Flu symptoms

silentskipper3 said:Fever basically means anything involving an elevated temperature (fever!!), which I guess explains why it's such a common thing to hear people claiming they have a fever in certain parts of the country. But look, the flu is the flu. There is a distinct difference, and we should probably acknowledge that.

Don't mention it.

In theory, sure, but a ton of folks in the South mistake a fever for the actual flu—I see it all over Facebook. Most people just lump everything together and call it the flu.

Nicholas Davis4 said:Yeah, they ask about allergies because being allergic to any ingredient in a vaccine—just like with any other medication—is a contraindication.

Talking to them is one thing, but getting an official answer is another. They start off being very understanding, but then it becomes polite yet totally useless. You end up in this loop where they say, "Give us a call back," but you already did, or "Talk to your doctor," and you already have... it's a closed circle.

That's why I'm wondering: has anyone in America who is allergic to eggs successfully taken a vaccine that doesn't contain egg ingredients? How did they manage to navigate that process?

I totally get why this is stressing you out.

Doctors are pretty much boxed in by Medicare guidelines, since they’re essentially the sole payer in that "non-profit" healthcare sector. That includes preventative stuff like vaccinations for infectious diseases, so you can't really blame anyone for being stingy or playing it safe (we've seen how our own medical boards can be—like when they went looking for loopholes to penalize that one colleague who was actually the first person to catch little Gabriel's condition in Metković, though sadly, it was too late).

Given your current meds and underlying health issues, it might be worth chatting with a clinical immunologist about whether taking a corticosteroid for a couple of days before getting a vaccine containing egg proteins would be an option (assuming steroids aren't contraindicated for you specifically).

But honestly, the main question everyone involved in your vaccination decision probably asked was: "How exactly does an egg allergy manifest for you?"

Based on what you've shared, I'm guessing your answer was something like, "An anaphylactic reaction involving trouble breathing, a drop in blood pressure, a plummeting pulse, and passing out..."

Or was it something else? 🤔

Man, this thing totally wrecked me yesterday morning. Like, I woke up with this nasty, productive cough that just wouldn't quit. My fever wasn't even hitting 100.4 yesterday, but now? It’s already sitting at 102.2.

Does anyone know how to tell if it's actually pneumonia or something?

I haven't really done anything else, just lying here and mostly sleeping. Honestly, I've even been throwing up from coughing so hard. It feels pretty awful.

driftingcobra472 said:Man, this thing totally wrecked me yesterday morning. Like, I woke up with this nasty, productive cough that just wouldn't quit. My fever wasn't even hitting 100.4 yesterday, but now? It’s already sitting at 102.2.

Does anyone know how to tell if it's actually pneumonia or something?

I haven't really done anything else, just lying here and mostly sleeping. Honestly, I've even been throwing up from coughing so hard. It feels pretty awful.

I had exactly that last Saturday. A virus, not the flu. But it was brutal.

Ugh, seriously though, how long did that actually take you?

driftingcobra472 said:Man, this thing totally wrecked me yesterday morning. Like, I woke up with this nasty, productive cough that just wouldn't quit. My fever wasn't even hitting 100.4 yesterday, but now? It’s already sitting at 102.2.

Does anyone know how to tell if it's actually pneumonia or something?

I haven't really done anything else, just lying here and mostly sleeping. Honestly, I've even been throwing up from coughing so hard. It feels pretty awful.

Look, from this safe distance behind my screen, I honestly can't tell you if you're dealing with a standard virus or the actual flu.

And for the same reason, there's no way for me to know if you've got pneumonia.

Even if you don't have pneumonia right this second (or the flu), who knows if it'll develop tomorrow or the day after...

If things start heading downhill or if this just drags on, you really need to head to a doctor.

Try to make it during the day, if you can.

driftingcobra472 said:Ugh, seriously though, how long did that actually take you?

Five days. High fever and vomiting twice.

The flu hit me incredibly hard this time around, honestly feeling like the last time I dealt with something this intense was probably back when I was fifteen. I’m fully aware that my immune system has been running on empty lately due to a month of heavy stress, and being a smoker hasn't helped either, since it weakens the lung lining—which is basically our primary defense line against viruses. So, I really can't say I'm surprised it caught up with me. It all started after a friend of mine recovered from it over the New Year's holiday. About five days after the festivities wrapped up, we went out for some food, and he ended up handling my phone; looking back, that was likely where I picked it up. Interestingly enough, on the exact day the virus started replicating—you know, right when those first symptoms kick in—I was hanging out with my girlfriend. She hasn't gotten sick yet, even though it’s been four days now, and she didn't get the flu shot.

