Good morning everyone, I am 99% sure that I am now recovering from swine flu. But because of all the hype I thought I would send this out in the vain hope that it may help a few folk. I am a trained SRN too by the way!
This was my experience, that by the way has been shared by a couple of friends of mine! Doctors are NOT testing for swine flu as the swab is too expensive. So anyone presenting with flu like symptoms gets anti virals.
This was my diary
1st Day...TUMMY UPSET and cramps....(yes honestly, this is what threw me off the swine flu scent originally!). Felt very sick and vomited a few times. Staggered back to bed inbetween bouts! Uggg!Felt just GROTTY!
2nd Day...High fever, throbbing headache and sweating for England
3rd/4th day more of the same with ACHING like I have never experienced before. Not just peripheral aching of my legs and arms..but what felt like internal aching.it was like I could feel my kidneys, bowel, liver etc.....awful!!
EXHAUSTION.....Sooo tired, floppy and couldn't even have called the doctor at one point!!
It has taken me nearly 3wks to feel better!! The dodgy tummy and cramps lasted for over a week!
What to do?
As a trained nurse and having gone through the experience myself this is what I did and what I recommend....remember this is just my personal opinion so feel free to do your own thing. This is based on an ADULT dose so with kids you need obviously to readjust.
Paracetamol is vital to bring the high fever down.....2x 500mg tablets every 6hrs
Ibuprofen 400mg every 4 - 6hrs will help with the aches and inflammation that there may be
YOU CAN COMBINE PARACETAMOL AND IBUPROFEN safely BUT don't ever mix Aspirin with Paracetamol. It is lethal!
Tepid sponging will really help a lot to bring temps down. Use warm water and a flannel to sponge down with on a REGULAR basis. Electric fans are great too if you have one, but if you do, don't point it directly at the patient, it should just be cooling not blasting!!
FLUIDS...Although you don't feel like drinking, it is vital to keep fluids going. Even sips every few minutes is better than nothing. Ice lollies, or ice cubes to suck are good. Anything to stay hydrated.If you are really struggling you could add a PINCH of salt and teaspoon of sugar to any fluids, this will help replace electrolytes.....a home made version of Diarolyte that some of you may be familiar with. I used to give it to my kids when they were little if they were ill. Make sure it is only a PINCH of salt though!! You probably won't feel like eating so it is a great diet for those of us who could lose a few pounds.......JUST KEEP DRINKING, that is HUGELY IMPORTANT!! If you don't drink, you will end up in hospital with a drip being treated for dehydration.
How to tell if you are dehydrated..........dry tongue, chapped broken lips, poor skin tone, sunken eyes AND try this if in doubt.....pinch the skin on the back of the hand...if it bounces back you are fine, if it stays up in a peak for a second.....DRINK SOME MORE YOU ARE IN DANGER OF DEHYDRATING!!
You can call the doctor for anti virals but to be honest I didn't bother.don't expect too much help from the medical profession unless you are really really serious and need to be admitted to hospital. Mostly the advice will be STAY IN,, FLUIDS, PARACETAMOL AND sleep!! Try to remain still and even if you feel better with paracetamol etc, take it easy......often problems set in when you combine excercise and a virus, they just don't mix ....SO REST UP!
There seems to be very very many people who are complaining of feeling a 'bit off', from what I have seen and heard, some get much less of a problem than others.
I did not have any sore throat, cough, sneeze etc.....that is what I was expecting which together with menopausal sweats and IBS initially threw me off the scent!! Yes you can get all the upper respiratory tract congestion but that didn't happen to me or some of my friends who have been treated......no tissues for us!! But plenty of toilet roll! So get some in ....just in case!
DON'T PANIC, just be prepared. If you are going on holiday stock up with Paracetamol and Ibuprofen.....be ready and you will be fine. Make sure you have someone around who can ferry drinks etc to you.....my kids had no clue so I struggled on my own....Aaaah! But then hey, they are on the spectrum!! lol!
So I hope that helps some of you who may be wondering what all the fuss is about. Yes there have been deaths, terribly sad BUT with normal seasonal flu there are deaths so please don't panic. My main piece of advice is to act QUICKLY...keep that temperature down and all will be fine. Yes sadly just a tiny minority die but it is a TINY MINORITY so please remember that.
Any doubts or worries call the doctor. Good luck to everyone. At least I won't need the vaccine for the second wave we are told to expect in the winter..groan!! I hope none of this will apply to any of you, but if it does I hope it helps.
GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!If anyone needs any specific help or advice, I am just at the end of a pm so feel free! This is just MY advice, if in doubt call NHS direct or your GP!! For those international posters....whoever your doctor or medical advisors.
14 Jul 2009, 3:20 pm
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I'm happy to hear your feeling better and the information is very useful.
