Is anyone else terrified of catching the flu?

[Artorias]

It's flu season and here in the UK there's a particularly bad one doing the rounds (H3N2). I'm diabetic as well as suffering from ME, and I have a medical history of childhood asthma and bronchial pneumonia. If I get this flu I'm going to be in serious trouble. I've had flu twice already before when I was healthy and it was bad enough then.

I'm housebound but I share a home with one other person, and if I'm going to get it I'm probably going to catch it from him. I ask him to wash his hands when he comes home but other than that there's not much else I can do to protect myself.

Anyone else worried about it like me? Have any of you with moderate/severe ME actually had this flu or one like it? What was your experience?

 

[bombsh3ll]

I've got the flu at the moment despite being vaccinated - this year's vaccine isn't thought to be highly effective - and it is rough. I am largely housebound anyway & severe orthostatic intolerance is my worst symptom, which the flu has made worse. I am feverish and retching a lot, but not actually vomiting. I have poor temperature regulation generally, & the flu has also exacerbated this. I am hoping it will go away in a few days.

Trying to avoid it is sensible. My dad stays with us to help me a lot of the time & he had it over Christmas so it was inevitable I'd pick it up. My husband has it too, although in a healthy person it doesn't seem to be taking too much of a too which is a good thing if someone you are reliant on gets it.

 

[ebethc]

I was vaccinated and still got the flu... woke up the day after Christmas feeling like there was an icepick in my forehead... at first I thought it was MCAS rearing it's ugly head...nope.

Does anyone know if the flu vaccine was at all effective? sometimes the strain mutates between the time it's formulated and the time it hits..

 

[brenda]

I would not touch flu jabs with a barge pole, but have caught this flu when I was helping serve Christmas dinner for the homeless. I have managed it okay but after 2 weeks I still feel the effects.

What I did was keep up fluids, use garlic strapped to my skin, and rest. For the lungs I breathed in steam and used rife frequencies for chest infection. I think that pleuricy had started but managed to stop it.

Getting better by the day but still not much of an appetite. eating soup. I would advise you to start using fresh garlic as preventative strapped to the sole of your foot so it gets int he blood stream.

 

[Dechi]

I haven’t got the flu since I became ill, ironically. I get flu-like symptoms, but not the flu. My immune system isn’t working well enough to fight infections. Many pwme are the same. Maybe you are too ?

 

[BadBadBear]

Same as @Dechi I don't seem to catch the flu, though I'll have mono virus type symptoms for months on end. My husband is dragging around the house with a cold, but I rarely catch those, either. I never get a flu shot.

 

[Hikaru]

I'm scared as well since it's been a nasty flu season here too, and the last time I caught it, it led to pneumonia, and I nearly died from it because it got so bad. It was before I starting having CFS symptoms so I can't imagine how bad things would be if I got that sick again. I'm housebound but my in-laws visit often.

 

[Moof]

I guess the best thing you can do to protect yourself from 'flu and winter vomiting bugs is to wash your hands before you eat or rub your eyes, and after you may have touched the inside of your nose. Bugs can be caught from coughs and sneezes, of course, but hand washing is incredibly important. Folk living with you may be infectious before they become symptomatic, so they can pass it on without realising – so only washing their hands when they come into the house won't work nearly as well as doing it regularly. Also, people sometimes cough or sneeze into their hands instead of the crooks of their arms when they haven't got a hankie, which is a really efficient way to spread bugs!

Having said all that, I'm still concerned about it. I was vaccinated, of course, but as others have said, it may not be 100% effective.

 

[PatJ]

Wild oregano oil is a useful option for battling the flu at first exposure or symptom according to this blog.

 

[bombsh3ll]

Does anyone know if the flu vaccine was at all effective? sometimes the strain mutates between the time it's formulated and the time it hits..

This year's vaccine doesn't seem to be highly effective - from data coming out of Australia where the flu hits first. It doesn't cover every strain. Many people got it there despite being vaccinated and the same is happening here. I do always get vaccinated though to reduce the risk as it does impact people with ME more severely, like those with other chronic illnesses and the elderly.

 

[HowToEscape?]

It’s definitely going around in the large apt building I live in, so the chances of it reaching me are pretty high.
I did get the flu shot, had zero side effects, but it appears that this year’s shot is not a good match for the flu that’s going around. So I’m relying on luck, remembering to wash my hands ‘cept I’m not good at remembering anything now and flu is transmitted via air, so washing your hands doesn’t actually prevent it. There’s the possibility that the flu shot may provide some degree of protection.

If I do catch it I will be knocked flat, even flatter than usual and it will last a while. I’m not worrying about it though, too many other things more urgent, and fear of it will do absolutely nothing to stop the virus. If you are around other people or the places where they’ve been recently you stand a good chance of running into flu virii. Lottsa people are unavoidably around (dense urban area) so, err, fingers crossed.