The progression of the illness:

Around 8:00 this morning, I started feeling this nagging discomfort in my back, and honestly, even though I hadn't realized I was coming down with the flu, I already knew exactly what kind of week was ahead of me.
At 9:00, my temperature suddenly jumped to 102 degrees, accompanied by a mild headache and that persistent, nagging ache in my lower back. I’ve lost all interest in eating or drinking anything, and there is this unsettling wave of nausea rolling through me. For now, I’m just lying here.
It’s 1:00 PM and I’m sitting here staring at the thermometer, which is reading 102.5 degrees, while dealing with back pain that is honestly unlike anything I've ever experienced. I’ve pushed through plenty of viral infections in the past, but this is a whole different level of misery; in fact, I was genuinely on the verge of calling 911 because the pain is so debilitating that I can barely shift an inch from where I'm lying. For a second, I thought maybe it was that old pinched nerve acting up again, but this feels much more intense. I’m currently riding these waves of chills and tremors—that strange, prickly sensation you get when your body is frantically trying to regulate its temperature—and every time a wave passes, it feels like my fever is finally breaking. My throat isn't too bad, just feeling incredibly dry, so I've reached out to my relatives to see if they can drop off some Tylenol and Advil 400mg to help me get through this.
It’s 3:00 PM, and I’m still white-knuckling it until my medication arrives, though I decided against calling 911 just yet. Honestly, looking at this box of Neofen, I was tempted to toss the instruction manual aside and just overdose a little bit if it meant making this pain vanish instantly. I even thought about dissolving two doses of DayQuil in a tiny bit of water just to make the effect hit harder. I know you can safely mix Tylenol with Advil, but you definitely shouldn't mess around with Aspirin. Hopefully, in about thirty minutes, the pain finally breaks and I can sleep like a baby without this fever hanging over me.
5:00 PM — I woke up drenched in sweat, feeling completely relaxed and as if my flu had finally broken. My appetite came back with such a vengeance that even though I couldn't manage a sip of water just two hours ago, I'm now heading to the kitchen to grill some pork neck. Honestly, I've worked up quite an appetite.

I’ve been weighing two different philosophies regarding how to handle this illness. On one hand, there's the idea that you should let the body fight the virus naturally—allowing things like fever to run their course—even if it means dealing with exhaustion, loss of appetite, and general aches. On the other hand, some argue it's much better to manage the symptoms proactively because sleep and recovery are so vital. Ultimately, I’ve decided to take a middle path and combine both approaches. During the day, I try to avoid medication entirely, but once night falls, I rely on them to get through. I actually spent last night tossing and turning because I didn't take anything, which was a mistake. I found myself waking up at 4:00 AM, so I took some Advil, and within twenty minutes, I felt significantly better and drifted right back to sleep. I didn't end up waking up again until noon, which was quite a feat given the fever I've been battling. While the muscle aches have finally subsided, a new symptom has cropped up: a really intense dryness in my throat. It isn't triggering a cough yet, though I can clear out some white mucus when needed. As for my appetite, it is practically non-existent; I truly can't stomach anything besides soup. If I try to make a sandwich, I can maybe manage three bites before giving up. My routine mostly consists of sipping tea, eating yogurt, and sticking to broth. My eyes also feel quite swollen, almost as if there's a slight pressure behind them, which I suspect might just be from sleeping too much—it feels a bit like mild conjunctivitis. Honestly, I reached my limit with the discomfort after only one day of running a fever, so I’ve officially pivoted toward the second philosophy. I'm now managing the symptoms with Advil and DayQuil every four hours. Whenever the medication kicks in and my temperature drops, I try to seize the opportunity to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables to nourish myself, something that simply feels impossible when the fever is high.

My temperature is still fluctuating a bit, but my throat is starting to ache more intensely now, and this cough is becoming quite pronounced—it’s that relentless, second-by-second kind of cough that just won't let up. I've also noticed some yellow mucus appearing. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean we're looking at a bacterial infection; from what I've been reading extensively lately, it can actually be a sign that the antibodies have moved into the phase of isolating the virus, which is honestly pretty good news. 😁I’ve been coughing incessantly—probably closer to 150 times in a row now—whenever those sharp nerve pains shoot through my back, making me feel like I'm about to collapse right onto the floor. 😁Honestly, I feel like I’m a hundred and fifty years old right now. It isn't exactly a catastrophe in the grand scheme of things, but it certainly takes its toll. Once evening rolls around, the fever starts climbing again, so I find myself reaching for some Neofen and half a dose of Tylenol—basically a makeshift version of DayQuil. My liver and kidneys are feeling a bit the strain from all this, especially since I threw a B-complex and some zinc into the mix as well, but I’ve been making sure to drink plenty of water, so I'm hopeful they'll hold up just fine.

Day four of this whole ordeal, and I found myself waking up at 4:30 AM with a mild fever, so I reached for some Neofen again. I finally managed to get back to sleep until 12:30 PM. My appetite has returned with a vengeance, so I’ve been eating quite normally, which feels like a win. Honestly, I feel like I’ve hit a turning point in my fight against this virus because my temperature has completely stabilized. I still feel a bit weak, and there’s this slight scratchiness in my throat whenever I swallow, but as soon as I sip some tea with a little honey, it vanishes; it seems like the discomfort is mostly just from dryness.

