I have flu and a work thing i can't get out of tomorrow- how do i make it through the day?

[MsRosewater]

i have the flu- i have been ill since Thursday with horrible body aches that don't respond to paracetamol and lovely cough. Am alternating paracetamol with ibuprofen 2hrly to feel comfortable/ sleep and have zero appetite

FWIW i'm generally healthy- gym/ spin 5 x a week, healthy weight and had flu jab as nhs person

i have a conference tomorrow that i'm very disorganised for so can't really delegate. i'm an active participant so can't not show either , Also. i'm on temporary contract that i'd like to be made permanent so fessing up to my lack of prep is not a great plan (though the reality is other pressures are most of the reason)

so, backstory/ excuses over- please hit me with your coping-for-the-day remedies? then i will be sensible and see a GP and stay in bed etc

Precisely. The op's NHS but seeking the advice of MNet. It says it all.

This isn’t true actually. How long does flu flatten you for then? How long are you insisting she is ‘flattened’ for?

I’ve had flu and spent a couple of days out of my mind delirious and then weak after. But I would’ve been able to type on mumsnet by day six!! I think you are mythologising flu.

Please don't go. I am.immune suppressed but no-one would know. Think of others as well as yourself

I would. Call in sick just before sp you dont have to pass any work onto others

Because if you have flu you have no choice but to stay in bed

So if you’re well enough to go dose up and do it

Aches, loss of appetite, inability to sleep because you feel so shit all sounds a lot like the milder end of flu - though you couldn't rule out a really nasty cold without a swab.

You know how during flu outbreaks there are signs on GP's doors saying Please Don't Come In If You Have Flu?

Why do you think they put them up, if nobody with flu could ever get to their GP's surgery?

When you have actual flu, going out isn't even a question. I'm not sure I could have even written a text when I had it a few years ago.

Flu or not though, I think if you're ill you should stay home.

I'm d be ripping if you came anywhere near me with flu or whatever it is. You have no idea who is immunosuppressed or has family members dealing with cancer etc.

No panel is that important. Spend the time organising your notes so you can delegate.

Having a cough is really not socially acceptable any more. At the very least you need to wear a mask.

If you have the strength and energy to attend, I suggest Solpadeine Max to take the edge off.

This. I had to take my unwell son to the doctors and he noticed I was unwell too (sons was ear infection or similar) and he diagnosed me with flu. I felt rotten, achy all over, shivers etc but I’m a single mum and my child was ill so I just got on with it (I genuinely didn’t realise I had flu).

@MsRosewater

if you are sick stay in bed.
please don't share your germs to all it's very selfish

also get over yourself the world will not end if you don't go.

jeez

So how does the OP know and can state she has "the flu"?

@ResidualHeat unless she's done a test, she doesn't. No one does. But PP is correct that it's a myth that flu must always completely incapacitate you. Hardly anyone is tested for flu if they're just ill at home, yet people confidently state "well the only time I had flu I couldn't lift my head off the pillow". They probably didn't have it confirmed it was flu then, and probably also didn't have it confirmed that any other milder illnesses weren't flu, they just assumed it wasn't because they didn't feel as ill. Flu can be asymptomatic, mild, moderate, severe, and fatal.

I had the flu and still had to drag myself around to look after the kids whilst trying to rest in-between. Not all are bed bound.

I suspect many will have already seen this...

@TwoLeftSocksWithHoles

Not quite true, swine flu for instance barely affected me but put others in hospital because we are all different.

If you have been vaccinated for seasonal flu it can reduce the severity and shorten the length too

Whether the OP can lift her head off the pillow or not, whether she has a mild/moderate/severe dose - it's all irrelevant.

The fact is, she's ill, she feels like shit and has been unwell for a week. How incredibly selfish to even contemplate turning up for a conference where she could infect others, just to try to cover up her own lack of organisation and inability to delegate.

(What's the betting the OP now comes back and says btw it's online, now she's been called out for being a dick!!)

Sudafed is amazing to completely clear your airways and get rid of that that hot, fuzzy head feeling so you can think properly. It is a miracle product.

Stay at home btw. My husband passed it on to me. It is very contagious.

That's a good point, i believe this self-diagnosis aid was prepared by a doctor who clearly hadn't thought it through.

If one IS hit by a train, and it is a glancing blow one may just suffer some bruising however a full frontal impact is most likely to be fatal. Neither, rarely comparable with flu.

Tut, doctors, eh?

Oh for gods sake, please stop martyring yourself.

As a grown adult, if you're too unwell to work then you have the right to make that decision.

On the basis you haven't prepared because you have been unwell and not just lazy....

Just make the call and be an adult. Conference and events folk are well versed in adjusting plans when someone can't make it.

Less of this 'please help me to be a hero'. Ugh.

What a load of arrant nonsense.

Wow, what an amazingly convincing diagnostic tool.

Alternatively what the CDC says.

Note that it does not mention trains, inability to open eyes, inability to leave bed, lack of interest in fifty pound/dollar notes.
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/symptoms/coldflu.htm#:~:text=The%20symptoms%20of%20flu%20can,a%20runny%20or%20stuffy%20nose.

Aside from the fact that Ibuprofen/paracetamol shouldn't be alternated two hourly, it doesn't matter whether it's mild flu or a bad cold or jungle fever. They're all viruses, forget for a minute that the pandemic didn't happen and we had to think for ourselves when we weren't well, and do that. If you're too sick to go, you won't be able to do so. If you're well enough and you can't steer clear, then there's your answer. No diagram needed.

Flu is truly awful. If you had that you wouldn't have the strength to be on your phone/laptop, never mind contemplate going into work! There are many horrible viruses around that make you feel rubbish but that you can still move around with, however it's still unfair to consider spreading the bugs around to others.