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Original poster

Swine flu symptoms

42 replies

IAmReallyFabNow · 27/12/2010 11:04

Can anyone tell me what they are please? I think I just have regular flu but dh isn't great and one of the boys has started coughing. I am in bed feeling crap.

OP posts:
onimolap · 27/12/2010 11:14

They're pretty much the same as all flu symptoms. I think the indicators of swine flu that mark it out from other flu are a) rapid onset of very high temperature and b) D&V.

Original poster
IAmReallyFabNow · 27/12/2010 11:21

I feel hot and like I have D but nothing when I go to the bathroom.

It is rubbish. I wanted to play with the kids toys today.

OP posts:
pinkstarlight · 28/12/2010 05:08

the 2 people i know who have had swine flu both of them went down very suddenly like one moment fine next legs buckering etc. signs are really high fever,shaking,really bad headaches,aching bones,stomach upsets,really hacking painfull cough,feeling dizzy,completely knocked of your feet etc. keep an eye on your temperture that shows the fever hitting its peak which is the worse phase once it starts lowering you will start to feel a little better.

kayah · 28/12/2010 05:14

I am pretty sure I had swine flu last year.
I felt very, very ill, temperature was very high - around 103-105
felt disorientated, very unwell, paracetamol was able to bring temperature down, but only to around 99-100
felt sick and dizzy

Original poster
IAmReallyFabNow · 28/12/2010 09:17

Temp was only about 36 and a bit when I took it. Have a lot of the other symptoms. Have almost lost my voice too which is a bloody pain when I need to tell the kids off.

OP posts:
kayah · 28/12/2010 13:31

now you are describing my latest cold
I am afraid it takes ages to get over it
3rd week for me...

dikkertjedap · 28/12/2010 13:40

Here:

Influenza Symptoms
Influenza (also known as the flu) is a contagious respiratory illness caused by flu viruses. It can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. The flu is different from a cold. The flu usually comes on suddenly. People who have the flu often feel some or all of these symptoms:

Fever* or feeling feverish/chills
Cough
Sore throat
Runny or stuffy nose
Muscle or body aches
Headaches
Fatigue (tiredness)
Some people may have vomiting and diarrhea, though this is more common in children than adults.

  • It's important to note that not everyone with flu will have a fever.

I think that this is very useful, especially as I have come across GPs who think that you can only have flu if you have high fever ...

MadameCastafiore · 28/12/2010 13:43

The doctor on BBC news said lots of people claim to have flu but the real test would be to see a fifty pound note on the floor - if you are unable to pick it up because of how you feel you do not have flu - you have a cold or a virus - am getting fed up of people at work saying they have had flu - I have had it once in my life and lost a whole week, really can't remember it at all.

dikkertjedap · 28/12/2010 13:50

That doctor is a joke IMO. A flu is a virus after all.

OhYouSnowySnowyKitten · 28/12/2010 14:34

I seem to recall that one of the really odd things about swine flu, is that fever is not always a symptoms.

Can only find a NY times article saying that at the moment.

I also seem to remember that not everyone went down as severely as they do with other flu strains. Remember all those people in the early days of it emerging in this country saying on the news that for them it was more like a very bad cold.

dikkertjedap · 28/12/2010 14:37

Snowy, you are right, see the CDC link in my previous posting. But oddly enough not all GPs seem to know this ...

kittywise · 28/12/2010 14:50

Oh poor you, I'm sorry I don't know the difference, I think only a test can truly tell, the symptoms are almost indistinguishable from what I understand.

I am now into my 4th week of this. It's shit. Hope you and yours get better soon.
So true about the £50 note thing. When you have the flu there is no way you can move, no way.
What about those terrible ads for meds that show some supposedly flu ridden bloke at death's door taking some super max flu tablets and being back at work the next raring to go??? Yeah right. Oh if only such a tablet existed, then I would not have felt at death's door for the 4 week running and have coughed so violently and for so long that I pulled muscles all over my chest, stomach and back and feel like I am about to have a bloody prolapseAngry
Hijack over sorryBlush

OhYouSnowySnowyKitten · 28/12/2010 14:59

thanks Dikkertjedap - I should have checked your link before searching through google!

I think this is partly why it is spreading so rapidly, people believe that its 'just' a really nasty virus or cold they have and are struggling on as best they can through life even through they are feeling truely rotten. Unfortunately for others the same bug is causing severe complications.

