What are the flu symptoms this year

[PrincessMommy]

It seems like flu symptoms are a bit different every year.  I suspect my son may have it.  Here's his symptoms:

sudden onset yesterday

mild fever

terrible headache

lower back pain that goes down to his feet

up-set stomach and lots of burping & gas.

Feeling miserable and no energy.  

We've got an appt at the local clinic this morning.

 

Of course, he's on spring break and we were going on two college visits next week.  Ugh.  

[maize]

My whole upper back was sore--laughing hurt. It was the weirdest thing!

[gardenmom5]

yep.  dudeling had it, now I have it.

hits suddenly

the no strength to stand up was only the first day.

my skin hurts, everything hurts

headache

fever than comes and goes

coughing, sinus drainage

appetite/no-appetite, stomach hurts

 

 

[Loowit]

I think it will depend on the strain, however, the coming on suddenly is usually my biggest clue that my kids or I have the flu.  DD was diagnosed with influenza A a few weeks ago.  Her symptoms were:

came on suddenly

difficulty breathing

cough

tired/no energy

slight headache

no fever, but slightly elevated temp.

[gardenmom5]

oh- I accused dudeling of being "dramatic"...  I apologized to him.  the aches are miserable.

[PrincessMommy]

He has Flu type A.   I was tested - negative.  She put him on Tamiflu and gave me a prescrip for prophylactic level of Tamiflu.  I'm debating whether to take it or not.  I was definitely exposed as he's been coming to me for comfort and help.  I'm leaning towards yes.   Anyone know how good it is as a preventative?

What are the chances he'll be better by Tues?  

 

[PrincessMommy]

5 hours ago, gardenmom5 said:

oh- I accused dudeling of being "dramatic"...  I apologized to him.  the aches are miserable.

I had to do that once with my son too.  He had a weird sickness where his stomach hurt (not throw up hurt, but hurt).  I was like "just deal with it and go to school."   Then i got it.  It  hurt really badly. 

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, PrincessMommy said:

He has Flu type A.   I was tested - negative.  She put him on Tamiflu and gave me a prescrip for prophylactic level of Tamiflu.  I'm debating whether to take it or not.  I was definitely exposed as he's been coming to me for comfort and help.  I'm leaning towards yes.   Anyone know how good it is as a preventative?

What are the chances he'll be better by Tues?  

 

I would take the prophylactic if it were me. I havent used it but I would rather give it a go than hope I dont get it. 

He may be better by Tuesday, but doubtful he’ll be in good shape for a college visit. 

[Wheres Toto]

14 minutes ago, PrincessMommy said:

I had to do that once with my son too.  He had a weird sickness where his stomach hurt (not throw up hurt, but hurt).  I was like "just deal with it and go to school."   Then i got it.  It  hurt really badly. 

I did that to my oldest years ago.  She had a "nervous stomach".  Her stomach would ache when she was anxious, it was right when I was divorcing her dad so it "hurt" a lot.  She used to get sent home from school every Monday that she was coming back to my house (joint custody, ugh).  Thankfully she had teachers and counselors at her school that were willing to work with us (and I had a nice boss).   So, I kind of blew her off.  We were living with my mom and it was Saturday, so I went to work and told her to rest.  Got a call from my mom, maybe she should go to the doctor it seems to be really bothering her.  Got in to doctor same day (*LOVE my pediatrician), and....got sent right over to the hospital where she spent a week.  They were doing all kinds of scans and test trying to find the issue when they decided it was viral.  The guilt was incredible. 

[Loowit]

2 hours ago, PrincessMommy said:

He has Flu type A.   I was tested - negative.  She put him on Tamiflu and gave me a prescrip for prophylactic level of Tamiflu.  I'm debating whether to take it or not.  I was definitely exposed as he's been coming to me for comfort and help.  I'm leaning towards yes.   Anyone know how good it is as a preventative?

What are the chances he'll be better by Tues?  

 

My DS was given it prophylacticly because he is high risk for complications and he didn't get the flu from his sister.  He didn't have much in the way of side effects from the med.  DD stayed in her room for the most part and the rest of us that didn't take it also did not get it.

