Background: So I have the flu. Day two. I’ve contacted work and I’m off for the rest of the week so I can relax and just concentrate on getting better.
Question: Will I get better faster if I don’t take the cold and flu pills (which only work to alleviate the symptoms)? Am I better to let my body stay at a hotter temperature, in order to fight the virus faster?
ETA: I’m talking about the cold and flu pills you get at the pharmacy, not antivirals.
You’re going to get better in the same amount of time anyway, so for god’s sake take medicine to help your symptoms. And drink plenty of water and chicken soup, and try to sleep through as much of it as you can.
Poor sickie.
I’ve always believed that letting your body have its fever, rather than suppressing it with pills, will aid it in fighting the virus. Why else does it want to be so hot? I’m interested in any actual studies on that.
Are you talking about taking tamiflu, which shortens the course of the infection and reduces symptom severity? It’s a prescription drug that should be started within 48 hours of onset of symptoms to become effective. If one has chronic health problems one should definitely consider this option. But it sounds like it may be too late for that for you.
Otherwise, most OTC stuff is useless, save for tylenol or motrin for fever and pain reduction. Use that as needed. It won’t shorten or lengthen the course of your illness but it will reduce suffering a bit.
I specifically said I’m not talking about antivirals.
Not everything our bodies do in reaction to disease is necessarily a beneficial thing.
If you google “does reducing fever prolong illness” you’ll find a few studies. The ones I perused briefly found no conclusive evidence that Tylenol or Advil or Aspirin prolonged illnesses.
This would at least suggest that any effect is minor, and if you need fever reducing OTC drugs for your own comfort, you shouldn’t avoid it over this issue.
With proper care and medication, you can get rid of the flu in seven days.
Left to itself, it will hang on for a week.
I find some of the medicine side effects can be more uncomfortable than the flu. If I know that I’m going to be horizontal for a couple of days, then I’ll take them since it makes sleeping easier. But if my symptoms are mild enough I have an easier time just drinking tea, laying down, and taking it easy.
Thank god for pizza delivery.
This study suggests fever plays a vital role in immune response.
http://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/news/2011/11/fever-plays-vital-role-in-immune-response.aspx
Quote:
“but this research report and several others are showing that having a fever is part of an effective immune response. We had previously thought that the microbes that infect us simply can’t replicate as well when we have fevers, but this new work also suggests that the immune system might be temporarily enhanced functionally when our temperatures rise with fever. Although very high body temperatures are dangerous and should be controlled, this study shows that we may need to reconsider how and when we treat most mild fevers.”
Thanks, that’s exactly the sort of thing I was after!
Sorry, didn’t see your edit. I’d opened a window to reply before you made that addition, then got diverted for a while.
But my point still stands. There’s no good evidence that reducing fever causes problems. Just some hypotheses and small studies. In that position, I’d still take anti-pyretics.
I also have what seems like the flu (sickies unite!). I broke down and took Tylenol last night for a fever after about 8 hours of suffering. I was just so uncomfortable. The Tylenol brought my fever down and helped with the aches and pains, and allowed me to sleep about 12 hours. So, even if fever is important for processing the virus, I was so uncomfortable that I prefer to take something that lets me sleep. Day two and I already feel mostly human - I even feel like I can eat something maybe.
Hope you feel better soon.
And I hope you feel better soon, too! Right now, my armpits really hurt. Guess those glands(?) are working hard!
Now that you have your answer I was wondering - did you get a flu shot this year?
When I was in the working class (now, retired), my employer offered 40 hours/year for personal leave. I would take time off when I wasn’t sick. The main reason was you enjoy your time off so much more when you aren’t sick, no? The added benefit was I didn’t get sick. Maybe reduction of stress helps the immune system work better.
To the sickies in this thread, curl up with a book and may the force be with you!
Never go by the results of one study. Never squared use a single study done in mice and not replicated in humans to determine your medical needs. My suggestion would be to never, ever, ever cite a single study done in mice and not replicated in humans to respond to a medical question. I know people do this all the time, but IMO it is worse than saying nothing.
BTW, The Mayo Clinic recommends the use of fever reducers for adults.
Fever may be a good thing, but pain is not. I don’t think Ibuprofen has a fever reducer. Here in Mexico we use Tequila. Internally, don’t apply it to your armpits! Cheap and effective.
Ibuprofen reduces fevers just fine. It’s known for it.
Even if the fever has some beneficial effect on the immune system (which, as discussed above, is far from proven), an uncontrolled fever can cause much worse problems. So take two QtM posts and see us in the morning. 