I am a healthcare worker. I received my flu shot early, as I do every year, for the simple fact that if I get the flu, I will miss work for a few days, but if I give the flu to one of my patients, it can kill them.
After the shot, I woke up the next day and felt like I had been hit by a Mack truck. I was not bed-ridden, but I had flu-like symptoms for several days. Some people can have a worse reaction than I did, but most are comparable to what I had or less.
FluMist is a great way to go. I cannot use it because sneezing, coughing, etc. expels the vaccine and I can inadvertently give it to a patient and it can cause the flu in immunocompromised people (AIDS, leukemia, etc.). It is great in your case though. It also is much more expensive (I think $70-80) than the shot ($10) but the shot is running low in many areas.
The vaccination also may not have the proper antigens in it to protect you from the current pandemic. The CDC thinks this years flu shot may be giving partial immunity, but the verdict is still out.