If you/your family had H1N1 what were YOUR symptoms?

[wendibird22]

The list of possible symptoms is quite long. Some news reports are highlighting fever and cough. Others are highlighting fever and soar throat. Some are saying fever over 100.5 and others are saying the fever is higher. I'm also curious if the symptoms are any different with those who feel their illness was mild vs those who feel their illness was worse.

So, thought it might be helpful to have a running list of actual symptoms experienced by those thought to have had H1N1, how long your illness lasted, and whether you felt it was mild, moderate, or severe.

[g-mama]

Mine began w/ a sore throat. Then I developed a fever that lasted for 4 days - it ran about 103. Chills, body aches and pains, and then a hacking cough for 4-5 days.

My three kids were all about the same: started with a sore throat, then fevers between 101-105 for 4-5 days, chills, lethargy, terrible coughing began about 4 days into it and lasted a week or longer.

All of us were what I would call VERY sick for 7-8 days.

[lilycat88]

Very mild cases here. The symptoms started with headache and general aches. I had a fever as well but it was only 100-101. The only other symptom I had was the cough. It wasn't horrible but I'm still dealing with it somewhat. It's just a "reactive" cough when I inhale deeply or breath in cold air. It will eventually go away. Fever only lasted about 24 hours and the aches only about 36. I started Tamiflu at about the 24 hour mark. The cough has lingered for a couple of weeks. It was more of an inconvenience for us. If DD hadn't been confirmed, she would have been back to school after 1-2 days and we wouldn't have even stayed home. We stayed home to keep from sharing the virus more than because we felt bad.

Only complication we had was a sinus infection DD developed.

[kep]

Mine began w/ a sore throat. Then I developed a fever that lasted for 4 days - it ran about 103. Chills, body aches and pains, and then a hacking cough for 4-5 days.

My three kids were all about the same: started with a sore throat, then fevers between 101-105 for 4-5 days, chills, lethargy, terrible coughing began about 4 days into it and lasted a week or longer.

All of us were what I would call VERY sick for 7-8 days.

This sounds like exactly what we had, and we are in the VA area, too. My 6 mth old eventually developed a bad ear infection, and my dh ended up with bronchitis toward the end. I would put us in the very sick category as well. Our fevers were closer to 103.3 most of the time we were the sickest.

[lcarlson90]

For me it started with a sore throat and then the next day I had body aches, a cough, fever and chills. I think the fever lasted for three days with one day being pretty bad (up to 103). The cough was pretty bad and my lungs burned when I coughed. One thing I have heard is that H1n1 hits the lungs pretty bad.

[JenaW]

I think my 5yo DD may have it now. We'll see how it progresses. She complained yesterday of a sore throat, but it did not seem to slow her down much. In the middle of the night she woke up vomiting, had a high (to the touch) fever and shaking chills, and complained that she hurt all over. She threw up several times last night. She is still sleeping now, but still feels very warm, despite tylenol, and is still complaining that she hurts all over. She has had a mild non-productive cough for a few days previously (we have all been passing some URI around), but it sounds a bit more hacking this am. we'll see how long it lasts, and how soon until the rest of us get it.

[wendibird22]

I think my 5yo DD may have it now. We'll see how it progresses. She complained yesterday of a sore throat, but it did not seem to slow her down much. In the middle of the night she woke up vomiting, had a high (to the touch) fever and shaking chills, and complained that she hurt all over. She threw up several times last night. She is still sleeping now, but still feels very warm, despite tylenol, and is still complaining that she hurts all over. She has had a mild non-productive cough for a few days previously (we have all been passing some URI around), but it sounds a bit more hacking this am. we'll see how long it lasts, and how soon until the rest of us get it.

Poor thing! Hope she's feeling better soon and that the rest of the family stays healthy!

Based on the feedback here it appears that fever and aches are the main commonality so far with cough and/or sore throat either at onset of shortly after.

[g-mama]

This sounds like exactly what we had, and we are in the VA area, too. My 6 mth old eventually developed a bad ear infection, and my dh ended up with bronchitis toward the end. I would put us in the very sick category as well. Our fevers were closer to 103.3 most of the time we were the sickest.


Yep, my 3 yo developed an ear infection, too, and dh and I are both on antibiotics for bronchitis.

[g-mama]

I think my 5yo DD may have it now. We'll see how it progresses. She complained yesterday of a sore throat, but it did not seem to slow her down much. In the middle of the night she woke up vomiting, had a high (to the touch) fever and shaking chills, and complained that she hurt all over. She threw up several times last night. She is still sleeping now, but still feels very warm, despite tylenol, and is still complaining that she hurts all over. She has had a mild non-productive cough for a few days previously (we have all been passing some URI around), but it sounds a bit more hacking this am. we'll see how long it lasts, and how soon until the rest of us get it.


Jera,

So sorry to hear this. I was grateful we didn't have any of the vomiting - that may be the worst. I hope she's okay. :hug:

[tamie]

We are in the middle of it with my DS. He has a cough and fever around 101 since Sunday. Took him to after hours last night and he tested positive for H1N1. No fever yet this morning. My fingers are crossed.

