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[Dr.Vertex]

I would note that many stories about this do include advice to get vaccinated.  That the chances are very small of a bad reaction, and the flu can kill you.

Yes, but honstely the article will still have a negitive effect. Its a personal story and emotional story, with gratuitous suffering. When I see that I think "damn, i dont want that to happen to me, no matter how rare it is." There is something off putting about seeing some one suffering, and then saying "the thing we think did this is good, go do it!" Its really a no win scenario, because the SHOULD air the story, and people SHOULD get vacinated but the two dont really go hand and hand. The only real solution is better understanding of science. Telling some one to do something that goes against their knee jerk reaction will do nothing unless they can then think about why they should do it.

Psychosomatic illnesses are real and should be viewed as any other problem, just with a different origin. That said just saying it is psycho somatic is a cop out. Testing her for dystonia should be fairly easy to diagnose with certaint tests. But really, non of us know the medical details around here. Till more info comes out...

...Continue blind speculation!!!

[gone]

I think it's a red flag that we have not heard anything from the doctors actually treating her.

[JoelWhy]

I think it's a red flag that we have not heard anything from the doctors actually treating her.

Well, he can't say anything publicly without her consent.

[Joe Shmoe]

I think it's a red flag that we have not heard anything from the doctors actually treating her.

Well, he can't say anything publicly without her consent.

I think the fact that she came forward obviates that need.  Regardless, the fact that she hasn't produced a doctor to back up her story is why it's a red flag.  If her claims were serious there should be a doctor sitting beside her explaining what happened.

[♫♪ FX ♪♫]

It's psychosomatic Dystonia!!

Isn't medicine wonderful?  A brand new disorder!

If you're just being sarcastic to make a point, I apologize that your tone isn't working over the internet.  However, you sound serious to me and for that I'm a bit more saddened.

I was being sarcastic.  Watching the Doctor on FOX trying to explain away everything by diagnosing her (based on watching the FOX video of her) is so pathetic, so far away from science, and so expected, sarcasm was my first response.

I watched the story break on TV, and did some research before it became mainstream, and I knew that somebody somewhere would come up with a reason it couldn't be what two Doctors said it was.

Dystonia, from the seasonal flu vaccine.

They also hand waved away that she got the flu, because nobody ever gets the flu after getting a flu vaccine. 

So, according to her Doctors, that examined her and diagnosed her, it is a rare type of nerve damage, and it seems to have been triggered by a very rare reaction to the seasonal flu vaccine, and getting the flu after the vaccine, and she is sick.

According to some Doctor who never examined her, it is self created and had nothing to do with the flu vaccine, and nobody ever gets the flu after getting a vaccine.

The message is clear to me.

The vaccine is perfectly safe, and if you get sick after getting it, it is is your fault, because nothing is ever the vaccines fault, and you should get vaccinated because other wise you could die.  And you should get vaccinated to protect others, and if you come down with some extremely rare illness after the vaccine, it will be because of something else, or you made it up, because the vaccine can't hurt you, so go get it right now. 

My skeptical nature does not buy this.  Something is not right here.

[♫♪ FX ♪♫]

Let's remember the facts of the matter.

The shot in the arm itself, on August 23, was uneventful. Ten days later, Desiree says she got flu-like symptoms – fever, vomiting, weakness in her legs, and body aches.

On returning to work at AOL after Labor Day, she was even more fatigued. She passed out at work, and then again at home. Her husband, Brendan, rushed her to Urgent Care nearby as Desiree went into convulsions. She was immediately transferred to Loudoun Hospital, where she spent three days.

Her husband, Brendan, rushed her to Urgent Care nearby as Desiree went into convulsions.

I guess the FOX Doc forgot to mention that she suffered from psychosomatic convulsions right before she came down with psychosomatic Dystonia. 

And all those Specialist and Doctors, she fooled them all.  Unlike the TV Doc, they couldn't see through her scam.  She probably faked the "fever, vomiting, weakness in her legs, and body aches" as well.

Perfectly healthy well balanced young people do that you know. 

In case it isn't obvious, there is sarcasm in there.

[cerveauxfrits]

So, according to her Doctors, that examined her and diagnosed her, it is a rare type of nerve damage, and it seems to have been triggered by a very rare reaction to the seasonal flu vaccine. . .

So rare, in fact, that nobody seems to have ever heard of it before.


