Panic flu

[nedfumpkin]

So yesterday I awoke with all the symptoms for the H1N1 flu. These include aches and pains through my whole body, I had a bit of a fever and chills...they came and went. I have a sore throat, a dry cough and my chest hurts, as well as a intermittent runny nose. I have what feels like a sinus headache, but my sinuses aren't that bad.

H1N1 is prevalent in my city, and is going around my office building, so while I could have the seasonal flu, the likelihood is that it is H1N1.

Not all that bad as far as flus go. I've been much worse off than this, and I am getting better pretty quickly. I still get an intermittent fever, and more throat is still rough, but the aches are gone. Didn't get any digestive issues beyond loss of appetite.

So the vaccine is a non-issue for me now. I will be immune to it. Okay, so I never got the vaccine, and that may be why I am recovering so quickly and it didn't hit me so hard as others I know.

But all in all, H1N1 is is mild in comparison to some seasonal flus I've had.

[Hawk]

Sorry to hear you got that flu Ned. Glad it's not as dastardly as they proclaim.
Get well soon man. Listen to Grandma. Drink plenty of fluids, especially some good hot herbal tea. Stay warm. Get plenty of rest. It helps to take some good vitamin C also.

[nedfumpkin]

Thanks Hawk, but really, it's not all that bad....I am lucky with a very strong immune system. In fact, despite a life of cuts, scrapes, and gashes, I never once have had any of them get infected. Colds tend to hang on for a long time with me, but the flu is something I am over by 48 hours.

Last year I got a flu and it was a bad one. For about 24 hours I was in so much pain that I could hardly move, this time it felt like I would if I'd have helped someone move over the weekend. The aches are 95% gone.

Yet people are in full panic over this.

Oh...and check this out....

http://www.sanofipasteur.com/sanofi-pas ... ubrique=34

Scroll down to March 9, 2009 and read the news brief.

Interesting that H1N1 showed up in Mexico a few weeks later.....hmmm

[Hawk]

I generally have a pretty strong system too. What few times I've had the flu only lasted 2 to 3 days.

[Gandar]

Glad to hear you are doing so well Ned, we are just across the bay from you and my wife had it pretty bad for about 10 days, she is recovering now but still isn't 100%. I had the regular flu vaccine last year [ doctors orders ] but I haven't been punctured this year as yet.

[nedfumpkin]

Thanks Gandar...Today is day 4 for me and so far I continue to recover well. Yesterday the fever was back intetrmittently,and the fatigue remains. But the sore throat and headaches are gone. Runny nose still comes and goes, and my chest remains irritated...which isn't helped because I smoke.

I think there may be some truth to the suggestion that people who get the annual vaccine for seasonal flu are being hit harder. I know 3 others who have this and they all get the annual vaccine and they are twice as bad off as I was.

[Hawk]

While the flu may be mild, it sounds like it likes to hang in there.

[Gandar]

I think there may be some truth to the suggestion that people who get the annual vaccine for seasonal flu are being hit harder. I know 3 others who have this and they all get the annual vaccine and they are twice as bad off as I was.

Who ever would have thought that taking preventative measures could leave you more susceptible. I hope you wrong Ned my wife had it pretty bad and she didn't have the flu shot, I'm not sure I will survive if I get a more severe form than she did.

Please confirm that your area of expertise is in railroad TrainMastering and not in doctoring because I don't want to lose sleep worrying.

[nedfumpkin]

A preliminary study from the U of Montreal suggested that people who received the seasonal flu shot appeared to be harder hit by the H1N1. Health Canada has contradicted it.

I'm all better now. It was very mild for me. I think it is impacting people on an individual basis it seems. I think that the unpredictability is fueling the panic. To put things in perspective, I saw a chart listing the global deaths for the last 300 days....

H1N1 was responsible for 5800 deaths globally in the last 300 days. Leprosy was responsible for 5400 and it is completely curable with antibiotics. Dengue fever had 12,000 deaths and there is a vaccine for that.

[Hawk]

Glad you're finally over it.

[Gwizz]

I heard that malaria takes more lives worldwide than any other illness, many times what the flu takes. I don't remember the numbers. But it was huge compared to the flu number. I believe the number of deaths from the flu has been manipulated and is way to high.

I've read too much about the latest flu shot. No way am I taking it. I'm no doctor and everyone needs to make their own informed choice.

Instead I asked to be tested for and I now take vitamin D. I was way low as is almost everyone living in the Northwest who doesn't get enough sun.
I was told and have read, that Vitamin D has the greatest affect on building a person's immunity.
I got a prescription for 50,000 IU to be taken one pill each week. After 3 pills, I was in the normal range again. I also read that vitamin C taken with vitamin D increases vitamin D's benefit. I didn't try to confirm this since I was already aware that taking vitamin C has long been known to strengthen the immune system. Maybe its' connection with vitamin D is the reason.

There is a lot of information on the net to look at and discern.
I get a couple of emails once or twice weekly from retired doctors about health that offer links to studies that l can look at. The US government. who I believe is in the Pharmcal's corner, tend to debunk some of these links. Some of the best links are in Canada and the UK.
I have talked to about 7 doctors over the last year all but one said they believe in the value of alliterative medicine. One young doctor is just starting his practice, recommended the flu shot. He did say he understood why I didn't want any part of the shot.
I was looking for a new general practitioner, since my normal doctor moved into Seattle and I don't like driving into Seattle with its' high crime rate, shooting , etc.

Ned, I'm glad you are under a full head of steam again.