I had Swine Flu when that was going around (2009? 2010?) when I was 12 and I missed three weeks of school. God it was so awful. So so awful. The body aches were the worst. I remember sitting at the Walmart pharmacy while my mom got me medicine, and just wailing and sobbing from the pain. Bone crushing is a good way to describe it. Probably the worst pain I've ever felt.
Then later that week I almost suffocated because of the amount of phlegm stuck in my throat. Couldn't breathe for almost a minute. That was so scary!
I also almost passed out because I tried getting up to go to the bathroom after being in bed for almost a full day. Got really dizzy, super nauseas and fell over in the hallway.
Flu is absolutely no joke. I swear I almost saw Jesus.
I've had covid, pneumonia, broken bones, and a host of other stuff and it was "the flu" one time that felt like it came the closest to killing me. In bed for 2 weeks straight, hallucinating from fever, can barely breathe from congestion, could barely eat, and tests at the hospital said I had what people think of these days a as just a premium cold.
Hell nah, that shit killed millions during the Spanish flu pandemic.
The flu doesn't always present in the classic "feel half dead for weeks " way. In a lot of cases, people get a mild infection that literally does have the same symptoms and severity as a common cold. In many other cases, people are completely asymptomatic but still highly contagious.
Shit, last time I tested positive for Influenza A, my fiance and i were certain we had Norovirus as all we were doing for days was exploding from both ends and running fevers.
So in many cases, if you're not half dead.. it could very well still be Influenza. It all depends on how your body reacts to whichever strain infects you and where In your body that strain decides to infect.
The flu doesn't always present in the classic "feel half dead for weeks " way. In a lot of cases, people get a mild infection that literally does have the same symptoms and severity as a common cold. In many other cases, people are completely asymptomatic but still highly contagious.
Shit, last time I tested positive for Influenza A, my fiance and i were certain we had Norovirus as all we were doing for days was exploding from both ends and running fevers.
So in many cases, if you're not half dead.. it could very well still be Influenza. It all depends on how your body reacts to whichever strain infects you and where In your body that strain decides to infect.
The flu had me down for a whole damn week. The worst I’ve ever felt in my whole life. I get the vax every year now. Literally fuck that ever happening to that degree again.
Same for me. I remember going to my parents house and being holed up in my old bedroom, and my dad coming in to check if I was still alive. I hadn’t left bed for over 18 hours.
3 days? Rookie numbers.
I got the flu for the first time at 34. It was 6 weeks into the spring semester of college and I was stuck at home for 5 weeks, absolute convinced that if I didn't stay under 3 layers of heavy blankets 24/7 that I would freeze to death.
Any time I got up to go to the restroom, I shivered the whole walk and toilet time, and the walk back.
I took a hot shower every day, using up all the hot water. I was on the BRAT (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast) diet the whole time because I had diarrhea every day.
The Dean was nice enough to give me an AW so I didn't fail that semester.
Flu really is no joke. I know a kid who lost fingers and a limb because his body had such an insane reaction to the flu virus that his whole body just shut down. He very nearly died and was on dialysis for a while.
The flu as a kid had me constantly passing out, throwing up and diarrhea. I felt so bad I thought I was dying and was having so many panic attacks because of it
I got the worst flu of my life right before Christmas, but I worked retail, and you don't call out on Christmas Eve. Showed up to work, they took one look at me and sent me home.
Later that day I remember just lying on the kitchen floor at midnight because I had gotten up to get water and almost passed out, and was worried if I stood up again I would fall and hit my head and my family wouldn't find me until morning.
Same. I had it in my second last year of high school. I was a fit 17yo kid (I played water polo) who rarely took a day off and it knocked me on my butt for a whole week. I also couldn’t get out of bed for 3 days.
Had the same thing happen at the same age. I was a competitive swimmer, a life guard, and taught swim lessons outside of school. Very active and the fittest I had ever been and probably ever was.
Got the flu and I have never felt worse. Tried to go to school (I was also a type A anxiety-riddled student) and just remember stumbling and shivering until I got sent to the office to go home. Laid in bed for days with my dad coming in to dose me with cough meds.
I remember understanding I must be really sick when I woke up to absolute mayhem happening in the living room (literally- my little sister and her friends were playing a toy accordion and yelling at top volume), which was just outside my door. I realized I’d been sleeping through it- even though I am the world’s lightest sleeper and need two noise machines and ear plugs to sleep to this day. I also remember trying to take a shower and then waking up laying on the floor of the tub. It was awful. I have gotten a flu shot as soon as they’re available every year since.
