You got it, but how bad?

I don't get sick much. I'll get a little cold here and there. My flu is probably as bad as someone's severe head cold, that's if I've ever even had the flu. When I was a kid I never had normal kid problems, I had things like Fifth's Disease and Cat Scratch Fever. Once when I was 18 I got really sick with strep throat, double ear infection, and swollen lymph nodes all at the same time.. then they almost killed me by giving me penicillin.. that's when I realized I was allergic to it. My husband gets sick a lot.. I think he gets sick more than the average person. He seems to always not feel good. Most of my kids are more like me. They don't get sick easily.. but they do get sick from time to time. I think the younger boys seem to get sick a bit more often than the older kids. My 6 year old seems to get the flu every year. One year he got it so bad he was blacking out.. that happened to be the one and only year he actually got the flu shot.. some good that did! The oldest has always had a problem with ear infections. It's been so bad he has ruptured his ear drum, and now needs special meds when he gets an ear infection.. these meds cost us like $60 out of pocket. I dread to hear him say his ear hurts.. usually by the time he feels it it's already terrible and out of control.. they hit him pretty fast!

I used to get the flu and bronchitis about every three months. Now I get a flu shot. My grandson has had his but my daughter and i haven't yet. I don't anyone near us here that has had it. I think that each person is sensitive to different things. I learned years back that L-Lysine would help to strengthen the immune system and so I took that and sure enough it did the tricks. Five for a week and then one. L-Lysine is one of the amino acids.

On the first day of the new year, I wondered why my hubby and I had bad bowels when we didn't really eat anything that was too rich or oily, or left over food. This continued for a few days, four days to be exact. Our lab results didn't show anything so I put it down to the change in weather because the temperatures suddenly dropped during the last days of 2012. I did develop a fever, but it wasn't as bad as when I would have the flu. So I guessed what we had was intestinal flu. We didn't treat it, it just went away on its own. I have watched on the news that our airports are on stand-by for passengers that may come in that have flu. I have also read that the flu cases are already waning in most parts of the US. I guess we all just have to stay healthy and load up on Vitamin C. I can't get a flu shot since I have asthma and my doctor has ruled it out because I will be allergic to it. Hope everyone here in mylot is fine and healthy.

So far so good at this house (knock on wood!). No one has gotten the flu this season. I'm the only one who ever gets a flu shot in this family and I'm usually the only one who doesn't get the flu. That's good and bad. Good because I don't get sick but bad because I get to take care of those who do, even though I tell them every year that they need to get a flu shot but it never helps. They're all male so, naturally, they're not going to get a flu shot. I have enough problems at the moment so I hope no one gets the flu, at least not right now. I got a really bad sinus infection hit me two days ago. Yesterday, I went to my doctor's and got antibiotics. But, also yesterday, I put some Roc anti-wrinkle stuff on my face, mostly because my skin is dry and I wanted something made for the face and it was right there so I put it on. Little did I know that sometime between the last time I used it and yesterday, I apparently developed an allergy to it. I woke up this morning barely able to open my eyes! My face is beet red, swollen, itchy and burning. I have a really serious case of hives! It looks like I have a bad case of sunburn on my face. Luckily, I have some corticosteroid ointment for things like this so I've put that on my face and am hoping I wake up tomorrow morning with a much less red, itchy and painful face. Geez, if it's not one thing it's another, huh? I hope YOU stay healthy! Do you get flu shots?

Hi Ambie, I had the flu already. It lasted for a month. I can't have a flu shot. I hope you don't get sick.

I already had it this year for the first time since I was a kid! I have never had it as an adult before this year. It was bad but not as bad as some people get it. My sister and her whole family were throwing up and they had to go to the hospital. I did not have it that bad like them. I had a horrible headache, a high fever, a cough, stuffy nose and I was nauseus. I never threw up, thank God because I absolutely hate throwing up!

I had the flu a couple of weeks ago and still have a cough from it. That was the sickest I've been in a very long time - I don't remember the last time I had the flu. However, I guess I got off pretty easy. I had a temperature of 101 and pretty much slept day and night. I had to force myself to drink water so I wouldn't get dehydrated; I had the chills that was miserable. Some people have had to go to the emergency room with this flu, but I don't know if they're really that sick or if they're wimps. (I know some of them are that sick!) I'm a "senior citizen," have had cancer, have kidney disease and high blood pressure, so I'm not in the best of health, but I pretty much took the flu in stride. My daughter got it but not as bad. It lasted longer, though. My son only got a sore throat and an upset stomach for a few days. My daughter in law has a problem with a cough, but she's asthmatic, so that makes a difference.

I used to get the flu every once in awhile and it would hit me booth way heavy and light I always fixed me hot toddies if it was the heavy one I would throw it up but it sure got it out of there fast.

I've had the flu, actual worst case I ever got was very late season, like about March or April... 103º fever! I like to get the flu shot because I don't need to expose people to it, like my mom and the place she lived when she was alive and my client, who has, you may remember, a permanent trach....

I have had the flu twice in 40 years...yup. For some reason I don't get it. Many years ago when I was pregnant with my youngesgt daughter I got what they called the Hong Kong flu...it was so bad I had to crawl from the bedroom to the bathroom and spend many hours just sleeping on the floor in there....its like I got some sort of immunity from having the flu that bad! So I am lucky.

So far hubby and I have been really lucky and haven't caught anything bad.... yet. But we've been hearing all about how it's going around and that it's a bad strand. I have lupus so I catch things very easily but have been very lucky so far plus we've both had the flu shot this year so that helps some. Hope you and your family are just as lucky!

We don't normally get too sick in this house, but we all had the stomach flu right before Christmas. My daughter started it, then my son, and then I got it last. I think I got it the worst of all. My daughter the one who started the cycle had it the easiest.

hi dear Ambie I am getting such nasty side effects when getting the flu shot that I wont do that and hope I will get through the cold and flu season without too much sick leave. Right now I seem to be battling a cold so I am taking meds to nip it in the bud and hope its not too late yet. Hope you wont get colds or flu as you help caring for your Mom.

oh yes, even the children who came from Australia got flu when they get to the Philippines... too bad. I hope the kids get well too. and your dad is "superman".. a man of steel. well it is great to know about that.. He has great immune system and he got strong resistance.

I haven't been sick at the end of last year but I will most likely during the winter season.

Oh, what a nice discussion to read while I am eating dinner... I am glad you are not sick this year and I hope your sister and her family get over it real quick. Ironically the three weeks I was sick after Thanksgiving was not the flu, so I haven't gotten it and pray I don't, not now that classes have started. My son said that 7 kids were absent today and I told him he had better keep washing his hands, because I don't need him home sick from school..

There are different strains of influenza, and there is also norovirus (which people mistakenly refer to as the "stomach flu"). A lot of people just lump everything together and put it under the umbrella of "flu." I am actually sitting here watching an episode of The Doctors that is focused on influenza. They mentioned that a bad bout of influenza can actually increase one's risk of developing Parkinson's disease. So, I wouldn't completely dismiss the possibility that your mother's repeated bouts of illness having been a contributing factor to her developing dementia. There are some things that we know play a role--genetics, diet and smoking. My boyfriend's mother had these three things working against her. She was a smoker with a poor diet whose mother had suffered dementia. So, now we have a woman who still wants to be on the go, but she cannot live an independent life. And this talk of dementia is making me want to go pick up some more salmon...

Oh..knock on wood..I have not had the flu for a very ling time. Now I have had some nasty colds but not the flu. Some people do react differently to the same virus. It seems to effect some people alot worse than others. Weird how things do us each so differently.