I take prednisone. The warnings included with prednisone caution about live vaccines: " Do not receive a "live" vaccine while using this medicine. Prednisone may increase your risk of harmful effects from a live vaccine. Live vaccines include measles, mumps, rubella (MMR), rotavirus, typhoid, yellow fever, varicella (chickenpox), zoster (shingles), and nasal flu (influenza) vaccine." Perhaps I should avoid the flu shot ?

Hi, William! I would talk to your doctor about receiving the flu shot. I know my doctor encourages me to get a flu shot every year. You can get a flu vaccine that is NOT live. Here's what the CDC says about the flu vaccine :

Hi @William - it's the Flumist nasal flu vaccine that has the live virus. The flu shots do not. It's always good to discuss with your own doctor what treatment is best for you. Are you always on Prednisone? Or just when you have an asthma flare?

Up until 2 weeks ago, I took prednisone only for a cold or flu symptoms . Also I had started on Stiolto 3 months ago, replacing Alvesco and Spiriva. My doctor recommended the change. I should have researched it. I had used Symbicort, then Advair, then Breo all with the same results: quite pronounced chest pains after a few weeks on the new med. The first time resulted in extensive testing, focusing on potential heart problems, but with numerous other tests for physical, chemical, even...

Thank you, Kathy P for the heads up on flu vaccine. Very informative.

William, that's a tough road you've had to travel to figure out what was causing the chest pains. Here's hoping that your doctor can help you figure out the next step. In the meantime, feel free to post a new topic or join in on our online support community.

Why not share your situation on our Asthma Support Forum so you can get more feedback from other folks in a similar situation? If you're on desktop view, just follow the link above, and click on the big green POST. On mobile, click the three horizontal lines in the upper left hand corner, and you'll see POST. Click that, and you'll be able to type your comment as a new post.

"Have family members without asthma get the flu shot to protect those that do have asthma". Why? Isn't it enough that the person(s) with asthma get the flu shots?

Hi @Venkata Aspari , Welcome to AAFA's support community. It is important for all family members to be vaccinated so as not to bring flu into the home and potentially cause those with asthma to get sick. The flu can be accompanied by other illnesses, such as pneumonia, so even if someone is vaccinated, they could still get sick from others in their house who have the flu/other contagious illnesses. If everyone in the home is vaccinated, there is less risk of bringing other illnesses into the...

Hi, @Venkata Aspari and welcome! Everyone in my family gets a flu shot -- that way everyone is protected from the flu.

Thank you for the welcome and the response. I understand that flu vaccine protects. My question was: if the asthmatic person gets the shot then he/she is protected. How will the vaccination status of others in the family affect the asthmatic? But Jen did answer saying there are other flu-related illnesses like pneumonia which could be passed on even if flu itself could be avoided.

Thank you, that helps.

Yes, Jen's exactly right. Plus, the Centers for Disease Control says this about who should get the flu shot: My DH isn't a fan of shots, but he gets his shot every year to help protect me and our daughter -- side benefit is that he hasn't gotten the flu himself since he started getting an annual flu shot. Could you talk to your doctor about what your doctor's recommendation is for flu shots when it comes to your particular family? Your doctor will know your situation best.

@William How are things going with your medications? Were you able to find one that works without the side effects?