DD was given Tamniflu after being diagnosed.  She was down for 5 days, missing work and school.

[Ali in OR]

It's been running through our schools keeping kids home for a week. I talked to a fellow teacher whose son really wanted to come to at least his math class on day 5 of illness but just couldn't get out of bed.

[PrincessMommy]

Thanks guys for the heads up about how quickly he may, or may not, recover.     I took the first dose.  My dh has opted to not take it.  But, he's had little contact with son and he rarely catches anything from the kids.   

[Soror]

11 hours ago, PrincessMommy said:

He has Flu type A.   I was tested - negative.  She put him on Tamiflu and gave me a prescrip for prophylactic level of Tamiflu.  I'm debating whether to take it or not.  I was definitely exposed as he's been coming to me for comfort and help.  I'm leaning towards yes.   Anyone know how good it is as a preventative?

What are the chances he'll be better by Tues?  

 

My son had Flu A two weeks ago, maybe 3. He had a headache Sunday which I thought was sinuses, he woke up in the middle of the night and says he felt bad. His fever was 102 or 103, I gave him ibuprofen and some cough medicine to help with coughing and for sleep.

I would have waited it out more if he was still hs'd but since he needed an excuse for school I went ahead and took him in that morning his temp was 104.

Since we had just had the whole house go through the strep throat, which was a month long ordeal with six of us taking turns, I got Tamiflu for everyone. No one else in our family ended up with the flu. 

My son took the new flu med- Xofluza. He ended up out of school 4 days, I would have sent him on the 5th but they were out of school. He could have gone on the 4th if he had to but was still taking naps at that point and I felt it better for him to rest more. The first day he slept nearly the whole day, each day was a bit better, by day 3 he was up quite a bit and day 4 was up most of the day with just one nap (and was doing well enough to annoy his sisters). By day 3 he didn't have a fever but still some fatigue, that seems to be the biggest thing.

Edited March 24, 2019 by soror

[gardenmom5]

8 hours ago, PrincessMommy said:

Thanks guys for the heads up about how quickly he may, or may not, recover.     I took the first dose.  My dh has opted to not take it.  But, he's had little contact with son and he rarely catches anything from the kids.   

just a heads up for your dh - my dh had the flu shot, as he does every year.  he has it too.  they just had an article on the local news about how flu season should be winding down - it isn't.

 

QUESTION:

did anyone else have an icky taste in your mouth?  if I had any sinus pressure, I'd think it was an infection - but there is no sinus pressure, and while it might be blocked - it will trade sides in an instant as to which side is blocked.  or completely open.

[Zoo Keeper]

1 hour ago, gardenmom5 said:

.....

 

QUESTION:

did anyone else have an icky taste in your mouth?  if I had any sinus pressure, I'd think it was an infection - but there is no sinus pressure, and while it might be blocked - it will trade sides in an instant as to which side is blocked.  or completely open.

Yes, one of my children has this nasty taste, that he can't seem to get rid of.  He has brushed, gargled, etc., but it was 24 hrs ish of this taste.

I hate this bug.  All six of my kids have had or currently have it.  One of mine has bronchitis on top of it.  And this morning I feel worn out and not so settled in my stomach.  Just lovely.

People have been sick at my house for over 2 weeks.

[gardenmom5]

5 minutes ago, Zoo Keeper said:

Yes, one of my children has this nasty taste, that he can't seem to get rid of.  He has brushed, gargled, etc., but it was 24 hrs ish of this taste.

I hate this bug.  All six of my kids have had or currently have it.  One of mine has bronchitis on top of it.  And this morning I feel worn out and not so settled in my stomach.  Just lovely.

People have been sick at my house for over 2 weeks.

I can related.  I managed to avoid the cold someone brought home in January, only to catch the next one.  was recovering from that when I went to play with my grandson - and due to lack of sleep, ended up completely relapsing.   the cough from that went on and on, the someone brought this home, dudeling was sick for over week - and now I have it...  I have things to do...

and I have little appetite, my stomach hurts, and I asked for apple turnovers - the only thing i wanted to eat.  so, dh did buy box, and baked all four per my instructions.  I didn't eat them all at once.  I got up, ready to eat the last one...dh had eaten it.  "oh, I bought apples, I'll make you an apple pie"... and how long is that going to take?   (it will be mid afternoon at the earliest before it's cool enough to eat.)  In the meantime, my stomach hurts, I'm hungry and most food makes me ill just thinking about it.

