Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by belluchan 4531 days ago
I live in the east bay and I pretty much just got over the worst cold I've ever had in my life. I haven't had a fever in years and I was stuck in bed for nearly two weeks. It's been 4 weeks now and I still am coughing but it's getting better. I don't know if it's this, but I've never had anything like it. My entire body ached and nothing helped. pseudoephedrine, nyquil, ibuprofen, ok well ibuprofen helped a tiny bit, but not enough to be functional. It was just awful. I'm going to do a better job at getting vaccinated.
4 comments

If it's flu season, you can't get out of bed, and your whole body aches, it's likely the flu. The cold virus doesn't knock you out like that. Also, if your nose isn't running or stuffed, it's probably not the cold.
Sounds like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycoplasma_pneumoniae, which isn't a flu or a cold in the common sense. I had it two years ago, with exactly the same symptoms as you. A flu vaccine probably wouldn't have helped you in this case.

Edit: Better link: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000082.htm

I had this same illness (in SF). Last week around this time I was feverish, sore, and mostly incapacitated, but it broke relatively quickly for me - within two days. I didn't do anything more than my usual to treat it(keep up the vitamins, stay rested, eat and drink enough), but it was really strong and I was definitely thinking about at least taking some aspirin to get the pain down.

I'm not sure being vaccinated would have helped with this one, my parents got the seasonal flu shot and they came down with the same bug before I did.

What was the diagnosis? Did the doctor prescribe any special medicine. Did he confirm it was swine flu?
I did not go see a doctor.
Honestly, I was afraid I was going to hear that. In Europe you usually see the doctor for something as minor as a cold that persists for more than a few days. It might look as a waste, but they will catch that percentage of non-cold cold cases and prevent serious infection.