Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with flu

Gothic fiction required

ninazer0 — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 21:37:17 -0800

I'm sick in bed with a dose of the flu and I need stuff to read on my kindle. I'm in the mood for intelligent romantic fiction with a dose of thriller - bonus if it has supernatural or gothic elements. I've just finished "Nine Coaches Waiting" by Mary Stewart, and prior to that "Thornyhold", also by Mary Stewart, so something along those lines would be awesome. What can the hive mind suggest?

Why do I still feel like crap 2 weeks later?

jrchaplin — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 19:31:10 -0800

A little over two weeks ago, I came down with what I suspect was norovirus. While the nausea and worst of it is long past, I still feel crappy. Some icky details inside. The bout lasted the typical 24 hours with about 3 days recovery. The first 24 hours were marked by several rounds of projectile vomiting, fever, chills and the inability to keep even water down. The next 3 days were simply recovery ... lots of sleeping, gradually moving from broth and applesauce to more substantial, if bland foods.

Here it is 17 days later, and I still feel do not feel anywhere near 100 percent. Symptoms include multiple body aches and low-grade headache which no amount of ibubrofen helps, on and off ringing in the ears, and, worst of all, general exhaustion. I'm sleeping about 9 to 10 hours a night (I usually get by on 7) and, this past weekend, napped for 3 hours each afternoon (as I did the previous weekend). There have been at least 3 nights where it was closer to 12 hours. I've also found that twice in the past week, I've had low-grade fevers (100.2 to 100.8) which last a couple of hours at night and are gone the next morning.

I'm not having any gastric issues other than some slight constipation; and that my stool is a very pale color.

I've had the flu/stomach bugs many times in the past and don't remember this post/recovery period being this long. I know YANMD, but it this normal?

I am seeing my GP, but the earliest I can get in to see him is a week from today. Have mostly felt this is not worth an ER visit, but over the weekend, I seriously considered it.

Give Me Hope

Sassyfras — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 18:37:20 -0800

My family (husband, myself, 12 year old, 9 year old and 6 year old) are planning to fly from Phx to Florida on Saturday for spring break. The complication: we've all got the flu. Please give me hope or a dose of reality. Husband came down with the flu first about Wednesday of last week. Since then the rest of us have come down with it. As of now my husband is still pretty sick (but dragged himself to work). My 6 year old is the sickest with a pretty consistent 103 fever, severe congestion, coughing, diarrhea and nausea (with a bout of vomiting) here and there. The rest of us feel pretty crappy, but don't seem to be as bad as 6 year-old. Sore throats, congestion, fevers, coughing, aches, chills . . . we got it all.

Husband has had it since last Wednesday. 6 year old, 9 year old, 12 year old and myself have had it since last Friday.

Realistically, will we be able to travel (via airplane) by Saturday? Or is that totally pushing it? I know there isn't a definitive answer, but I'm hoping for some sort of reality check regarding being able to fly by Saturday.

How many viruses could we eradicate?

CarlRossi — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 22:54:21 -0800

This may end up in a story, it may not... But this occurred to me the other day. We all learned in school that viruses need a host, bacteria do not. Therefore if we all voluntarily quarantined ourselves for two weeks, how many potential viruses could we wipe out? The rules: We all do it. We all stock up our homes with enough food and drinks. We have sufficient distractions to not go stir crazy. No international travel, no school. Only close relations in the same homes, and once you're in, you're in for the full fortnight. All businesses close except pharmacies and hospitals. Only emergencies force us to interact at said hospitals or pharmacies and you must return home if possible.

Can this be reasonably calculated? What about a quarantine by definition, isolation for the full 40 days? Could we eradicate the cold? Flu?