Starting this year, I'm planning to get vaccinated and focus on giving my immune system a bit of a boost. Looking back, I think the smoking was the main reason I ended up catching the flu in the first place.

wearywolf3 said:The flu hit me incredibly hard this time around, honestly feeling like the last time I dealt with something this intense was probably back when I was fifteen. I’m fully aware that my immune system has been running on empty lately due to a month of heavy stress, and being a smoker hasn't helped either, since it weakens the lung lining—which is basically our primary defense line against viruses. So, I really can't say I'm surprised it caught up with me. It all started after a friend of mine recovered from it over the New Year's holiday. About five days after the festivities wrapped up, we went out for some food, and he ended up handling my phone; looking back, that was likely where I picked it up. Interestingly enough, on the exact day the virus started replicating—you know, right when those first symptoms kick in—I was hanging out with my girlfriend. She hasn't gotten sick yet, even though it’s been four days now, and she didn't get the flu shot.

The progression of the illness:

Around 8:00 this morning, I started feeling this nagging discomfort in my back, and honestly, even though I hadn't realized I was coming down with the flu, I already knew exactly what kind of week was ahead of me.
At 9:00, my temperature suddenly jumped to 102 degrees, accompanied by a mild headache and that persistent, nagging ache in my lower back. I’ve lost all interest in eating or drinking anything, and there is this unsettling wave of nausea rolling through me. For now, I’m just lying here.
It’s 1:00 PM and I’m sitting here staring at the thermometer, which is reading 102.5 degrees, while dealing with back pain that is honestly unlike anything I've ever experienced. I’ve pushed through plenty of viral infections in the past, but this is a whole different level of misery; in fact, I was genuinely on the verge of calling 911 because the pain is so debilitating that I can barely shift an inch from where I'm lying. For a second, I thought maybe it was that old pinched nerve acting up again, but this feels much more intense. I’m currently riding these waves of chills and tremors—that strange, prickly sensation you get when your body is frantically trying to regulate its temperature—and every time a wave passes, it feels like my fever is finally breaking. My throat isn't too bad, just feeling incredibly dry, so I've reached out to my relatives to see if they can drop off some Tylenol and Advil 400mg to help me get through this.
It’s 3:00 PM, and I’m still white-knuckling it until my medication arrives, though I decided against calling 911 just yet. Honestly, looking at this box of Neofen, I was tempted to toss the instruction manual aside and just overdose a little bit if it meant making this pain vanish instantly. I even thought about dissolving two doses of DayQuil in a tiny bit of water just to make the effect hit harder. I know you can safely mix Tylenol with Advil, but you definitely shouldn't mess around with Aspirin. Hopefully, in about thirty minutes, the pain finally breaks and I can sleep like a baby without this fever hanging over me.
5:00 PM — I woke up drenched in sweat, feeling completely relaxed and as if my flu had finally broken. My appetite came back with such a vengeance that even though I couldn't manage a sip of water just two hours ago, I'm now heading to the kitchen to grill some pork neck. Honestly, I've worked up quite an appetite.

I’ve been weighing two different philosophies regarding how to handle this illness. On one hand, there's the idea that you should let the body fight the virus naturally—allowing things like fever to run their course—even if it means dealing with exhaustion, loss of appetite, and general aches. On the other hand, some argue it's much better to manage the symptoms proactively because sleep and recovery are so vital. Ultimately, I’ve decided to take a middle path and combine both approaches. During the day, I try to avoid medication entirely, but once night falls, I rely on them to get through. I actually spent last night tossing and turning because I didn't take anything, which was a mistake. I found myself waking up at 4:00 AM, so I took some Advil, and within twenty minutes, I felt significantly better and drifted right back to sleep. I didn't end up waking up again until noon, which was quite a feat given the fever I've been battling. While the muscle aches have finally subsided, a new symptom has cropped up: a really intense dryness in my throat. It isn't triggering a cough yet, though I can clear out some white mucus when needed. As for my appetite, it is practically non-existent; I truly can't stomach anything besides soup. If I try to make a sandwich, I can maybe manage three bites before giving up. My routine mostly consists of sipping tea, eating yogurt, and sticking to broth. My eyes also feel quite swollen, almost as if there's a slight pressure behind them, which I suspect might just be from sleeping too much—it feels a bit like mild conjunctivitis. Honestly, I reached my limit with the discomfort after only one day of running a fever, so I’ve officially pivoted toward the second philosophy. I'm now managing the symptoms with Advil and DayQuil every four hours. Whenever the medication kicks in and my temperature drops, I try to seize the opportunity to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables to nourish myself, something that simply feels impossible when the fever is high.

