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?

No point trying. It gets worse and worse every winter. People post facts, links, research etc and one post later, Sandra logs in and tells us her own version of diagnosis which usually involves picking up money, crawling to toilets and looking or not looking at screens as appropriate.

I have flu right now and have done a workout and eaten breakfast. Just about to finish some tiling. I'm a medical fucking miracle.

A decongestant may help your ears( sorry if already mentioned) and ginger tea. I can't take decongestants but ginger tea helps.

I’ve been using a spray but it’s not done much! I’ve just gone really chesty today and it’s so frustrating

Complete nonsense. Flu can be mild, moderate or severe.

OP, yes it might well be flu. You've had your vaccination so it would generally mean a milder illness as your immune system will be prepped already. Even without vaccination flu can range from no symptoms to being so ill you are on life support in the hospital with everything in between.

What? Of course there is! Like the previous poster I've had it once and once was enough, it's horrific, one of the worst things I ever had, I was hallucinating with it at one point, I don't think you've got flu just a bad cold...

But I see you've been vaccinated so could be a milder version

Even a doctor would be unable to absolutely diagnose Influenza by examining a patient face to face without testing. All flu is proper flu. If it is confirmed via a test. Just like all chicken pox is proper chicken pox. The severity of it does not change what it is.

That doesn’t tell you anything.

Buy a flu test from Amazon

I didn’t realise you could get these! Covid & flu test is on its way to me

Do you need to know whether it’s flu or Covid or a cold?! Hope you feel better before Xmas!

It’s referred to in certain ways by the public because we used to have no way of testing at home which virus we have. It’s only recently people have started home testing.

There is no such virus as a “cold”. A “cold” is just a collection of symptoms. It could be any number of viruses causing them. But because in the past we had no way of knowing which virus, and they often all cause similar symptoms, humans just started referring to it as a “cold”. But it could be a coronavirus, RSV, adenovirus etc causing them. And yes sometimes even an influenza virus if it hits the person mildly.

Influenza is a virus. There are many versions. Influenza viruses are more likely to make you severely ill than other cold causing viruses. So humans started referring to bad illnesses as flu. But unless you test, you have no way of knowing for definite if it actually is flu. Then the myth stated that all influenza infections leave you incapacitated and unable to move etc. Which is not true. As we learned during Covid, how a virus hits one person is not always the same as the next person. You can even be totally asymptomatic with flu, just like Covid and other viruses.
As someone else said, chicken pox isn’t any less of chicken pox if someone has 3 spots compared to someone who is covered in them and hospitalised.

To be fair it would’ve been useful at the start of the week because I would’ve stayed home! Not much I can do now though because I’m wrecked

I've had Covid twice. Neither time did I lose my sense of taste and smell. If someone has flu, they are fine one minute and felled by it the next. There's no in between stage. Colds develop over days. So - I may be wrong, but you either have a horrible cold or it's Covid. Whatever you have, I hope you feel better soon!

Its flu. Totally different from a cold, as the fatigue is much worse and includes dizzy spells. It will go on its own but you can still get it even after the jab.

Just in case it's any help, my mother in law was a nurse. She swore by sniffing up salty water and also gargling with it. It sounds grim but salty water kills viruses.

You can get a test that tests for influenza A, B and Covid. Worth doing so you know if it is something dangerous , given that you work in a hospital.

I think this has been proven to help.

Just coming out the other side. Sore throat, earache, nasty cough. Lost my voice after 4 days, and now croaky and coughing less. Dud two COVID tests just in case but tgey were negative. Honey, lemon, ginger helped, plus paracetamol and strepsils. On day 19.

Flu like any other virus can be anything from A symptomatic to fatal and anything in between.

This is just utter nonsense !

Influenza A is a virus, not an infection, you can carry it it and not have any symptoms just like any virus.

If you are going to irrigate with salt water you should use cooled boiled water. Look up proper precautions and methods for a nasal rinse.