Hello RLR and everyone. Happy New year!
I am hoping RLR and anyone who has any info on this can help me decide because I really don't know what to do and a bit scared.
I am 29+ weeks pregnant with my 4th baby and only just found out over Xmas that all pregnant women were being urged to have a seasonal flu jab (with the added protection against H1N1). I rang my GP just over a week ago and he said they'd ran out of vaccine but I'm on the list for vaccination as soon as they get a new batch in. Got the phone call today, they have recieved the new vaccine (Intanza 9). And they are urging me to have it asap. All they can tell me about it is that this is a seasonal vaccine safe for pregnant women and that only GPs can give it as it's in some form "superior" to the bog standard ones available in farmacies...
My concerns are:
1. I have only been vaccinated against flu once, about 10 years ago, and started having palps and other unpleasant symptoms a few months later. My head was spinning for about 2 years after. I'm not sure if it's in any way connected but makes me wonder.

2. The surgery have no info or leaflets on the new vaccine and i can't find anything online, I'm ringing the GP tomorrow but doubt he'll be able to tell me much without ghaving any info himslef.

3. The GP strongly recommends it and says he'd vaccinate his wife if she was pr, which makes me lean towards having it as this is the doctor i know and trust, but at the same time I know people who have had reactions  or have fallen ill shortly after vaccination. The vaccine was different though, but still the 2010 seasonal one.

4. Me and both my children had a terrible case of flu last october  (just when swine flu hit sheffield) which was suspected swine flu and was offered tamiflu which i didnt take, but i had all the symptoms exept fo sickness and womiting. My husband didn't get it though. WHich makes me wonder again, if i've had it what's the point of the vaccine.

5. I am concerned about the flu but I am also wondering if the vaccine can trigger the increase in palps and "runs". I have no evidence to support this as i know of noone with palps who's had the jab, but i'm worried.

6. I have been taking vit d and magnesium plus elderberry extract to help support the immune system, but not sure it's enough.

7. My mum had Gillian-barre syndrom after suffering from flu when she was 18, I wonder if this puts me at greater risk of having this as a side effect to vaccination.

RLR, really hoping for your reply, my main concern is GB syndrom and any connection you might know of between flu jabs and palps, can it affect the rythm at all?

If anyone has had this years jab in the UK or anywhere else, I would really appreciate any input. I'm so confused I can't make a decision one way or the other. Being pregnant and brain-fogged doesn;t help.

Apologies for such a long post.

jothenurse, thank you for your reply! The vaccine we have here is the seasonal one with H1N1 added, so I think they are similar everywhere. Have you heard anything about intaza 9 vaccine? (turns out the reception lady had given me the wrong name.)
Did you have an increase in palps after the vaccine? I had some kind of flu last year (GP suspects it was swine flu as it was octobr and it was the main strain circulating then and I don't usually get the temperature with a cold), I'd never felt so ill in my life, my legs were aching and i had a temp over 38 which is high fo me, and a very sore throat and a bad cough.
I really hope RLR can advise me. I have heard some horror stories about both people who have had the vaccine and who haven't so not sure what to do.

Okay, Guillain-Barre-like features subsequent to viral illness is an extremely rare presentation. People with anxiety place themselves at the furthest end of possibilities and see it as the norm, often placing the risk as inevitable rather than remote.

As for your concern about it affecting your heart, such is the case with all persons who suffer health anxiety. If you dare take a pill, shot or other treatment there's no turning back and now you're faced with whatever outcome awaits you and it's your fault for not making a wiser decision to avoid everything with any potential whatsoever to upset the extreme delicate balance which you feel you must exert over your life to remain safe. That description is, I'll remind you, a very common irrational perception and entirely unrealistic.

I'm constrained to point out that you could also get hit by lightning, but I seriously doubt that you place this equal potiential reality anywhere near your health fears. Fate doesn't choose between categories.

Your healthcare professionals are urging you to have the vaccine and it's certainly prudent based upon the fact that you're pregnant as well.

Never let your personal fears place anyone else at risk. The vaccine is safe is wise under the circumstances.

Best regards and Good Health