[MommyAllison]

I think DD had it in September - h1n1 was going crazy in our area then, and her symptoms matched what was happening locally 100%. She had a fever around 103-104 for 36 hours, lots of chills and body aches, headache, exhaustion, nausea (she basically didn't eat for 3 days, just drank lots of water), sore throat, some nasal congestion. At the 36 hour mark her fever broke and she was back to normal very quickly after that. Though the list of her symptoms sounds horrible, it really was fairly mild. She just snuggled and slept a lot, and we gave tylenol when she would get really achy and hot. No cough, but in our area's outbreak, the cough wasn't common.

I think DS had it this summer, as he was very much exposed to DD (kept stealing drinks from her straw cup) and didn't get sick. He ran a fever for about 3 days this summer, and obviously is too young to tell us if he feels achy.

[essnce629]

I think Conner may have had H1N1 last week but I'm not sure-- he had a high fever (103.8), cough, chills, fatigue, and a headache. He also said he felt dizzy. He was all better after a day though so I'm not sure. We treated right away with homeopathic oscillococcinum, vitamin C powder, and echinacea. He stayed home from school two days because the cough lingered. The fever only lasted 24 hours. No one else in our family got sick and neither did any of my friends kids who we were at a birthday party with the day before he got sick.

[Octobermommy]

My first symptom was a cough then high fever. Extreme fatigue. At the end of the virus I had troubles breathing but I had a more severe case prob b/c I was pregnant. It lasted 10 awful days.

[JMS]

I think my 5yo DD may have it now. We'll see how it progresses. She complained yesterday of a sore throat, but it did not seem to slow her down much. In the middle of the night she woke up vomiting, had a high (to the touch) fever and shaking chills, and complained that she hurt all over. She threw up several times last night. She is still sleeping now, but still feels very warm, despite tylenol, and is still complaining that she hurts all over. She has had a mild non-productive cough for a few days previously (we have all been passing some URI around), but it sounds a bit more hacking this am. we'll see how long it lasts, and how soon until the rest of us get it.

I hope she feels better soon Jera :) and that it doesn't spread to the rest of your family.

[tmarie]

We are still going through this with dd#2. Right now her official status is "suspected" H1N1. Dd is 16mo and suddenly came down with a fever that spiked at its highest at 105.4 during the nights, and hung around 101-103 during the day. This was with constant alternating of tylenol and motrin every 4 hrs, per our physician's instructions. We had to give her baths sometimes twice in the middle of the night to try to control the fever. Sometimes it would suddenly go down to normal and we thought we were coming off it, then it would suddenly spike up to 103 or 4 again. She was lethargic and had a constant flow of mucus running down her nose. On day 4 she developed a mild cough that has increased on days 5 and 6. She broke out in a rash all over her body and was acting disoriented last night, so we rushed her to the ER on the advice of our physician, but weren't given any clear advice other than to keep pushing fluids. Her breathing has been good throughout. She had an xray for pneumonia on day 4, bloodwork, and a flu test. All came back negative but the doctors and nurses have told us that her symptoms are identical to what they are seeing in toddlers her age with H1N1, and that the flu test they currently have, is only 50-80% accurate in picking up H1N1. On day 6 her temp has not gone higher than 101.8, so I'm hoping we're through the toughest part.

Dd#1 is 4yo. Last week she came home and was extremely lethargic for two days (would nap on the couch twice a day and was too tired to play--incredibly abnormal for her), then vomited during the night on day 2 and developed a fever that peaked at 103. The fever was gone within 48 hours. She had no appetite for five days. The doctor told us that she might have had H1N1--lethargy and lack of appetite are two of the main symptoms in that age group and fever is not determinative.

Honestly, the symptoms seem to be so wide in span that I don't know how parents are supposed to figure out when to run to the doctor's office for tamifliu.

So far dh and I are just exhausted from being up every night and have cold symptoms (sore throat and congestion).

tmarie

[newmomto1]

Bumping up...

trying tp figure out if DS's fever is H1N1 or something else.

Temp 100-102
Tired
Runny nose
Some coughing (not a lot) and some sneezing
Intermittent mild headache
Appetite less than usual

Just started this morning, so we'll see what happens.....

[wendibird22]

Honestly, the symptoms seem to be so wide in span that I don't know how parents are supposed to figure out when to run to the doctor's office for tamifliu.

:yeahthat:

Although it sounds like more often than not the fever is pretty high and the tiredness and irritability is there.


trying tp figure out if DS's fever is H1N1 or something else.

Temp 100-102
Tired
Runny nose
Some coughing (not a lot) and some sneezing
Intermittent mild headache
Appetite less than usual

That's why I asked this question. DD had a fever of 101.5 last weekend, then started a runny nose, lack of appetite. But she acted fine otherwise and didn't complain of any aches or pains. Runny nose is now a gunky stuffy nose and she has a very slight cough but mostly just when she's lying down. I think it was just a cold and the fever either because she has a molar breaking through or because she got her flu shot the day before the fever started.

But seriously every sniffle, sneeze, cough, and fever is going to have me on edge. I'm trying to be cautious because of DDs age and my pregnancy, but also not overreactive either.

DH, DD, and I were all lucky to get an H1N1 vax this week so I'm just keeping my fingers crossed for the next week to go by uneventfully until our immunity kicks in.