"Ask your doctor about Tamiflu..."

[Atman]

...and he'll laugh at you.

Flu is worse this season than in recent memory. Two family members are already sick, and we've never had the flu before, even without vaccines. My wife tried to write scrips for patients, but the pharmacy laughed. There is no Tamiflu available. Yet, the ads still run daily on the TV..."Ask your doctor about Tamiflu." You can't get it. And there is no generic equivalent.

Isn't this the drug Donald Rumsfeld was pushing on everyone during the Bush years? Now it's as rare as a One Penny Black postage stamp.

WTF?

Ask you doctor about Tamiflu. And be prepared to be sick. Personally, I've avoided it so far, even though my kids are sick. I load up on Vitamin C, Zinc, B1, B12, Potassium, and drink lots of pure cranberry and pomegranate juice (pure, 100%, NOT juice drinks). Be prepared. Apparently, there are several different strains of flu this year, and no on vaccine will help.

[onehandle]

1. I get Flu shots. I think I had the Flu once in the early 90s. Not since. nt

[Little Star]

2. I've never had a flu shot and never had a flu....

I don't know why but flu shots scare me. To each their own, I guess.

[Lars39]

10. A lost week, flat on your back in bed with the worst aches, fever

and phlegm imaginable that turns into a pneumonia that takes a few months to get over and you might change your mind.

[Floyd_Gondolli]

32. That shot won't guarantee anything

[Lars39]

33. I'll take my chances with it, I had that flu before my immune system went AWOL.

The flu shot is to help prevent the most virulent strains...those that kill even young healthy people.

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. Same here.

My secret is I avoid people as much as possible, esp. children, and wash my hands often.

No colds, no flu, (knock on wood) for over 25 years now.

Allergies from this too warm weather and lots of something in the air.....THAT I have.

[reteachinwi]

16. I'm ambivalent about flu shots

but I washed my hands 6-12 times a day when I taught school. I used Hibicleanse when I got home. It works.
http://www.chp.edu/CHP/Hand+Washing+to+Prevent+Flu

[bama_blue_dot]

18. This is exactly how I am..

I have OCD when it comes to germs, and handwashing.. I have washed my hands to the point where my skin is badly chapped and red.. I definitely hate that I obsess over it, but it has helped me to avoid all types of bugs..

[Little Star]

26. That's exactly how I've been. Had pneumonia twice in my mid twenties..

not a thing but maybe a sniffle or two since then. I follow the same steps as you to avoid stuff. Maybe a little luck has played a part also. Who knows? But I'm not about to start changing what has worked unless I absolutely have to.

[Siwsan]

27. Same here - never have had the flu

I had to get flu vaccines when I was in the military. One time, in particular, almost everybody got sick from the vaccine (this was a LONG time ago). It had zero effect on me. I figure I've got a greater chance of a secondary infection at the injection site, than I do of getting the flu.

[louis-t]

3. Rumsfeld was heavily invested in the company that makes

Tamiflu. Bush ordered millions of doses for a flu outbreak that never happened. I think the stuff expires after a year and it was never used. Rumsfeld made a bunch of money. See how repug ideology works?

[Mojorabbit]

17. It has a long shelf life, way more than a year.

It really seemed to help shorten the flu the last time I had it. I felt like I was not going to make it, I was so sick. I know in Indonesia, the people who come down with the H5N1 flu virus (which kills a high percentage who get it) survive if given tamiflu early enough.

[Mojorabbit]

20. I found this article on it and the shortage

http://www.abc57.com/news/local/Abundance-of-flu-creates-shortage-of-Tamiflu-185592132.html
and this
http://www.tylerpaper.com/article/20130103/NEWS09/130109959

[sharp_stick]

4. This year's vaccine is a good match so far

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/CDC-Flu-shot-good-match-for-this-year-s-strains-4167032.php

Even if the strains covered by the vaccine aren't exactly the same as those encountered, being vaccinated will likely reduce the severity of the disease.

Tamiflu only has any effect against the real flu, not the phony flu that everyone and their dog claims to get every year, and it can only reduce symptoms and maybe shorten the duration by a day or two and then only if you take it within 24 hours of first symptoms.

Being as nobody thinks they're getting the flu within 24 hours, then as soon as they realize they're sick it's too late, it's a crap drug. I've never personally seen it work and most docs that I know don't bother to prescribe it unless the patient is elderly and has hospitalization potential. Other docs, usually the same ones that provide antibiotics to anyone that asks for them, will prescribe the shit out of this stuff just to get people out of their offices without complaint.

The only thing that prevents flu is the vaccine and good hygiene.

[Mojorabbit]

19. Worked for me. nt

[BumRushDaShow]

5. Relenza is the other anti-viral for flu

But yeah, both companies cornered the market so far until the patents run out.

Apparently what is circulating wasn't in the flu shot.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

6. never had a shot, had the flu once

many years ago in AZ, the whole family caught it. Everybody else got over it in a few days, I ended up with walking pneumonia.
I only go out once or twice a week, very little chance of being around a sick person, so I won't be getting it this year either.