How do I stop being irrationally paranoid about getting sick?

windbox — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 05:25:40 -0800

I leave for a much much much needed vacation tomorrow that I've been looking forward to for the past two months. As more and more people around me (family, friends, coworkers) have been getting sick during this nasty flu season, I have been super paranoid about getting the flu myself just in time to spoil my vacation. I started feeling really achy and fatigued last night, but maybe it has more to do with other things? I got a flu shot a little over two weeks ago and that definitely quelled a little bit of my fear, but last night at around 6 I started feeling incredibly tired and sort of achy in an onset-sickness way. I also woke up this morning with some very slight, dull body aches, though I'm wondering if this is a result of the fact that the weather where I live just went from below freezing, to 65 and humid, to raining and flood warnings - in about 72 hours - and maybe my body is reacting weirdly to it. I do not have a temperature.

Either way, I'm super paranoid about getting sick. I should probably stop worrying so much, leave for my trip anyway as long as I don't have a temp, but not sure how to chill the hell out. I'm putting myself in a position where I'm either a) not going to enjoy myself because I'll just be paranoid about if and when these onset symptoms are going to turn into a full-blown sickness or b) going to placebo effect/confirmation-bias myself into thinking that I am actually getting sick or actually sick, by mentally exacerbating my "symptoms". I realize this may be one of the more neurotic questions, but how do I reduce my anxiety about this over the next 24 hours, and just let myself be excited and enjoy myself?

It's like my body doesn't want to go back.

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 07:52:52 -0800

I have been on sick leave for the past 10 days due to first the flu, and then some flu-related complications. I am due to go back on Monday and I'm panicking, literally. The thought of going back to work made me burst out crying earlier this morning. I strongly suspect this is less about the flu right now, and more about general unhappiness with my work situation, and anxiety, but I'm a total mess. How do I pull myself together when I only have 72 hours left? My job is very mentally draining, as well as physically demanding, and I am suddenly not feeling up to it any more. I feel a lot of resentment about having to work long hours, including nights, always under pressure, making life-and-death decisions while sleep-deprived. I'd been doing this for 10+ years, and recently increased my hours for financial reasons. I am very thorough in my work, usually, and I truly give it my best. People used to comment about how enthusiastic I always seem. But now I feel like I have nothing left to give any more. It's like severe burnout, overnight edition.

The flu really tired me out, I feel tired just going from one room to another, or washing the dishes. Now whenever I think about going back to work, I literally want to puke, and/or start crying. Next week, I am supposed to work 8 AM to 7 PM four days out of seven, plus one day mid-week when I'm working 24 hours nonstop. There is no way to reduce my hours next week, or the following week, unless I quit, which is not an option.

What can I do, over the weekend, to physically and mentally prepare myself for this transition? How do I combat the panic? I guess what I need are some mental hacks to calm down and take it one day at a time. But also, I'm torn between taking all the naps I can and forcing myself to exercise. Aren't all those naps only making me weaker?

Any tips/advice greatly appreciated.

Going to work with the flu

odawg — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 21:03:01 -0800

Do I really need to stay home with the flu? Despite my cocky insistence that it wouldn't happen to me, I have succumbed, and succumbed hard, to this flu that has been infecting everybody lately. Of course, I have been staying at home - not only have I been feeling really crappy, but, as everybody reminds me, it is pretty inconsiderate to expose my office to my germs. But as I was thinking about it more, I started to have some reservations. I work in a huge company, in a giant skyscraper, in the middle of Manhattan. I would say that in a typical day, 100% of my co-workers come into close proximity (on the subway, in the streets ,in the lobby, on the elevator, throughout the office, etc., etc...) to hundreds of people and the various concoctions of germs, bacteria, and viruses that these hundreds of people are transmitting. So, if you add me to the mix, does it really make a difference? If people are going to get sick, they're going to get sick, and my decision to stay home would be moot. Or can I just continue to play video games and watch movies in bed guilt-free?

What can I do about a sick person who insists on coming to work?

