Something strange is going on… winter bugs

[Hazless]

Is it just me or is something strange going on? Nearly everyone I know is sick. Levels are off the chart. My son had 10 in his class last Friday.

I’ve just had a really awful respiratory thing. It started with an awful sudden sore throat (not the usual place, lower down) then progressed to fevers for 3 days (I never get a fever, I’m an adult and can’t recall the last time), pain all over, chills, body tingles, the worst headache of my life that two types of painkiller didn’t touch.

Day 5, Now I’m left with a lingering cough and snotty nose and everything smells and tastes disgusting. Even air from outside stinks like the inside of my rotting nose! It’s gross. I’ve lost weight because everything tastes so disgusting. I look awful… grey skin and dark Circles. All my kids are poorly too but seem not as bad as me.

i also felt extremely delirious and depressed during this bug. I’ve never felt so down. It was like something switched in my brain. It was very sudden and hit me like a train. I’ve not had that before.

not covid as both tests I took negative.

im not one for conspiracy theories but is something going on? Is there a new strain of covid? I’ve never had a bug like this before. And I’ve never known so many people sick at one time. What on earth is going on? It can’t just be from lock downs many months ago.

My whole family had this, I’ve been ok. DH had his first ever day off work with illness in twenty years, so I know he just have felt terrible. Everyone had delirium too with it which was weird. Horrible flu

Agree, when I had the flu, I was so ill for two, three weeks. Normally when I had the flu, I got ill for two, three days or so and started to get better but this time, I was so ill I couldn't believe it's not Covid.

We gave it here too, low feeling for a few days before hand no symptoms then a horrible cough and shivers.

I was actually feeling hopeful when someone mentioned foil as a solution

Nope- this particular virus was around way before the cold spell- end of nov

In our local hospital (where my DD works) they have found that the vaccine hasn't been effective against the strain of flu type A in our region.

Idk. I've been fine and I'm clinically vulnerable. Though DP has had a cough nobody I know has had more than a bad cold.

So it's probably just the flu I'd say

You know I think our wellness is so linked to feelings of stress.

I’ve never had more frequent intense illnesses than when I worked a high stress job.

I wonder if the stressful weight of the world is weighing heavy on us and affecting our ability to fight off illnesses.

@ILoveeCakes dfod. 😊

Could it be because many houses are not heating their homes to the same level as before? My thermostat stays at 17 this year. Previous years it would be 20 or 21

Probably not helping - 14-15° can diminishing your resistance to respiratory diseases or so internet tells me and our has gone that low much more frequently than in last few years.

Though we regularly went lower in last house because it was a cold sink and money was tight - actually last but one rental was the same - and I was frequently really ill in both houses.

Smell in your nose is possibly sinus infection, also causes headache which is difficult to shift

Sorry you feel so ill, OP. I hope you recover soon.

I agree with PP that people's immune systrems are weaker having not socialised for ages. Even santising hands every few minutes stops us building immunity.

But severe bugs have been around forever. I caught one about eight years ago, as did a close friend and her son, which gave us all post viral fatigue for the best part of a year. He missed school for months on end. She and I both had to give up work. It was severe but it was just the flu. Way before Covid and for us - way more damaging.

My daughter was so ill with these symptoms that she had a seizure. Frightened the hell out of us. Doctor said it was probably viral and said to just give pain meds.
Partner has it now.

To all those talking of immunity debt.. wobble your heads. We were locked down for a few months…(masks included). Even then schools were STILL OPEN for vulnerable children. Immunity debt does not exist. As much as it’s not wanted to be heard, covid damages the immune system. Meaning that each ‘mild’ virus that we could have fought easily before, is now much harder to get rid of. (Different people have different strengths of immune systems-before someone decides to come along with the ‘well little Timothy had a cold and he was fine two days later’🙄)
even the epidemiologists recognise this..
all that we can do is take whatever precautions YOU want to take, build up your immune systems… and get on with life.
yes winter bugs existed pre covid, yes it could be a winter bug, yes it could be a variant of covid that lft doesn’t pick up. Will we ever know now? No, take personal responsibility do what you feel comfortable with and live how ever you want to. Happy 🎄 Christmas!

I don’t think it’s any sort of conspiracy but yes I agree there’s a lot more illness this year than usual. We’ve all been ill, and almost everyone we know has, over the last few weeks. I usually avoid all the bugs but have been feeling awful this past week, similar to how you describe OP. Sitting here with a lemsip, trying to muster as much enthusiasm as I can for the kids. Not the Christmas Eve I was hoping for! Hope everyone else is feeling better soon.

We are all a bit sniffy snotty here but reasonably happy. The Turkey will get cooked at some point tomorrow and Santa has bought all the presents.

I think the pressure around Christmas is insane, the pressure to be places, do all the things, be present for every second, be physically well. None of those things have to happen for a merry Christmas. Me and the kids will be eating trifle in our jimjams tomorrow, and that's enough happy for me.

Tin foil hat brigade! Ha! Thank you for making me laugh so freaking hard!

Yes, this exactly.

Covid is still very much around. There are a lot of people in hospital with flu atm so that is obviously doing the rounds and I know there's a nasty rsv (croup/laryngitis) doing the rounds as well. That all adds up to a lot of I'll people. It's not just one thing.

@NewToWoo why haven't you "socialised for ages"? What have you been doing for the past 18 months? What were you doing last winter?

I'm a believer that Covid has made me less able to fight off bugs, Had Covid last Christmas, totally floored me for the whole of January, and have picked up every sniffle going. Had what OP describes at end of October and have felt so sick that I have lost a stone from not eating bonus. Just starting to feel better now physically but has left me emotionally empty.
Hopeful that all the bugs this year will mean i miss out next year.

It’s winter, plus everyone’s immune systems have been weakened due to self isolating!

Sounds like you have a sinus infection op, I get this a lot & everything smells rotten!

It's certainly not the first year I can recall this happening, not every year, but certainly not just post covid. Some years are just awful!

I'm not convinced our (my family's) immune systems have been that impacted by lock dodwns tbh. My chilren were in school all last winter, I certainly caught the odd bug like normal, we were out and about again in summer 2020 and we were amongst the most cautious people I know.

Yes - 6 out of 7 of us have been ill now for about a week. Hot heads and headaches sore bones. Our younger daughters have different symptoms far more in their nose and coughing continually. None of us feel well enough to enjoy much.