So who has the flu?

[Raikiri]

:|

Well either I can't tell the difference or I've never had the flu in 33 years, is that possible?

lol... It is just the girls that overeact. They think flu is awful, so because we men are still able to walk unlike them we must be completely fine

 

[Psyk]

:|

Well either I can't tell the difference or I've never had the flu in 33 years, is that possible?

Quite possible you have never had the flu. People always seem to refer to bad colds as the flu. If you had the flu you'd know it.

 

[TCEuk]

I seem to have it . It's so frustrating not being able to do much about getting rid of it. .

 

[dirtydog]

Quite possible you have never had the flu. People always seem to refer to bad colds as the flu. If you had the flu you'd know it.

Would I though? I have had some nasty colds - was one of them flu? Who knows. What I do know is I loathe colds and I do my utmost to steer clear of anyone who has one, to minimise the risk of catching it. I had one just a few weeks ago and it was not a fun week at work :'(

 

[Norbert666]

I was off work all last week with what I first thought was food poisoning.

I'd eaten a sandwich from a petrol station (Tesco's Finest I'll have you now ) and then an hour later I was doubled up in agony and chucking up all over myself.

The next day my mrs had it too. We were both laid up all week. Apart from a bowl of boiled rice last night, I've not eaten since that sandwich on Monday night!

Think I'm OK now though, just no appetite (plus I'm a little scared to eat. It was agony!)

Not fun

 

[Psyk]

I have had some nasty colds - was one of them flu?

No.

The flu is not just a nasty cold.

 

[dirtydog]

No.

The flu is not just a nasty cold.

I must never have had flu in 33 years then. Or, a nasty cold to me is flu to you.

 

[Roberta]

:|

Well either I can't tell the difference or I've never had the flu in 33 years, is that possible?

I'm 34 and I've only had flu once. And boy do I remember it!

Colds I just ignore and work through.

 

[Psyk]

I must never have had flu in 33 years then. Or, a nasty cold to me is flu to you.

You probably haven't had it in 33 years! It's probably not uncommon for people to never have the flu once their life.

And as I said the flu is a different thing to a cold so your second sentence makes no sense.

 

[CChrisca]

If you've got flu you certainly wouldn't be up to posting on here. You would be in your bed, a head like concrete, a VERY high temperature, aching all over and having to make a supreme effort just to get out of bed to go to the loo and these symptoms would last for at least 4 days. You've got a man cold!!!

 

[Glaucus]

nope no flu.. had that once, shaking shivering, unable to move for about 3 days... (never want that again, even breathings hard working..

Just got a cold been sweating it out at the gym. However my lips are cracked and sore

 

[dirtydog]

You probably haven't had it in 33 years! It's probably not uncommon for people to never have the flu once their life.

And as I said the flu is a different thing to a cold so your second sentence makes no sense.

Actually it makes perfect sense. Two people can perceive something differently. What I perceive as quite bad, you might perceive as terrible. Or vice versa.

I've just googled for the difference between colds and flu, and what I have found backs up what I imagined.

The Difference Between a Cold and the 'Flu

Probably the two most frequently abused words in the health and medical dictionary are 'cold' and 'flu', which are incidentally the two most common illnesses to plague mankind. Because very few of us actually know the difference between the two, and even fewer have shared that knowledge, most of us go through life using the two words indiscriminately and getting confused when the doctor tells us we have one condition or the other.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A1032102

Reading the symptoms I'd say yes I've had flu before, but I would have classed it as a bad cold.

 

[Feek]

If you had the flu, you'd be in bed in such a state that if someone dropped a handful of £50 notes on the floor at the end of bed you'd not have the energy or the interest be able to pick them up.

K.

 

[Sequoia]

Everyone says this but I've never really understood it. I don't think there is much difference between a bad cold and flu, but then one person's idea of 'bad' and my idea will differ.

If you'd had flu, you wouldn't say that.

I had flu (and a consultant virologist confirmed it was flu) just before Christmas. It came on suddenly (no coughs, no sneezing, no sore throat, no runny nose, etc .... in fact, none of the typical 'cold' symptoms). One afternoon I was feeling fine (if a bit hot, then cold), and that evening I felt a rough so went to bed early. By the following morning, I didn't know up from down. I had four days of hallucinations, drifting in and out of consciousness and I ended up in hospital with a temperature of 104.5. This is why a basic treatment for flu consists of paracetamol or aspirin (to keep temperature down), lots and LOTS of fluids (prevent dehydration) and plenty of rest. I lost about 10 lbs in that four days, probably due to sweating .... and eating nothing.

According to that consultant virologist (a friend, by the way, not a doc at the hospital I ended up in), a lot of people call a bad cold "flu", but it isn't. From what he's told me, Haly was spot on with

If you need to think about it, then it's definitely not flu.

I've had what I thought was flu before, but based on that experience, I now don't think it was. And I have absolutely no desire to ever go through that again.

 

[Raikiri]

If you had the flu, you'd be in bed in such a state that if someone dropped a handful of £50 notes on the floor at the end of bed you'd not have the energy or the interest be able to pick them up.

K.

You clearly don't know how much I want my new screen

I would be leaping for them

I have had Flu before, when I was younger and it is pretty bad. Although probably less so now I am older.

 

[Dynix]

School near me had 24% pupils off with this flu. Pretty bad :/

 

[Psyk]

Actually it makes perfect sense. Two people can perceive something differently. What I perceive as quite bad, you might perceive as terrible. Or vice versa.

But that's like saying what one person percieves as a dog another might percieve as a cat. It doesn't matter how you percieve it, they are still different things. Maybe you could handle the flu better than I could it's still different to a cold.

 

[surfsquid]

I was off work today with cold/flu, not too bothered about that but I'm supposed to be donating blood on thursday, hope it starts to clear up by then

 

[dirtydog]

If you'd had flu, you wouldn't say that.

I had flu (and a consultant virologist confirmed it was flu) just before Christmas. It came on suddenly (no coughs, no sneezing, no sore throat, no runny nose, etc .... in fact, none of the typical 'cold' symptoms). One afternoon I was feeling fine (if a bit hot, then cold), and that evening I felt a rough so went to bed early. By the following morning, I didn't know up from down. I had four days of hallucinations, drifting in and out of consciousness and I ended up in hospital with a temperature of 104.5. This is why a basic treatment for flu consists of paracetamol or aspirin (to keep temperature down), lots and LOTS of fluids (prevent dehydration) and plenty of rest. I lost about 10 lbs in that four days, probably due to sweating .... and eating nothing.

No offence but I gather you are rather older than me and I gather that flu hits older people harder than younger ones, and in fact kills plenty of old people every year. The treatment for flu is the same as for colds AFAIK too - paracetamols, fluid and rest. I've had what you describe before, apart from the hospital part. Apparently I am wrong to think of it is a bad cold and I should have magically 'known' that it was flu - okay

 

[dirtydog]

But that's like saying what one person percieves as a dog another might percieve as a cat. It doesn't matter how you percieve it, they are still different things. Maybe you could handle the flu better than I could it's still different to a cold.

Eh? Of course it isn't. That would be true if the symptoms of a cold and the symptoms of flu were totally different. In fact, they are very similar. If you can't see that then there's nothing more I can say, let's agree that we don't agree.