I just saw an idiot network newscaster recommend hand sanitizer. Any warm body that finished high school knows that hand sanitizer doesn’t work on a virus.

 

[ebethc]

This year's vaccine doesn't seem to be highly effective - from data coming out of Australia where the flu hits first. It doesn't cover every strain. Many people got it there despite being vaccinated and the same is happening here. I do always get vaccinated though to reduce the risk as it does impact people with ME more severely, like those with other chronic illnesses and the elderly.

it's hard to tell if the vaccine diminished the effects of the flu (it can go on for months for me..) or if this vaccine just entirely missed the H3N2 strain..

 

[perchance dreamer]

I don't get flu shots, but might next year because I got slammed with the flu 10 days ago and am still recovering. Who knows if the vaccine would have helped the symptoms not be as severe.

I remember people saying last year the flu vaccine was hardly effective at all, and this year the pharmacist told me the vaccine had not worked very well. Also, I've read flu vaccine threads on PR before, and I look at some of our members with the same kinds of symptoms and genetics I have and just shudder reading about some of their bad experiences. Other members seem to be comfortable getting flu shots and don't suffer from the vaccine.

For all that, I do regret I didn't get a flu shot this year although it well might not have helped.

In addition to all the coughing, fever, and fatigue, I also had lower GI symptoms. I've lost 6 pounds, and my appetite is still depressed.

A week ago, I woke a couple of hours after going to bed and rushed to the bathroom because I knew I was going to have diarrhea. After running to get there, I passed out, probably because my blood pressure had not risen enough in my haste. I fell on my back. Luckily, my husband heard me and helped me.

I had a head CT yesterday, and there was no brain bleed. My back is feeling better now, but falling is a terrible thing.

I'm feeling better today, but I think it could take awhile to fully recover. When I went to the urgent care clinic Friday to see about my head, almost everyone else was there because of the flu.

Several days ago I started taking my ENT's go-to for colds and flu, Orthomolecular's Viracid. I did a loading dose, and it did seem to help. It's one I'm going to keep around. It's $36 at my local pharmacy.

https://www.orthomolecularproducts.com/viracid/viracid/525060/

 

[pattismith]

I got H3N2 one year ago, I was very ill for one week then it turned into a bronchitis for three weeks.

People who are at risk of pulmonary issue should undergo a course of anti influenza medication as soon as the flu starts.

 

[sue1234]

I'm terrified of getting either the flu or the stomach virus that's going around. My husband got the flu a month ago, and for some odd reason I did not get it. I had even gotten a Tamiflu prescription and had it on hand in case of first symptoms, and nothing. But, I've only had the flu once in the last 25 years, and I do not get the vaccine.

 

[geraldt52]

Obviously I'm not keen on getting the flu on top of CFS, but I'm not sure that having CFS does anything to worsen the flu. I won't chance a flu shot with immune disfunction, and I'm not at all convinced that they are much more than worthless anyway. @pattismith, @sue1234, have either of you taken Tamiflu when you've gotten the flu? Results?

 

[Bead Dog]

I’ve been with the flu since the 31st. This is a serious virus. Today is the first I’ve been able to be up in the house. I actually ate some soup at the kitchen table. I am pre diabetic and it totally jacked up my fasting glucose levels.

You might want to stock up on some essentials, bottled water, tissues, teas, any OTC meds that you like to use.
Cause if you catch this one, you will be couch or bed locked. I now totally understand how the very young, elderly and immune compromised can slide under when they catch this. It took all of my energy to deal with the coughing.
I can’t take most cold or cough meds due to heart murmur and glaucoma.

And, no I did not get the flu vaccination.

 

[Artorias]

Obviously I'm not keen on getting the flu on top of CFS, but I'm not sure that having CFS does anything to worsen the flu

We're always told that people with chronic health conditions are more at risk from flu complications, so I just assumed that people with ME might be in the at-risk group.

The last time I got a virus it was so bad that when I called 111 (an official health helpline in the UK) they sent round paramedics. I don't think it was flu - my oral temperature was about one degree centigrade higher than normal at 37.4 (98.3 farenheit) and that was only for a day or so, but overall I was absolutely wretched for several days, to the point where I was physically unable to make something to eat. I wasn't 'normal' for a good two weeks or so.

Perhaps it's more a case of the flu making the ME worse rather than the other way round.

 

[Hip]

Anyone else worried about it like me?

You could of course considering buying some Tamiflu, and medicate yourself with that should the flu hit. This antiviral only works when taken in the early days of the flu. And it does not work for colds, only for the influenzavirus.

 

[perchance dreamer]

I started on Tamiflu within 24 hours of first experiencing symptoms, and I don't feel like it helped me other than the first day I took it.

I wish I had taken it the instant I felt myself getting sick. Instead, I reached for the natural stuff that almost always helps me, but this flu is weapons grade. The next time (if there is one, god forbid), I'll take the Tamiflu as soon as I have the first symptom.