[longship]

7. Tamiflu isn't used to prevent the flu.

With limited supplies, Tamiflu is used solely to mediate effects after a person has the flu, and only for the most at risk cases. Also, the epidemiological study data on Oseltamivir has not all been released putting its efficacy in question.

Vitamins do not prevent the flu, nor all those juices, whether they are juice-type drinks or not.

If you don't want the flu, get the vaccine. At least that has the ability to work.

[louis-t]

8. OK, I wasn't too far off. Here's a link.

http://www.swine-flu-h1n1.com/tamiflu-rumsfeld.html

[bcool]

9. I just got a script for it last month

I was in Springfield, IL on business last month when I started to get that "uh, oh, I'm coming down with the flu" feeling.

Since I couldn't afford to be down & out with it, I thought I'd give Tamiflu a try (for the first time).

I got a script sent in by my doc to a local Walgreens and I started taking it that same night.

All I know is that I started feeling better the next day and was completely better within two days.

Was I really coming down with the flu, or did I have something else that went away on its own? I guess I'll never know, but I'm glad I tried it

BTW, it cost $30 with my insurance (supposedly a savings of $130 per the receipt).

[dixiegrrrrl]

23. Until I read your post, I thought Tamiflu was a shot.

Is it in pill form or liquid?

[bcool]

34. Pills

Took one pill, twice a day, for five days.

[L0oniX]

12. My witch doctor has me covered on this one.

[pinboy3niner]

31. Did he say, "Ooh eeh ooh ah aah ting tang walla walla bing bang"?

A blast from the past.

[aikoaiko]

13. My son tested positive for the flu - the dr wrote tamiflu scripts for the WHOLE family.

Its a bad year for sure.

[Atman]

14. My wife could write a scrip for Tamiflu right now...

...but the point is, you can't get it. The drug stores don't have it. Tamiflu isn't available. Prescribe away...just try to pick it up at the Walgreens or CVS. The drug isn't available.

[aikoaiko]

15. I understand. My point was to show how one person getting the flu led to

four people getting tamiflu scripts.

[louis-t]

21. Yet the US holds 50 million doses in a warehouse somewhere.

See my link above.

[REP]

25. Tamiflu isn't a vaccine; it's post-infection antiviral

[Aerows]

22. I don't get flu shots

and I haven't had the flu in forever. I think for those that come in contact with a lot of little kids or sick people need one, but I don't.

[gollygee]

24. I got the flu shot this year and got the flu this year.

Sigh.

[amandabeech]

28. Was gradually recovering from a recurrent bronchitis,

after the doc wrote two different courses of antibiotics (mucous white to light yellow--inconclusive), when I came down with the flu. I had been too sick for the vaccination, but if I recover from the flu (it's been 9 days and I'm finally feeling a little better), I'm going to get that flu shot just in case.

[Atman]

29. Why are Tamiflu ads in heavy rotation if the drug isn't available?

I'm sorry...I'm just suspicious when "Donald Rumsfeld" and "profits" and all this shit just happen to fall into the same conversation. During the Bush years, everyone was scolded into getting a Tamiflu shot. Now, the flu is wide and varied, many variations going on, and the one vaccine which they one told us was the only barricade is suddenly unavailable. IOW, the price of it will go up drastically. And we don't even have a specific "flu" this season. There are several going around.

I'm just smelling bullshit. Can't pinpoint the bull yet.

[Mariana]

35. They probably bought the ads a long time ago.

Also, if a bunch of people get scrips, even if they can't fill them now, they'll fill them later so they can have it on hand if they need it in the future. The company will still make money from these ads.

[JesterCS]

30. never have had a flu-shot.

But I'm extremely a home-body. I get out with friends a couple times a week, but mostly I'm at home on the computer. Society is diseased lol

[dixiegrrrrl]

38. You might be surprised at how many of here are homebodies

for various reasons.
It does have an up side, for sure!

[revolution breeze]

36. Must be local

Picked up some for MIL, oldest daughter and I yesterday. Baby daughter has the flu. Hubby never ever gets sick.

[shanti]

37. I've only ever had two flu shots

this year and last year. before that, i just didn't get the flu, or i should say, haven't had the flu for over 20 years, even raising a kid. so...I just don't know what to believe on the shot i am retired though, and stay inside 90% of the time, except for groceries and errands, so hopefully, i won't get it this year.

[tavernier]

39. I would crawl on my knees to the nearest clinic, drug store,

or wherever they give them. Fortunately I'm a nurse and all I have to do is go to our home office since we get and give them for free. Thirty years ago I damn near died with the flu, and after struggling for two years with recurring bouts, my doc finally told me that he wanted me to start flu shots and get them yearly without fail. I have, and haven't been sick since; in fact I rarely catch a cold or any other ailment. I truly think that your resistance builds up year after year.