"If you had the flu you wouldn't be sat in front of me now"

[Plumty]

I have been VERY under the weather for three weeks now. Went to the GP surgery as I suspect I now have a chest infection (I do). I asked about this Super Flu and was told “if you had the flu you would be in bed and not in front of me”.

Am I right in thinking this is just nonsense? I am extremely depleted. It takes me 3x as long to walk. I HAD to go in so pushed myself.

I’ve had Covid twice and both times I mustered strength to walk my dog. 7 mins at most once a day (the dog is normally a handful but totally mellowed out as he knew I was ill).

Whatever I have now is 5x worse than my experiences with Covid.

I just think the GP was really dismissive for saying that. I’m on my knees but we all push ourselves when absolutely necessary

The only way of knowing would be with a test. Which I wasn’t offered

Yup

It’s not the flu because you’ve been poorly for weeks. Sounds like you were seeking something.

She mustn't have seen much flu? I saw lots of patients in my surgery with flu. We knew it was flu as we were swabbing all our respiratory illnesses. I was really shocked at the people who weren't very well but able to get in who actually did have flu. Flu can also be asymptomatic

???

what on Earth is with these weird flu gatekeepers

It could’ve been the flu. It may have not.

To be honest chest infections can take even longer than flu to recover from, it's good you went to the GP op, you could have ended up with pneumonia which can be deadly.

You’re constantly changing your story. It’s gone from you’ve felt a bit rundown to you’re sure it’s flu, to thinking it’s a chest infection. Did you present all of these things to the doctor?

He's right. Your slower because you have a chest infection, of course you will be unwell with that. Flu feels like literal death, when I had it I passed out when trying to get out of bed. There were times I couldn't even speak or lift my head. One of my friends was blue lighted when she had flu because it was suspected to be sepsis. The term flu is often used by people who have a bad cold.

My mum had a really bad cough once years ago. She was clearly in pain but we had a funeral to go to and she was determined to go. It was about an hour and a half bus ride away. She made it through the whole trip. When we got out of the bus station my dad picked us up in the car and she had to lie down on the back seat. She walked into a&e and quickly ended up in ICU. She had double pneumonia and abscesses on her lungs.
The doctors were absolutely gobsmacked that she’d been up and walking around all day.
I went into the maternity hospital and told them my water had broken and I thought the baby was coming. They left me sitting in the waiting room alone til I went and banged on the door saying they had to see me now. They kept rolling their eyes and asking Is this your first? I walked into the examination room. They examined me and I was fully dilated and ready to go. Had my baby in my arms about forty minutes later.

Our whole household has had this for weeks. We all ended up on antibiotics at different times even though at least one GP wasn't convinced they'd do any good (just in case!). I'm not sure anyone can definitely say "you definitely don't have the flu if you can do XYZ". I had flu years ago with a toddler and a uni essay to deliver (old style before email was prevalent) and was sat finishing it wrapped in a duvet then had to get me and toddler on a bus to give it in. There was no other option.

For the record I also walked around for 10 days with a broken arm that was missed by the first hospital I went to, much to the shock/admiration of the radiographer who showed me the (now starting to heal) break. I'm dead hard me.

I'm going to hazard a guess and say the OP is female and the GP was male.

None of things happened.
Go back to the first post.
Read it.
And try, for love of God, to comprehend it.

If it’s asymptomatic, how TF does anyone know they’ve got it?

Just the usual Mumsnet batshit thread.
Hope you feel better soon OP x

Yes, they did. The OP can’t keep her story straight in here

I've had covid three times. It's nothing like the flu which I've had only once when I was fourteen. I was so incredibly sick that I couldn't do anything but writhe in the bed and still remember it to this day. I've had glandular fever, scarlet fever, the mumps, spinal surgery, food poisoning but I can tell you right now, none compared to the flu. Winter viruses can knock you for six but the flu is an entirely different beast. I'd say that was what your Gp was implying as he probably sees people, self-diagnosed with the 'flu' on a daily basis, and wants to set the record straight.

Honestly agree with gp. You wouldn't have the strength to raise an arm, open your eyes etc.

I'm sorry but this is complete nonsense. Flu can be asymptomatic and this presents a significant challenge from the public health perspective in curtailing transmission. So, with flu, not only could you be picking up £50 notes in the garden and merrily skip to the doctor but you could do major gardening and go to work as you're asymptomatic, unknowingly spreading flu to others

This disparity GP is going to be brought up by every proper flu £50 note believer between now and Christmas, I can see it now.

You've got flu if you have the flu virus, which you find out from a test. Not otherwise. It isn't a description of symptom severity, which is how you can have it without even being unwell. This goes for patients as well as doctors.

Not necessarily. Plenty of people walk into the surgery and are sent to hospital or leave in an ambulance for one reason or another. I’ve worked in a GP’s surgery and seen that plenty of times. Though you only have to watch GPs Behind Closed Doors to see exactly that happening.

Well, given that it's estimated that 20% - 30% of flu cases are thought to be asymptomatic, I would sincerely hope there is what you dismissively refer to as the 'asymptomatic flu contingent' (as opposed to the OMG if you had flu you wouldn't be able to turn over in bed without feeling you are dying a thousand deaths contingent) 🤷‍♀️

I had the flu and as a result of it also got pleurisy (both confirmed through tests) and moved house when I was unwell. I didn’t have a choice and ended up fainting in the end but I absolutely could have dragged myself to the doctors. I was in my twenties at the time and a lot fitter than I am now, if I ever had it again I’d definitely just rest up and hope that it passed quicker as a result. Everyone is different and can cope with illness differently, some people are bedridden from a common cold and others just get on with things.

Me too @Pumpkinmagic I'm on week three away from work now, having lost more than a stone in weight, still unable to eat anything of more substance than scrambled egg and dry toast less the vomiting and diarrhoea return. Have no energy or strength so really pleased my GP extended my sick leave and emailed my note to me to forward on to my boss, meaning I didn't have to leave the house. Feels worse than covid to be honest....get well soon 💐

At the population level, it's through testing, extrapolation and epidemiology. Basically standard public health stuff