To ask how badly flu should affect a healthy 14yo??

[Notnormalisitreally]

Apologies, posting for traffic mainly.
Dd14 has, what I was sure was, flu. Several negative covid tests. Since Sunday night, she has had a headache, aches, pains, cough, runny nose etc. From Monday morning to yesterday morning she was vomiting everything up. Last night, the cough became worse. Back pain, exhausted but can't sleep, starving but can't eat. Barely enough energy to walk to the bathroom.
At this point I called 111. Spoke to a nurse, then a doctor who both said 'it's viral, probably flu. Give paracetamol and plenty fluids.'
Tonight she is no better. Only difference is the vomiting has stopped. She wants to get up but her legs are too weak to go far. She wants to eat but was asleep after half a slice of toast.
I've had flu and could understand it if it was me (40 with autoimmune issues) but surely this isn't normal for her age??

@Favouritefruits Children soup! Great, if macabre, typo!

I had flu in my 20's and it's probably the most ill I've ever been in my life. I was living in student accomodation at the time and I remember not being able to walk down the 1 flight of stairs to the ground floor. I was literally confined to bed and it was a real struggle even trying to get the short distance to the bathroom.

It made me realise what flu can really be like. Some people say they have flu when it's really a bad cold, but it's really not

😂 @SignOnTheWindow I always have a bowl of children soup when I’m sick, why do you not?

Because too many people call a cold ‘flu’ people don’t always realise how terrible flu is, I had it at 19 and was very ill. Hope she feels better soon

Flu can be horrific. You don't realise how bad until you get it

When I was 8, flu floored me for three weeks. It can be really bad sometimes.

I was just like this with flu, and again with glandular fever. Each put me in bed for the best part of 2 weeks (in my 20s).

Poor kid. Keep her as hydrated as she can manage - food can wait a bit if necessary. She will feel totally inhuman without paracetamol during the fever so keep her dosed up on that too.

Badly! My DC had it at a similar age. I had never seen him so ill - he missed over a week of school (I think it started on the Friday so was about 10 days of illness).

we couldn’t leave him at home alone at all - like you would if a teen had a cold.
he did fully recover in the end.

I had flu when I was 15, I was absolutely floored for 2 weeks. After about a week I ventured downstairs and that exhausted me so much I went back upstairs to bed after about 20 minutes. Flu is definitely no joke even if you are completely healthy. I've had the flu jab religiously every year since then.

I had flu the one year I skipped the jab bc my parents didn't want to pay for it. I was 14, and I ended up with double pneumonia in hospital for 4 days. I was out of school bedridden with fever before that for nearly a week, and I felt like I was dying at several points. I know that people say they "had the flu" but I am skeptical whenever that word is used to describe a bit of a cold. Flu is dreadful.

I had what I thought was flu once, turned out to be pneumonia, and I needed oxygen and IV antibiotics. If she's getting worse get her checked out

It could be covid. The lateral flows were not that accurate as I remember many people being negative on LFTs and positive on PCRs!

but it could also be the flu. Flu is a nasty thing. Hopefully she won’t get it again for a few years.

Oh and see if you can get a flu jab ASAP

^ this^
I've had flu three times. It is indistinguishable from covid symptoms, but full blown flu is VERY difficult to shake off even for the healthy. I'm afraid you have to follow the "advice" your body is giving you, and it will pass. But it could be 2 weeks easily, and be aware that trying to recover too fast can simply make things worse. You need to be fully recovered before going back to normal activities.

Yup sounds like flu which i had when i was young. I could barely walk even when recovering.

Watch to be sure her breathing doesn't start to become rapid. If it does take her to a and e she may have pneumonia

The viral flu-like illnesses that I had before I was 20 affected me more than any I've had since, and I'm 50 with MS. I used to get delirious with fever, unable to eat or get out of bed etc, lying moaning with pain on the sofa. I think it's worse when you're younger and you haven't built up immunity.

True flu is horrific. You most definitely remember each time you've had it. Most fit and healthy people only get true flu once or twice in their lifetime.
Your poor DD. it'll take her a while to recover but all being well, she should make a full recovery. It is, indeed quite plausible that she suffer like this.
Be patient and treat her like the invalid she is for a few days/couple of weeks.

Agree

Yes this is normal for flu. It's not like a bad cold. Typically you can just about make it to the bathroom on your own and can't do much else.

When I had flu at a similar age to your DC, I was ill enough to need to stay home for nearly three weeks. I don't really remember the first week.

Yes, it really can be that bad

Flu can be awful, and some strains are more dangerous for young people than for older people (the Spanish flu epidemic in 1918, for example). I had flu in my early 20s, and I was really bad for about two weeks. I've never been as ill. Now that I'm older, I get my flu shot every year without fail.

Yes, what you’re describing is flu. It doesn’t really matter if someone’s a healthy teenager or an unhealthy middle-aged person - flu will still hit them like a sledgehammer. That’s what makes flu different from a cold. I was absolutely poleaxed by flu when I was about 15 - just as I was first coming down with it I literally passed out face down at the table, head on my history homework. I could barely move for a week.

Sounds exactly like flu. I’ve only had it once, when I was about that age. I couldn’t even walk to the bathroom.

This is why I’m baffled that more people don’t have the flu jab.

I had flu at 16 and felt horrific, I don't think I got out of bed for a week. That said if you are worried or something doesn't feel right obviously get her checked out.

Proper flu is awful, planning a sip of water or a trip to the loo becomes a really big deal when you're feeling that ill. It's a proper take to your bed illness and I get quite irritated when people claim to have the flu but it's actually just a heavy cold.