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 19:32:35 -0800

My clearly ill coworker refuses to go home. My coworker is very clearly ill and has been all week. She coughs - no exaggeration - almost constantly. She is obviously congested, she said she was "really bad" this weekend with fever and fatigue. She finally left early (but only an hour early!) yesterday after infecting the office with her coughing all day. I told her not to come back today if she still feels ill because I really don't want to get the flu. She said she didn't want to make me sick. She was there today, same thing. I asked her if she at least had antibacterial hand sanitizer at her desk and she said no.

Multiple people have told her to go home and says she has stuff to do, she's not contagious, etc. As she is on my team, I know there is nothing she has to do that either we couldn't do ourselves or that could wait. However, I am not her manager so I can't force her to leave. People have asked our manager to have her leave and he said he's been telling her and she won't go. So he would have to force her to go, which I think he's reluctant to do because she can be difficult about some things (whole different story). I thought about calling HR, but I like my manager (as well as my coworker, who is otherwise excellent) and as I can't report it anonymously, I don't want to be the one stirring the pot.

I'm relatively certain she will be in tomorrow. If she still seems unwell, I am going to point blank ask her to please go home. She will likely refuse again. What can I do at that point? I am already washing my hands a lot and I may tell her not to come near my desk or give me any of the paperwork she normally does because I have never had the flu and I really, really do not want to get it. Or maybe I'm overreacting and if so, please let me know. It would be one thing if it were just a cold, which I wouldn't really care about, but I am a little aggravated that someone who is obviously sick would knowingly spread their germs around when it's something that could be potentially bad like the flu.

Fwiw, I got a flu shot, but the doctor says it can take two weeks to become effective. Also, she is hourly but I know she has PTO.

You Are Not My Epidemiologist, My Virologist, or My Yoga instructor

sarahkeebs — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 15:31:45 -0800

I think I have the flu--or to be more precise, I think I am fighting the flu. But as usually happens, rather than straightforwardly getting sick and then getting better, I seem stuck in the early stage of not having terribly severe symptoms (congestion etc) but being exhausted, achy, and running a very low-grade fever on and off. This may go on for two weeks or longer. I rarely get "sick". Given that people are most contagious in the early days of flu infection, same with colds if that what it is, does this mean that I am infectious for longer than most people? And based on your opinion on that, is it (a) a good idea for me to go to hatha yoga, (b) where there's an immuno-compromised (person who is doing or has recently completed chemo) person in my class?

Just flu are you?

Bardolph — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 09:09:44 -0800

YANMDoctor. What are the chances that this recent illness was actually the flu? Jumping on the well-populated bandwagon of flu-related-questions around here lately: My daughter and I just got through some sort of mystery serious upper-respiratory thing. I'm wondering whether anyone can shed some light on whether this was, indeed, The Flu, or if that trial is potentially still ahead of us. Here are the tedious details:

DAUGHTER (preschool-aged): on return to daycare after Christmas break, the caregiver copped to having just recovered from a 6-day bout of what she called "the flu." Sounded convincing-- 104-degree fever, prostration, severe cough, etc. The next day, we got Daughter the flu shot (horse, barn door and all that).

Two days later, Daughter suddenly (like within 2 hours) breaks a 102.5-degree fever. Over the next five days, continual fever (controlled with meds, but gets up to the 101s), complete exhaustion, aches, malaise, extremely runny nose and sneezing, but no coughing. On sixth day, illness departs as suddenly as it came.

ME: Two days after onset of Daughter's illness, start nasal irritation and extremely runny nose. Within three hours, 101-ish fever. Fever carefully controlled with acetaminophen, but tends to drift up into 101s otherwise. Some fatigue, aches/chills, very runny nose, no coughing. Illness lasts a little over two days, then ends suddenly. My first and only flu vaccine was four years ago; I've had nasty feverish colds since then but nothing obviously identifiable as the flu. Not sure I've ever had the flu, in fact.

HUSBAND: Had the flu shot in November. Despite spending the week cheek-by-jowl with our sneezy, tissue-dropping kid, hasn't gotten ill at all.

