Who has/had the flu?

Haven't had the flu in over a decade, haven't had a flu shot in over a decade.

My immune system is great, yet I do nothing for it (don't take any vitamins, supplements, or have any amazing diet). I'm probably a carrier at worst, but that sucks for all the weak people.

I never get a flu shot. The first and only time, so far, that I've had the flu was in third grade.

I've never understood why people buy into the ******** surrounding flu vaccines.

Don't think I've ever had the flu. Haven't had a flu shot since I was in grade school. Did have Lyme disease. Been told that will make any flu seem like a common cold. Lyme disease wasn't fun. Cool looking rash though.

Ive never had a flu shot. Normally I get sick once a year. This year I got sick 3 times. The last time i ended up with pneumonia and bronchitis. I am definitely getting a flu shot this year. I guess im getting old (24).

NathanMuir said:

I never get a flu shot. The first and only time, so far, that I've had the flu was in third grade.

I've never understood why people buy into the ******** surrounding flu vaccines.

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I've never understood it much myself, either. I've gotten one flu shot in my life, and...well...granted, I didn't get the flu, but I've managed to coast through all the other pandemics shot free without catching it, either.

At least until this year. And this particular bug seems to be doing everything it can to me to make up for lost time. At least my condition has upgraded a bit. I've gone from being in so much pain I secretly wish for death, to a goodly bit blargh. I might beat this yet.

I'm forced to get the flu shot every year, and I haven't had the flu for 6 years.

Getting the shot is as important for herd immunity as it is for personal protection.

eric/ said:

No flu shot, no flue.

Don't get it unless you're in a risky demographic.

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Yep. No shots, not flu he either.

I take my kids to get the flu shot every year.

If you begin getting a flu shot, you should keep getting flu shots every year. The worst thing you can do is flip-flop between getting the shots and not getting them year after year.

grapes911 said:

Flu or Cold Symptoms?

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And I'd add to that list the feeling of 'jelly like' legs - that you feel as though your legs are too wobbly and weak to support you fully.

OllyW said:

You know the difference when you get the flu.

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Exactly.

Jessica Lares said:

This. Everything hurts, and we're not talking like the day after your first workout pain, we're talking about the pain where your bones hurt. And then because you're so weak, you start to feel dizzy and nauseated whenever you do try and move around.

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Exactly.

When you have the flu you can't think, you can't read, you can't eat, you can't concentrate, you can hardly walk, you are so weak, exhausted, shattered, that all you want to do is crawl into a nice, warm bed and stay there for weeks, and weeks, simply sleeping. You are dizzy, nauseous, and utterly, almost shamefully feeble when you do awaken.

Convalescence takes much longer, too, than with a cold. Recuperating from a flu always involves a few days of sitting around for a few hours, shattered, as you stagger from room to room wondering where all - and I mean all - of your energy went, before quitting to return (with a shattering relief) to bed.

So, yes, I have had a flu, but not since I was at school, years ago, but it is way, way worse than a bad cold. And no, I have not received flu jabs.

I think I've lucked out a bit. Unless I have a massive resurgence (knock furiously on wood that I don't), I believe the worst of it is behind me. I'm a little achy, and I'm not exactly spry and full of energy, but I don't feel like I'm flat out dying anymore. In less than 24 hours, it feels like it's gone from hell flu, to particularly bad head cold. I've actually managed to stay up for two hours so far.

But whatever. As long as I don't reach a temp of 103 again, I'll be perfectly okay feeling like this for the next 2-3 days. You'd think being semi coherent would be fun, but...it ain't. At all.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go back to reading The Stand, and try to get an hour or so of naptime in.

I just got over a 5 day bronchitis thing with 101/102 fever. I had a flu shot, so maybe I just had a mild version of flu? It was bearable.

My wife had the shot (forced by employer) and was one of the two of my household that had it. My daughter had the flu followed immediately by stomach flu (particularly nasty). The diagnosing Dr. prescribed Tamiflu for all of us (preemptive medicine). As a result, I seem to have avoided getting sick.

I had the flu one time, when I was 12. I was in bed for three weeks, constant fever hovering around 102-103. I don't think I ate more than five or six bowls of soup the whole time, couldn't keep anything else down. All I can remember feeling was pain and misery.

Ugh, hoping I won't have to deal with that hell again.

NathanMuir said:

I've never understood why people buy into the ******** surrounding flu vaccines.

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Just because you didn't get a flu means the vaccine is not helpful. I work in a hospital where the patients have very delicate immune systems. We require everyone to get flu vaccines to protect them - if they get the flu it could very well be fatal for them.

Its been shown that it can be very helpful in avoid the virus and for that its very useful.

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btw, I haven't gotten it yet and I hope to avoid it.

What's more pernicious is the norovirus. Normal hand sanitizes do nothing to prevent the spread, as its particularly hard to kill. With kids its difficult to avoid such bugs and it usually comes through my area of the country between January and February. I'm hoping and praying it misses us this year. For some reason kids get stomach bugs at 2:00am and dealing with that type of problem is no fun at 2:00am - been there done that.

