We just got flu shots and our arms got sore!

Joan and I both got our flu shots yesterday.

Every time I get a flu shot, my shoulder muscle gets sore. not just sore from a little injection, but quite achy.

Yesterday just about 2 or 2 1/2 hours after our shots, my injection-side shoulder really started to hurt. Nothing you couldn't live with, but really really achy and sore. The pain was up very high, pretty much in the join so that moving the arm was painful too.

I took a couple of Tylenol and in about 1/2 hour the pain was knocked down and in about an hour it was all but gone. When the Tylenol wore off about 5 hours into a 6 hour dose (why does THAT always happen) the achiness returned, but much less than before, and I was able to sleep well without any further meds.

Joan got sore a few hours later than I did, and it affected both of her shoulders. How does THAT happen? Today, both of our sites are just tender to the touch, no residual aches and pains.

...and usually one or both of us develops a mild throat and sniffles a day or two later.

Can they give the shots a little lower so that the pain doesn't go into the shoulder joint? Will the location difference make a difference in the location of the soreness?

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I always dread the achy feeling in my left shoulder after a flu shot too. The injection site is usually sore for a day or two, but I don't usually get a cold or any other reaction. Since they inject it so high up it's difficult to lift that arm because the muscle on the shoulder is sore.

I'm with you, Ron - wondering why they have to inject it so high up!?!

I can only guess that it's because the axillary nerve ending is a little lower, about where a soldier's patch would be, and the injection itself might hurt a bit more if it were a little lower. But that's just a guess.

(My "shoulder patch" areas are both numb anyway so it probably wouldn't make a difference to me.)

Flu shot is intramuscular vs subcutaneous which usually always hurts more. I have heard a few people complaining about pain in their arm this year so maybe too it has something to do with the dosage too?

I think you're fine on the innoculation time frame. Usually flu season doesn't kick up until late December anyhow. I'm getting mine next week.

You could ask to get it in the butt instead :roll:

.
The deltoid muscle is used because its decent sized and is easily reached.

I get my flu shot too either this week or next.

Yes, but does it have to be so high that it hurts in my shoulder joint?

Next year, draw a target for them

Hey that happened to me this time too!

Flu shot in right shoulder, Pneumonia shot in left..owww

It was okay the first day, but the day after, I was walking around like a line backer. Scared the kids tho and nobody messed with me!!! Ha Ha

Marianne

Marianne wrote:

but the day after, I was walking around like a line backer. Scared the kids tho and nobody messed with me!!! Ha Ha

Marianne

LOL

i just got my flu shot today too on my left arm, and it HURTS. Oh my, they do shoot the shot INTO the muscle, so it is supposed to hurt...

im getting mine next week too.....im just keeping the pain on the left side....whats one more muscle?????

ps...never thought youd here me say....suck it up, people!!

Ahhh it's the time of the year again and I'll be getting mine soon.

I forgot about last year when I posted and now am trying to be brave for this years upcoming shots. Hmmm I laugh at the face of danger...ha ha!
:excited:

Marianne

Just an FYI about intramuscular injections....(as I remember from nursing school).....The shoulder muscle (the deltiod) has it's origin at the pointy point at the end of the shoulder and goes down to the elbow. We learned that to give a shot, you feel for that bony point on the end of the shoulder, put your pointer finger there and make a V with the pointer and the middle finger facing down to the elbow,so the web of hand where the fingers join is on the bony prominence, the shot should be given in the middle of that V, in the middle or meatiest part of the muscle.
That will at least tell you if the nurse, MD, etc. was in the opitimal spot.
Shots always hurt, but the butt is the least painful, if you dare to ask for someone to put a flu shot there :oops:

Hope that made sense!

Makes sense to do it in the butt...as now we all affectionately refer to Ron as a pain in the butt.

(smiles sweetly and tip toes out)

Marianne

I had mine on Wednesday and my shoulder is just about OK again. Hubby had his at the same time. I say even the injection hurt this time, and I dont remember it hurting before. Within 30 minutes of having it we were both moaning about our arms hurting, right in the muscle as folks have said. Hubby had a bad cold just finishing and they still gave him his injection, and now his cold has come back! :roll:

We get our this coming week. I am not looking forward to it.

Got mine Thursday. I have to since I spend way too much time (or at least I did until 2 weeks ago, that's another story) on planes with hacking, spiting, snotting folks that never carry a tissue.

My arm was sore for about 24 hours. The odd thing is once the arm had recovered, I noticed a mild rash on my chest. Never had that one before.

