So who has the flu?

I had extremely bad flu a couple of days back which last for almost a week! I had constant temperatures, where one minute I could be absolutely freezing and the next I would be absolutely roasting. I didn't really have a cold as I wasn't really coughing but that soon changed after the 3rd or 4th day of my actual illness. I am glad to say that I do not have the flu anymore and it was one of the worst illnesses I have ever had in my life.
 
Everyone's pretty much summed up what I was going to post to Dirtydog. :)
I am quite impressed that he manages to make a debate out of something like flu though :p
 
dirtydog said:
Eh? Of course it isn't. That would be true if the symptoms of a cold and the symptoms of flu were totally different. In fact, they are very similar. If you can't see that then there's nothing more I can say, let's agree that we don't agree.
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We don't agree. Colds are incredibly mild compared to flu, no matter what your age.

K.
 
i was going to post on here earlier this week, but wasnt sure i could as it sounded like a medical thread. But now u lot have i am ok too, i have had a cols since xmas week, it then went away only to return into a synus (i cant spell it) cold, i couldnt believe what was exiting my nose, it was worse than glue. Then after i thought this had cleared up i had the worst time of my life tuesday night, i was fine, then got a belly ache and had diohrea, it was like water, then i threw up. This went on for 10 hours and i lost count of the times i craweled to the loo, it must be about 12-14 times, each time i passed water thru my back exit and then tried to throw up (but there wasnt any thing left), my belly ache never went and stopped me sleeping all night. I was extremely worried too, i have had food poisoning before and this was the same but lasted twice the time and hurt do much more, i didnt even care what was going on around me and finally decised to sleep in the bathroom.

4 days later i have now started to eat solid foods again, but still have belly pains every no and then. i have lost a large amount of weight too.

My GF called the doctor out as she couldnt get me to respond to here. I will never winge about a sore throat again!
 
My Flu started yesterday, been in bed since 10pm last night unable to get comfy, pounding headache, sore throat and the shivers.

I rarely get flu but this one is bad, medicines are not helping one bit.
 
Yup, I have it. Well, just getting rid of it now. It took me literally 10 minutes to get out of bed just to get in the bath. I didn't want to move anywhere.

Never want to go through that again, ever. :(

On Thursday in my year alone there were 44 people off. :eek:
 
siloleth said:
My Flu started yesterday, been in bed since 10pm last night unable to get comfy, pounding headache, sore throat and the shivers.

I rarely get flu but this one is bad, medicines are not helping one bit.
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Apparently you can't have flu or you wouldn't be well enough to post on the forum..
 
manor said:
But 'Man Flu' is a killer. I nearly died from that last week. The doc said that if it had transformed to, what is commonly known as, 'a womans sniffle' I would have dropped in to a deep coma never to return.
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That sounds like a classic case of man flu. The sniffles followed by IMMINENT DEATH :eek:
 
Not had the flu, but was feeling pretty rough sunday with a very bad sore throat, ended up in hospital on tuesday as I could hardly breath. Found out i had severe tonsillitus (SP?) and an abscess had formed on one of my tonsils. Had to have it drained but they wouldnt remove them, got out of hospital yesterday evening.

On a good note though, was not allowed to smoke in the hospital and have now decided to quit smoking. nearly 5 days without a fag now lol.
 
dirtydog said:
No offence but I gather you are rather older than me and I gather that flu hits older people harder than younger ones, and in fact kills plenty of old people every year. The treatment for flu is the same as for colds AFAIK too - paracetamols, fluid and rest. I've had what you describe before, apart from the hospital part. Apparently I am wrong to think of it is a bad cold and I should have magically 'known' that it was flu - okay :)
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No offence taken. No, you couldn't magically have known. Short of laboratory tests and confirmation (because the virues are different), I guess none of us can be sure. My first comment was actually lighthearted (hence the smiley).

However, while some symptoms are certainly similar, my (limited) experience is that the severity is very different. Yes, I'm probably older than you and yes, these things hit harder when you're older, but I'm not that old and otherwise generally in good health. But this thing was seriously nasty, and (according to the doctors) could have had a rather permanent outcome. :eek: It gave me a rather large scare, anyway.

Perhaps the biggest differences, apart from the fact that they are different viruses, is the prevalence and severity of a fever, the speed of onset and the duration. And you're dead right about flu being a killer. Typically, ten thousand a year, or more, in the UK alone die from flu.

Light-hearted cracks aside, dirtydog, I have no idea whether what you had was a cold or flu but based on my experience (which of course may not be representative, though my virologist friend tells mew it was pretty standard), when you've had flu you KNOW you've had it, and you know the difference from a bad cold. I've had plenty of bad colds, and I'd often referred to them as flu. Not any more.

According to my virologist friend, the most suggestive indication of which you have is the speed of onset. If you go from feeling pretty much fine to laid up in bed in a matter of hours, it's flu not a cold. If you feel the typical cold symptoms (sneezes, itchy/sore throat, etc) for a couple of days or more before it really gets going, it's a cold.

But, I'm no expert and wouldn't like to guess at how close together a severe cold and mild flu attack could be. All I will say is that a 'proper' bout of flu is not something you confuse with a cold, even a bad one.
 
Well I know I've had flu, been so sick of just staring at my computer screen (though, that's what I do at work???) so I went to the pub tonight and yesterday. Getting some decent night's sleep instead of waking up shivering in my own sweat! :p
 
mysticsniper said:
I take 1000Mg of Vitamin C every day, not even a whiff of a cold from me for ages ;)
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According to a study I was reading a year or so ago, there is no evidence at all that Vitamin C helps prevent catching a cold or flu, and given the viral nature of both, no understanding of how it could do so. What there was, however, was good evidence to suggest was that taking C supplements when you get a cold can help reduce the severity and/or duration of symptoms by about 20%.

Of course, studies don't always get it right. :)
 
dirtydog said:
Apparently you can't have flu or you wouldn't be well enough to post on the forum..
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Laptop/Wireless.

Was bed ridden until this morning apart from the 10 minute toilet break which was a nightmare.

Have now been diagnosed with Tonsilitis which is just great - i seem to get it at least 4 or 5 times a year... really must consider getting my tonsils removed.
 
Well I've got yet another cold :( And my head hurts, and my ears are blocked, and my nose is runny and..and....and *feels sorry for self*

I feel the only cure is going to be wine and possibly galaxy chocolate. And maybe some kind of cocoon/sleeping bag type affair in the sofa so I can watch fluffy girly films.

Flu...if you have flu you can forget about doing anything other than laying about for at least a week in my experience. Even after the initial few days real illness, you'll be weak for quite a while.
 
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