My temperature is still fluctuating a bit, but my throat is starting to ache more intensely now, and this cough is becoming quite pronounced—it’s that relentless, second-by-second kind of cough that just won't let up. I've also noticed some yellow mucus appearing. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean we're looking at a bacterial infection; from what I've been reading extensively lately, it can actually be a sign that the antibodies have moved into the phase of isolating the virus, which is honestly pretty good news. 😁I’ve been coughing incessantly—probably closer to 150 times in a row now—whenever those sharp nerve pains shoot through my back, making me feel like I'm about to collapse right onto the floor. 😁Honestly, I feel like I’m a hundred and fifty years old right now. It isn't exactly a catastrophe in the grand scheme of things, but it certainly takes its toll. Once evening rolls around, the fever starts climbing again, so I find myself reaching for some Neofen and half a dose of Tylenol—basically a makeshift version of DayQuil. My liver and kidneys are feeling a bit the strain from all this, especially since I threw a B-complex and some zinc into the mix as well, but I’ve been making sure to drink plenty of water, so I'm hopeful they'll hold up just fine.

Day four of this whole ordeal, and I found myself waking up at 4:30 AM with a mild fever, so I reached for some Neofen again. I finally managed to get back to sleep until 12:30 PM. My appetite has returned with a vengeance, so I’ve been eating quite normally, which feels like a win. Honestly, I feel like I’ve hit a turning point in my fight against this virus because my temperature has completely stabilized. I still feel a bit weak, and there’s this slight scratchiness in my throat whenever I swallow, but as soon as I sip some tea with a little honey, it vanishes; it seems like the discomfort is mostly just from dryness.

Starting this year, I'm planning to get vaccinated and focus on giving my immune system a bit of a boost. Looking back, I think the smoking was the main reason I ended up catching the flu in the first place.

That's a bit too long for an incubation period, so you probably picked it up somewhere else entirely... 😉

It’s kind of funny, considering I was actually hanging out with this girl right around the time the viruses started spreading and those first cold symptoms kicked in... she hasn't even caught anything yet, though it's only been four days and she didn't get the shot...

Some people are just built differently, you know, like they have this natural immunity that most of us can only dream of... It’s not even all that rare when you think about it. Growing up, I was basically a walking target for the flu; there wasn't a single year between preschool and high school where I didn't catch it, every single time without fail. Meanwhile, my brother and I shared a room, and he somehow managed to dodge it every single time... He actually only caught it once in his entire life, which, looking back, was treated like a massive family crisis because apparently, having the flu was some kind of monumental event for him... 🤣
Mom always went overboard whenever I caught the flu, constantly fussing over me with cold compresses and changing my clothes every five minutes... I only really remember one time when she actually got stung.
So, my ex-wife... she decided to hit me with a massive bout of the flu right on my wedding day... 😁 Woke up with a fever of 39.8 in the morning, popped four Tylenols, and finally managed to bring it down to 35.6... 🤣 Last night, the young fools finally "consummated" their first night of marriage... and she didn't feel a thing...
I know she used to talk about how even during those absolute worst school outbreaks, when half the class was out sick, she never caught a single thing...

You can mix Tylenol with Advil if you need to, but don't go messing around with Aspirin...

Are you sure about that? Maybe velvetmoose9 is actually onto something if you look at the facts... Last year, my go-to "cocktail" whenever a nasty virus or the flu hit was just mixing DayQuil with Neofen, though the lady at the pharmacy gave me this intense warning to not take them both at once for absolutely no reason... 🤔

lonebadger6 said:That's a bit too long for an incubation period, so you probably picked it up somewhere else entirely... 😉

It’s kind of funny, considering I was actually hanging out with this girl right around the time the viruses started spreading and those first cold symptoms kicked in... she hasn't even caught anything yet, though it's only been four days and she didn't get the shot...

Some people are just built differently, you know, like they have this natural immunity that most of us can only dream of... It’s not even all that rare when you think about it. Growing up, I was basically a walking target for the flu; there wasn't a single year between preschool and high school where I didn't catch it, every single time without fail. Meanwhile, my brother and I shared a room, and he somehow managed to dodge it every single time... He actually only caught it once in his entire life, which, looking back, was treated like a massive family crisis because apparently, having the flu was some kind of monumental event for him... 🤣
Mom always went overboard whenever I caught the flu, constantly fussing over me with cold compresses and changing my clothes every five minutes... I only really remember one time when she actually got stung.
So, my ex-wife... she decided to hit me with a massive bout of the flu right on my wedding day... 😁 Woke up with a fever of 39.8 in the morning, popped four Tylenols, and finally managed to bring it down to 35.6... 🤣 Last night, the young fools finally "consummated" their first night of marriage... and she didn't feel a thing...
I know she used to talk about how even during those absolute worst school outbreaks, when half the class was out sick, she never caught a single thing...

You can mix Tylenol with Advil if you need to, but don't go messing around with Aspirin...

Are you sure about that? Maybe velvetmoose9 is actually onto something if you look at the facts... Last year, my go-to "cocktail" whenever a nasty virus or the flu hit was just mixing DayQuil with Neofen, though the lady at the pharmacy gave me this intense warning to not take them both at once for absolutely no reason... 🤔

Khm, that wasn't just the flu 😒
Using some military terminology here—it was more like putting all combat systems on full alert in anticipation of an incoming threat 😬

But seriously, let’s get real and talk about dealing with the flu and bringing those fever numbers down 🧐

Provided there aren't any contraindications:

Mixing paracetamol (like Tylenol) with acetylsalicylic acid (Aspirin) is totally fine; in fact, it's actually recommended for certain types of headaches (for instance, some migraines respond incredibly well if you catch them right at the start using this combo).

