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AIBU?

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Original poster

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

81 replies

Notnormalisitreally · 29/09/2022 20:47

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??

OP posts:
HangOnToYourself · 30/09/2022 19:17

Flu is awful, I spent 3 weeks in hospital with it after it developed into an in my mid twenties (I do have asthma tho)

SunshineLoving · 30/09/2022 19:18

Yes, it definitely sounds like flu.

I had flu once when I was about 18 and I was so ill. Couldn't stand up, felt sick, couldn't eat, runny nose, cough, headache.

I've had a flu jab every year since.

PerfectlyPreservedQuagaarWarrior · 30/09/2022 19:20

Not that it's relevant to OP, but flu can absolutely be mild or even asymptomatic. It isn't any more or less flu because of the level of symptoms someone has. I only mention that because so many people on this thread have claimed otherwise.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4586318/#:~:text=Influenza%20virus%20infections%20lead%20to,of%20that%20infection%20(2).

www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(21)00141-8/fulltext

Hope your poor DD feels better soon OP.

Crunchymum · 30/09/2022 19:27

Hope she is feeling better soon.

I had the flu when I was 13 and it was the most ill I've ever been (was 30 years ago now!!). Was unable to leave the sofa for a week, needed help to go to the loo as I was so weak and wobbly on my feet. Had the GP out twice back when they used to do house calls and I was close to being hospitalised.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 30/09/2022 19:28

Proper flu can knock your stuffing right out for some time, even after you’re much better. As pps have said, rest and plenty of fluids, and expect her to still feel tired and need more sleep for quite a while.

I do hope she’ll be feeling better soon.

iekanda · 30/09/2022 19:30

I had flu when I was 18. Young, fit, healthy. I was in a terrible state with it. It sounds normal for flu, but keep an eye anyway and make sure she drinks enough.

iekanda · 30/09/2022 19:30

fyi you can pay to get teens a flu jab in boots (£9 ish)

Choconut · 30/09/2022 19:31

I've had flu a few times - always calls for a week in bed doing absolutely nothing and feeling like crap.

CredibilityProblem · 30/09/2022 19:51

Flu can definitely make you feel like death and easily incapacitate you for a week. Look after your DD and I hope she gets well soon.

However, I can't believe that after two fucking years of Covid people are still trotting out "my aunty nearly died from flu therefore if you say that you had it and were still able to do the school run you must be lying".

Literally millions of people have died of Covid 19. Pre vaccination it was a far more serious disease than flu. But you know what? I personally could totally have done the school run when I had it if I'd had to. Flu is loads of different viruses affecting billions of individual immune systems and its effects run from "feeling a bit shit but able to function" all the way up to dead.

In the event of a major flu outbreak this "as long as you're well enough to leave the house you definitely have flu (and therefore don't need to quarantine)"approach can kill.

zippy2022 · 30/09/2022 20:01

Ludo19 · 29/09/2022 20:55

Agree I've had flu twice in my life, both times bedridden for almost two weeks, first time I honestly thought I was dying (I was 21)
All these folk who say "I had flu but still went to work," bollocks if you have flu it totally floors you.
Hope your DD improves soon OP, flu is shit.

I could written this post word for word! 'Proper' flu is truly horrific!

ichimedin · 30/09/2022 20:01

I had flu at 18 and genuinely thought I would die. It’s awful for most people

ChristmasSirens · 30/09/2022 20:12

I agree with the people saying this sounds like the flu and that you can be really sick. Ask for more advice (from 111 not MN) if you are really worried though, if things get worse or don’t improve or you just feel something isn't right. Some people get very unwell with the flu and need more than just rest.