Did anyone take Tylenol to see if it would stop your pain too?

I was shocked and amazed, I'm tellin ya.

Just had my flu shot Friday and my arm has been sore and red in the spot of the injection and was HOT to the touch like it had fever in it, and I'm sneezing and all stopped up!

Now it's Sunday and my arm is itchy I just want to scratch it like a BIG Mosquito Bite!! It's still RED too., but not as sore as Friday and Saturday, and mine hurt when I got it too. It stung!!

That's been the common comment this year, that the injection "stings".

My injection site got very red and was a little tender to the touch and a bit on the warm side, and over the course of a few days it seemed to develop a large hard spot in the muscle, which went away over about 7 - 10 days, give or take.

No real ache this year... I did ask the nurse giving the injection if she would give it about an ince and a half maybe two inches lower than normal to try to keep the reaction out of my actual shoulder socket, but I'm a big guy and my muscle goes a long way down the arm.

My wife had no reaction.

I had no reaction at all this year. I get it every year (being a nurse) and this probably is the least painful one I can remember.

One of my coworkers always gets it in her dominant arm - with the theory that using the arm will actually be good, and result in less soreness and stiffness. I liked that theory and with my reasearch background decided to be my own living experiment and do it too! Maybe there is some truth to it.....

I got mine a few weeks ago. The shot wasn't bad. The worst part was the lady giving it was ancient (aged) and her hand was shaking....... :cry:

I get a child's dose seasonal flu shot and then another one in 1-2 weeks because an adult dose (all at one time) is too strong for me. [It always makes me sick.] After my first child's dose 3 weeks ago, I felt achy like I was getting the flu. I had my second child's dose on Oct 12th. Ever since, I have been in agonizing pain in the arm where I got my injection. It feels extremely sore, feels like it's in spasm, and has a numbness to it. My pain level on a scale of 1 to 10 is easily a 10. The only thing that will touch the pain is Ibuprofen 800 mg and Lortabs. I called the allergy doctor who gave the shots and was told to continue Ibuprofen through the weekend. Has anyone heard of this kind of reaction? How long will it last? Is there anything else I should true to ease the pain?

This year I got shot high and boy am I achy. We'll see if I swim tomorrow or do water aerobics instead. Figured with arthritis acting up in that shoulder, the injection didn't help. Last year I wore a tight shirt so couldn't get my sleeve up so high and they had to shoot low and had no reaction.

Ron, you might be developing sensitivity to the preservative in the vaxs.....that "th" word I can't remember..... thimerosal????

i got my flu shot a few weeks ago...it hurt like heck!! then the next day, i came down with the swine flu...seriously!!

i probably caught the swine flu at cvs where i got the shot....ick!

hardest part of the swine flu was breaking the fever, coughing like all get out and being locked up in the house for 7 days!

Darcy wrote:

Poor thing!!! Hope you are feeling better now :ghug:

Quote:

i probably caught the swine flu at cvs where i got the shot....ick!

YIPES!! Sounds awful. Glad you are better!

KellyB wrote:

Kelly
I have had the same reaction. I just dawned on me tonight that my arm pain might be related to the H1N1 shot. I have fibromyalgia so I ache all over any way. The one part of my body that doesnt hurt was my arms. For the last two months my arms have been terrible. Like yourself on a scale of 1-10 I would rate it a 10. I have it it both arms though. Started in my left one ( the site of the shot) then a week later the right) I am off to the doctors on Monday to discuss this with her. I have already seen her twice over the pain but she didn't even consider the shot. I will let you know if she says anything.

After I got a flu shot there was quite a bit of bleeding from the site of the injection.
My husband suggested that I may have lost some of the serum in that way.
Now I'm worried that I don't have enough immunization?
Could this be true?

I've walked past the desk several times now, I too must suck it up and get it over with. Like Darcy, what's one more ache and pain? Might be novel to have the pain above the belly button for a change.

I give the flu shots to my staff every year.
As part of the process, I offer them Tylenol at the time of the injection. It cuts down on the number of complaints I get.

I know it's been suggested, but I also want to recommend getting shots in your butt. I hate the soreness and ache in your shoulder afterward when getting them in the arm. I changed to getting them in my butt a long time ago and I never get the after effects. It's a little embarassing to ask for it the first time, but if the nurse is professional, they will do it without making you fceel uncomfortable. You'll have to get it at your doctor's office, not CVS, etc.

