H1N1-share your experience

[Bobo's Mama]

I've pretty much diagnosed myself as having H1N1. I woke up Monday morning with an itch in my chest and a dry cough. From that point it just snowballed. By Monday night I had a temp of 101*F. Achy, icky, etc. The usual flu type stuff. No better or worse than any other flu I've ever had. It is now almost Friday and I no longer have a raging fever, just a slight one, around 99*F. The chest congestion is the worst for me. On Wednesday I was almost to the point of being short of breath, where if feels like every time you breath you have to cough. I'm pretty convinced its the flu since I did get a temp. that high. I usually never get a temp. with a plain old cold. So, if you've had H1N1, please share how it was for you.

 

[Hypancistrus]

Mild. I was "infected," allegedly, so they say... but it felt like a bad cold.

They did not confirm mine with a test-- they simply called it on symptoms and the fact that my school was 20% or more infected.

 

[Kaminoke]

It started with just a cough on a Saturday morning at the beginning of October. My throat had been subtly itchy the day before, and by the morning it was obvious I had something even though there was no fever. I work in retail and go to school full time, so I went to the doctor to make sure I wasn't coming down with something nasty. He didn't even test me, said it was just a cold, prescribed me some cough syrup, and told me to come back if I got a fever. By that afternoon I had a low fever, 99-100. I called, they told me to wait overnight to see if it ran its course. I barely slept that night because of chills. I woke up with a 101 fever. Called in to work but had to go to a meeting in the morning still. I decided to rest for a day, because I didn't really want to dish out the doctor's fee a second time. I rested all day, felt miserable. The cough syrup did nothing for the monster cough I had. Monday morning I woke up with a fever over 103. My boyfriend took me to the doctor. I had type A influenza, which could be H1N1 or another type A strain, we didn't send the sample to the CDC to test.. though right now H1N1 is the only reported strain of type A flu in my area. They gave my Tylenol and wouldn't let me go home til my fever dropped to 102.9.. gave me lots of meds.

The next three days I stayed on the couch except for when I really had to pee or take my meds (Relenza... a powder you inhale that tastes like milk, it's weird). I slept on the couch to try and avoid making my boyfriend sick, though they gave him Relenza too to help prevent spreading it to him. One night the chills were so bad, I was wrapped up in two blankets and still shook uncontrollably for a long while. It was hard to eat or drink anything because my throat was so raw from coughing so much, so I almost had to go into the hospital because of dehydration.. I made myself drink through the pain so that I wouldn't have to. Once the fever finally went away, around Thursday, I got off the couch a bit and was able to take a shower and check email and stuff.

I had to take off of work/school for a whole week. It was the sickest I have ever felt in my adult life, and I never want to feel that way again. I still have a little bit of a cough, a whole month later, just from the crap that's left in my lungs from it all.

So.. yeah. Not fun.

 

[SquamishSerpents]

wow guys, sounds like a whole bunch of ickyness!

i certainly am hoping i don't catch it. i am still absolutely undecided on getting the vaccine or not

 

[TandJ]

Probably had/have it, no testing, Tamiflu works good..


Regards.. Tim of T and J

 

[Nova_C]

Self-diagnosis is sketchy. Not that I wasn't trying to do the same when my heart was freaking out.

Anyway, around here people are freaking out. The Calgary Flames got their shots while clinics were turning people away because of a shortage and people absolutely flipped. I can't figure out what the big deal is. The flu kills people every year in what is effectively a seasonal pandemic (Although pandemics by definition can't be seasonal). No one makes a big deal out of that.

 

[Iguanagirl8662]

My mother and I think we had it and my sister and aunt are nurses and think so too but we were not tested because our doctors were on vacation. We called their offices and they just prescribed us medicine. It started with my lungs being a little sore but I thought nothing of it because I physical therapy that day and thought it was something I did. Then I woke up the next morning with a fever, my whole body ached, coughing, and sore lungs. The worse of it lasted 2 weeks and 3 weeks to finally stop coughing completely. One day I couldn't even stand up my lungs hurt so bad. I get sick if I get really stressed and that makes me sicker then I was with this. The worse part was the coughing it was painful and I couldn't stop.

