Flu shot heresy (Read 1301 times)

I won't be getting any flu vaccines anytime soon.  That might be be because when I was 18 I had what was described as encephalitis due to an autoimmune reaction to the flu and when I was 23 had what was described as meningitis due to an autoimmune reaction to the flu.  I don't remember a combined total of about 2 weeks of my life, but from what I've been told that might be a good thing because supposedly I don't enjoy spinal taps (although I do like the movie) and I had a whole bunch of them, all of which fortunately occurred during that don't remember anything time frame.

It's actually kind of interesting because I was conscious but had complete amnesia during each of the times I had this, but the second time I had it I remembered everything that was going on the first time and believed I was in Rhode Island Hospital with encephalitis, even though I was in Minneapolis with meningitis, and when they said I was getting a spinal tap I've been told I REALLY remembered what that was like.  Supposedly I got extremely violent in my attempts to prevent it and needed to be held down by a bunch of security people.  The second time I had it I don't remember anything from the time I tried to slide down the kids slide in the emergency room waiting room (they actually thought I was on drugs for some reason) and when I was asked what I thought the needle disposal container on the wall in my room was and I said that it must be where they threw away the used kitty litter (don't know where that one came from).  But I guess I had been talking to people all along, and that was when I just "woke up" and remember everything after that but nothing before.

Kind of interesting, but something I have no desire to repeat if I can avoid it.  The neurologist who treated me for the most recent case told me that he was a big proponent of flu vaccines, but in my case would recommend against them. 

As I understand it, the immune system reacts similarly to actually being infected by the flu as it does to being given the vaccine and that's why vaccines work.  Neither time did I actually get the flu.  I got the sniffles, fought it off, then a couple of days later was the first time carried to the emergency room unconscious throwing up and shitting myself, and the second time it was caught early, and I was only acting like someone who took the brown acid at Woodstock. 

My type of reaction is extremely rare.  Much more rare than dying of the flu.  I'm not saying that flu vaccines are bad.  If I didn't have my medical history then I would put my odds on that getting a flu vaccine is the safer choice, and if I had young children then I would probably take the risk and get a flu vaccine anyway to prevent myself from infecting them.  I think that anti-vaccine people are a bunch of crackpots, especially when it comes to things like smallpox and the like.  But there are a small number of instances where certain people are best off not getting vaccinated, and I have been told I'm one of them, by a doctor who said that he tells everyone they should get a flu shot, except for me.