I got the shot on January 3rd. This weekend I did a bunch of moving of stuff, and assumed that I was just dealing with the dust and mold of an old house I was cleaning up, and then compounded by the dust in my own closet when I decided to clean it up.
No fever
Light Aches - more feels like I was working out a bit
Dry cough - not constant, just there at times.
Runny nose - again - not enough to warrant any OTC medication
Tired (but I just got off of a week of work travel).
My daughter got what I assume was the flu, and I don’t use the word ‘flu’ lightly. I honestly believe it’s what she had, or at the very least some other kind of similar bug. She missed an entire week of school and looked awful. Pale, barely ate, headache, fever etc. I did take her to the doc at one point (at the pressure of some other people) so I could give them $150 to say ‘yup, probably the flu, nothing we can do, keep eating/drinking etc’.
I got a flu shot, maybe that’s why I didn’t get it, maybe I got lucky since I don’t normally get those kinds of things, who knows. In any case, so far so good for me.
Suggestion: if you suspect you or a relative has the flu, get to the doctor within 48 hours. They’ll put you on Tamiflu. I’ve taken 4 of 10 pills now and feel much better. It’ll shorten your sickness. Tamiflu + Tylenol, and this has been much better than a lot of flu experiences for me.
But the window to get on Tamiflu is short. Once the aches set in and the cough starts, get to your doc or urgent care asap.
Wifey just got word that one of her co-workers of hers on a seasonal 2nd job has died from it. No idea if there were other circumstances or whatnot. Also, a friend just got over it. My office seems to have been unaffected so far.
My daughter’s doc said the same thing. That being a week or so into it there’s nothing they could do about it, however, if she spends any time around ‘at risk’ people (ie if grandparents babysit for her or if she had younger siblings etc), they’d get them started on Tamiflu.
Back in 1998, I had the flu despite having the shot; that was another year where a lot of people reporting that happening. It was thoroughly miserable. I think maybe the shot helped it be less severe, as in I was only praying for death for about 24 hours…
I work from home, so am not around other people much, but my husband works in an office and the kids both work in retail (one in a grocery store) so they’d be the most likely vectors.
I read a study the other day that suggested that if you get the flu shot after not having had one for several years, the one you get will work better on you, than on your spouse who’s been getting one every year. The study wasn’t clear as to why that was.
So there’s that argument for your getting one.
For what it’s worth, the immunity lasts only so long - so your spouse’s may be wearing off!
I get mine every year. They say it’s around 30% effective this year, but not sure what that actually means. So far it’s gone through my office but I haven’t gotten it. Since my kids are now officially all grown up and off doing their own thing I don’t have them bringing additional stuff home.
“New Canadian research shows just how dangerous the flu can be, revealing that the illness raises the chances of a heart attack by six times during the first week.”
I used to get flu a couple times a year flu shot or no, and at least 2 rhinovirus colds. 20 years ago a friend of a friend told me she had cured the same problem by taking 1 capsule of standardized Echinacea every 3 or 4 days. So I tried it, and haven’t had a cold or flu since, haven’t had a flu shot in 18 years. I used to tell people but they just laughed at me and said science says it isn’t possible and I’m a chump. So screw everybody! And to everybody washing their hands and sterilizing all those pesky environmental surfaces, you’re wasting your time! cause science definitely says the flu virus is airborne! Floatin’ around on little aerosol particles of spit and mucous! Goes right up your nose! And I don’t get it (insane laughter) hahahahah!
This I buy after my last year’s experience. I’d had the flu shot, but was so damn sick for about 3 days of not eating or drinking, I had the man take me to urgent care who immediately sent me to the hospital as I was having tachycardia.
Apparently not eating or drinking will do that to you.
I’ve never tried echnacia, but whenever I get a respiratory infection, I always get bronchitis afterwards. However several years ago I started taking 800mg cimetidine at the first sign of a cold and ever since I started doing that, I don’t get bronchitis after a cold (cimetidine strengthens your immune system by inhibiting suppressor T cells, which inhibit your immune system). I’ve tried garlic extract (garlic is a pretty broad antimicrobial) and noticed the same thing. If I take it at the first sign of a cold, it doesn’t stop the cold but prevents it from progressing into bronchitis, but stopped using that for fear of altering my gut microbiome. Neither treatment has any effect on my cold, but it prevents the cold from becoming bronchitis.
It didn’t work with this flu though. I’m over the flu but now I’ve got bronchitis. I’m on day 15 of being sick. However I’ll probably be ok in a couple days. This flu was the worst respiratory infection I’ve ever had. Coughing so hard I’d vomit. Coughing so hard I’d injure muscles in my stomach, or develop headaches, or not be able to sleep. Not fun.
The bronchitis I have now is a walk in the park compared to the flu.
SWMBO got the B strain, was sicker than a dog for a week. My brother-in-law came to town last Sunday for a conference and came down with it. He’s recuperating with us because he can’t fly back home until tomorrow.
I got my flu shot back in October and I seem to have hit the jackpot. Usually I’m the one who gets sick and SWMBO has to take care of me.
The Tamiflu thing reminded me of a longstanding question: how easy is it to tell the flu in time to get the stuff, whether you’ve had it before or not? I mean, if it were THAT distinctive, everyone would get it all the time, right?
I knew I had the flu because of the aches and fatigue and dry cough. That, to me, was very distinct and what put me in the doctor’s office. Runny nose, wet cough, sore throat-- those, to me, are the cold. I also was lucky because my wife had just been told about Tamiflu by a pharmacist. I had never heard of it before, so the day after I first felt flu-y, I was told I had a short window to get in on some of this new-fangled flu medicine. So I got my butt to urgent care.
I’ve had chronic bronchitis for years and years. I’ve had occasional major severe acute outbreaks. Just getting a plain old cold will sometimes do that. I’ve been to the Emergency Room four times over the years that I can remember, and one other serious case where I really should have been in the ER. We’re talking about being unable to breathe!
I was in the ER overnight four years ago and horribly sick with coughing – some may recall that I blogged it in detail in a thread on this board.
Again, just two years ago, it happened again, only I was in the ER for THREE nights!
You bet your collective Straight Dope asses, I get my flu shot every year, and I damn well hope I never get the flu. I am seriously worried that a flu, or ever another bad cold, could be literally (yes literally) life-threatening for me.
I’ve told my doctor that, and he seems to agree. He gave me a prescription of Prednisone just to have around to use in case I ever really need it again.
I think I ended up getting both major strains going around. I deal with the public constantly, plus some of my employees have kids, so there’s another vector. It is good that this time of year is usually a bit slow, as it’s been a rare day this year that everyone has made it to work and been healthy.
This year’s flu is dangerous. I had a friend die from it back in november, and one of my employee’s son-in-laws is in the ICU from a heart attack. NPR says that it increases your chances of a heart attack 6 times.
It didn’t hit me too hard, but I am usually pretty good at not getting too sick. I am a bit worried though as I am just this side of “obese”, and my blood pressure could be lower. I don’t think I would much like a heart attack.