 

[bekers71]

Bad thing is, no one knows for sure if they have/had it unless tested. H1N1 can have symptoms as mild as sniffles to severe enough to put you in the hospital, but so can the regular flu. Matter of fact, most people that contract the swine flu have exact symptoms of the normal flu just like you guys. There is no medicine they can give to get rid of the flu. They can perscribe meds to ease the pain, cough and throwing up though. Essentially it's the worst kind of cold you can get, as far as making you feel miserable, and there's no cure for the common cold. LOL I do hope all of you feel better now though. I've had the flu once. It was a few years ago and I thought for sure I was dieing I felt so bad. *yuck!*

 

[SquamishSerpents]

i've actually been doing a bit of reading tonight, and i think it's possible i have/had it. the 2 days before halloween i was feeling pretty rotten, sore throat, but nothing SUPER unbearable or anything, also nausea, with a bit of vomiting. also, random sporadic crying?? (once because my golddust h. motley male escaped - but was recovered; never fear!) i felt ok on halloween day, but halloween night i ended up going to bed in tears, at someone elses house because i was so tired and nauseated and just wanted to be at home in my own bed, but was almost a 1.5 hour drive away from home.

then i felt okay for half a day, and then felt nauseated again.

and now today, i feel some sinus pressure, and i have a runny, snotty nose, watery eyes, and sneezing. no fever, chills or nausea though...so it's really hard to say. i can't get an appointment with my dr for almost 2 weeks anyways, and if i go to the walk-in clinic, if i don't already have it i'm more likely to get it there than if i just stay home.

i thought the cold-like symptoms weren't part of H1N1, but apparently they are, so i reallllllly have no idea what to do.

 

[Iguanagirl8662]

My mother and I think we had it and my sister and aunt are nurses and think so too but we were not tested because our doctors were on vacation. We called their offices and they just prescribed us medicine. It started with my lungs being a little sore but I thought nothing of it because I physical therapy that day and thought it was something I did. Then I woke up the next morning with a fever, my whole body ached, coughing, and sore lungs. The worse of it lasted 2 weeks and 3 weeks to finally stop coughing completely. One day I couldn't even stand up my lungs hurt so bad. I get sick if I get really stressed and that makes me sicker then I was with this. The worse part was the coughing it was painful and I couldn't stop.

I forgot to mention my next door neighbor's daugther definitely had it and I work/worked in places were there were a lot of cases which also leads me to think I had it but I've never had the noormal flu ever. I only ever get colds.

 

[The_Thunderer]

Not sure if we've had it in our house yet (13 kids), but we've kept some kids home from school with mild fevers - 103 being the highest. All have done well with lots of fluids and regular doses of Tylenol or Ibuprofen to help manage the higher fevers. My 8 year old daughter had a fever of 102 just a little while ago.

The rules here are to keep them home from school while sick and for at least 48 hours AFTER the fever breaks. So far out of 13 kids, all 4 of mine and 3 of the "dorm girls" have had flu like symptoms. Not sure if it is H1N1, but we've really been monitoring it if it goes beyond just the fever symptoms.

 

[SquamishSerpents]

Not sure if we've had it in our house yet (13 kids), but we've kept some kids home from school with mild fevers - 103 being the highest. All have done well with lots of fluids and regular doses of Tylenol or Ibuprofen to help manage the higher fevers. My 8 year old daughter had a fever of 102 just a little while ago.

The rules here are to keep them home from school while sick and for at least 48 hours AFTER the fever breaks. So far out of 13 kids, all 4 of mine and 3 of the "dorm girls" have had flu like symptoms. Not sure if it is H1N1, but we've really been monitoring it if it goes beyond just the fever symptoms.

okay this may be a little off topic but, 13 kids? are you a foster parent/something of the like?

 

[Rich Z]

Well, I've had SOME kind of bug since Monday. Just a runny nose (big time!) but no other symptoms. So I'm not really sure what it is. Since you really can't be cured of a virus, the only thing you can do is to try to boost your immune system, and take medications to alleviate the symptoms while the immune system is kicking into gear.

I think this would be an EXCELLENT time to buy up stock in Kleenex......

 

[Susan]

Personally, I think it's just a bunch of hype. Every year, some new strain of flu comes out, the media and the health industry blow things out of proportion, drug companies rush to create a vaccine whose sole purpose is to make them money as the only other thing that it does is make the poor souls who get suckered into getting it sick and causing Nature to come out with a new and better strain next year. The flu has been around for thousands of years. Yes, those with weaker immune systems have a tough time with it and people can die. But that's nothing new. My children and I were sick with some kind of bug about a month or so ago. I treated it like I would any cold/flu with bed rest, plenty of liquids and keeping the fever down. I never even missed a day of work and my daughter only missed 2 days of school (because of their rule that her fever must be gone for over 48 hours before being allowed to return). We'll probably get another one as the cold weather sets in, but I don't think we'll have any major problems. Heck, I haven't missed a day of work in over 20 years other than maternity leave.

