Health 101 question (flu)

[ahisma]

I think I know the answer...but I'm grasping at straws here.

Short of a doc visit / test, how do you know with reasonable certainty that you have had the flu?

I'm finally recovering from almost 3 weeks of illness - congestion followed by a brutal cough, coupled with exhaustion. My parents and inlaws both had it. I had a mild fever a few days prior to the rest of my symptoms presenting - may have been something else entirely.

I'd like to convince myself that I've had the flu - but I'm doubtful that this was it. How do you know?

[mikala]

First off, it sounds like you've had a rough few weeks! Glad to hear you're recovering from it. The illnesses this year seem extra brutal.

Is there a reason you want to know specifically what type of virus it was? Even if you had a strain of the flu there are multiple strains out there so it doesn't mean you or other family members all had the same thing or are now immune.

[readyforever]

Even if you have the flu, it probably wouldn't show up as positive on a flu test. DS, who had the flu vaccine, had cough/congestion/fever/exhaustion symptoms for about 5 days before I took him to see the pediatrician b/c he wasn't getting better. She did a flu test but it came out negative but nevertheless Doc dx'd flu. She said several days into the infection, the body has started fighting the infection so the test isn't as reliable.

Three weeks is a long time. It took about 10 days for DS to recover and his immune system sucks so things linger.

But to me, it sounds like mycoplasma infection that he had in late November. He was sick for several weeks and needed 2 rounds of antibiotics to even start to feel better.

I think you should go to the doctor. Hope you feel better soon!!

[Tondi G]

You don't know unless you have a lab test to confirm ... and even then you can get false negative results. Usually with the flu you have a fever, chills, body aches and respiratory symptoms. You generally feel like you've been hit by a truck and everything hurts. I sware when I had the flu 2 yrs ago, my skin hurt. I was unable to get out of bed for a couple of days. It took me weeks before I was feeling back to a more normal state.

It is quite possible you had the flu if you were down for a few weeks. Your symptoms sound pretty in line with the usual flu symptoms.

[Melaine]

I guess I'm not sure why it matters....the only reason we went in last week when we knew it was the flu was to get Tamiflu and sure enough we tested positive for the flu. We definitely had fever/chills and body aches plus coughing and congestion. The kids slept more than usual which isn't the case with a typical cold. I would have loved to have slept more but I had the baby. We are on day 13 and I still have a horrible headache, congestion and cough. I hope you guys are at the end of it!

[ahisma]

Sounds like it likely wasn't the flu - the fever / body ache component was pretty mild.

My curiosity is driven by the fact that I'm taking the bar exam in late Feb. I sat for it over the summer and wound up getting Fifth Disease in the middle of the first day. 103-104 fever, severe body aches and the blasted rash. Awful combination in the middle of the exam. I stuck it out, but was a physical mess - missed passing by 2 points. Given that, I'm somewhat paranoid that I'll get the flu in the middle of taking the exam this time. I know there are no guarantees even if I've already had it - just grasping as reassuring straws;)