I have all the symptoms of the flu except in a very mild form and no fever. I thought I hurt my back at work on Friday, but everything hurts, not just my back, and it’s on and off. The only thing that’s consistent is a runny nose, sore throat, and I’m having a hard time eating solid food- everything makes me want to throw up, although I have not actually vomited. Mild exertion makes me feel short of breath. I also feel really, really tired and a little loopy.
I’ve been able to get everything done that I need to get done though and have actually been fairly busy this weekend. Unfortunately I have to go to work tomorrow. I’m hoping this will blow over in the next few days. In the meantime I’m taking lots of ibuprofen, sore throat spray and am drinking lots of fluids.
I’d rather not go to the doctor since a) if it’s a virus they can’t do anything anyway and b) my appointment for getting my flu shot before insurance cost $75 for the office visit, $75 for the shot and then some other charge that I can’t remember. After insurance my bill was $60something, so going to the doctor is expensive!! I got my shot a month or so ago, so I know this isn’t a bad reaction to the shot.
I just hope I’m not contagious since I have roommates and there’s no way out of going to work :(. I’ve been washing my hands regularly and I cleaned my entire apartment using spray that contains bleach. Of course I’m not coughing and sneezing on people either.
Posting in IMHO rather than MPSIMS since this is medical related, but please report as in the wrong forum if I should have posted in MPSIMS.
Sounds like a bad cold, not the flu. Some are pretty damn bad: I had one that lasted 3 weeks the December before last, and honestly, it wasn’t much easier to cope with than the only time I got the flu.
From now on, why don’t you go to a drug store like Walgreens or Rite-Aid for your flu shots? $25 for the shot and that’s it, and I believe they take most insurance too. A couple of supermarkets around here do it too, but you’re probably not in New England.
Walgreens is around here and gives flu shots. I’ll do that next time. I honestly didn’t think it would be so expensive. My doctor’s appointment was actually for something else and he said, “Hey, why don’t you get the flu shot while you’re here!” and I didn’t think of asking about the cost.
If you can go to work and muster up the energy to post here, I’m going for a cold and not real flu.
I had the flu a couple of years ago for the first time in my life and seriously could barely move or talk for about a week, it was pretty brutal. Never had flu in my life before, it was nasty! I was running temps between 103-104, lost my voice completely for a few days, and was weak as a kitten for a week. Walking to the bathroom when I had to felt like the Bataan death march.
Drug stores will only do flu shots if you’re not actively sick.
Either way, if you are feverish, you are likely still contagious. Sorry for your roommates, but they are already exposed, better to stay home and take care of yourself than take it to work.
It really sucks to have to use sick days when you are sick
Thanks for the well wishes! I don’t have a fever at all, so that’s nothing to worry about. I also got my flu shot over a month ago. Moot point now, but now I know for future reference that it’s a lot cheaper at a drugstore than my doctor’s office.
Unfortunately I have to go to work because there is no one else to open the store that I work at. I actually started to feel a little better Friday after a few hours- probably because I was distracted. Then this weekend I cleaned my apartment, went to the grocery store, went to a play and today I ran some errands. If I was well enough to do all that then I’m just being lazy if I don’t go to work.
Hope it passes soon! I agree with the rest that think it’s a bad cold. Stay hydrated.
I just had all the rest of the symptoms you didn’t have. Fever (topped out at 101.5 before I started popping Tylenol), sore throat (complete with white blotches on my tonsils), and extreme fatigue. Diagnosis: [del]Murder[/del] Strep. I spent the last week migrating between my bed and the sofa, pretty much sleeping about 18 hours a day. Finally going to go back to the office tomorrow after being out since Tuesday.
Unfortunately, you may have already spread your cold to other people at the store and the theater. So sure, go ahead and pass it along to everyone you deal with at work.
In an ideal world you would stay home and rest, but then in an ideal world you wouldn’t get a cold either.
As you probably already know, consume lots of liquids, warm ones if possible.
IANAD, but I’ve had colds that lasted 3 weeks. The flu is entirely different from a prolonged or especially severe cold. As someone said earlier, the worst cold you have, you fear you’re going to die. With the flu, you hope you will.
I went to a doctor convinced I had the flu, and she said the main symptom this year has been a persistent dry hacking cough. Incidentally, my coworker has strong flu symptoms and the cough.
I’m not going out and doing things to be malicious and spread germs to people. It started with a sore back and I thought I’d hurt my back lifting something heavy and then it went away, then I felt achy all over, but not SICK sick, just general malaise, stuffy nose, sore throat. And as I said, it’s off and on, so I’ve felt totally fine at some points. It’s mostly worse when I wake up in the morning, especially the throat, so I think I’m breathing through my mouth when I sleep which is making my throat sore and dry. I felt fine when I went to the store and to the play.
If we all stayed home every time we had a minor sniffle, nothing would get done.
I’m just curious if you have a PPO? Or something else? I have an HMO and when I added a flu and a tetanus shot to my last appointment there was no extra cost to me and all I paid was my usual $10 copay. Just wondering if you had something else, like one of the new Universal Health Care plans that I would have to look forward to if I ever lose my HMO.
Hope you feel better really soon. Like before you have to drag yourself to work. If you really want to be less contagious to others, you could don a surgical mask! I did that back when I had H1N1 in 2010 and my boss was pregnant (and unvaccinated, oops). My doc said to stay home until symptoms subsided and then to wear the mask an additional 2 days while at work. I looked like a dork and wasn’t comfortable, but I work in a veterinary environment so didn’t look as freaky as if I was in a regular office or sales or something! Nobody else got it, like they do when someone shows up with a cold and everyone else ends up with it over the following couple of weeks.
I’m actually not sure what I have which is kind of lame. All I know is my insurance company is Aetna and I don’t have a co-pay. I’m guessing it must be a PPO. And thanks! I feel ok now aside from the sore throat, but I have sore throat spray and menthol drops. I’m guessing my work would not be ok with a surgical mask since I work with customers and that would scare people off.
I checked WebMD and it says colds are contagious for the first 3 days and it’s already been about 3 days. For all I know I’ll feel totally better tomorrow.
