Flu season - who's catching?

[cement]

Let's talk symptoms so we can spread paranoia as well as the virus (virui?).

I've been exposed to so much junk over the years  ld-025:  I should start an antibody bank.  It hit me last Thursday afternoon like a brick wall, headache in the right forehead, mild fever, non-productive cough, no energy.  But I drank a few gallons of water and various homeopathic remedies, dove into bed early and was back on my feet the next day.

My wife on the other hand, refuses to sit still and has a lingering cough that is messing with my sleep.  The homeopathic stuff tastes yucky so no thanks.  It hit her sinuses over the weekend, then she felt well enough for a business trip and I think the pressure change on the airplane injected the bugs into her ears.  She got Z-pack (antibiotic) from the doc for her ears and is feeling better now, but the cough goes on.  1 AM, 3 AM, 4:30...The guest bedroom is looking pretty good right now.

A co-worker had pretty much the same variant I had, felt good enough to come in for a meeting yesterday then was just about passed out on the conference table an hour and half a box of tissues later. 

 

[Road Guy]

Did you get a Flu Shot?

 

[MA_PE]

I felt like carp pretty much all last week.  nagging cough clogged sinus, labored breathing with lots of phlegmy stuff, headaches, some light-headedness, generally weak and fatigued.  It started on Saturday and I stayed home from work on Monday and skipped the gym for another week (didn't go for the two weeks over the holidays).  Lots of sleep and based on the amount of light outside I either took NyQuil or DayQuil.  I felt better this week and actually went to the gym a couple of days but the runny nose/slight congestion lingers.

I did get a flu shot at the beginning of the season.

If either my wife or I are tossing/turning/generally disruptive to the other we have no hesitation in moving to the couch or another bedroom.  In fact, I spent a few nights there last week.

 

[Road Guy]

I used to never get a flu shot until 3 years ago - I was at one of our field offices and right after lunch felt like shit so I drove home, this was on a Wednesday, I remember barely making it home and getting into bed, then I woke up sometime around Friday morning... after that I have listened to the wife and just gotten the flu shot -

 

[envirotex]

I think it must be some new nasty stuff that's just mutated enough from whatever everyone had when they were kids to make you sick again, because same thing happened to me.  Never sick, then last year around Easter got so sick I couldn't get out of bed for four days.

 

[ChebyshevII PE PMP]

I’ve been sick for about a week, finally showing signs of being on the mend. It seemed like the flu at first, because I was dizzy, achy, and felt like I had a slight fever. Then my sinuses started hurting like all heck, and I realized it was probably sinusitis. Now just getting over lost voice and congestion. It’s funny, I almost never get sick, but it seems like I get sick all the time now that I have kids.

Not really a flu shot guy...I’m not convinced of it’s effectiveness. Can anyone provide solid evidence for or against it sans any propoganda on either side?

 

[knight1fox3]

I hope logical people actually know the flu shot does next to nothing as far as it goes for preventing actual influenza. :dunno:

 

[P-E]

KF it all depends on the year.

 I feel that the more shots you get, the more different antibodys you develop and anthing similar will be less severe.   I’ve been getting a shot since mini was born.  He was a premie so anything to prevent the flu was important.  

 

[jeb6294]

Flu shots are mandatory at work...keeping my fingers crossed that they got it right this year.

I guess it isn’t technically mandatory, but if you don’t get it then you have to wear a mask anytime you’re in the hospital for the duration of flu season. 

 

[cement]

I got stomped on by the flu years ago, could barely get out of bed, felt like I had a 40 lb bag of cement on my chest.  I've gotten the t ever since and have had much milder versions since.

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

Never had a flu shot. Don't think I've had the flu (If I don't remember having it, good chance is I haven't had it because you tend to remember that). Had several head colds and been knocked on my ass by allergies/sinus issues, but mostly back on my feet the next day.  I haven't had as many sinus issues after my surgery and allergy treatments a few years ago.  Found a nasal spray here that works really well called Dymista. A quick google search says its available in the US, must have been released recently because I hadn't heard of it before moving here.  Absolutely fantastic at opening things up. Only issue with it is that some genius had the brilliant idea to make it rose scented. For someone with allergy issues, the last thing you want to be smelling is grandma's perfume... 

 

[JayKay PE]

I got a flu shot, and I think it helped me miss the first strain/mutation that came through, but this second wave is taking people out left and right.  Not even sure it is the flu?  It seems to be a persistent cough that just slowly wears you down until exhaustion/crappy lifestyle takes you out.  A lot of people at my gym are getting z-packs due to it becoming viral are requiring antibiotics?  Either way, I'm trying to drink a ton of soup/avoid contact with people in general.  Might go on my 'liquid only'-diet of lipton soup to get a jump on it (because lipton noodle soup, though it has no nutritional value, has gotten me through many illnesses).

