Omg, I'm dying...

[FirstLight]

Got the flu for the first time in over a year...

Temp of 100.5, but I feel like my brain is boiling and between the aches, chills and hot waves... l don't wanna be in this body.
Started with a scratchy throat an every time I cough I feel like my head is gonna explode or i can't breathe

I dont just wanna lay here, but it's all I can do

Waiting for the cold stuff to break the fever

Guh!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Flu sucks.

Years ago I got one of the pandemic Asian flu strains and I thought I'd have to get better in order to die. You have my sympathy.

[Dem2theMax]

2. This is going to sound really strange,

But see if you can get someone to go out and get you some aspirin or tylenol suppositories. It's a trick my aunt taught my mom when we were kids. My aunt was a nurse and she knew what she was talking about. Whenever we had the flu, my mom would go to the nearest pharmacy and get those suppositories, and it works.

Because you have the flu and it's hard to keep anything down, the suppositories work like magic on the pain so that you can get some sleep. That way, you sleep through some of the worst of the flu.

Hang in there. I feel for you.

[FirstLight]

3. Neat idea

I was thinking of the old "sweat blanket" method... take a shower, wrap up, and break the fever

[Dem2theMax]

4. When everything hurts, including your eyelashes,

do whatever it takes to make yourself feel better.
I hate having the flu. I hope your bout with it goes fast.

[FirstLight]

7. Right?

I can't even smoke pot to help cuz the coughing will kill me...oh what I wouldn't give for some edibles

[Dem2theMax]

8. OUCH!

Just reading that, I can feel how bad your throat feels right now.

Yep, you need somebody to run a few errands for you. Call in some favors.

[FirstLight]

9. Yea...

Got a couple friends on speed dial...

Took a hot shower and tried to smoke a little in the bubbler...

Now I'm slathered in menthol and sweating 🙂

[Dem2theMax]

10. I hope all of that helps.

I read that you mentioned you live in the Sierras. Not exactly warm out there right now. So try to stay warm, and try to get some sleep. And check in tomorrow and tell us how you're doing.

[safeinOhio]

18. If you live in Medical MJ state, get some

CBD/THC tincture and put under your tongue. Cures everything.

[YOHABLO]

5. Not to sound like a jerk, but did you get a flu shot this year? Some people get flu regardless.

I've had the flu several times and it makes me to never want it again. I think that once you can get out of bed, go outside and get some sunshine. Granted I don't know where you live. I'm here in the South and things are just blooming everywhere. Get rest and I just know you will feel better. Lots of water and try some green tea, it works wonders.

[FirstLight]

6. The flu shot was the last time I got sick...2 yrs ago?

I'm in the Sierras, it's 40, raining and snow still piled 4 feet high... maybe I just need to hibernate till June? Lol

[Laffy Kat]

11. It's horrible. You are supposed to rest but the achiness makes it impossible to lie still.

So sorry. Hugs to you. Try to remember that it will pass, it will pass.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

12. No, you want to lie there. Not lay there.

Look up transitive and intransitive verbs.

And if you get flu every year, well maybe it's not really the flu. Although you certainly are describing the symptoms of flu in your most recent experience.

Some things to keep in mind. While getting the flu isn't at all fun, once you've survived a bout, you have an amazing immunity for a very long time. Another thing to be aware of is that there are three basic versions of flu, imaginatively labelled A, B, and C. They are virulent in descending order, meaning type A is nasty and awful and is responsible for the worst flu epidemics, such as the "Spanish" flu of 1918-19. Also, the Asian flu of 1957/58, and the Hong Kong flu of 1968. I'm not entirely sure if there's actually been another outbreak of a type A flu since then.

But here's the most important point. If you've had a particular type of flu, A, B, or C, you are pretty much immune to that type forever more. Which is why in the outbreak in 1918, the so-called Spanish flu, old people generally didn't get it. That was because some 50 years earlier there had been an earlier type A flu outbreak, and so all those old people had either gotten it and survived and were now immune, or were already immune and still didn't get it.

I'm pretty sure I got the Asian flu way back when. I've gotten flu once or twice since, but not since the early 1970s. For me, and applying only to me, I have strong confidence that I'm about as immune from flu as a person can be. Which is not to suggest you shouldn't get the flu vaccine. Especially if you are a lot younger than me (I'm 70) and have had little or no exposure to flu. Do what seems best for you.

I find myself conflicted about vaccines vs getting the disease. I hope you all understand that getting a specific disease tends to incur life long immunity, but a lot of diseases are so nasty (like smallpox) that I don't think I want to advocate getting the disease. Especially now that we have vaccines. Because I'm as old as I am, and got measles, mumps, chicken pox, rubella, and flu any number of times, I find it all too easy to have a cavalier attitude about those diseases. And even without thinking of those who are immuno-compromised, aren't vaccines a better solution? Yes, they are. All I have to do is think about smallpox and recognize that.

But I do want to assure those who have recently had a real bout of real influenza, that as miserable as it was, at least now you have a life-long immunity to one version of flu.

[FirstLight]

16. Point taken...

I usually dont get this sick... but I also have an autoimmune disease and just recently recovered from an awful flare. Probably a lot of lingering inflammation and that doesn't help.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

13. Best wishes for a speedy recovery, FirstLight.

Deep nasal and mouth breathing of vapors from over a pan of boiling water for several minutes at a time saved my ass one time on the road, when I was afraid to go to an unknown hospital in Kansas with a horrible sinus and chest infection. That reluctance to seek help was one of the worst mistakes of my life and I live with tinnitus every day because of it. Caught the damn thing on a plane to Tulsa.

Stay hydrated and I hope you have something like music or pets to lighten your mental load......

[FirstLight]

15. The fur babies help...

...i think I broke fever, woke up pretty sweaty...still lingering headache and legs,shoulders...

[oasis]

14. Plenty of liquids and bed rest always got me thru the flu.

Take care and let us know when you get better.

[MFM008]

17. I still have the cough

From the crap i had weeks ago despite antibiotics.
Take care of yourself!

[samnsara]

19. drink LOTS of orange juice..i a big believer in Linus Pauling...

....hope you feel better soon. Its not fun to be sick...except the staying in bed part.

[FirstLight]

20. Survived the night...

Sweated out the fever by dawn, threw up but felt better... switched to advil and got some smoke in me by 6ish

Still wobbly, weak... don't feel good enough to be vertical and the headache and soreness is still not fun.

Gonna go get a cbd tincture today (have my daughter drive, or ask a friend to drop off) and hopefully be able to eat something later...

[Dem2theMax]

21. Glad to hear that the fever is gone.

I hate throwing up, but you do feel better afterwards, especially with the flu.

Keep resting, and get some fluids in you when you can.

[sakabatou]

22. Could be worse.

Could've gotten something which I had back in '06