Obviously, points in favor of this being the flu are the apparent immunity of vaccinated Husband, the medium-high fevers (aren't you not supposed to get bad fevers at all with colds?), the severity of the original caregiver's illness, and the sudden onset in all cases. On the other hand, there's the absence of any coughing at all, the fact that mine pretty definitively started in my nose, and the mysterious mildness of the illness in my case, when by rights I really shouldn't have even a shred of flu immunity to stand on. Also the fact that people on MeFi have been saying things like, "If you're just hoping not to die, that's how you know it's the flu," and nothing any of us experienced really sounds as bad as all that.

WHY IT MATTERS: with the flu at epidemic levels where we live, I'd like to have some sense of whether I still need to be ultra-paranoid about avoiding public places/other people, or if cross-strain resistance will give us some measure of protection.

Also, I'm pregnant (first trimester), have been enjoying reviewing research like this, and would like to know whether I'll need to spend the next 42 months freaking out about the specifically influenza-related bump to autism risks, or merely the more generic one associated with all maternal febrile infections. My OB will let me get the vaccine next month, once I'm out of the first trimester, and it'd also be worthwhile knowing if that's something to push for or not.

So, what say you, Metafilter? Was it the flu, or not the flu?

Is this year's flu vaccine effective?

exhilaration — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 07:07:31 -0800

I keep reading stories (1, 2, and this previous question) about how bad this year's flu season is. It's been a few months since the vaccine has been available so have they been able to determine if this year's vaccine matches up with the flu strains that are spreading? Meaning, is this year's flu vaccine actually effective? When is that determination made? I'm planning to get the flu shot but since it's already so late, I was wondering if data about its effectiveness was available.

Is the flu shot at all effective after one week?

Busoni — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 10:39:46 -0800

I'm travelling up and down the northeast US starting next Sunday. The first person I'm going to see has told me she's coming down with the flu. If I get a flu shot now (or I guess tomorrow since it's Christmas) will it do me any good?

I went down to St. James Infirmary...

Reverend John — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 17:34:29 -0800

I'm sick Metafilter. I'm in a bad way and I want your advice. I have a nasty case of the flu. I visited my doctor yesterday morning, and she diagnosed me with the flu, though the nasal swab test she gave me was negative for Flu A and Flu B. At the time I thought I was getting better, but now I think I've taken a turn for the worse. I'm contemplating going to the emergency room, and I'd like your advice on how I should decide whether or not to go, when to go, if I should bring someone with me, and anything else I should ask or do. I know you're not my doctor. I'm going to visit my doctor's sick call hours first thing in the morning if I don't go to the ER. That's in about 11 hours. First, I live in the northern Chicagoland suburbs. Lake County, Il. I'll probably go to either Condell or Lake Forest (Condell is closer but LF is where my doctor is on staff). Is either of these significantly better? Or should I consider a third choice? My parents, and brothers and sisters all live in Northern Cook County, so if I went to say, Northwest Community Hospital I would be very close to them if I wanted them to come along. Or if there's another hospital that's just out of sight for putting you right I could go there if it wasn't too far.

Should I call one of my family members and ask them to come with me? My wife can't, she needs to stay home with the kids. Or can I trust that everything will be ok.

I've been sick since last saturday, though I've been at my worst Monday afternoon and evening, and today since 5 today, when I started a sudden chill. When I visited the doctor they measured my temperature externally with a wand at my forehead at 97.9. Earlier today I measured my temperature orally with an electronic thermometer and it read 96.9. I haven't measure it since I started experiencing chills. I've just been resting, but now I'm fealing so hot and weak that I'm starting to worry that I'm in worse trouble than I thought and better get this addressed sooner rather than later.

I've been getting rest and fluids, and mostly chicken soup to eat. A couple of hours ago I thought I was on the mend, now I don't know what to think.

Thanks for your advice, Metafilter!

