Seasonal ailments

[Sue]

I know there's a lot of stuff going around, and huge commiserations if you have or have had flu.

I'm wondering if anyone else has had a relatively minor virus (I presume) with symptoms of sore eyes, muzzy head, on and off sore throat, on and off runny nose, on and off aches, occasional dry cough, feeling very sleepy and a day or so wiped out in bed?

I ask because I thought mine had gone away, and now it's come back again :(

I'm wondering how long it's likely to go on for, because my energy levels are really low and I'm finding it hard to get much done.

[poch]

Yep, I had that one. Weird runny, sore eyes. Aches and shivers. And pretty wiped. Afraid mine lasted for about two weeks all in (and it did go away and then come back.) Hope you feel better soon!

[teddyboy23]

If its Aussie flu your bound to feel down under. If its swine flu eat and drink plenty and just pig out. If its bird flu try and wing it . if its French flu then I'm afraid its av reoir

[KidKruger]

I was wiped out for 2 weeks too, worst ever. Wouldn't want that every year.

[BrandNewGuy]

Yeah, Sue, it's like something between a cold and flu but goes on for ages. Still got a lingering cough and splutter from whatever it was I caught about six weeks ago. Not enough to knock you out, but bloody annoying.

[Sue]

Damn. Not what I wanted to hear, but thanks!

[hammerman]

Sounds like you need to make a doctor's appointment.

Especially if you are spending a day or so in bed.

[Sue]

Nah it's nowhere near as bad as to need to see a doctor!

No way to treat a virus anyway, you just have to rest.

[TE44]

Hi Sue, My neice has had a similiar thing, lastung nearly 3montgs, she has noe been diagnosed asthmatic. Out of curiousity did you recieve the flu jab, hope you get better soon.

[Saffron]

See a doc if you have high fever you can't keep down, breathlessness or uncontrollable coughing fits.

Otherwise, unfortunately, the respiratory system can be slow to heal because damage to the cells that line it takes a while for the body to repair.

I was sick from early December until mid Jan. I'm not convinced it was the flu because I only had low fever. Also, I felt like I might have been unlucky to have two different viruses in succession. There are dozens of other viruses with flu-like symptoms, eg adenovirus, respiratory syncytial virus etc. They can be nearly as nasty as the flu!

Get well soon. xx

[Zebedee Tring]

I have had a bug/virus somewhere between flu and a cold on and off for several months, with breathlessness, aching teeth and limbs, sore eyes and dizziness among other symptoms. I have had various tests which have however revealed nothing untoward.

The GP thinks that because of a minor asthmatic condition and because of the amount of preventive medication I take, I may be more vulnerable to bugs and that I may have come down with one bug after another.

It is really getting on my nerves and restricting my activities, but there doesn't seem much that I can do except not overdo it and rest as much as possible.

[Sue]

TE44 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hi Sue, My neice has had a similiar thing, lastung

> nearly 3montgs, she has noe been diagnosed

> asthmatic. Out of curiousity did you recieve the

> flu jab, hope you get better soon.

Yes I had the flu jab, but this is nothing like as bad as flu.

[edcam]

None of this is flu. Everyone?s running to the doctor for antibiotics, which are no use at all and quite bad for us all unless we have a bacterial infection. I?ve had what you describe Sue since 23rd December, it?s just a nasty cold. A virus. Antibiotics don?t work on viruses. Just being kind to myself has helped, lots of vitamin c, eating well and plenty of red wine!

[JohnL]

edcam Wrote:

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> None of this is flu. Everyone?s running to the

> doctor for antibiotics, which are no use at all

> and quite bad for us all unless we have a

> bacterial infection. I?ve had what you describe

> Sue since 23rd December, it?s just a nasty cold.

> A virus. Antibiotics don?t work on viruses. Just

> being kind to myself has helped, lots of vitamin

> c, eating well and plenty of red wine!

Don't do antibiotics for flu - but if you're really weak there must be a chance of opportunistic infections

Mine is just a cough but seems to have come and gone since November :(

[lavender27]

Seasonal Effective Disorder - on country file yesterday, great advice us to get out in the fresh air every day in winter, in green spaces or even just your garden, get as much light as possible, and of course keep warm with hat, scarf, gloves and warm shoes or boots.

[Sue]

edcam Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> None of this is flu. Everyone?s running to the

> doctor for antibiotics, which are no use at all

> and quite bad for us all unless we have a

> bacterial infection. I?ve had what you describe

> Sue since 23rd December, it?s just a nasty cold.

> A virus. Antibiotics don?t work on viruses. Just

> being kind to myself has helped, lots of vitamin

> c, eating well and plenty of red wine!

I don't think anybody is suggesting it is flu?

Flu generally makes you extremely ill and bedridden and totally incapable of doing anything.

It's not what I call a cold, either, although it has some of the same symptoms and yes, probably they are both viruses.

What I call a cold starts with a sore throat, progresses to a runny nose, you feel a bit shit for a day or so if it's a bad cold, if you're unlucky you get a cough, but it's over in a relatively short time.

It doesn't involve very sore eyes (oh and very dry lips are another of my symptoms), and it doesn't keep coming and going.

As regards antibiotics, my daughter was on the verge of being admitted to hospital on Friday night because she self-diagnosed her chest infection as a virus and insisted that antibiotics would not work.

When she eventually phoned 111 for advice, she was told to go to the emergency GP, who told her that her heart rate was high, which was a sign that the infection was going out of control, and put her on antibiotics immediately. She was told to come back a few hours later and that if the situation hadn't improved she would have to be admitted.

At 10pm she was told that luckily (and to my astonishment because she had only taken one dose) the antibiotics had kicked in and she hasn't had to be admitted.

My point in all this is not for a minute to suggest that everybody should rush off to their GP at the first sign of illness, but to suggest that to self-diagnose yourself with a virus and assume that therefore it cannot be treated is not a great idea if you are clearly rather ill :)

[Zebedee Tring]

As I mentioned in an earlier post on this thread, I have had a bug/virus somewhere between flu and a cold on and off for several months, with breathlessness, aching teeth and limbs, sore eyes and dizziness among other symptoms. However, in addition during the last three weeks I have also suffered from nausea much of the time, although I haven't actually been sick.

Has anyone had similar symptoms recently?

[Pugwash]

I had a weird thing last month, severe pains in legs and hip, nausea, shivering, dizziness, unable to stand more than a few seconds, loss of appetite. It came on hours after I had a burger at a local restaurant ( I think this was coincidental) Husband got me an emergency appointment at GP who tested urine, heart, blood pressure, blood sugars and was perplexed as all were normal. Sent me off for blood tests and rang me back a couple of days later to say I had a bladder infection and was giving me antibiotics. Had to go for a further blood test a week later which discovered that infection was gradually improving. Took me around 3 weeks to get back to 'normal'

[Robert Poste's Child]

ZT, it sounds like you've had it rather a long time. Perhaps time to go to your GP and get a blood test? It's probably just a post-viral thing but those kind of symptoms could be any number of things so it would make sense to rule out anything serious.

[Blah Blah]

Agreed. There is no harm is seeing your GP and having a health check. What tends to happen in winter is that person gets a cold, cough or chest infection, and the immune system doesn't quite recover enough to stave off the rounds of other viruses, or even a recurrence of the original infection.

Diet can go a long way to helping the immune system though, as well as making sure you are getting enough sleep, and exercise.

[Zebedee Tring]

Thanks for your suggestions. I am due to go back to my GP on another issue, so will raise them then.