[teh_klev]

I had plain old regular flu in January/Feb 2019, it almost knocked me flat and arrived on the same week I was moving house just to amp things up. It wasn't until June that I actually felt normal again and didn't feel like sleeping 13 hours a day.

Having read about and listened to reports about covid "long haulers" (look up Vincent Racaniello's YouTube channel[0], his podcast team of virologists, doctors and immunologists discuss this frequently) I'm making pretty damned sure I'm taking every precaution to avoid becoming infected with coronavirus, especially now that I'm in my 50's. I don't think you're fear mongering, for some people succumbing to covid can leave some pretty nasty long term effects.

[0]: https://www.youtube.com/user/profvrr

[ouid]

Just an FYI, succumbing to illness usually refers to dying of that illness.

[lol768]

I'm not sure how inaccurate it would be to describe death as really a "pretty nasty long term effect" in itself.

[teh_klev]

Yes, you're right but sadly I can't go back and edit now.

[itisit]

Classic HN comment right here

[LandR]

Yeah, I had a flu about 8 months ago. It was utter hell.

I was in bed for a good week and a half, the fever and just feeling like I was dying was awful, at some points during it I couldn't walk from bed to the en-suite bathroom without feeling like I was going to pass out.

Even about 4 months or so later the cough persisted to the point where I had to go to hospital to get my throat and lungs x-ray'd as I was coughing up thick bloody mucus.

It was hell, also rashes which I presume were caused by the fever are still annoying me now occasionally with random outbreaks of horrible itching.

Fuck that noise. I think that was the first time I've had the flu. If covid is even worse than the flu then I want no part of it!

[bsder]

> If covid is even worse than the flu then I want no part of it!

Amen!

Anybody who says that Covid is "just" a "bad flu" has never had a bad flu.

"Bad flu" is at the level of wanting to kill yourself but being unable to because you simply can't move.

[hawkice]

When I had the flu a few years ago, I regretted not having a will. I texted a family member how to get my things in order, as that was all I could physically muster.

Then I got better. It wasn't as bad as the flu could get, but I felt what it feels like to have your body stop so totally that even going to the bathroom to vomit is a herculean task, danger heightened by the stairs I'd stumbled past. It felt like I was simply going to die. And many have it worse, even among those who live.

Of course, sometimes it's not too much. Broad range on these things.

[latchkey]

Tons of anecdotal reports in this group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/COVID19survivorcorps/