cold.. flu.. cold.. flu...cold.. FLU!

[Sukurachi]

Here's a PSA that bears repeating:

if you're coughing, and have a fever, and have aches and chills, and it lasts more than 4 days: GO to the doctor's.

Had I continued on in my stubborn way, I'd probably be dead next week.

I had been dragging a "cold" for a little over a week.
Well, it turns out it's Influenza, with an added pulmonary infection. I went to the hospital at 4 in the morning when my husband just couldn't take seeing me coughing so much anymore.

I've been on antibiotics for the infection, which is clearing up very quickly. The rest of the symptoms (now that I can finally get a few hours' sleep in a row) seem to be lightening a bit. I SHOULD see the light at the end of the tunnel in another week or so.

The house is under quarantine. No one in or out.

And from what the emergency room doctors said, well, far too many people confuse flu and cold (and especially in French - it seems the two words have become almost synonyms, unless you actually use the "long form" influenza).

There is no such thing as a 24-hr flu.
In the US, between 5,000 and 50,000 people die of influenza every year.
No one dies of a cold.

If your symptoms drag on for more than 4 days, WITH fever (doesn't even have to be a high fever, any fever will do): SEE THE DOCTOR.

/end PSA

[Bellatryx]

Well I am throughly scared now. I'm fine but still.. ack..

[Kaleos]

What he said. The flu is never fun, though being sick in general just sucks.

[Sukurachi]

The point is, most people do NOT get "the flu". They get persistent colds (up to 7-10 days duration) where the symptoms have weakened considerably within the last 5-6 days.
Influenza is not a short-term illness. It rarely if ever lasts less than a few weeks.
Right now, I'm up to two weeks with this, and there is, for the time being, no end in sight.

So if it lasts less than a week, but you felt like crap, it was not a flu.
If it's lasting more than a week, and you're running fever, it is NOT a cold. Get treated.

One indicator of the difference between the two:

cold: symptoms usually come on gradually, worsening with time

influenza: hits like a freight train, symptoms coming on all at once within the first 12 hours.

If you DO notice these strong symptoms coming on very suddenly, all at once, and the next day you still feel terrible, run to the emergency room, there is still time to treat it. Within the first 48 hours, they can treat it with antiviral meds.


The danger with influenza is the secondary infections that can come with it: bronchitis, pulmonary infection (like I got), and most seriously: pneumonia.

[zedxrgal]

This a post right up my ally and to my liking. lmao

Yes there are HUGE difference between a cold and a flu but regardless of the diagnosis if symptoms progress beyond 3 days you need to be on the phone with your doctor. The reason colds seem like flus and vice versa is because it's more then possible to have both at the same time. I've also seen true influenza with cold symptoms. One thing the general public NEEDS to keep in mind is in any given season there are between 6-10 different strains of the flu running about infecting people and until the patient is diagnosed and tested it's a crap shoot of which strain is presented. Also a cold can turn into flu just as a flu can down grade into a cold which is how we see patients who are ill for 7 plus days sometimes 14 days.

Yes the flu can kill but there is one myth I want to dispel right now. 95% of the patient who passed away with flu all had underlying causes!!!! Which means they DID NOT die of flu. Flu rarely kills unless the patient is extremely young or elderly. The other issue is the number of seemingly healthy adults who passed were people who weren't living in good conditions and were in third world type conditions. The first person to die as reported from swine flu was a severe asthmatic and had major respiratory issue prior to her become ill with flu. So the chances of a healthy adult catching the flu and dying are very very slim. I mean EXTREMELY slim.

Best word of the wise to protect yourself is obviously stay away from those who are ill even with cold. Just because you don't have a fever doesn't mean you're not contagious. WASH YOUR HANDS OFTEN. Cannot stress that enough. Carry an antiseptic wipes or gels with you. Wipe down all shopping carts etc before use. Even wipe down your computer, mouse or things at work if anyone else may have used them in your absence.

Disclaimer: This is not meant as "medical advice"!!! If you need that talk to you /a doctor.

[Teigan]

.

[Sukurachi]

ow, Teig, so sorry to hear.

well, at least I'm sick but in good company

[Adam-Savage]

influenza: hits like a freight train, symptoms coming on all at once within the first 12 hours.

Kinda like what I had. I woke up and I had you name it wrong with me. It was very sudden. thankfully by the end of the day the worst of it had passed. Once I threw up I didn't feel sick anymore. The mucus in my lungs is already starting to clear so I'm recovering nicely.

[cowmuflage]

Mum makes me get my flu shots every year. Never had the flu so I guess those help :S

[VelkynKarma]

Bah, it is sick season isn't it >< Now here's a question: do colds tend to shift symptoms?

I ask because last Monday afternoon I started loosing my voice. It was gone for about two days and has been gradually coming back since, but in the meantime I've cycled between plenty of other symptoms; loss of appetite, soreness/aching, exhaustion, stuffy nose, runny nose, and now plenty of hacking and coughing with all the stuff stuck in my chest and throat. Most of these symptoms only last a day or two before getting swapped out with a new one.

Am I to assume the flu, in addition to hitting all at once, keeps the same symptoms repeatedly?

~VelkynKarma

[Victorelle]

I got allergies and when I went to the doctor with my deadly cold I got a flu shot