2ds brought home a pkg of oreos leftover from his game night.  not interested.

Edited March 24, 2019 by gardenmom5

[PrincessMommy]

Thanks everyone.  ds was actually at his computer when we got home from church.  That's an improvement.  FWIW, we both had weird dreams and non-sleeping periods last night.  They weren't nightmares... just odd and strange feeling..  More like the half-sleep/half-awake dreaming when someone has a high fever... which neither of us had.   I'm going to rest today.  I feel run down from lack of sleep. 

Sorry that this cold/flu season is dragging on for so many of us.  I saw that article too @gardenmom5   My dh is resistant to any intervention.  when he's sick with the man-cold he rarely takes anything and just wants to suffer and sleep.  He's never had the flu though...so we shall see how it goes if he gets it.  

[Farrar]

I hate how it's still raging this year. Ds is off performing right now and half the cast had it. A couple of kids were out, but the show must go on, I guess. I've been hounding him to wash his hands and not bring it home. He had the flu shot back in the fall, but at this point, who knows what strain this is.

[HomeAgain]

11 minutes ago, Farrar said:

I hate how it's still raging this year. Ds is off performing right now and half the cast had it. A couple of kids were out, but the show must go on, I guess. I've been hounding him to wash his hands and not bring it home. He had the flu shot back in the fall, but at this point, who knows what strain this is.

Sounds like here.  It ran through the cast and nobody said anything.  We would have taken more precautions for ds if we had known.  He's had the flu shot but it never seems to help.  Poor ds was hit hard on opening night, having stomach issues by the next night, and is currently curled up next to me with a fever and lethargy.  He made it through the play only by the skin of his teeth and I have finally gotten him to eat something more substantial than a smoothie.

The good weather can't come fast enough. More time outside means less opportunities for the germs to pass to each other in close quarters.

[PrincessMommy]

9 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

Sounds like here.  It ran through the cast and nobody said anything.  We would have taken more precautions for ds if we had known.  He's had the flu shot but it never seems to help.  Poor ds was hit hard on opening night, having stomach issues by the next night, and is currently curled up next to me with a fever and lethargy.  He made it through the play only by the skin of his teeth and I have finally gotten him to eat something more substantial than a smoothie.

The good weather can't come fast enough. More time outside means less opportunities for the germs to pass to each other in close quarters.

Gosh.. that is too bad no one said anything.  I emailed the leader of my son's spring trip (he got home last Thurs from 5 days in NY) to give them a heads up, and tell him about Tamiflu.  It's spring break for his school now and I hate to see someone's family trip ruined by the flu.  He emailed me back last night to say he had sent word on to the other parents.   

[HomeAgain]

4 minutes ago, PrincessMommy said:

Gosh.. that is too bad no one said anything.  I emailed the leader of my son's spring trip (he got home last Thurs from 5 days in NY) to give them a heads up, and tell him about Tamiflu.  It's spring break for his school now and I hate to see someone's family trip ruined by the flu.  He emailed me back last night to say he had sent word on to the other parents.   

 

Trust me, I'm not thrilled.  The cast included one kid who may be immunodeficient and their parents really weren't happy with that turn of events, either.  If I had known we could have kept ds to only the important rehearsals and segregated him from those who were ill, made him wash his hands, kept him from sharing..you know, as much as you can expect out of a little boy.  😄 And I'm going to be *that* parent today who is even more frustrated because ds ended up missing an evaluation over it already and will probably miss tryouts this week for a fall sport he really wants to do.  If not all of the important things were happening within this one week, he could get the rest he needs instead of stressing over everything.  So, yeah, I'm feeling all the mom guilt: my kid performed really sick because he had to, he's overscheduled this week, I'm not spending $300 on oils that would make him instantaneously better and keep him from ever getting sick again, we exposed his friend to something probably more serious for him...