Swine flu

[crutina]

How can I help a person get rid off swine flu? I have a friend round the corner off my house and she has swine flu. I can't really help her because I don't really know her. I only know her brother. She won't call her doctor because I haven't really got a cure for swine flu. How could I help her?
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[Millymollymandy]

Why don't you just let it run its course like any other kind of flu? We don't get medication for any other flu do we, and from what I hear swine flu is really mild. You should have been in France this winter and had the dreadful flu that we all had here which was a real epidemic, millions of people had it and that flu lasted for at least 2 weeks and not the 3 days that swine flu lasts for. Sorry but it really bugs me that people are making such a big fuss over something that is so common and normal and that everyone gets every few years or so anyway!

[lsm1066]

Just to add to this, my sister got swine flu. As a teacher in a class where 7 kids got it as well as 6 of the other teachers, it was inevitable. She has severe brittle asthma and her lungs have collapsed more than once (the last time only a few months ago). She also has diabetes and is showing signs of under active thyroid. Plus, thanks to all the steroids they gave her last time one of her lungs collapsed, she has a suppressed immune system (not to mention osteoporosis). So a pretty solid case of underlying health issue.

Here's what happened to her. On the Thursday afternoon when she got home from work, she started feeling a bit ropey. Not exactly ill but her temperature was up and she was feeling queasy, along with a few other symptoms. So she took her temperature hourly for the next few hours and phoned her doctor and he confirmed swine flu. Over the course of the weekend, she drank plenty of fluids, rested and maintained a protocol of constant hand washing, no snogging or sharing glasses (or anything else that had been near anyone's face), and wrapping tissues in a carrier bag, then triple bagging them before they were taken out and burnt. She was back at work on the Monday without ever seeing a packet of Tamiflu and when I asked her how it had felt, she said she'd had worse hangovers!

Just like many diseases flu is mild, with occasional rare complications. If your friend's sister won't call the doctor, she's probably not that ill. The overwhelming majority of people get better by themselves. If she feels ill enough, I'm sure her brother will call the doctor.

Lynne

[Graye]

Millymollymandy I hadn't realised there had been a flu epidemic in France this last winter but I actually had it. I felt dire, shaking and shivering for days and, as you say, it took days to pass. I didn't realise that I had never had flu before and now I do know how awful it makes you feel.

My OH woke up in the middle of the night last night with breathing problems and I really thought he had caught swine flu (we have had lots of visitors lately although normally we can go for weeks without meeting another soul) so it was a possibility. It turned out to be a serious panic attack completely unrelated to flu fears and he's fine today but I can fully empathise with anyone worried about this. As has been said it seems that almost without exception the symptoms are quite mild. But it seems many people are very worried and should therefore consult the help lines if they have symptoms. Whereas there is no actual cure it appears the Tamifly helps deal with the associated lung and breathing problems.

[Millymollymandy]

I read about it in the paper Graye but loads of people posting on French forums came down with it so I already knew it was doing the rounds! Mum and I had it over Xmas and New Year so it was a completely miserable holiday for her! It wasn't like any other flu I've ever had - milder in terms of the aching and shivering but with a nasty cough and nausea and much longer lasting than usual.

[Sky]

I've had flu twice in my lifetime and it lasted for two weeks both times. I was so ill I thought I was dying so hearing what folk are experiencing symptom wise from swine flu, it's a very mild flu. It must only be people who are vunerable with other health reasons that are at risk with this strain of flu.

It really irritates me when some tells you they have flu and all they have is a cold.