I heard that you were feeling ill ...

lunasol — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 08:27:37 -0800

I have a cold/flu thing. What can I do to speed my recovery as much as possible? I started feeling sick on Wednesday night. At first I was just a bit congested, and I went to work yesterday (Thursday) morning for a meeting, but by noon I knew I had a fever and had to go home. I got about 10 hours of (Nyqui-assisted) sleep last night, but actually feel worse today.

My symptoms are fever, headache, body aches (mostly in my torso), slight congestion and a nasty cough.

What I'm doing:

- Taking it easy. Doing a tiny bit of easy work, but mostly watching TV and sleeping.
- Taking a small dose of dayquil during the day to be less in pain, and nyquil at night to sleep. Do these drugs slow healing?
- Drinking lots of liquids: water, emergen-C (made with hot water and honey) and orange juice.
- Eating as healthy as possible: yesterday I ate mostly chicken, rice and salad.

Normally I'd just figure I'm going to be sick as long as I'm sick and deal with it, but I'm working on a political campaign and election day is just over a month away. I would really love to be back in commission by Monday. Is there anything I can add to my current regime to speed my recovery? I have a drugstore pretty close to me.

When does the flu vaccine get updated, and how do I know?

dmd — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 09:17:12 -0800

How do I know when the "new" flu shots come out? CDC and similar web sites say that I should get my flu shot "as soon as they become available", but most drugstores now offer the flu shot year-round. Since I already have last year's, how do I know when to get this year's?

Can you catch a cold by sharing a spoon?

Bardolph — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 04:22:34 -0800

How likely am I to catch an upper-respiratory illness through strictly oral/gastrointestinal means (like sharing utensils, etc.)? I've always kind of assumed that the mouth environment is sufficiently different from respiratory membranes (pH, digestive enzymes) that it's probably relatively inhospitable to the kinds of microbes that cause common upper-respiratory tract infections, and that in any case objects that find their way into your saliva should mostly be washed into the stomach, not randomly drifted up into your sinuses or whatever. Therefore, I have maintained in the face of intense family opposition that it should be pretty safe to (for instance) share a glass or a donut with someone who has a cold (assuming washed hands), vs. rubbing your eyes with their tissues or standing around inhaling while they sneeze and cough.

Question, though: can anyone point me to any credible information that either supports or contradicts this belief? Ideally, let's exclude general-audience public-health websites from the "credible information" category on this one, since I'd expect those sorts of sites to err on the side of caution rather than maintaining strict fidelity to the hard evidence. PubMed would normally be my first stop, but the keywords here are pretty unhelpfully vague-- so if anyone can volunteer peer-reviewed studies, or, you know, in-depth explanations of the actual mechanisms that make transmission or non-transmission more plausible, I'd especially love to see those. Thanks so much!

Heading off the worst of a flu?

zardoz — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 15:49:06 -0800

My young son probably has the flu, which could strike any day now. Dumb question, but is there anything I can do? He turns three next month. We just learned that a group of his pre-school playmates have come down with the flu--my son the only exception. So he's the odd man out, and since he played with them several times recently, he likely got infected. He hasn't had a flu shot.

I'm not really that worried, I know it's just the flu, but I'm curious if there's anything we can do to perhaps boost his immune system so the flu (if in fact he does have it). Naturally, of course. Keep him hydrated, of course, and...?

Decontaminating a microfiber suede couch from the flu virus?

Jacqueline — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:00:35 -0800

How to decontaminate a microfiber suede couch from the flu virus? I have been staying with a very sweet and generous friend while moving. However, I have been very ill since Monday with what I am 99% sure is the flu. I am feeling a little better today but the CDC website says that I can remain contagious for up to a week after recovery, and the virus can live on surfaces I've touched for several days as well.

Problem: My friend has NOT had the flu shot and needs to save all her sick days for her migraines. So I am leaving to stay elsewhere until I've fully recovered and am out of the contagious period.