However, when we're talking specifically about the antipyretic effect—you know, actually dropping a fever—it makes way more sense to stagger the two drugs (though it's not forbidden to take them together). For example, you could take 500mg of paracetamol first, and then once the fever starts creeping back up again (which usually happens around the 4-hour mark, though it can vary wildly, or sometimes the Tylenol just doesn't touch the fever at all), you hit it with 500mg of Aspirin.
And you just cycle through them like that (just make sure you stay within the maximum daily dose limits !!!)
And drink plenty of fluids.
Vitamin C definitely won't hurt either :Pernarejavise:
Also, a little pro tip: don't bother buying the effervescent ones. Just grab the standard tablets; they're way cheaper and the effect is identical. If you want faster relief, just dissolve the Aspirin in half a glass of water, or you can crush the Tylenol between two spoons and dissolve that in some water or tea too.

The same logic applies to a similar rotation using paracetamol and ibuprofen (like Advil or Motrin).

The only thing that really makes zero sense when discussing these three—specifically combining acetylsalicylic acid with ibuprofen—is mixing those two, especially if you have any heart issues (that's a long, complicated story).

And please, look after your stomach, your liver, and everything else; you're going to need those organs later on. 😉

driftingcobra472 said:Man, this thing totally wrecked me yesterday morning. Like, I woke up with this nasty, productive cough that just wouldn't quit. My fever wasn't even hitting 100.4 yesterday, but now? It’s already sitting at 102.2.

Does anyone know how to tell if it's actually pneumonia or something?

I haven't really done anything else, just lying here and mostly sleeping. Honestly, I've even been throwing up from coughing so hard. It feels pretty awful.

Look, nobody can know that from a distance.

I can only compare it to my own experiences with the flu versus pneumonia, if that actually helps you.

With the flu, my high fever would usually last maybe 2 or 3 days and then start dropping, and I'd be sick for about a week.

With pneumonia, once I realized my temperature wasn't budging after more than 3 days, I started suspecting it was something more serious than just the flu. Two different doctors checked me out and they didn't find pneumonia because they couldn't "hear" it through the stethoscope, so I didn't get any meds.

After five days of really high fevers, I went through a nasty crisis that night; I honestly felt like I might die.
A week after everything started, I ended up being hospitalized, and they confirmed it was severe bacterial pneumonia. It was at a stage where the body was already trying to self-heal, following that "crisis" period that usually hits around day five if you don't get treatment (where either the patient dies or the body starts fighting back on its own). Turns out my intuition was spot on, unlike those first two doctors' diagnoses.

Basically, it's better not to panic for the first 3 days than to try to push through it. You just don't know what it is, and stressing out or staying active might just make things worse or cause complications.

And if the fever is high, just stay in bed and call out sick. No debating about traveling, work, going out, or "other priorities." If you have a bad case of the flu, you seriously need to just lie there for a week.

wearywolf3 said:The flu hit me incredibly hard this time around, honestly feeling like the last time I dealt with something this intense was probably back when I was fifteen. I’m fully aware that my immune system has been running on empty lately due to a month of heavy stress, and being a smoker hasn't helped either, since it weakens the lung lining—which is basically our primary defense line against viruses. So, I really can't say I'm surprised it caught up with me. It all started after a friend of mine recovered from it over the New Year's holiday. About five days after the festivities wrapped up, we went out for some food, and he ended up handling my phone; looking back, that was likely where I picked it up. Interestingly enough, on the exact day the virus started replicating—you know, right when those first symptoms kick in—I was hanging out with my girlfriend. She hasn't gotten sick yet, even though it’s been four days now, and she didn't get the flu shot.

The progression of the illness:

Around 8:00 this morning, I started feeling this nagging discomfort in my back, and honestly, even though I hadn't realized I was coming down with the flu, I already knew exactly what kind of week was ahead of me.
At 9:00, my temperature suddenly jumped to 102 degrees, accompanied by a mild headache and that persistent, nagging ache in my lower back. I’ve lost all interest in eating or drinking anything, and there is this unsettling wave of nausea rolling through me. For now, I’m just lying here.
It’s 1:00 PM and I’m sitting here staring at the thermometer, which is reading 102.5 degrees, while dealing with back pain that is honestly unlike anything I've ever experienced. I’ve pushed through plenty of viral infections in the past, but this is a whole different level of misery; in fact, I was genuinely on the verge of calling 911 because the pain is so debilitating that I can barely shift an inch from where I'm lying. For a second, I thought maybe it was that old pinched nerve acting up again, but this feels much more intense. I’m currently riding these waves of chills and tremors—that strange, prickly sensation you get when your body is frantically trying to regulate its temperature—and every time a wave passes, it feels like my fever is finally breaking. My throat isn't too bad, just feeling incredibly dry, so I've reached out to my relatives to see if they can drop off some Tylenol and Advil 400mg to help me get through this.
It’s 3:00 PM, and I’m still white-knuckling it until my medication arrives, though I decided against calling 911 just yet. Honestly, looking at this box of Neofen, I was tempted to toss the instruction manual aside and just overdose a little bit if it meant making this pain vanish instantly. I even thought about dissolving two doses of DayQuil in a tiny bit of water just to make the effect hit harder. I know you can safely mix Tylenol with Advil, but you definitely shouldn't mess around with Aspirin. Hopefully, in about thirty minutes, the pain finally breaks and I can sleep like a baby without this fever hanging over me.
5:00 PM — I woke up drenched in sweat, feeling completely relaxed and as if my flu had finally broken. My appetite came back with such a vengeance that even though I couldn't manage a sip of water just two hours ago, I'm now heading to the kitchen to grill some pork neck. Honestly, I've worked up quite an appetite.

I’ve been weighing two different philosophies regarding how to handle this illness. On one hand, there's the idea that you should let the body fight the virus naturally—allowing things like fever to run their course—even if it means dealing with exhaustion, loss of appetite, and general aches. On the other hand, some argue it's much better to manage the symptoms proactively because sleep and recovery are so vital. Ultimately, I’ve decided to take a middle path and combine both approaches. During the day, I try to avoid medication entirely, but once night falls, I rely on them to get through. I actually spent last night tossing and turning because I didn't take anything, which was a mistake. I found myself waking up at 4:00 AM, so I took some Advil, and within twenty minutes, I felt significantly better and drifted right back to sleep. I didn't end up waking up again until noon, which was quite a feat given the fever I've been battling. While the muscle aches have finally subsided, a new symptom has cropped up: a really intense dryness in my throat. It isn't triggering a cough yet, though I can clear out some white mucus when needed. As for my appetite, it is practically non-existent; I truly can't stomach anything besides soup. If I try to make a sandwich, I can maybe manage three bites before giving up. My routine mostly consists of sipping tea, eating yogurt, and sticking to broth. My eyes also feel quite swollen, almost as if there's a slight pressure behind them, which I suspect might just be from sleeping too much—it feels a bit like mild conjunctivitis. Honestly, I reached my limit with the discomfort after only one day of running a fever, so I’ve officially pivoted toward the second philosophy. I'm now managing the symptoms with Advil and DayQuil every four hours. Whenever the medication kicks in and my temperature drops, I try to seize the opportunity to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables to nourish myself, something that simply feels impossible when the fever is high.

My temperature is still fluctuating a bit, but my throat is starting to ache more intensely now, and this cough is becoming quite pronounced—it’s that relentless, second-by-second kind of cough that just won't let up. I've also noticed some yellow mucus appearing. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean we're looking at a bacterial infection; from what I've been reading extensively lately, it can actually be a sign that the antibodies have moved into the phase of isolating the virus, which is honestly pretty good news. 😁I’ve been coughing incessantly—probably closer to 150 times in a row now—whenever those sharp nerve pains shoot through my back, making me feel like I'm about to collapse right onto the floor. 😁Honestly, I feel like I’m a hundred and fifty years old right now. It isn't exactly a catastrophe in the grand scheme of things, but it certainly takes its toll. Once evening rolls around, the fever starts climbing again, so I find myself reaching for some Neofen and half a dose of Tylenol—basically a makeshift version of DayQuil. My liver and kidneys are feeling a bit the strain from all this, especially since I threw a B-complex and some zinc into the mix as well, but I’ve been making sure to drink plenty of water, so I'm hopeful they'll hold up just fine.

Day four of this whole ordeal, and I found myself waking up at 4:30 AM with a mild fever, so I reached for some Neofen again. I finally managed to get back to sleep until 12:30 PM. My appetite has returned with a vengeance, so I’ve been eating quite normally, which feels like a win. Honestly, I feel like I’ve hit a turning point in my fight against this virus because my temperature has completely stabilized. I still feel a bit weak, and there’s this slight scratchiness in my throat whenever I swallow, but as soon as I sip some tea with a little honey, it vanishes; it seems like the discomfort is mostly just from dryness.

Starting this year, I'm planning to get vaccinated and focus on giving my immune system a bit of a boost. Looking back, I think the smoking was the main reason I ended up catching the flu in the first place.

You probably picked up the flu from someone else entirely. People are usually most infectious during the incubation phase—you know, right before they actually feel sick—and at the very beginning. Once they've mostly cleared it, they aren't really a threat anymore, I suppose.

What you're describing sounds like an acute cough to me. Or maybe you have both acute and chronic going on? Usually, a chronic cough lasts longer than two months.

velvetmoose9 said:I totally get why this is stressing you out.