HappyKoala56 · 30/09/2022 20:41

I had flu about the same age. It was horrific, I had 2 weeks off school and even then still had a slight temperature. I couldn't sit up a lot of the time, let alone stand or walk. Keep a close eye on her but in answer to your question, yes, healthy teens can get very ill with flu

Dimsumbun · 30/09/2022 20:46

I have had flu 3 times once as a teenager once when DS was a toddler so I was about 35 and then Oct 2019. The absolute worse was when DS was a toddler but in all cases I was so weak I could not stand or eat properly. The bodies muscles really waste away very quickly. So a week in bed has a terrible effect. But I was ok within 3 weeks each time. The only worse illness was covid in March 2020, it took me about 9 months to fully recover.

Brefugee · 30/09/2022 20:48

Sounds like flu. It's about time people stopped thinking flu is like a bad cold. It isn't.
Hope your DD recovers soon, it took more than 2 weeks with me last time (but in my 50s)

RafaistheKingofClay · 30/09/2022 21:03

CredibilityProblem · 30/09/2022 19:51

Flu can definitely make you feel like death and easily incapacitate you for a week. Look after your DD and I hope she gets well soon.

However, I can't believe that after two fucking years of Covid people are still trotting out "my aunty nearly died from flu therefore if you say that you had it and were still able to do the school run you must be lying".

Literally millions of people have died of Covid 19. Pre vaccination it was a far more serious disease than flu. But you know what? I personally could totally have done the school run when I had it if I'd had to. Flu is loads of different viruses affecting billions of individual immune systems and its effects run from "feeling a bit shit but able to function" all the way up to dead.

In the event of a major flu outbreak this "as long as you're well enough to leave the house you definitely have flu (and therefore don't need to quarantine)"approach can kill.

It wouldn’t be MN if we didn’t have to have this thread at least once a year. Although it’s quite early for it.

Hope your DD is feeling better soon OP.

Tinysarah1985 · 30/09/2022 22:02

I have had flu once and I felt like I was dying. It was day after boxing day 2012, I just remember random parts of the following 2 weeks. I think I lost about a stone as all i managed to eat was 1/2 a portion of rice, a few chicken balls and some noodles on new years eve. When I tried to go back to work on 7th January one of my colleagues literally had to carry me out to my car and take me home and put me to bed.

Fifthtimelucky · 30/09/2022 22:04

I had flu similar to this when I was 13. I have never had it since and am now in my 60s!

user9825401 · 30/09/2022 22:11

I had the flu when I was 15 and slept solidly for a week. I was woken to give fluids and I went right back to sleep again.

Flu is horrendous. I've never had flu since.

DismantledKing · 30/09/2022 22:11

I had flu at that age. It put me in bed for a week and I felt awful.

GG1986 · 30/09/2022 22:58

I had flu when I was 14, i was fine one minute, then all of a sudden I spiked a really high temperature and couldn't walk as was too weak, I remember my dad had to carry me to my bed and I stayed there for nearly 2 weeks, hardly ate and was only awake for around 3 hours a day, i also had to crawl to the toilet. My oh has recently been really poorly with a "flu" type bug, he's now on antibiotics for a respiratory infection, so it seems something nasty is going around and it isn't covid.

Merryoldgoat · 30/09/2022 23:05

My 9yo had a fever on/off with flu for 6 days. He was absolutely wiped and had a full week off school plus weekends unwell either side.

He’s not been that I’ll since he was a baby, even with Covid or Noro.

PeloFondo · 30/09/2022 23:14

I've had flu once
Actually started with norovirus for 48hrs and I couldn't leave the bathroom. Woke up and thought "I don't feel sick, great" then it was "why am I so cold?"
I actually got a house call from the GP Blush and spent 2 weeks in bed, the duvet hurt touching my skin, I was shivering and boiling and hallucinating spiders on the ceiling

Ponoka7 · 30/09/2022 23:22

Flu kills people of all ages. However after four days of vomiting with the other symptoms, I'd have been asking for anti-sickness meds, you need calories to fight off infections. With back pain ongoing and rub pain from coughing I would have wanted her seen. I'd be watching out for pleurisy or pneumonia.

JS87 · 30/09/2022 23:23

I had flu like that when I was about 13. Never had it since.