I don’t know if it was the swine flu or the regular flu but since the swine flu is in our area I’d have to assume it was the swine…AND IT TOOK ME DOWN. Big time!
It started with a mild dry hacking cough on a Wed evening (Wed.Oct.21)…then it went away. For two days I felt absolutely the best I’ve felt in years (now that I think back I realize the body was trying to fight whatever had invaded)…
Then Friday night (Oct.23) it hit with a vengeance. The cough got worse. This was quickly accompanied by lots of body aches which literally moved around the body. Sometimes they felt like nasty pinpricks jabbing into my skin. Ouch!
That was quickly followed by the chills. For three days I had these really weird chills that when I timed them, they popped up about every minute and would last a few seconds. When I got warmed up, they seemed to go away and I would start to sweat. Grrrr. Then when I got a little bit cooled down, the chills were back. Nights were hell as I would lay there with the chills and sweat at the same time.
One night I went thru three sets of sheets and pjs!!! I was sweating so much!!
Had mild nausea too for about 24 hours on the second night. Gravol helped big time. The cough wasn’t too bad during this period, (later it really got bad) but it was always there. Other symptoms included: lack of appetite to starving and the BIG ONE, extreme exhaustion – I couldn’t stay awake longer than half an hour before wanting to go back to sleep again. Didn’t care about anything but sleeping and trying to stay warm. The severe sleepiness lasted about three days.
During the sleepiness days, everytime I coughed I felt pain at the base of the neck. My eyes were aching big time. And on the third night I started hearing noises coming from my lungs. A gurgling sound like water…water in the lungs? Eeek!
When I thought the flu was gone and I started feeling better (better meaning I didn’t need to sleep every half an hour for hours) then the cough got worse and so did the noise in the lungs. Figure that one out. It got so bad I ended up trying to get into the local hospital’s emergency. (I hate hospitals)
Walked into emerg, took a look at all the folks wearing masks and coughing their brains out, and I decided I’d better get the heck out of here before I pick up something again!!! So I grabbed a couple of masks for my increasingly dwindling inventory and hoofed it out of there between coughs.
I tried to get an appt with the family dr only to be turned away because they were being overwhelmed by flu cases…uhuh. So I went to the clinic where after an hour wait (in my car as the waiting room was FULL of patients wearing masks and coughing) I was seen by a clinic doctor who was kind enough to give me a puffer (apparently I have a mild case of asthma) and his diagnosis for what I had???? He says I had a “cold virus”….uhuh! Strangest cold I ever had considering I never even had a cold. lololol
So finally today (9 days after the violent onset) I am feeling a bit like myself again albeit still coughing, still tired, BUT ALIVE to tell that I think I survived the swine flu!
The moral of this story is…try not to get the flu and definitely don’t go to the clinic I went to in order to get a diagnosis. lol
My advice if you are taken down by the flu, drink drink drink plenty of fluids cause you just may have to sweat it out for a few days. *insert crooked grin here*
Sending everyone with the flu big hugs!!!
jan
Arg, nine days! Good thing you didn’t end up with bronchitis etc.
I have it with asthma all worked up so it is hard to sleep. And my stomach is a mess. Daughter and hubby have it, too. The clinics here are out of control busy! I’m hoping to avoid a trip to the clinic because I don’t want to meet new germs!
It had already hit our house before the vaccine was available in our area.
Oh Beckie, I sympathize with you. I hope you are feeling better soon.
Same here with the virus, it seems to be hitting even before the vaccine is available…and I’ve been turned away from our family doctor’s office twice due to them being overwhelmed by flu victims.
Looks like it’s going to be an early and tough flu season this year.
Sending you huge hugs!
j
I have been reading a lot on here and have picked up some great info. One thing I have found which works well for better sleep, feeling more relaxed and focused is binaural beats. As strange as they may sound (excuse the pun) they are a very powerful method of relaxation.