Author Topic: Anybody Get the Flu yet? Holidays?  (Read 2430 times)

soccerluvof4

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Anybody Get the Flu yet? Holidays?
« on: December 28, 2018, 07:07:33 AM »
Not looking for sympathy but just curious if anyone has gotten the flu yet this season as they say its low but I haven't had it in 8+ years and of course I get hammered with it the Night of the 23rd/Am of 24th and still recovering. Still questioning if it was the flue or food poisoning because that night we all ate subs. I had a tuna sub and my youngest who woke up about the same time I did with the violent vomiting and all split a Italian sub with my other son and none of the other 4 got it. Seems to coincidental not to be food poisoning but in a lot of aspects it doesn't add up.

Anyhow I paid for being cocky about never getting the flu and refusing the shot but think at going on 55 I have to rethink it. Going on 5 days and still feeling stomach sensitive and weak. Never remember it kicking my butt this bad. Just haven't heard anyone else by us that's had it yet. So was curious is all. Not sure if I am being overly weird about this but 5 days seems like a long time though I did walk 6 miles or so yesterday so on my way back

wenchsenior

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Re: Anybody Get the Flu yet? Holidays?
« Reply #1 on: December 28, 2018, 08:37:46 AM »
Not looking for sympathy but just curious if anyone has gotten the flu yet this season as they say its low but I haven't had it in 8+ years and of course I get hammered with it the Night of the 23rd/Am of 24th and still recovering. Still questioning if it was the flue or food poisoning because that night we all ate subs. I had a tuna sub and my youngest who woke up about the same time I did with the violent vomiting and all split a Italian sub with my other son and none of the other 4 got it. Seems to coincidental not to be food poisoning but in a lot of aspects it doesn't add up.

Anyhow I paid for being cocky about never getting the flu and refusing the shot but think at going on 55 I have to rethink it. Going on 5 days and still feeling stomach sensitive and weak. Never remember it kicking my butt this bad. Just haven't heard anyone else by us that's had it yet. So was curious is all. Not sure if I am being overly weird about this but 5 days seems like a long time though I did walk 6 miles or so yesterday so on my way back

The flu shot does not prevent the form of stomach virus (stomach 'flu', which is really kind of a misnomer) that lasts 3 or 4 days (with a day or two of severe symptoms) and that you seem to be describing. What you got (if not food poisoning) is more likely to be a norovirus of some sort, which are known to cause a couple days of vomiting and diarrhea. True influenza, as far as I know, rarely causes that kind of violent vomiting.  Which doesn't make it less horrible.  When I had it multiple times in my stupid youth before I got the shot every year, it would be of much longer duration (sometimes symptoms linger for weeks) and was  characterized by fever, sore throat, severe body aches/headache, followed by the hacking cough and chest congestion that lingered and lingered and lingered.  There are no vaccines for norovirus, and I'm sure some people die of it b/c it can dangerously dehydrate; but it's influenza (for which there are vaccines every year) that kills hundreds of thousands of people every year.

Norovirus is definitely no fun, though, and it's the main reason I obsessively wash my hands all winter.  It's been years since I had it but I remember it well. You have my sympathy.
« Last Edit: December 28, 2018, 08:39:20 AM by wenchsenior »

waltworks

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Re: Anybody Get the Flu yet? Holidays?
« Reply #2 on: December 28, 2018, 09:03:37 AM »
You did not have the flu.

Go get the shot. Even if you don't care about getting the flu yourself, you are protecting all the people you come into contact with (especially elderly people and little kids). Not getting the shot is extremely irresponsible.

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MasterStache

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Re: Anybody Get the Flu yet? Holidays?
« Reply #3 on: December 28, 2018, 09:22:19 AM »
You did not have the flu.

Go get the shot. Even if you don't care about getting the flu yourself, you are protecting all the people you come into contact with (especially elderly people and little kids). Not getting the shot is extremely irresponsible.

-W

Agree with this. People die from the flu ever year. Our neighbors prefer more natural methods of medicine but after they all suffered through the flu last year they decided to get shots this year. So simple to get the shot.

MayDay

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Re: Anybody Get the Flu yet? Holidays?
« Reply #4 on: December 28, 2018, 06:00:27 PM »
I will be ditto.
The flu = influenza or stomach flu (aka the barfs). You had the stomach flu. The flu shot is for influenza.

Influenza is characterized by a fever, body aches, and cough, but no congestion or barfing.

soccerluvof4

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Re: Anybody Get the Flu yet? Holidays?
« Reply #5 on: December 29, 2018, 03:23:32 AM »
Well whatever I had I finally feel close to 100% today. Actually just got out and stayed out most of the day yesterday and was able to eat normally and worked out.