 

[Road Guy]

The wife's job requires them to get  a flu shot - well they don't require it, you just cant work at the hospital without it..

I was always skeptical of them and never got them except for when I was in the army and they also forced them on you (& tons of other shit) but after my weeklong ordeal I am going to get one from now on.

 

[tj_PE]

I have gotten the flu once in college and was dead to the world for days, had a friend pickup my prescription meds bc i couldn't fathom getting off the couch to drive and pick them up myself. never had the flu shot until about 2011 when one of my best friends went in thinking he was just dehydrated and ended up hospitalized from the flu and they induced a coma because he was ripping everything out of him etc. we weren't sure he would wake up. he was out for 3 months. now, he wasn't the picture of health and I think they determined it wasn't the standard flu strain (swine or whatev else) but ever since then I've gotten the flu shot. so i am less likely to pass it on to my friends' babies too. 

I have felt fine all weekend, but when I got off the bus and was walking to work this morning i got a sudden onset of nausea and felt like I was going to puke. I breathed my way thru it and the cold air helped me relax, but I have no clue what that was - hopefully it does not come back, because I'm not about that life and I don't have time to get sick!! bleh

 

[Dleg]

I am required to get a flu vaccination every year. 

If you are a skeptic, I suggest you read "The Great Influenza" by John M. Barry . Not only will you understand how the flu virus and vaccinations work, but it is also a really fascinating tale of how modern medicine got started, how America led the way, and how truly awful an influenza pandemic can really be.  Very good read for a non-fiction, scientific/historical account.

It's either that, or sound like a Flat Earther when you ask for anyone on an engineering form to provide you with "solid evidence" that the flu vaccine works....

 

[akwooly]

I get a flu shot every year and i have gotten the flu twice, once last year and another about eight years ago.  both times they were very "late"in the flu season, May and April.

 

[knight1fox3]

If you are a skeptic, I suggest you read "The Great Influenza" by John M. Barry . Not only will you understand how the flu virus and vaccinations work, but it is also a really fascinating tale of how modern medicine got started, how America led the way, and how truly awful an influenza pandemic can really be.  Very good read for a non-fiction, scientific/historical account.

I'm allowed to be a skeptic because I have friends who have doctorates in not only medicine, but biology as well who have been able to refute a good portion of the information contained within said reference. That's not to say I'm against other vaccinations. But the flu shot is truly an exercise in futility. :thumbs:

 

[Dleg]

Why do you say it's an exercise in futility? It provides you with antibodies against the epidemiologist's best guess as to what the prevalent flu strains will be. Sure, that's a bit of a crap shoot, but so is anything that attempts to predict what might happen in the future. Is your local weather forecast accurate out to 365 days?  And if they get it right, you're protected. You may still get infected, but since your immune system already has the antibodies, it can fight it off faster and hopefully prevent the severe reactions that lead to complications and death. Plus, now you've got the antibodies for that particular strain of flu, for when it starts circulating again.

50 million people died of the flu in 1917 - 1918. I certainly choose to protect myself and my family, even knowing they can't possibly get it right every year.

 

[knight1fox3]

Why do you say it's an exercise in futility? It provides you with antibodies against the epidemiologist's best guess as to what the prevalent flu strains will be. Sure, that's a bit of a crap shoot, but so is anything that attempts to predict what might happen in the future. Is your local weather forecast accurate out to 365 days?  And if they get it right, you're protected. You may still get infected, but since your immune system already has the antibodies, it can fight it off faster and hopefully prevent the severe reactions that lead to complications and death. Plus, now you've got the antibodies for that particular strain of flu, for when it starts circulating again.

50 million people died of the flu in 1917 - 1918. I certainly choose to protect myself and my family, even knowing they can't possibly get it right every year.

No real point in debating it as you're no longer comparing things that are alike (i.e. the weather vs. something you virtually have more chance at winning the lottery than gaining actual protection from a flu shot). You have your mis-guided reasons, and I have mine. :thumbs:

50 million people died of the flu in 1917 - 1918. 

LOL. Yes because modern medicine then was the same as it is today.

 

[Dleg]

Please refer me to the lottery that has a 40 to 60% chance of winning.  

CDC conducts studies each year to determine how well the influenza (flu) vaccine protects against flu illness. While vaccine effectiveness (VE) can vary, recent studies show that flu vaccination reduces the risk of flu illness by between 40% and 60% among the overall population during seasons when most circulating flu viruses are well-matched to the flu vaccine.

Source: CDC (and if you say we can't trust the CDC because <conspiracy theory>, then I guess we are done here.