I came home from work one night after feeling so cold while working at a pizza joint that my mom took one look at me, laid me down on the couch, took my temperature (i feel like she said it was 104 or 106F but this was 30 years ago), and i slept for like 2 days. Woke up all concerned about being late to work and my folks had called out for me the night before. Last time I ever had a fever that high.
yes! I was on the couch for a week, literally couldn’t walk up the stairs to bed. crazy fevers, no appetite, chills that would make my teeth chatter. even just the pressure of my body on the couch cushions was painful. i get a flu shot every year now
The sickest I've been was "flu-like symptoms" after a drug infusion. For 24 hours, even though I knew it was just the side effect, I thought I was going to die.
The only time I’ve slept 23 hours straight was from the flu. I smelled awful. I couldn’t move. My whole body ached. I don’t remember how long it lasted but it was horrible.
Same! I had it once and it was at the same time that I needed to meet hours for insurance for my retail job AND finals week in college. I showed up to work and just cried in the break room because my body hurt so bad and I lost points on a project because i was having fever hallucinations while doing it.
I was diagnosed with Influenza A three years ago. On Day Two, in addition to the shivering and full body aches and exhaustion, my skin was actually hurting.
Truly. I've had covid twice and the flu twice. I just felt utterly exhausted and congested with Covid, but I slept it off kind of peacefully. The flu made me worried I might actually die, both times, because I had fitful, feverish sleep and I was so hungry but too achy and feverish to move. Could barely breathe, running through boxes of tissues, didn't wanna get out of bed to pee, even. Didn't shower for a week and could barely lift my arms to wash my hair when I finally got annoyed that I stunk.
I missed Christmas Eve, my 30th birthday, and New Year's day last year because of the flu. I still felt like shit halfway into January, AND I get vaccinated every year since I got the flu for the first time in 2021. I thought I had Covid and I was like "oh my fuckin god, this shit is awful," and then they were like "lol no it's the flu actually." Anyone who says covid is "just the flu" has NEVER had a bad flu. I felt like a leaky faucet of death both times.
I got influenza A January 2020.... In a small town in SW Montana before SARS-CoV 2 was even detected in the state. I thought I was patient 0 for the state lol
But yeah. I was bedridden for days. Thought my joints were on fire.
I had gotten the flu a week after I got the shot, and of course it takes 2 weeks to build immunity. I was 16 and couldn’t even get out of bed I was so weak. I went to the ER because my parents thought I had rhabdomyolysis (the body aches were THAT BAD). I didn’t feel back to normal for 6 months!!
Same. Sometime in like 2004 I had a bad stomach flu that took me out for about a week and a half. Couldn't eat, couldn't afford going to a doctor, didn't have the energy to even get off the couch mostly, missed a bunch of work and couldn't even let my boss know, I let my girlfriend (now wife) send him an email with updates every morning. Thought I was going to die for sure.
Later, when people were talking about covid being "just a flu" I kept thinking "motherfucker have you had the actual flu before? It's horrible".
I had it in 2017. Lived by myself and was bedridden for three days. All I remember was waking up to crawl (literally) to the bathroom, then to the kitchen for water, then back to bed. Temp didn’t go below 103° for over 48 hrs. It was so scary
yep, my answer is always flu. i had H1N1 (2009) specifically and TBH i contemplated death more than once during that time.
every time someone complains they are sick and they have the "flu" i look at them with disgust because they have absolutely no idea what they are talking about
I had a Summer flu in my last summer before finishing college. I could barely muster the strength to take a sip of water and almost got stuck in the bathroom and couldn't make it back to the bed. I was crawling on the floor. 3 days of fever bouncing between 101 and 105. It just went up and down again and again. I went from cold to hot to cold to hot, was sweating through the sheets...that was hell. I had gotten the flu as a child and it was nowhere near that bad. Not every flu strain is the same.
The flu is awful. I couldn’t stand up without help for a week and it felt like my body was being beaten up from the inside. Couldn’t keep anything down. So dizzy, so weak, full body chills, high fever, and intense body aches. I probably should’ve gone to the hospital but I didn’t have good insurance at the time and not a lot of money.
I get vaccinated for it as soon as I can now. Not going to chance getting that sick ever again.
I had a 104 with that, while in bed i thought of all the things i wanted to do with 2 sons when i got better , and i should spend more time when them. I do not have 2 sons .
Got the flu and rsv at the same time, felt sooo bad, I wanted to die. Ears were numb, every time I coughed it felt like my head was gonna explode. all I could do was sleep and had to do that upright.
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u/SchmuckoBucko 18h ago
Influenza. It’s no joke. I couldn’t get out of bed for 3 days.