It can’t be flu, can it?

[ifeelsounwell]

All week I’ve felt so unwell - stuffed nose, exhausted, headaches, occasional sore throat. I’ve taken ibuprofen and pushed through.

Tonight ive developed an awful cough, my sore throat is back and ive got horrendous earache.

it feels different to a cold, and ive had my flu jab, so I’m wondering if its a mild flu? How would i even know?

I would say not flu but most likely a horrible cold virus. Colds can make you feel very poorly too.

The reason I say 'not flu' is that you describe feeling rough with varying symptoms over the course of the last week and then sore throat, etc. With flu, the symptoms come on very suddenly and you can pinpoint exactly when you knew it was flu. It almost always starts with a fever. I know there are asymptomatic flu cases, and a spectrum of severity, but it still holds.

I have had hundreds of colds and some of them have been absolutely horrible and left me completely wiped out for weeks (CFS). I had flu in 2018. It came on over the course of a few hours when I was working my shift in ICU. I was 8 hours into my shift when I started feeling tired and achy as I changed bed sheets and 4 hours later a colleague had to drive me home because I wasn't fit to drive. My temperature was 38.5°c and I slept for most of the next 10 days, bed ridden and crawling to the toilet.

Does it matter? Bad cold or flu,
treat the same with paracetamol & rest. Don’t think you should be working in a hospital spreading it around whatever it is though - nobody’s indispensable

There IS such a thing as mild flu, even asymptomatic flu, but the myth that it never can be anything but mild is perpetuated ("you'll know it's flu if you can't even get out of bed to pick up a £5 note", that old chestnut ) all the time on mumsnet, despite NUMEROUS rebuttals!

IT CAN BE MILD!

This just isn’t true. You can have flu mildly any doctor would tell you that. My children both had it recently, confirmed with testing. One was only mildly unwell. Both vaccinated.

I had “mild” flu a few years ago. I had a headache, mild aches and mild fever but could function and do things round the house. DS also had it. It was confirmed influenza A by a lateral flow test.
flu is just like Covid. People have it with differing severities.

It's flu, my family and I have had it for the last week (same symptoms).

Also had the flu jab, it's not 100% effective.

It spreads because people spread it before their symptoms fully develop. I agree with others description of flu. I have had it twice over the decades. I could only get out of bed to slowly stagger to the loo, holding onto furniture as I went. It’s horrendous and there is no question that you have it.

General rule of thumb is if you are laid out flat with no appetite, its full on flu. If you are able to get up and have an appetite it's a bad cold or viral infection.

Whatever it is, lots of people have it in Toronto where I am. Buy some cold and flu medications turn on a cool mist vaporizer, rub some Vicks on your throat and chest and get snuggled up with a blanket. I started wearing a mask when shopping and spotted several others wearing them and quite a few staff. This time of year nobody wants to risk getting sick. Hope you are on the last leg of it. 💐

I totally agree with this

Headache, muscle pain, exhaustion, sudden onset and almost always with a fever and chills is flu. Sneezing, coughing, sore throat and gradual ones is a cold.

As has been said, severity of symptoms can absolutely vary. The telltale is usually speed of onset.

But it’s irrelevant, you don’t feel well so look after yourself, stay hydrated and rest. Don’t bother with cold and flu tablets, take proper pain relief / anti-pyrexials but only if you really need them. The high fever is your body trying to to fight the infection / virus, let it.

If you’re infected with an influenza virus then you have ‘flu. Doesn’t matter how severe or otherwise your symptoms are, or whether or not you can pick up the mythical £5/£10/£20/£50 note. It’s very worrying how many people just cannot grasp this.

Feel better soon OP, whatever it is.

DH has those symptoms and it’s Covid. It was day 5 before he lost his sense of taste (this is why we tested).

Agreed.

I don't know why some people are saying there's no such thing as mild flu.

For some healthy people the symptoms can be quite mild.

It doesn't affect everyone in the same way.

I have had influenza a this week. I felt a bit crap with cold symptoms and a v v mild fever. I've had far worse colds.

When are we going to bloody stop with the "proper flu" rubbish? It's a virus and operates on a spectrum. Some research even suggests that up to three quarters of people with flu have no symptoms whatsoever.

I have never seen something untrue persist on MN quite like the flu myth.

The problem is there’s millions of different types and strains of cold and flu viruses and the flu jab only contains about 7 (or something like that I read somewhere) of the most common at the time. Therefore it maybe you won’t be vaccinated against the particular strain you were exposed to anyway. Also a vaccination just means your body detects it quicker and therefore tries to be rid of it earlier not that you won’t feel any symptoms of your body trying to get rid of it.

They say if it’s flu you simply can’t even get out of bed, but I don’t think that’s a medical explanation, a virus is a virus. Depending on lots of factors including viral load, people will react differently to the same virus and that’s why some can’t get out of bed and others just have a sniffle.

But it doesn’t matter what it is, just take some rest, water, vitamins, keep away from people. Hope you feel better soon.

For ear congestion I think steam inhalation is brilliant!

Ah is that what it is? any type of influenza is called “flu” and other viruses such as RSV are often referred to as colds?

So it has nothing to do with the severity?

I heard the £20 note story on the radio years ago so thought it was to do with severity.

Now I just think of anything as a contagious virus and don’t really label it.

I’ve sent my mum to the shops this morning for some honey and lemons and I’ll be having a nice hot shower in a minute to try and clear my ears out

I spent the day on an acute medical ward yesterday. We were all having viral swabs on admission. Another patient in my bay tested positive for flu. I wouldn't have known by looking at them, they seemed relatively well. I think I've only ever had flu once. There are days I can't account for and my housemates at the time were questioning whether to contact my family because I wasn't coherent.

When my MIL gets blocked ears with a cold, it's not her ears, it's her eustachian tubes and steam really helps her so fingers crossed the shower helps!

Did it come on sudden?

I think it used to be the key difference between flu and colds?

Flu happens much more quickly?

Not a medic though 😁

Pretty suddenly yeah

If it was flu you wouldn’t be able to look at a screen, you would have a fever, and would generally be physically unable to leave your bed for at least 3 days. Flu also tends to come on quite quickly and dramatically.

You’ve picked up a horrid viral bug and sadly it looks like it’s settled in on your chest for a bit. If you’ve not been resting appropriately then that’s why it’s been dragging on and has extended to the chest.

I swear by Vicks/Boots first defence for avoiding catching colds and viruses and also clearing them quickly. Probably too late for OP but worth it for anyone who is worried about getting sick for Christmas. Dont know if it works against flu but it lowers the viral load so i imagine it might.

Also, if anyone is currently ill, please think before going out and about and infecting others. YOU’LL be clear by Christmas but anyone who catches it from you probably doesnt fancy spending Christmas in bed!

Could we please stop spreading this myth?

Flu can be severe, sometimes enough to kill. It can also be mild, moderate and asymptomatic.