AJTCSX

I have found if you totally relax the muscles in the area of the injection, the soreness isn't a factor. Many people are just tense and are not even aware of the fact that they are tensing the muscle during the injection. Just think about a shot in your arm and the muscles seem to involuntarily tighten up. Concentrate on relaxing the area and feel the tension leave. That's the time for the shot. It makes a lot of difference. Same is true of "any" muscle you are thinking about.

I think it depends on what mood the nurse is in!
Hubby had his a week before me, came home in a right grump. Said she looked in a fit and jabbed needle in his arm.(he is diabetic so used to needles) It hurt him for a couple of days. I said you probably went in there scowling at her.
7 days later I went for my jab. Same nurse, I commented on the weather told her she looked cold.(she had a big jumper on) She did my jab, didnt hurt and no after effects. I think she didnt like my OH! :ghug:

Now I always have them go down two inches from where they used to give the injection and never have joint pain anymore.

This year the needle didn't hurt at all but there was a little stinging for a few seconds as the serum was pushed in. Some years it stings, I'm told.

My girll friend and I went and got our flu shots yesterday. I said I would go first. I pushed down my shorts and bared my butt. No big deal. I then told her to drop her shorts and was surprised when she did. I watched as sh e got the needle in her rump. No pain.

On Nov. 5, 2010, I got the flu shot and to this day (Nov. 22, 2010) my upper arm (in the site area) is throbbing. It is bearable, but still uncomfortable and will even wake me up occasionally in the night. I do not plan on getting the flu shot again due to the discomfort.

i have my flue jab every year but this year i have had a really sore arm 1 to 10 I would say 8 or 9 and it has been going on
for several weeks I am wondering when it is going to stop

I took myself and my 75 yr old mother to get ours yesterday along with our five year pneumonia shots. We were taken in together, they gave Mom her shot first, I seen her winch when the young nurse gave it, she did too and asked Mom if it hurt, Mom said yes, and it stings too, she quickly added "but not too badly", in order not to hurt the nurse's feelings. We get our pneumonia shots every five years, flu shots every year. They have gotten sore before, but not very badly, and was pretty much gone the next day. When she gave me mine, she did my flu shot first in the left arm, when she tried to push the needle in, it would not go, I told her, it's not going, she said I know, then finally it went in, she told me the needle was too old. Then she put the pneumonia shot in my right arm, same thing, it was hard to inject, it bled terribly for a small needle injection. Last night I hurt in both arms so badly I could almost cry, but I've been through much worse. Today it was still sore, and tonight the injection sites are both swollen, both red blotches the size of tennis balls on my shoulders, one is just swollen, hot and sore, the other is red, swollen and hot but has a spot that looks like something has bitten me, and itches like the dickens. I've taken a pain pill that I have to take for my RA, it's helped the pain, but not the swelling, nor the itching. I have never had a reaction like this before, I do however believe she placed the injections up too high on the shoulder, and I am praying with all my might that my poor little Mom is not hurting like this. I too am wondering if the serum or the dosage is different? Or if it's just the injection site being too high. I hated to see my Mom wince like she did, I knew it hurt her. Hoping the best for each of you in getting your pneumonia and flu shots. I encourage folks to take them, the younger or the older you are, like I seen one post on here, people drag out shopping and are coughing, hacking up stuff, leaving nasty tissues laying around, I have auto immune disease due to RA, so I don't like to leave it to chance. I have a family to take care of, so I can't be down myself.

Oh bless those injections sounded so painful. This year Hubby went first and he said it really hurt and he moaned about his arm for about a week. I went early last Friday and the jab did hurt but then I forgot about it. I had the sneezes and runny nose for half a day. There is a little bruise at the injection spot but that is all. My sister had hers and didnt notice the injection and had no ill effects. Hope everyone else is Ok this year....xx

This year I did get sick after the shot. This happens to me about every other year. Last year's shot was identical to the year before and I had no reaction. This year... well since they insist you "can't get the flu from the flu vaccine shot" let's just say that I had the usual mild flu-like symptoms.

Never had a flu shot, never had the flu. Same goes for both of my parents.

You've been lucky!

After you have it once, and assuming you survive, you'll probably get the vaccine.

Before I retired the Employee Health Nurse gave our flu and pneumonia injections. On her desk was a pewter bowl with packages of tylenol, we were instructed to take 2 immediately and 2 every 4-6 hours. I rarely had to take it more than twice and only suffered mild soreness at the site.

Got both my Flu and pneumonia vaccines in my backside. No issues, no pain, no itching and I was able to sit down and put on pants and undies. Believe me there is nothing wrong with showing the doctor/nurse your backside, they seen one/they have seen them all.

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