Fortunately, I've pretty much been an unconcious lump on her couch all week so I haven't contaminated too much of her house. Bagging up my bedding is fairly straightforward.

But what of the couch I've been sleeping on? Is there an anti-viral cleaning product that is safe on microfiber suede, or do we have to cover it up for a week? If the latter, what sort of material would make an adequate cover? I don't want her and her guests to have to avoid her living room because of the "plague couch" for the next week.

Any advice appreciated.

Can I get the tetanus and flu shots together? And should I even get a flu shot?

emily37 — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 14:11:54 -0800

Is it okay to get a tetanus and a flu shot on the same day? Also, is the flu shot really necessary? I'm getting laid off, so I'm getting in all my booster shots and doctor visits before I lose my job. I'm getting a tetanus booster because I think it's been 10-ish years since my last one. I'm wondering if I should also get a flu shot. I'm a healthy early 30s female - I've never had the flu, but I do live in a big city so I guess I'm exposed to a lot of other peoples' germs. No kids and no regular exposure to children.

So two questions - if I do decide to get the flu shot, can I get it on the same day of the tetanus shot? Might as well just get them done together, right?

And my other question is - is the flu shot worth getting, or not really? I hear all these horror stories about people getting sick for days or even weeks after getting the shot, and I really don't want to be laid up in bed for the holidays. Those of you who had the flu shot this year - did you have any reaction other than the normal soreness on the arm?

Thanks!

Flu bug?

pakora1 — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:06:15 -0800

Husband down with a flu bug from Mexico We came back from Mexico city last Sunday. My husband has had the following symptoms and I am curious if there is something we dont know about and hence broadening the audience. By the way, we did go to a doctor but frankly i need to see if anyone else has experienced this

he first had diarrhea with a little fever
fthis was followed by pain in the left leg
then it was shoulder pain
now is he feeling under the weather and was dizzy earlier

all of this in 9 days after our visit. Hopefully there isnt something that we are missing and it is just a simple flu/bug that he picked up (wierdly he had got his Flu vaccine a month before we left for our visit)

Thanks in advance.

I've been sick forever

windbox — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 12:52:20 -0800

I'm sick. I'm not getting better. It is ruining my life and relationships. 23 year old male. About a month ago I came down with something resembling the flu - body aches, general malaise, intense fatigue all building up to one miserable weekend with a 101 temperature.

The temperature went away after 24 hours, but the rest of the symptoms remained. Every day. For the past month. I wake up every morning feeling "icky" and it persists into the day, with my lethargy and discomfort waxing and waning throughout the day.

I've been dating a girl that I like a lot for about a month before this happened; I've only seen her 2 or 3 times since. I've had to break plans with her 3 weekends in a row because frankly I just felt like utter crap. I have also had to decline nights out with friends and missed work once. I am afraid that everyone - work, friends, new ladyfriend - thinks I'm bullshitting them and just being a lazy flake-out who doesn't care.

I went to the doctor last week. He basically gave me a once over and told me it was probably just a virus that needs to work itself out, not to worry, to just try and get some rest. I got bloodwork done a few weeks previously and they said they didn't find anything abnormal, so it's not mono or lyme disease or anything like that.

This is bullshit. I'm already getting "rest" and I'm blowing off everyone in my life as a result. Besides getting sleep, eating right, and taking my vitamins what else am I supposed to do? Has anyone else dealt with this? how long before I feel normal again? I see young people in my neighborhood outside, playing sports, going out at night for happy hour, spending time with their girlfriends/boyfriends and just living NORMAL lives and I feel nothing but complete envy. I feel like I'm never going to feel normal again. I don't even remember what it feels like to feel healthy and energetic.

I don't really know what I'm asking here, but has anyone else been through this? Month long periods of unknown sickness? How did you get better? Did you eventually get diagnosed and get it sorted? Any ideas? Anyone?

