One seriously nasty virus...

[Timothy]

Good Grief! Has anyone had that virus that is going around in Florida right now?

I'm just recovering from it, and I'll tell ya what; That is the worst I've felt for that long, in years. It started with sneezing, runny nose and a slight fever. That went to my entire body feeling like a truck backed over me about a hundred times. Holy sore muscles Batman! Then it was 98.1 for about 5 days, no appetite, nausea, dizzies, 16 hours of sleep each day and zero energy.

I just woke from a 4 hour sleep and was drenched in sweat and feeling better than I have since it started.

I had a flu shot! I swear! Man, that was like a nightmare! I lost 5 pounds.

It was all I could do to eat a can of soup once a day. I drank as much juice as I could.

Nasty stuff! I hope none of you get it, whatever it is!

My house is a mess! I didn't do ANYTHING for almost a week. Stuff is out everywhere!

 

[Somebunny]

Oh Tim! I hope you are now on the mend. That sounds positively awful. I haven't had a flu shot yet, but your experience makes me want to get one ASAP!

 

[Dawgluver]

Geez, Tim, hope you feel better soon! That sounds terrible!

 

[TATTRAT]

When was the flu shot, in correlation with you getting sick? I have had quite a few friends get the exact same thing you have described after getting vaccinated for the season. I wonder if it is something with the batch?

 

[PattY1]

My mother used to get sick every year right after her flu shot. I will not get one because of that.

 

[Timothy]

When was the flu shot, in correlation with you getting sick? I have had quite a few friends get the exact same thing you have described after getting vaccinated for the season. I wonder if it is something with the batch?

I had the Flu shot on the 18th of September and came down with this bug on the 3rd or 4th of October.

I know the Flu shot only covers the Flu strains that are the most dangerous for that year, and not even close to all of them, so it's entirely possible that I caught a strain that wasn't covered by the vaccine.

I haven't been that sick in quite some time. I'm literally feeling better by the hour, but my sleep cycle is messed up good now. It's 3:45am and I'm just now getting sleepy enough to go to bed.

It's going to be interesting to see what I feel like tomorrow.

Thanks for all the kind words, folks. Your caring made me feel good.

 

[buckytom]

hope you're feeling better, tim.

dw has been bugging me to get a flu shot every year. i do everything i can not to, and pray i'm not making a mistake if it gets her, my boy, or someone else sick.

i may get one this year, though.

it's no win.

who with me with imperfectly righteous, blind hope?

 

[Zhizara]

A former roommate got a flu shot that made him deathly ill for about a week. I won't get one for that reason.

 

[CWS4322]

I've had a flu shot annually since 2003. I've never gotten sick afterwards and I do react to things.

I did have e-coli a few years ago. I thought I was going to die. My temp cycled from below normal (95) to 104 every 20 minutes or so. I couldn't hold a glass of orange juice I would shake so much. The sheets were soaking wet with sweat. I ended up going to emerg. after 48 hours of this. The doctor tried to pan this off as the flu, I insisted he do bloodwork. I ended up in emerg for about 10 hours. And, they put me on a drip because I was also dehydrated from all the sweating. Timothy, I'd go to the doctor. It took 10 days for me to get "over" the e-coli, but almost 6 weeks to regain my energy.

 

[tinlizzie]

Sorry to hear of your dreadful experience, Tim. Glad you're better. Is there any possibility that your beloved sushi played a part? Reading the newspaper reports of food contamination - that nasty e. coli CWS speaks of for one - is enough to make a person germ-phobic. These days I'm doing a more thorough job of wzshing veggies to be eaten raw.

 

[sparrowgrass]

If you get the flu immediately after a flu shot, it is probably because you picked it up in the doctor's office while you were waiting, and it got you before the flu shot kicked in.

Here is what the CDC has to say about side effects. Vaccines: Vac-Gen/Side Effects

I had influenza a couple of years ago, and I felt just exactly the way Timothy did--fever, muscle aches, coughing hard enough to make my ribs sore. The doc did a culture and confirmed that it was real flu, not just a bad cold. Real influenza is a respiratory infection, and usually, there is not much digestive upset.

I went back to work after 2 weeks at home, but I was not really back up to snuff for a month--flu really knocks you out. I always get a flu shot--I have asthma, and respiratory illnesses are hard on me. I got the flu shot the year I got the flu--I was just lucky enough to get a strain that wasn't covered.

Tim, take care--don't push yourself too hard for a while. Hope you feel much better soon! (Chicken soup fixes most things.)

 

[Timothy]

I've had a flu shot annually since 2003. I've never gotten sick afterwards and I do react to things.

