They weren’t lying about how horrific this flu is!!

[ByronKoala]

I will be brutally honest and say that I thought the recent news reports about how this is destined to be a particularly severe flu season with a nastier than usual strain were just scare mongering but oh my goodness have I been humbled… Never been so ill in my life.

Felt oddly achy and tired on Thursday AM but took paracetamol and was able to get on with my work day as normal. 40 degree fever, awful cough, sore throat etc hit me like a brick later on that evening and I’ve been bed bound ever since.

I’ve coughed to the point I’ve thrown up - my chest feels heavy and I’m in agony from all of it. The fevers were unrelenting for 3 days straight, paracetamol didn’t even touch the sides and I’ve been stuck in bed curled up in a shivering ball. The brain fog and exhaustion are on another level, my mind simply cannot function and I’m so incredibly weak. Worst sore throat I’ve ever felt and a nose like a bloody tap.

I’m young and perfectly healthy. Even the thought of 90yo DM getting this doesn’t bare thinking about and cases seem to be popping up absolutely everywhere. Genuinely quite scary

Thanks for saying👍.
I’m 69 & have never had ‘flu. When my children were young we used to take the homeopathic remedy, tho obvs there are plenty here who would say that’s not worth the paper it’s prescribed on 😊.
I’m always reluctant to have the vaccine (occasionally do force myself tho defo not every yr!); so am due to have it on weds.
Now you’ve reassured me OP, I hope you get back to normal very soon 💐

How rude. I had DS2 at 45, so will be 90 (if I’m lucky) when he’s 45. I felt pretty young at 45😆

Hmmmm

I consented to my daughter getting the vaccine.

But they don't get it till end of this week in school.

I think that's a bit late.

My other kid got the vaccine a few weeks ago in her school.

Last year I had no fewer than three attempts to buy a flu vaccine - I kept finding the appointment was cancelled due to someone with a higher priority being allocated the available vaccine

in the end I gave up

Don't a lot of pharmacies do walk in?

I normally get it from work.ao don't know about pharmacies

They arrived last night.. joy of joys!

All this talk of flu is making me get a jab tomorrow!

Hard hat on for this one 😂

But to honest, if you’re under 50, most people are still in good health and don’t expect to be bedbound by flu, which is what op is getting at.

Mine was very similar to how your describe. Miserable.

To give you hope I have an underlying respiratory condition and my fever broke in 2-3 days.

My tip is after about 36 hours to make sure you are taking juices and smoothies and soups, as the dehydration will really get you otherwise when you are already so weak from fighting the virus.

Highly recommend Tesco Whoosh if you are bed bound - I was able to get a delivery in 40 minutes of loo roll, juice, bananas, ready made mashed potato for when I could stomach it etc.

So is the flu vaccine any use at all this year?? DH and I had ours in September

My son caught it from a friend last week; they were both knocked sideways. Just heard two more of his friends are now ill, one likely off all week. They’re all 12/13 and had the jab

none of the rest of us have caught it. Ds 7 has a bit of a cough / sniffle. Only I have had the jab.

We all had. DM was the only vaccinated person in the house and she was still quite poorly. I’ve never been so sick. I had nosebleeds and vomiting as part of the symptoms. Throwing up while your nose is bleeding is unspeakable. I will never miss a vaccine again.

Fever broke on day 3 for me too, thank goodness. We’ve been living off Deliveroo for groceries etc. Could’ve cried when they left out the paracetamol from my Sainsbury’s order - funnily enough it was sold out 🙈 DH had foot surgery a few weeks ago therefore can’t get to the shops either, absolute nightmare!

I'm sorry to hear that you've caught this and that you felt so miserable. I'm glad you shared your story because, it's just a reminder, this is flu season people. Go by "Covid rules."

Even though it's not 100% guaranteed to save you from getting it, get your flu shot. Even if it only reduces the symptoms 50% or 25%, that's better than suffering with it full force.
Wash your hands as often as you can, never put your hands on your face in your eyes or in your mouth Don't touch anything with your fingers that you're going to put into your mouth like a candy, or a piece of bread or a donut, treat your hands like they're contaminated because they probably are...

Have a nice clean mask folded up putting a little baggie put in your purse and whenever you have to pop into a store or a busy place, wait in line, etc, pop the mask on. It's only for a few moments, and although it will not 100% protect you just like the vaccine won't, it can really help protect you.

I don't love doing this either. But, that's communicable diseases for you.

Ive had the flu twice in my life and it was hell.
But hear on mumsnet i read when partnes or husbands get the flu they are faking it and should up and get on with it.

DS13 is off school with it. He’s really poorly

My DD12 has just went back to school today after 2 weeks off with flu. It was brutal I felt helpless it came out of nowhere exactly 2 weeks ago at school. She went down to get her flu spray that day but she was coughing so bad they refused her and sent a letter back to me, that night she dipped so bad. She’s still coughing a lot but most symptoms are gone. She’s coughing and still exhausted xxx

Has anyone had bladder symptoms after it? I’m about two weeks after, still got the runs but now got pain when I pee and urine sample says not an infection?

Agree - the paracetamol shelf in my supermarket looked like it had been burgled 😂

No bladder but had gut issues for a while. Keep your fluids up.

YABU to have thought it wasn’t that bad.

Flu isn’t always bad (despite what people think it’s possible for it to be asymptomatic, and mild) but it kills thousands of people a year. Obviously most of those have some sort of vulnerability which I assume you don’t have, but I don’t know why you’d have assumed it was a non-issue.

There is a flu vaccine but it doesn't work very well for this particular strain.

It's still worth getting the jab but practice sensible infection prevention to avoid catching this one and protect those who are more at risk of serious illness if they do catch it.

Why antibiotics? It’s a virus not bacterial. You need antivirals not antibiotics.

A colleague of dp has just come out of hospital. She was told she had Spanish flu (presumably a mutated version since 1919) and lost 3 stone.

I remember when I had my vaccine at the end of September they did say the indications were that it was going to be a bad Flu season.