienced and the arm was also stiff and sore. When I mentioned it to my GP he just grinned and said "not half as bad typhoid!"

Subsequent typhoid jabs over the years have caused no problems at all.

In reply to thebrookster:

Vaccines generally work by triggering an immune system response to the very thing they protect against. I.e they are a weak version of the virus they bring immunity from. So side effects often read as a who who of the symptoms you'd get if you caught the actual virus etc. so your reaction is nothing to worry about. The vaccines are updated over time as they virus they protect against evolves. So a reaction where previously there was none is also nothing to worry about.

Cheers Guys!!

Just to clarify, I am not overly concerned with the reaction I had, as it cleared up within my usual 24 hours. (I have never had an illness that has lasted more than 24 hours, I have always prided myself that I have an immune system that is powerful enough to kick any bug into touch in a day! I also only seem to catch the more serious bugs that knock other people out for days and hospitalise quite a few, I seem to evade the majority of common colds/stomach ailments/etc!!)

It would appear however that the exercise was not a contributing factor, which was my main thought. Had it been a possibility, I would simply have asked the doc to do jabs after the fitness/strength tests, simply for my comfort

Interesting about the Immune system though, feel like I should have known that, but as they say you learn something new everyday!! Does the level of reaction correspond to the "strength" of immunity?? If it does, I am pretty well covered!

In reply to thebrookster:

When I had the meningitis jab in primary school, I could barely use my left arm for days afterwards. Which made the end-of-year trip to a water park a day or two later quite interesting...

In reply to thebrookster:

Honestly mate, dont even bother with vaccinations. Not only is there no scientific proof of them working (can of worms opened), but nearly every GP, Doctor or medical professional in the know that I have met travelling have never been vaccinated.

I await the tirades...

In reply to Derry:

Shouldn't you have posted this on the troll thread?

In reply to off-duty:

the unvaccinated troll thread?

After having a child and researching all the info out there, there is definitely a lot of misinformation being broadcast.

In reply to Derry:

Don't let me stop you adding to it.

In reply to Derry: First rule of Troll Club: Never reply once you've made that post

In reply to Derry:



I can see your point, however for me this is not a case of personal choice, I have to have them for my job!

I am a Merchant Navy Engineer officer, and carrying the required yellow vaccination book is as essential as the passport, Certificate of Competency, a fair number of safety certificates in Survival/First Aid/Firefighting/Rescue Boats and a full medical.

My personal opinion does not matter, without the above I am simply not allowed to sail. And as that is essentially my job...................

In reply to thebrookster:


Hmm, that is a pickle. Well I genuinely hope you dont have any further complications.

It's a common misconception that having a vaccine gives you a 'mini-versin' of the disease the vaccine is for. It isn't true. Most of the vaccines now consist of dead virus, not even "weakened". A local reaction (sore arm) is usually the result of the preservative that the vaccine is in; feeling groggy and runing a temp is the result of your immune system adjusting. Some get that worse than others, some people don't feel a thing.

By the way, gang, now is the season to get your flu jabs- especially if you are in any of the risk groups. If not, you can get it for £7 at ASDA- a bargain.


Oh, and for those who think they don't need a vaccine of any kind at all ever, may I just say one word.....


smallpox.




Sxx

In reply to Sarah G:

Christ Sarah, you have just about given me a heart attack!!

On first reading of your post, I honestly thought you were suggesting that if I didn't get the flu jab, I would get smallpox!

Fortunately a re-read cleared that mis-understanding. Phew...............

Right, I need a cuppa tea after that!!

In reply to Derry:

I assume that the eradication of smallpox and the fact that illnesses such as polio and diptheria are almost non-existent in the developed world don't count as evidence of vaccines working?

A lot of anti-vaccination rhetoric is nonsense, spread by those who crave a conspiracy theory. The development of vaccinations is one of the greatest medical advances ever made, in my opinion.

In reply to JoshOsh:

I wouldn't bother - there's no vaccine against stupidity.

In reply to Derry: Would be interested to read any peer reviewed journals to that effect....

In reply to thebrookster:
Typhoid jabs are notorious for making you feel rough. I recently had a whole bunch and it was the typhoid that knocked me for six.

Had to have a whole series of jabs leading up to a trip to Tanzania this summer and i quickly learned that going climbing the day after a jab was not a good idea. I think it would be advisable to ask your doc to do the strength tests before they pump nasty things in to your deltoids.

In reply to JoshOsh: <thunderous round of applause>

In reply to thebrookster:

Absolutely DO NOT read this link; as it was produced by a medical establishment, it is all LIES and part of the CONSPIRACY THEORY to get you to vaccinate your children so that they will be able to control all of their thoughts.

http://www.vaccinews.net/downloads/Too_Many_Vaccines_What_you_should_know.p...

*sarcasm alert in case anyone takes the above paragraph seriously. I actually thought this was an interesting and informative article.

In reply to lanky_suction1: I thought all this "vaccines are bad for you" nonsense had gone away with that charlatan Wakefield. I carefully considered the evidence for having our kids vaccinated and once I'd read about it the decision must have taken about ten seconds.

I even had a district nurse saying that if she had her time again she wouldn't give her kids MMR - which presumably is the cak she was peddling to her patients.

In reply to thebrookster:

It's not uncommon for boosters to get a stronger response than the initial vax - if your body still has a strong response against the antigen, it can react more strongly than the first time. For example, my mum had annual tetanus vax for about 10 years for a job - last time she had a booster (about 10 years on from the annual jabs) her whole arm went red and swollen within 10 min, although no serious effects.

In reply to andy:

Oh, it is still going strong. Particularly on a lot of parenting websites - it is absolutely frightening the lengths they will go to argue anyone down who tries to inject (see what I did there!) any note of reason into the debate.