I did have e-coli a few years ago. I thought I was going to die. My temp cycled from below normal (95) to 104 every 20 minutes or so. I couldn't hold a glass of orange juice I would shake so much. The sheets were soaking wet with sweat. I ended up going to emerg. after 48 hours of this. The doctor tried to pan this off as the flu, I insisted he do bloodwork. I ended up in emerg for about 10 hours. And, they put me on a drip because I was also dehydrated from all the sweating. Timothy, I'd go to the doctor. It took 10 days for me to get "over" the e-coli, but almost 6 weeks to regain my energy.

Well, I just woke and still feel reasonably good. Weak, but almost no muscle soreness and fatique. The strangest part of this was the extreme muscle soreness. I've had the Flu many times in my life, and NEVER had it make my body hurt like that.

I'm going to keep a close eye on my condition for the next week or so and see if there is some improvement each day.

I have no health insurance right now, and money is always budgeted, so I'll not be going to the Doctor unless it gets bad again.

Sorry to hear of your dreadful experience, Tim. Glad you're better. Is there any possibility that your beloved sushi played a part? Reading the newspaper reports of food contamination - that nasty e. coli CWS speaks of for one - is enough to make a person germ-phobic. These days I'm doing a more thorough job of washing veggies to be eaten raw.

I've had food poisoning twice in my life, and the symptoms were way different than this has been. This had mild nausea, but no vomiting. I've never heard of a case of food poisoning that was absent of severe vomiting, including both of my experiences.

I'm pretty sure this was a virus. One heck of a nasty one. I forced fluids down and at least one can of soup each day with an English Muffin. I was getting about 400 calories each day. Not enough to survive on long term, but good enough to outlast the virus.

What a week! I had to put my mind into my "patience mode", where I just try it ignore the body and sleep as much as possible.

I think I won.... Maybe it made my immune system stronger by letting my body fight it and win.

The only foods I had for the week prior to this were raw veggies and cooked foods. I washed the heck out of the veggies, but there is no telling if they caused it.

I've been thinking of it as "Hell Week".

Thanks again to all of you for caring. That in itself has made me feel better!

 

[Dawgluver]

I haven't had a sick day in over 20 years, and am a firm believer in annual flu shots. I wonder too, Tim, if you picked up the bug before you got the shot. Sure glad you're feeling better!

 

[CWS4322]

Tim--I'm sorry you don't have insurance. I work as an editor and recently edited a paper on air-borne viruses, etc. I was shocked to read that 13% of the people who get UTIs in hospital end up with e-coli and die. UTIs, IMO, were an inconvenient and uncomfortable problem, but I'd never considered UTIs to be life-threatening before editing this monograph. Many of the dogs I've had as foster dogs (or my own) have had UTIs. I never thought that this could develop into e-coli and be life-threatening until I edited this peer-reviewed document.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Glad you are feeling better Tim. I'll be getting my flu shot soon at work. They take a week to vaccinate staff and then 2 weeks to vaccinate the residents. The vaccine only lasts a few months, so vaccination in October is recommended to get all of us through Flu season.

 

[CWS4322]

Besides the cycling fever, when I had e-coli, I could hardly move--my entire body hurt. I could barely navigate the stairs to stoke the woodstove. It was AWFUL.

 

[Andy M.]

Sorry to hear you've been down and happy to hear things are getting better.

 

[Alix]

Yikes! That IS a nasty virus.

I'm another one who doesn't get a flu shot. My experience is a bit different though. When H1N1 was the big deal I was on the list to go get a shot (as I work in a high risk profession) but the vaccine came to town after I got sick! That wasn't the worst flu I've had though. I had one a couple of years before that knocked me out for a couple of months.

I'm prone to respiratory crap as well. My reasoning for not getting the shot is a bit convoluted. I'm aware that its a crapshoot whether the vaccine will actually work, whether the virus is floating around the Drs office is going to get me, or whether the vaccine will even be for the right strain. Too many variables controlled by too many different people. I rely on the tried and true HANDWASHING!!! I am vigilant about washing my hands and bugging my family to do the same. I do a doorknob, lightswitch and handrail wipe down once every few days, more often when i think of it, during the flu season.

I've only had the real flu twice, and both times I believe I caught it because I was not a complete freak (as I normally am) about nagging everyone to wash their hands. Now...the nagging continues!

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Handwashing? You mean these nubs on the ends of my arms? I'm always surprised that my hands haven't completely dried up and blown away.

But yes, handwashing (with regular soap and water while singing "Happy Birthday") IS the best defense.

 

[Timothy]

But yes, handwashing (with regular soap and water while singing "Happy Birthday") IS the best defense.

I tried break-dancing while doing it, but I kept slinging the soap around.