Doctors are pretty much boxed in by Medicare guidelines, since they’re essentially the sole payer in that "non-profit" healthcare sector. That includes preventative stuff like vaccinations for infectious diseases, so you can't really blame anyone for being stingy or playing it safe (we've seen how our own medical boards can be—like when they went looking for loopholes to penalize that one colleague who was actually the first person to catch little Gabriel's condition in Metković, though sadly, it was too late).

Given your current meds and underlying health issues, it might be worth chatting with a clinical immunologist about whether taking a corticosteroid for a couple of days before getting a vaccine containing egg proteins would be an option (assuming steroids aren't contraindicated for you specifically).

But honestly, the main question everyone involved in your vaccination decision probably asked was: "How exactly does an egg allergy manifest for you?"

Based on what you've shared, I'm guessing your answer was something like, "An anaphylactic reaction involving trouble breathing, a drop in blood pressure, a plummeting pulse, and passing out..."

Or was it something else? 🤔

Fortunately, it wasn't anaphylaxis, but I turned bright red, broke out in bumps and hives all over my skin—mostly on my face, neck, and chest—which were stinging and itching, and I ended up doubled over in the restroom...
Then again, I’m allergic to certain medications too... penicillin and its derivatives... and I developed steroid myopathy from taking Medrol, even at a tiny dose of just 4mg. Once they bumped the dosage up to 8mg and then 12mg due to neuropathy, the myopathy progressed so rapidly that for the first two weeks, I couldn't even unlock my door or cut through tough food. It took me three months just to open the door to my Ford Trike by myself, and five months before I could manage the door to my local corner store. I spent five months using a walker, and it wasn't until six months later that I could carry a quart of milk from the shop in my backpack without needing to sit down every twenty yards.
If my doctor approved it, I think I could handle that level of muscle weakness with a 4mg or maybe an 8mg dose.

With the last bout of the flu back in 2012, I also had pneumonia. And with the one before that (I can't recall if it was 2007 or 2008, but I coughed so hard and for so long even after my fever broke and other symptoms passed that I developed intercostal neuralgia... I was coughing like crazy for a whole month)...

So, I'm sensitive to the cold, too...

I experience Laryngitis when I wear a mask in a crowd, though my rheumatologist insists I keep wearing one...
Otherwise, I'm careful—I wash my hands, I don't touch my nose or mouth, and I avoid crowds unless absolutely necessary.

I have some acquaintances living abroad in various countries who get sick leave during their peak flu season. Most of them still get vaccinated. However, most of them are on corticosteroids and/or Imuran, or occasionally chemotherapy or Benlysta, so their situation is quite different from mine.

In any case, thanks for the advice! Best regards!

And honestly... I don't recall ever being sent by a doctor to get bloodwork done at an infectious disease center or anywhere beyond a local clinic... based on those standards, none of the people I know have ever actually had the flu... there’s just no proof.

No, you just draw conclusions based on the symptoms and how they hit you: basically, I feel fine in the morning, maybe a little off, and then suddenly by the evening or night, it hits like an F1 race car... joint and muscle aches, chills, high fever, and then maybe some congestion and a cough the next day... the first three or four days are definitely the worst, and then you slowly start feeling better.

Seriously, I don't know anyone who has undergone testing... did they actually prove the flu virus was in their blood (is it a specific viral test, or something like antibody serology for EBV or Rubella)? Or do our doctors just split the workload while others handle the testing?

I mean, I’m pretty prone to catching the flu, but honestly, that’s exactly why I know you can tell right from the jump when it’s hitting you, so I have no clue when I last actually saw a doctor for it... probably just whenever my parents dragged me in when I was a kid, because I've never bothered on my own.

When it comes to the flu, no doctor is going to save you—you just lie down, chug fluids, keep the fever under control, rest, and that’s basically the whole playbook.

The real move is just watching out for any weird complications and heading to the clinic if things take a turn for the worse. But going to the doctor just for the flu itself feels irresponsible to me—unless we're talking about high-risk people who might deal with complications—because you're just spreading the germ around and making yourself feel worse by wandering around instead of staying in bed.

I couldn't agree more... people without any underlying issues should just power through their symptoms at home instead of heading into the office to spread their flu around to the rest of humanity...

Jose Williams78 said:You probably picked up the flu from someone else entirely. People are usually most infectious during the incubation phase—you know, right before they actually feel sick—and at the very beginning. Once they've mostly cleared it, they aren't really a threat anymore, I suppose.

What you're describing sounds like an acute cough to me. Or maybe you have both acute and chronic going on? Usually, a chronic cough lasts longer than two months.

velvetmoose9 Thanks for clarifying that for me. Are you somehow involved in the medical field? Perhaps working in pharmaceuticals?

My apologies, I managed to get the dates all mixed up in my previous post. He actually started feeling under the weather right around New Year's. We ended up running into each other on the 8th, and then I came down with it myself on the 14th. I can't quite wrap my head around the timing—can an incubation period really stretch to six days, or is that strictly capped at three according to the rules? Honestly, I'm just lost at this point. The silver lining of this whole mess is that my sister fell ill on the exact same day, which makes sense since we were hanging out together all that week. It’s possible I caught it from her, though I’m still genuinely puzzled by how she didn't pass it to her friend. They shared a few kisses here and there—nothing out of the ordinary—but then again, considering the viral load involved, it was only about eight hours before the symptoms decided to show up.