 

[diamondlil]

Personally, I think it's just a bunch of hype. Every year, some new strain of flu comes out, the media and the health industry blow things out of proportion, drug companies rush to create a vaccine whose sole purpose is to make them money as the only other thing that it does is make the poor souls who get suckered into getting it sick and causing Nature to come out with a new and better strain next year. The flu has been around for thousands of years. Yes, those with weaker immune systems have a tough time with it and people can die. But that's nothing new. My children and I were sick with some kind of bug about a month or so ago. I treated it like I would any cold/flu with bed rest, plenty of liquids and keeping the fever down. I never even missed a day of work and my daughter only missed 2 days of school (because of their rule that her fever must be gone for over 48 hours before being allowed to return). We'll probably get another one as the cold weather sets in, but I don't think we'll have any major problems. Heck, I haven't missed a day of work in over 20 years other than maternity leave.

I tend to agree with you on this one, 'flu kills vunerable people every year but most get over it and apart from fluids and rest there's only generally a need for treatment if a secondary infection sets in, like a chest infection. Hyping each new strain of the influenza virus makes big money for drug companies.

 

[LBoz]

Since I'm no longer working in a hospital setting at this time, I tend to pick up everything my walking petri dishes drag home from school. H1N1 was no exception, and it was confirmed with cultures due to the severity. They are not typically even testing for it now because our seasonal strain of flu has not even moved into the region yet, so it's likely that all patients with those symptoms do, indeed, have H1N1. Luke had it first, with symptoms of high fever, achiness, malaise and severe cough. Within two days of him showing sypmtoms, I came down with it, but to a much more severe degree. Within five days I couldn't so much as take three steps without becoming so short of breath I had to lie down. I was in bed for almost two solid weeks. I did develop a secondary bilateral pneumonia and had to take high doses of steroids and two rounds of antibiotics. Yesterday was the first day I've felt almost human. I'm still not running on full lung capacity, but I can tell that the issues are resolving.

After weeks and weeks of the schools running at low cencus, they're now offering the vaccine. I know that my children have both been exposed, so it seems a little late in the game to shoot them up with it, so I've declined. I rarely get the seasonal flu, and my children have been vaccinated against it. This is the first virus that has knocked me down this far, and it hasn't been fun. I personally feel that if someone IS within the boundary of the suggested risk factor that they do get the vaccine. JMHO.

 

[The_Thunderer]

okay this may be a little off topic but, 13 kids? are you a foster parent/something of the like?

Yup... I work at a children's home. Our personal 4 (2 boys 2 girls) and 9 girls "not our own" - all loved and cared for!

Personally, I think it's just a bunch of hype. Every year, some new strain of flu comes out, the media and the health industry blow things out of proportion, drug companies rush to create a vaccine whose sole purpose is to make them money as the only other thing that it does is make the poor souls who get suckered into getting it sick and causing Nature to come out with a new and better strain next year. The flu has been around for thousands of years. Yes, those with weaker immune systems have a tough time with it and people can die. But that's nothing new. My children and I were sick with some kind of bug about a month or so ago. I treated it like I would any cold/flu with bed rest, plenty of liquids and keeping the fever down. I never even missed a day of work and my daughter only missed 2 days of school (because of their rule that her fever must be gone for over 48 hours before being allowed to return). We'll probably get another one as the cold weather sets in, but I don't think we'll have any major problems. Heck, I haven't missed a day of work in over 20 years other than maternity leave.

I tend to agree with you on this one, 'flu kills vunerable people every year but most get over it and apart from fluids and rest there's only generally a need for treatment if a secondary infection sets in, like a chest infection. Hyping each new strain of the influenza virus makes big money for drug companies.

I want to agree with both of you... it seems to be all hype. That's not to say that people aren't being affected in MAJOR ways (eg. Lori), but other than rest, fluids, and fever management - every kid in my house and on our facility hasn't needed any medical "assistance".

I do feel horrible for those who are being affected more severely... I hope you all heal up soon!