I'm not ready to rule out the unstated third possibility: that none of the doctors have correctly identified the cause of her dystonia.

[Joe Shmoe]

The vaccine is perfectly safe, and if you get sick after getting it, it is is your fault, because nothing is ever the vaccines fault, and you should get vaccinated because other wise you could die.  And you should get vaccinated to protect others, and if you come down with some extremely rare illness after the vaccine, it will be because of something else, or you made it up, because the vaccine can't hurt you, so go get it right now. 

Quickly now, who made any of these claims?  No one? Ok then, STFU.

[♫♪ FX ♪♫]

Actually, I got all those claims from other Internet Forums.

[adorita]

I'm fascinated by journalism these days. It seems that you can add a question mark to any statement to make it a story. "What is the flu shot?" "Life ruined by vaccine?"

Doctors and hospitals these days are so afraid of being sued that many would be happy to admit to claims that don't tint their names. I'm not surprised if her doctor allows her come to the conclusion that it was the flu shot.

[JoelWhy]

Ignore

[snakeman]

Let's remember the facts of the matter.

The shot in the arm itself, on August 23, was uneventful. Ten days later, Desiree says she got flu-like symptoms – fever, vomiting, weakness in her legs, and body aches.

On returning to work at AOL after Labor Day, she was even more fatigued. She passed out at work, and then again at home. Her husband, Brendan, rushed her to Urgent Care nearby as Desiree went into convulsions. She was immediately transferred to Loudoun Hospital, where she spent three days.

Her husband, Brendan, rushed her to Urgent Care nearby as Desiree went into convulsions.

I guess the FOX Doc forgot to mention that she suffered from psychosomatic convulsions right before she came down with psychosomatic Dystonia. 

And all those Specialist and Doctors, she fooled them all.  Unlike the TV Doc, they couldn't see through her scam.  She probably faked the "fever, vomiting, weakness in her legs, and body aches" as well.

Perfectly healthy well balanced young people do that you know. 

In case it isn't obvious, there is sarcasm in there.

*bold mine*

And this right here is why I detest the label "psychosomatic".  Yes, it is a real mechanism for causing symptoms.  However, in the vast majority of cases, it is a label applied to something as a cop-out or, even when potentially legitimate, is viewed by many people as synonymous with deliberate and willful deception.

It still doesn't address the fact that the woman did innumerable other things both before and after the vaccination that could have caused the problem including being exposed to environmental hazards, contracting a viral or bacterial illness, exposure to an allergen that was new to her body, etc.  My bet on most likely scenario that still involves the flu:
1.  Woman touches door handle at work, picking up flu virus
2.  Woman rubs eye, transferring virus into body
3.  Virus spreads with no visible symptoms
4.  Woman gets vaccinated
5.  Woman develops flu from initial doorknob contact
6.  Woman has severe neurological damage due to viral infection that was not affected one way or the other by the event of being vaccinated

That still gets us to the end point and includes the flu only because I wanted to.  Is my scenario any more or less valid than the one proposed in the news piece?  No, of course not!  They're both pretty insubstantial.

[JoelWhy]

They also hand waved away that she got the flu, because nobody ever gets the flu after getting a flu vaccine. 

So, according to her Doctors, that examined her and diagnosed her, it is a rare type of nerve damage, and it seems to have been triggered by a very rare reaction to the seasonal flu vaccine, and getting the flu after the vaccine, and she is sick.

According to some Doctor who never examined her, it is self created and had nothing to do with the flu vaccine, and nobody ever gets the flu after getting a vaccine.

Sorry, but this sounds like utter b.s.  You'd have to be a total quack to believe that the flu vaccine is 100% effective.

[gone]

unless we hear from the doctors who have actually examined her, i think this mystery will remain just that.  As a person in the medical field though, i am fascinated that her symptoms seem to go away when she is running.  This is not totally unheard of.  In An anthropologist on Mars Oliver Sacks describes a turret's sufferer that is a surgeon.  As soon as the gloves are on in the ER, he is symptom free.  Once the surgery is over, they come back.  So this sort of thing is real.  However, the most sketchy aspect of this story is that it her symptoms seem to have began as case of the flu, and we know for certain that the Flu shot DOES NOT CAUSE the flu. 

[cerveauxfrits]

On the flu jab's ability to give anyone anything like influenza:

'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This virus is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't stuck 'im in a syringe 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!! THIS IS AN EX-VIRUS!!