Urgent care? ER?

windbox — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 06:17:47 -0800

Urgent care? ER? Where am I supposed to go? I don't have a doctor here (Fairfax County, VA). I'm clueless. I got the flu last weekend but am still experiencing symptoms, including a new one - a burning hot pain in the pit of my stomach. I got the flu (or something like it) last weekend with aches and pains all over with a 101 degree fever. By Monday this week I was feeling well enough to go back to work, but still not 100%.

It's been exactly 7 days now and I still am feeling some of the less threatening flu-like symptoms: tired all the time, slightly weak, extremely depressed/lethargic, loss of appetite. and feeling some flu-y/achy malaise in the mornings that slowly dissipates throughout the day.

And now a new symptom has arrived as of 2am this morning - a hot, searing pain in the pit of my stomach. If I take TUM's it subsides about 75% for a few hours, but when it's full force it's extremely painful. I'm at work now and when the pain was full on it was absolutely distracting.

I'm not asking askmetafilter to diagnose me because I'm sure it could be hundreds of things and YANMD, etc.

What I do know is I need to see a doctor ASAP, probably get blood drawn, and get whatever other vital tests/checks/scans. Do I have to find a doctor and make an appt? Won't that take a few days? Should I visit an urgent-care clinic? Are those places legit? What about the ER - are my problems big enough for that? I seriously have no clue. I really don't want to wait any longer/wait out the weekend since I've been waiting out the week as it is.

I'm considering just leaving work early to find some medical help asap but have no clue where to turn or if that's appropriate given my symptoms.

Is this the flu? Is it too late for help?

jewzilla — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 12:20:27 -0800

I had a headache for 10 days and now I have chills and nausea. I've never had anything quite like this before, but the closest was influenza. Given that prescription antivirals are supposed to be effective only within the first 12-24 hours of symptoms (and I'm now 240 hours past the first symptoms), would it be worth the misery of going to urgent care for this? I don't feel extreme tiredness or muscle pain as I have with past flus, but perhaps that wonder will be saved for tomorrow.

yup, that's about the worst possible timing.

you're a kitty! — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 13:08:21 -0800

I'm 3/4 of the way through my Advancement to Candidacy exam, with the oral exam coming up this Friday. Aaaand as of last night, it seems I've got something flu-like. Any suggestions for how I can best take care of myself, sleep well, and hopefully not have too much brain fog on Friday morning? I've got aches and serious fatigue, a sore throat, and I think I had a (relatively minor) fever last night. I don't have much in the way of congestion or coughing. Probably pushing myself so much over the last month has caught up with me.

Normally I'd just wrap myself up with a big blanket, some tea, and a lot of TV, but that aint gonna cut it this week. I could postpone the exam if I get much worse, but it would have to be pushed back a number of weeks and I really, really just want to be DONE. I've got a lot of prep to do this week, though, so having my body operational would be ideal. Perhaps most importantly, I need to be able to think clearly during the exam - maybe adrenaline will do it, but maybe not.

Any general suggestions for how I can get through it? Meds that have really helped you, etc? I'm not at all opposed to medication, as long as it's legal; I can probably get any reasonable prescriptions if necessary.

Thanks!

flu during finals blues

elephantsvanish — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 15:48:07 -0800

Is it appropriate to ask for an extension on a final exam due to flu? I managed to develop a pretty severe case of the flu (constant fever, meh!) during the reading days leading up to my final exams. I've already completed a take-home test, and have a language exam that is non-negotiable tomorrow. But it's my third exam, for geography, that I'm most concerned about.

Would it be reasonable to e-mail my teacher requesting that she let me take the exam from home in a couple of days? I haven't been able to do much reading or studying on it over the past few days, so it will almost certainly go badly if I take it with a fever. My prof is nice and down-to-earth; however, I don't want to appear to be taking advantage of her laxity. I would need to complete the exam from home, so I would suggest e-mailing it back to her in the same period of time afford for the exam period on sunday morning.

Thanks!