 

[RosieReal]

i sat in a clinic for five hours to find out if i had h1n1. (the answer was a "yes...but" which i will explain in a moment.)
started with a cough, that night, chills, sweats, aches. the next day was mostly chills and aches, lots of coughing. thats the day i went to the clinic, and when i got there we were all wearing masks. it was so strange to walk into a room of 80 people all looking at you, all with masks on...although the sheets the nurses were handing out said on the bottom 'masks do not offer much if any protection.' i guess they didnt want people living in the things.
anyway. i was told i do have all the symptoms, and since i work with the public that it was more than likely h1n1 but i did not qualify for antivirals because my symptoms were not severe. i spent the next three days off work with a 101* fever, chills, aches, and coughing so hard that i couldnt keep water down.
the hardest part was being so ill and not being able to eat or sleep. i ate my first solid food in 5days yesterday...and back to work this morning in a half hour.
i guess to sum up my experiance with pig flu: SHOOT ME!!:madeuce:

 

[bekers71]

Personally, I think it's just a bunch of hype. Every year, some new strain of flu comes out, the media and the health industry blow things out of proportion, drug companies rush to create a vaccine whose sole purpose is to make them money as the only other thing that it does is make the poor souls who get suckered into getting it sick and causing Nature to come out with a new and better strain next year. The flu has been around for thousands of years. Yes, those with weaker immune systems have a tough time with it and people can die. But that's nothing new. My children and I were sick with some kind of bug about a month or so ago. I treated it like I would any cold/flu with bed rest, plenty of liquids and keeping the fever down. I never even missed a day of work and my daughter only missed 2 days of school (because of their rule that her fever must be gone for over 48 hours before being allowed to return). We'll probably get another one as the cold weather sets in, but I don't think we'll have any major problems. Heck, I haven't missed a day of work in over 20 years other than maternity leave.

I agree 100% Susan. Although no one wants them selves, their children, parents etc to die, it is the course of nature. We were not meant to live forever and every time kids get shots or antibiotics for runny noses it breaks down their natural immune system. The media feeds into this stuff causing people to panic. When people panic they watch the news more, boosting ratings which the tv stations love. They also run out and get what ever they think will work to "save them", such as the vaccine. What the media doesn't report is the true numbers of people that have actually died from H1N1, which I believe is still under 200, and the fact that most of those people were elderly or children with other health issues or the poor who have no/limited health care. They came out with this vaccine way to fast for my taste. There have been no long term studies to see if it has any long term effects. Our local health department came to the kids school so parents could get the children the shot. I signed the paper refusing it for all 5 of my kids. After a discussion with my kids Dr. even he said he's not pushing people to get the vaccine. He said that if my children were the type to get sick easily or had certain other problems then he would recommend it. He's the type of Dr that only gives medicines if they are needed, not for a snotty nose. In the past 6 yrs I can count for each kid on one hand how many times they missed school for being sick. Ocassionaly they run a temp for a day or two, but I treat them with motrin and fluids and they are fine. I did take my youngest to the Dr. last week for a sinus infection, first time to the doc sick in 1 1/2 yrs. This world is crazy with hand sanitizers, sprays, etc to kill germs. Wonder what all the chemicals in Lysol does to your kids lungs after they breath it for a couple years? :shrugs:

 

[Kaminoke]

I've never in my life caught the flu until this year. It may or may not have been H1N1, but if you get a full-blown type A it's about the same either way. To my knowledge the test for the exact strain can only be done by the CDC and takes 2-4 weeks to have it submitted and tested, so any doctor telling you that you have swine flu is doing it based of of symptoms, being positive for type A (nasal swab), and the current epidemic rather than the actual test. I could be wrong, but then my doctor would be wrong too.

Anyway, I was completely incapacitated for a week. Even if I was allowed to go back to work or school, which I wasn't, I would not have been able to do anything. I couldn't drive. The 102-103 fever persisted for three days, with small "lower fever" breaks during the alternating Motrin and Tylenol doses. I had trouble operating a light switch in my bathroom at one point. So whether it was H1N1 or the seasonal strain (which hasn't been reported here yet), to me it was not hype. I could not "tough it up" and go to work. I was directed to remain under self-quarantine in my house, but it wasn't like I had the strength to go out anyway. Did I think I was dying or anything? Not at all, I am relatively young and otherwise healthy. But I was still immensely miserable and unable to function for quite some time.

So, media hype or no, H1N1 and the flu in general is genuinely a real PITA.