The Flu.

greasepalm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123130081#Comment_123130081

If your that bad maybe not a good idea to try and teach been so low in the dumps and possibly contagious as the normal flu zaps the energy out of you.

Hippodrome Song Owl

I too am now affected by this. I don't think it's flu as I'm vaccinated and I don't feel all over sick enough - no temp or aches and pains - but it could be a mild dose. It's a weird one in that it started straight away on my chest, bypassing upper respiratory symptoms. Literally woke up with painful chesty rattled breathing due to phlegm. No cough, no sore throat, no head cold symptoms. Trying to force cough it up is painful. It's worse at night, and is aggravating an existing cardiac issue.

BorsukBroCsNake

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123023879#Comment_123023879

Yep tests seem to be for Covid, RSV and Flu at least that's what you get these days in Poland if you ask for a Covid test, no idea how accurate they are etc.

BorsukBroCsNake

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123109275#Comment_123109275

These are great, saline pods or if you can get it decongestant etc great piece of kit to have at home I think.

jamieon

Are people still running for covid tests when they have a sniffle? Asking for a friend…….

black & white

No but my GP is asking people to do a Covid Test before attending the surgery.

Larbre34

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123133045#Comment_123133045

Sure.

My wife and I both have caring commitments with elderly and immunocompromised parents.

Covid might manifest as a sniffle or mild viral illness with us, but it could easily put the parents in hospital, or worse, if they were to contract it.

A quick Covid test tells us whether we can carry on as normal, or keep away from them until will test negative.

Glad to have the tests available tbh.

jamieon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123133433#Comment_123133433

So before 'Covid' would you have still cared for the elderly with a cold/flu? Or stayed away? Because if you stayed away then whats the point in taking covid tests still

Larbre34

Yes we would have stayed away if symptomatic. If, however, we were to get Covid now, we have a clear marker of whether there is active virus in our bodies,ie whether or not we might be contagious, even if asymptomatic.

If we at the same time test negative and feel well, we can resume visits earlier than we may have if using the passage of time as a caution.

I consider it no different to taking a test before going to any medical setting where immunocompromised people may be.

amandstu

Is the flu season past its peak now?

(I haven't heard mention of it in a while)

From this story on CNN

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/14/health/flu-season-hospitalizations-mrsa-ane/index.html

they are going through something similar (worse?)

I wonder if it just took a month or so to "cross the Atlantic"

Hippodrome Song Owl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123130300#Comment_123130300

What is this never-ending horrible dose? I eventually developed a dry annoying cough that lingered a couple of weeks - typical enough for a viral illness. Thought I was over it after a month, then woke up last Monday with a full-blown chest infection. Again, no upper respiratory symptoms at all, just a productive cough. There is no relief from the cough, have barely slept in days and feel like I've broken ribs and developed a hernia.

kneemos

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123249145#Comment_123249145

Chest infection is common with the dose that was going. I had it after the initial dose.

Yours does sound particularly bad though. Some aunty biotics might help.

My mother has asthma and was using her inhaler far, far more from December than she usually does. Then a dose kicked in in January, then three antibiotics and rounds of steroids. Kept coming back. Then chest X-ray - pneumonia. Then breathlessness, into A&E last week - another chest X-ray, and thankfully at that point the infection was clearing. But she got a whole resetting of her asthma management, and will be buying a nebuliser. About €100.

Whether any of the above is useful for those who don't have asthma, I don't know, but she's doing great now and she's 78 and asthmatic. Contact your doctor when it's really miserable or just not clearing. Even if it's viral, it still needs to be attended to. I feel those public health announcements about antibiotics not working for virii... might sometimes deter people from seeking medical help. You can still get bacterial infections post virus. Each time I got Covid (three) it was followed by a sinus infection for which I needed an antibiotic.

jopper

Anyone else have this still or am I the last? I avoided it all winter but have (I think) finally succumbed to it. Feel like I’ve been hit by a bus, severe sore throat, muscle pains, no appetite, headaches and general fatigue. Only slight head cold though with minimal cough.

Hippodrome Song Owl

I am still sick since the third week of January. Finished antibiotics and steroids today. Chest has improved, but it's not clear, and I am still coughing to the point of vomiting. I'm coughing since January. I also have a sinus infection now and since yesterday my ear is in severe pain.

con___manx1

I was vomiting for 4 days last week. Felt OK after 1 week. Didn't eat hardly anything for days. It's an awful dose. Everyone in my family has had it.

cj maxx

That doesn’t sound like flu . It’s a vomiting bug . I had similar 6/7 months ago, , with discharge from both ends

Hippodrome Song Owl

Diagnosed with pneumonia now. New antibiotics, different steroids. Referred for a chest xray. Dear god let this be the end of it.

joseph brand

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123274401#Comment_123274401

I believe my son brought it into the house last week. I'm ill since around Saturday. It's horrible. My wife also has it. Feels a bit like Covid, but I have had 2 negative tests. Had hot and cold shivers yesterday. Headaches today and swollen glands. Slight dizziness and just all round feel awful. Hoping it doesn't go into my chest. My granny used to say 'there's nuttin as bad as a chest'

black & white

3 Months since I contacted it and still have a little bit of a cough, no other symptoms thankfully though. I was told when I started coughing on Stephens Day that it was a 100 Day cough, I thought it was a joke but unfortunately it was true.

Hippodrome Song Owl

Still have pneumonia, not much improvement after third course of antibiotics. 8 weeks sick now. Just have to live with it, it seems.

watchclocker

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123301808#Comment_123301808

Did you have your chest xray?

You don't just live with pneumonia

Do you trust your GP is giving you the right antibiotics?

Hippodrome Song Owl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123302368#Comment_123302368

I'm just fed up of this lingering on. Tbf, all official advice online is that it can take weeks to recover and just manage synptoms at home in most cases. Xray appointment is next week. I've had two types of antibiotics, and research suggests that yes, they are the usual ones - first the most basic general antibiotic, then a stronger one also recommended for respiratory infections. In general my GP is very good, but definitely expects you to just get on with it fairly quickly.

Hamsterchops

Got something after Christmas. Thought it might be Covid? so did a test and it wasn't. Similar symptoms, knocked me sideways, zero appetite, lost all strength, sneezing a bit with a cough, plus aching limbs. Needing to rest in bed for about four days, felt wiped out & zonked. Probably flu?

No chest infection so No antibiotics required.

kneemos

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123302409#Comment_123302409

The kiss of appetite was a killer,had to force a few bits down the neck. Took ages to fully return too.