It can’t be flu, can it?

That doesn’t tell you anything.

Even a doctor would be unable to absolutely diagnose Influenza by examining a patient face to face without testing. All flu is proper flu. If it is confirmed via a test. Just like all chicken pox is proper chicken pox. The severity of it does not change what it is.

But I see you've been vaccinated so could be a milder version

What? Of course there is! Like the previous poster I've had it once and once was enough, it's horrific, one of the worst things I ever had, I was hallucinating with it at one point, I don't think you've got flu just a bad cold...

OP, yes it might well be flu. You've had your vaccination so it would generally mean a milder illness as your immune system will be prepped already. Even without vaccination flu can range from no symptoms to being so ill you are on life support in the hospital with everything in between.

Complete nonsense. Flu can be mild, moderate or severe.

A decongestant may help your ears( sorry if already mentioned) and ginger tea. I can't take decongestants but ginger tea helps.

No point trying. It gets worse and worse every winter. People post facts, links, research etc and one post later, Sandra logs in and tells us her own version of diagnosis which usually involves picking up money, crawling to toilets and looking or not looking at screens as appropriate.

I have flu right now and have done a workout and eaten breakfast. Just about to finish some tiling. I'm a medical fucking miracle.

Could we please stop spreading this myth?

Flu can be severe, sometimes enough to kill. It can also be mild, moderate and asymptomatic.

I swear by Vicks/Boots first defence for avoiding catching colds and viruses and also clearing them quickly. Probably too late for OP but worth it for anyone who is worried about getting sick for Christmas. Dont know if it works against flu but it lowers the viral load so i imagine it might.

Also, if anyone is currently ill, please think before going out and about and infecting others. YOU’LL be clear by Christmas but anyone who catches it from you probably doesnt fancy spending Christmas in bed!

If it was flu you wouldn’t be able to look at a screen, you would have a fever, and would generally be physically unable to leave your bed for at least 3 days. Flu also tends to come on quite quickly and dramatically.

You’ve picked up a horrid viral bug and sadly it looks like it’s settled in on your chest for a bit. If you’ve not been resting appropriately then that’s why it’s been dragging on and has extended to the chest.

Did it come on sudden?

I think it used to be the key difference between flu and colds?

Flu happens much more quickly?

Not a medic though 😁

When my MIL gets blocked ears with a cold, it's not her ears, it's her eustachian tubes and steam really helps her so fingers crossed the shower helps!

I spent the day on an acute medical ward yesterday. We were all having viral swabs on admission. Another patient in my bay tested positive for flu. I wouldn't have known by looking at them, they seemed relatively well. I think I've only ever had flu once. There are days I can't account for and my housemates at the time were questioning whether to contact my family because I wasn't coherent.

Ah is that what it is? any type of influenza is called “flu” and other viruses such as RSV are often referred to as colds?

So it has nothing to do with the severity?

I heard the £20 note story on the radio years ago so thought it was to do with severity.

Now I just think of anything as a contagious virus and don’t really label it.

The problem is there’s millions of different types and strains of cold and flu viruses and the flu jab only contains about 7 (or something like that I read somewhere) of the most common at the time. Therefore it maybe you won’t be vaccinated against the particular strain you were exposed to anyway. Also a vaccination just means your body detects it quicker and therefore tries to be rid of it earlier not that you won’t feel any symptoms of your body trying to get rid of it.

They say if it’s flu you simply can’t even get out of bed, but I don’t think that’s a medical explanation, a virus is a virus. Depending on lots of factors including viral load, people will react differently to the same virus and that’s why some can’t get out of bed and others just have a sniffle.

But it doesn’t matter what it is, just take some rest, water, vitamins, keep away from people. Hope you feel better soon.

For ear congestion I think steam inhalation is brilliant!

I have had influenza a this week. I felt a bit crap with cold symptoms and a v v mild fever. I've had far worse colds.

When are we going to bloody stop with the "proper flu" rubbish? It's a virus and operates on a spectrum. Some research even suggests that up to three quarters of people with flu have no symptoms whatsoever.

I have never seen something untrue persist on MN quite like the flu myth.

Agreed.

I don't know why some people are saying there's no such thing as mild flu.

For some healthy people the symptoms can be quite mild.

It doesn't affect everyone in the same way.

DH has those symptoms and it’s Covid. It was day 5 before he lost his sense of taste (this is why we tested).

If you’re infected with an influenza virus then you have ‘flu. Doesn’t matter how severe or otherwise your symptoms are, or whether or not you can pick up the mythical £5/£10/£20/£50 note. It’s very worrying how many people just cannot grasp this.

Feel better soon OP, whatever it is.

Headache, muscle pain, exhaustion, sudden onset and almost always with a fever and chills is flu. Sneezing, coughing, sore throat and gradual ones is a cold.

As has been said, severity of symptoms can absolutely vary. The telltale is usually speed of onset.

But it’s irrelevant, you don’t feel well so look after yourself, stay hydrated and rest. Don’t bother with cold and flu tablets, take proper pain relief / anti-pyrexials but only if you really need them. The high fever is your body trying to to fight the infection / virus, let it.