The acute coughing has finally subsided, though I still feel like my lungs haven't quite bounced back to their full capacity yet. I’ve managed to pull through the worst of it, but there's this lingering sense of exhaustion and a lack of motivation that just won't seem to lift. Still, I'm done with the whole vaccination ordeal for now. I'll be heading back to work on Monday, likely taking things at a much slower pace while I recover. 😁.

During flu season, these viruses are just everywhere, and honestly, you can't really dodge them if you try... Maybe some guy sneezed on the subway or in a pub, or maybe you grabbed a door handle someone else just touched, and suddenly you're rubbing your nose and wondering what happened. There isn't some grand mystery to it, really 😁

As for why some people stay healthy, I'm telling you, some folks are just naturally immune for reasons we don't quite get. Take my brother, for example—imagine two kids stuck in the same tiny, heated room, one of them coughing, sneezing, sweating, basically just radiating illness, and yet he never catches a single thing

I was reading about this study recently, though it was pretty limited—maybe around 70 people—where they exposed healthy, unvaccinated individuals to the flu virus. The whole point was to see how different immune systems react, and it turned out to be about fifty-fifty: half got sick, half didn't, even with a direct and clear dose of the virus being introduced to their systems

It’s nothing strange when you think about it; the flu has massive epidemic potential, but most people tend to hold their own. The virus spreads incredibly easily, but hardly anyone can actually stay isolated at home for two months straight, so objectively, almost everyone comes into contact with it, yet the vast majority still doesn't get sick. A ton of people fall ill, sure, but most of us just breeze through it... Hygiene tips are important for plenty of reasons, obviously, but during the peak of the season, if you have to move around among other people, your chances of avoiding the virus are slim to none

People are so prone to panic that they don't truly grasp the scale of an epidemic, so everything always seems way worse than it is. Take the Spanish Flu, for instance; even by the darkest estimates, it infected about half of the population back then. That means half the people were left completely untouched (not because they were all sitting in quarantine 😉 ). And of those who did get hit, about 80% recovered perfectly fine without any issues

It makes sense, really—viruses are just a part of nature. Any virus that actually managed to wipe out the entire human race would essentially be working against its own survival

lonebadger6 said:During flu season, these viruses are just everywhere, and honestly, you can't really dodge them if you try... Maybe some guy sneezed on the subway or in a pub, or maybe you grabbed a door handle someone else just touched, and suddenly you're rubbing your nose and wondering what happened. There isn't some grand mystery to it, really 😁

As for why some people stay healthy, I'm telling you, some folks are just naturally immune for reasons we don't quite get. Take my brother, for example—imagine two kids stuck in the same tiny, heated room, one of them coughing, sneezing, sweating, basically just radiating illness, and yet he never catches a single thing

I was reading about this study recently, though it was pretty limited—maybe around 70 people—where they exposed healthy, unvaccinated individuals to the flu virus. The whole point was to see how different immune systems react, and it turned out to be about fifty-fifty: half got sick, half didn't, even with a direct and clear dose of the virus being introduced to their systems

It’s nothing strange when you think about it; the flu has massive epidemic potential, but most people tend to hold their own. The virus spreads incredibly easily, but hardly anyone can actually stay isolated at home for two months straight, so objectively, almost everyone comes into contact with it, yet the vast majority still doesn't get sick. A ton of people fall ill, sure, but most of us just breeze through it... Hygiene tips are important for plenty of reasons, obviously, but during the peak of the season, if you have to move around among other people, your chances of avoiding the virus are slim to none

People are so prone to panic that they don't truly grasp the scale of an epidemic, so everything always seems way worse than it is. Take the Spanish Flu, for instance; even by the darkest estimates, it infected about half of the population back then. That means half the people were left completely untouched (not because they were all sitting in quarantine 😉 ). And of those who did get hit, about 80% recovered perfectly fine without any issues

It makes sense, really—viruses are just a part of nature. Any virus that actually managed to wipe out the entire human race would essentially be working against its own survival

The Spanish Flu popped up right at the end of WWI when hygiene was trash and everyone was malnourished because of the war. Everything was just at its absolute worst.

By the way, scientists recently isolated the DNA from that specific flu strain from a deceased patient, and yeah, it definitely showed the virus was dangerous.

Flu season.
From the website flu.hr plus
Plus, a little bit of history...
[Influenza A virus subtype H3N2 - Wikipedia] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infl...s_subtype_H3N2
(I’m actually wondering... even though it keeps mutating so much... I had some really nasty bouts of the flu with pneumonia around New Year's back in 2007/2008? Or maybe 2008/2009? And definitely that one with pneumonia in February 2012. I'm curious which strains those were. Just a geek at heart...)