Definitively getting the shot going forward.

starbuck

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Re: Anybody Get the Flu yet? Holidays?
« Reply #6 on: December 29, 2018, 05:28:50 AM »
Definitively getting the shot going forward.

As the parent of a three month old, thank you! And I'm glad you are on the mend.

wenchsenior

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Re: Anybody Get the Flu yet? Holidays?
« Reply #7 on: December 29, 2018, 08:06:53 AM »
Well whatever I had I finally feel close to 100% today. Actually just got out and stayed out most of the day yesterday and was able to eat normally and worked out.

Definitively getting the shot going forward.

That's the spirit!  Every person who gets the shot poses that much less risk to thousands of their fellow citizens.

soccerluvof4

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Re: Anybody Get the Flu yet? Holidays?
« Reply #8 on: December 30, 2018, 04:49:27 AM »
I have to admit I was kinda ignorant to the fact getting the flu shot to protect others vs just myself. I am one that with kids believes in the importance of all shots and were a family that keeps up on all them but I didnt ever look at the flu shot that way. Only took my 54 years and getting really sick to figure that one out!

frugalnacho

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Re: Anybody Get the Flu yet? Holidays?
« Reply #9 on: January 05, 2019, 09:23:48 AM »
I get my flu shot every year.  Last time I had the flu was about 6 years.  Never got officially diagnosed with the flu, but I'm pretty sure it was legit (vomits, shits, aches, congestion, and was about a week of hell, and another 2 weeks of not quite hell but still sick).

Just last weekend I got some kind of stomach virus.  Vomiting and diarrhea.  Aches so bad it felt like my entire skeleton was on fire.  It was one of, if not the, most painful and uncomfortable nights of my life.  Nights 2 and 3 weren't nearly as bad, and I was back to 100% by day 4.

John Galt incarnate!

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Re: Anybody Get the Flu yet? Holidays?
« Reply #10 on: January 05, 2019, 03:38:05 PM »
Last week I started feeling symptoms of the flu  (scratchy throat/congestion) but happily they went away.


Rosy

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Re: Anybody Get the Flu yet? Holidays?
« Reply #11 on: January 05, 2019, 05:14:50 PM »
Last time I had the flu from hell was about 12 or so years ago. It left me so weak it took me six months to recuperate. Caught it overseas at a convention with tens of thousands of people from every corner of the world. God only knows what misery that was or what strain it may have been.

Haven't had the flu since.

Dixie_Amazon

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Re: Anybody Get the Flu yet? Holidays?
« Reply #12 on: January 05, 2019, 05:23:54 PM »
I had the flu about 3 years ago come May, after my flu shot was no longer effective.

rocketpj

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Re: Anybody Get the Flu yet? Holidays?
« Reply #13 on: January 06, 2019, 07:36:57 PM »
3 of the 4 of us got knocked over by a nasty cold/fly thingy over the holidays.  The 4th (the 9 year old) stated that he has been sick enough this year (having spent some time in hospital with a terrifying case of pneumonia in late November) and somehow managed to stay healthy in our miserable plague house.

I am still feeling the dregs of the cold - a bit of a cough and my trips to the gym are far from stellar outings.  The 13 year old is playing hockey in fine form.  My wife however is still in misery, coughing all night and suffering all day.  Hopefully she turns a corner soon.

Cassie

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Re: Anybody Get the Flu yet? Holidays?
« Reply #14 on: January 07, 2019, 10:36:46 AM »
I usually end up with the flu once every 10 years. Had it last year and was sick for 2 weeks. The shot only covers some strains and some years is very ineffective.  Years ago I went with my husband when he got the shot.  I was 6 months pregnant and they tried to pressure me to get it. No way would I put those chemicals in my body while pregnant. I wasn’t even using aspirin.  I think it’s a personal decision whether to get it or not because you need it yearly unlike other vaccines where you only need them once or a few times.

waltworks

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Re: Anybody Get the Flu yet? Holidays?
« Reply #15 on: January 07, 2019, 02:36:27 PM »
I usually end up with the flu once every 10 years. Had it last year and was sick for 2 weeks. The shot only covers some strains and some years is very ineffective.  Years ago I went with my husband when he got the shot.  I was 6 months pregnant and they tried to pressure me to get it. No way would I put those chemicals in my body while pregnant. I wasn’t even using aspirin.  I think it’s a personal decision whether to get it or not because you need it yearly unlike other vaccines where you only need them once or a few times.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/pregnancy-week-by-week/expert-answers/influenza/faq-20058522

SMH.

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Cassie

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Re: Anybody Get the Flu yet? Holidays?
« Reply #16 on: January 07, 2019, 09:15:21 PM »
It doesn’t matter what information is available now since I am 64.