Just got over the flu accompanied by a fever. The last time i was that sick was about 15 years ago. Never did get a flu shot. It took me all week to watch The Terminator, would watch 5min fall asleep, wake up put it back on, fall asleep. I think ive seen the intro about twenty times now

maflynn said:

Just because you didn't get a flu means the vaccine is not helpful. I work in a hospital where the patients have very delicate immune systems. We require everyone to get flu vaccines to protect them - if they get the flu it could very well be fatal for them.

Its been shown that it can be very helpful in avoid the virus and for that its very useful.

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btw, I haven't gotten it yet and I hope to avoid it.

What's more pernicious is the norovirus. Normal hand sanitizes do nothing to prevent the spread, as its particularly hard to kill. With kids its difficult to avoid such bugs and it usually comes through my area of the country between January and February. I'm hoping and praying it misses us this year. For some reason kids get stomach bugs at 2:00am and dealing with that type of problem is no fun at 2:00am - been there done that.

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Eh, I was speaking more to the people outside the high risk demographics. I don't think we've got a lot of children and elderly using MR.

I've had the flu three times. Each time it followed my getting a flu shot.

I've only ever had three flu shots. I won't be getting another.

designs216 said:

...My daughter had the flu followed immediately by stomach flu (particularly nasty).

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I think this is what's happening to me. I thought I had it beat last night. No fever, spring in my step. You know what it's like. It was grand. I go to bed actually feeling pretty comfortable, and looking forward to what the next day will bring.

When I woke up this morning, it was an entirely different story. My fever was back, and it felt like someone had punched me in the stomach overnight. Oh well, I thought it was a foolish wish thinking I could beat the flu in two days. It's a small miracle I'm even able to walk and function after such a short amount of time. I need to accept that I've got at least a week of waking up feeling like crap ahead of me.

I stand up and walk downstairs to get a drink. At first it's not too bad. I'm able to get down the steps at least without a problem. Then I get to the kitchen counter, open up a can of diet coke (because I've already drank all my orange juice, apple juice, and other better-for-the-sick beverages), and it hits me. A huge wave of nausea. Massive even. Like I've suddenly been placed on a tilt-a-whirl, and it's twisting my stomach into a tightly packed knot. I stumble on, slam my ass into the first chair I can find, and do that "heh-heh-heh-heh" thing I'm pretty sure we all do when we're 3 steps away from tossing chunky pastries. It isn't working. NO RELIEF! I have to lay down! I HAVE TO! IT ISN'T GONNA END! The next part is kinda hazy, but I managed to make it up the steps, grab the trashcan, and throw myself into my bed without any major mishaps.

And it's instant bliss. I break out in this terrific cold sweat, and my arms go lightly tingly, like I've been sleeping on them. I'm sitting there breathing in huge gulps of air, so happy that this isn't something I'm gonna have to deal with from here on out, sitting up or lying down.

...then I hear this "grawwwwp! Glurgle-glog-glog-glog-glog noise emanating from somewhere just beneath my belly button. Then...THE URGE! Don't worry. I'm not gonna delve into the gory details. I'll just say I managed to make it in the nick of time there, too. Running down the steps, getting nauseous all over again from standing up and breaking out into a head-long run down the steps and to the bathroom. It's hellish.

I went back to sleep shortly thereafter, and it hasn't been quite as bad since. I get a little achey standing up, and feel weakish (though not nearly as bad as I was two days ago), but I'm managing. I mean hey. I feel good enough to sit in front of my computer, bundled in a bunch of blankets, and write out this sordid tale of body fluids and severe stomach cramps.

I hate being sick.

Renzatic said:

No flu shot...the flu. I think this is the sickest I've been in years and years.

I'm weak
I've got constant semi delirious fever dreams that keep waking me up every hour on the hour.
My stomach hurts
My fever comes and goes. It's like a roller coaster of sick
I smell bad from all the cold sweats
I haven't eaten anything cept a slice of rye bread in almost 24 hours
My head is killing me

It's terrible. I'm thinking about going to the emergency room and having them induce a coma so I don't have to deal with this for the next few days.

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See if someone can find Andrographis for you. If not, Amazon carries it. It's said to shorten flu symptoms.

http://www.med.nyu.edu/content?ChunkIID=21485

http://altmedicine.about.com/od/herbsupplementguide/a/andrographis.htm

Renzatic said:

...then I hear this "grawwwwp! Glurgle-glog-glog-glog-glog noise emanating from somewhere just beneath my belly button. Then...THE URGE! Don't worry. I'm not gonna delve into the gory details. I'll just say I managed to make it in the nick of time there, too. Running down the steps, getting nauseous all over again from standing up and breaking out into a head-long run down the steps and to the bathroom. It's hellish.


I hate being sick.

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The Dr. had to give my girl anti-nausea meds, Phenergan I think, as she could NOT stop vomiting and we were worried she'd get dehydrated.

I haven't gotten a flu shot in the last two years and (knock on wood) I haven't had the flu yet. Ironically, one of the years I did get a flu shot was when I got the flu.

I just got over it. Had it for 2 weeks AND I had a flu shot a month before.

Go figure.

My girlfriend. She's been keeping me up at night with her congested coughing and snoring.