Housemum · 28/12/2010 15:53

I think I've had swine flu - was a very rapid onset - had Christmas dinner, bit of a cough that was getting worse - by 9pm I crawled into a bath for a soak, as I felt achy all over. Got out of the bath but couldn't face going as far as the top of the stairs so just flakes put on the bed and slept off and on till 11 the next morning. Further 2 days of shivers and fever, ache all over. No appetite. Last meal I had was Xmas dinner - ate a bit of cold turkey on boxing day but threw up later. Tried toast yesterday but threw up. Hideous bout of diarrhoea this morning, but that seems to have broken the back of it - I can now sit up for half an hour but still can't face food, just sipping water. True about the £50 note - I wanted to go online to look at the sales for boots but couldn't sit up and couldn't face looking at a computer screen even if I did make it downstairs. Must be on the mend now - I can MN again :)

Housemum · 28/12/2010 15:58

Kittywise - 4 weeks, poor you - do you mean 4 weeks of the cough or of the aches/tiredness?

TheUnmentioned · 28/12/2010 15:59

dunno specifically about swine flue but the fifty quid note thing is not true. e have all had confirmed flu, we have been very very ill but could have picked up the money!!

kittywise · 28/12/2010 16:35

housemum it started off in the last 2 weeks of term, feeling crap, pouring nose, cough sore throat, each day feeling a little bit worse but functioning(just) with pain killers, hoping I would get better. The day school finished I collapsed for a couple of days. Was able to move around a little if I took strong painkillers If I didn't I got fever, shakes aches etc. I thought I was improving for a day or 2, knew I had to limp on for christmas with the aid of drugs. Went to dr's to check for chest infection as chest so tight, mucous so bad and coughing so violent. Dr told me I had the flu. Could not cook etc on christmas day, was not really functioning . Boxing day, relatives went and I collapsed. Decided to stop all drugs and let it do its thing. Still bedridden and weak but better than 2 days ago.
Sorry for the essay, feel the need to moan!

Interestingly the last time I had the flu 10 years ago it was very slow onset, like this. I thought flu was supposed to be a rapid attack!

kittywise · 28/12/2010 16:36

sorry I didn't even answer your question! Aches have been about three weeks, hideous cough at least 2!

Original poster
IAmReallyFabNow · 28/12/2010 17:04

i have all the symptoms Sad and it takes me forever to type, can't do anythgin else and was so looking forward to looking at my new books. can;t eat eithr.

OP posts:
kittywise · 28/12/2010 17:07

go to bed and stay there!

Original poster
IAmReallyFabNow · 28/12/2010 17:20

I am in bed. tried to slee but can't.

Dh is ill as well but he is up with the kids.

OP posts:
tink123 · 29/12/2010 17:43

when sf went round dd's school last year, the two symptoms that stuck out were a sudden bad cough and a temp that would not come under 38c, no matter what meds you gave child

maristella · 29/12/2010 23:00

hi Fab, hope you're on the mend.

we've had swine flu since xmas day now.
felt like i was coming down with something the day before then woke up shockingly thirsty and with stonking headache. DS has vomitted so much, thankfully this has eased off. i spent a few days feeling like i had D but (tmi alert) it was sludgey but not D.

DS had the temperature, but i haven't.

awful sore throat, and DS has also had a blocked and runny nose, now can't stop coughing.

gp's have confirmed it's more than likely SF but they won't see us unless we're in a really bad way.

hope the description helps confirm or rule out SF. either way it was good to have a moan.

get well soon :)

glasgowlass · 29/12/2010 23:04

Hope your on the mend...we have lost the last week in our house due to flu, still exhausted and aching but at least my temp (and that of DS)is under 40c! just this blooming cough to get rid of now, confirmed via telephone with GP as SF. Horrible.

llareggub · 29/12/2010 23:11

We've all suffered here since the end of November. I barely worked in December due to a combination of me, the DSs, my MIL (who cares for my sons while I work) being ill. We seem to get over one illness and then get another.

I had a very bad cold, then recovered, and went back to the gym for a workout. By the time I got home, I was ill again. The latest illness came on yesterday and I just had to sleep it out. DH is upstairs in bed, ill with it again.

So, all in all, December has been a wipeout for us. Poor DS (20 months) has been on 2 lots of antibiotics for chest infections and developed an allergy to the first lot.

I've just taken down the christmas tree because I was convinced that I am allergic to real christmas trees. I'm covered in hives and was finding it difficult to breathe. I hope it makes a difference!

As soon as we are better I am going to start us all on a massive dose of vitamins!

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