It’s that time of year again, you know where the entrances of grocery stores and pharmacies are decorated with “Get Your Flu Shot” signs, and promises of a $5 gift card or a $5 discount on your groceries. There’s the flu shot hashtags #fightflu and the flu shot selfies–and of course let’s not forget the flu shot diaries.

People get their flu shots with the best of intentions. They want to protect those around them, they want to avoid the flu. They believe the blatant lie that 80,000 people died of the flu last season. But there is another side to this: The Flu Shot Diaries.

What’s the flu shot really like, behind closed doors?