I Had H1N1 (Swine Flu)

Two weeks ago I went to the ER for flu like symptoms. You guys I WAS extremely sick!! I had 104 fever, I was freezing cold but sweating but the worst part is my body hurt so amazingly bad! I felt like every bone in my body was broken. My daughter was sick a few days before but only for a couple days. I though nothing of it until my third day of being sick. I couldnt take it anymore. Anywho when I got there they swabbed my nose and eventually came back with face masks on while putting signs on the doors. Im not sure exactly what the signs said but my husband said something to the effect of warning, airborn virus. The bad part was that there was nothing they could do for me. They gave me a prescription for Tylenol with Codine and something for nausea but that was it. The Dr. said there is nothing they can do after the first 2 days. Within the first two days there is something they can give you to treat it and there is also something they can give you to prevent it if you have been exposed.

I felt and still do feel violated and disgusting just to know that all this time I would end up one of the unfortunate people infected with this virus! Although sick, I couldnt wait to post on ATS and just let you guys know theres a member who has had it. Not sure if there are others but HERES ONE!!!



Mod Edit: All Caps – Please Review This Link.

[edit on 18 Jun 2009 by Hellmutt]

reply to post by mplsbookworm


I'm sorry you were sick.
I hope you're feeling better.

Question(s)

How long did it take them to get back to you with the results from the *nose swab*...?

Also...

...something they can give you to prevent it if you have been exposed.

What might this be???

Thanks

[edit on 18-6-2009 by silo13]

It took about an hour, roughly. When she came back, after masking up and putting stickers on the doors, she told me that I had Influenza A. I asked her if it was Swine Flu and she said because it is not flu season that most likely I did have the swine flu but the Mn Dept. Of Health does the final tests to test for Swine Flu. I recieved a phone call from them 2 days later and they informed me that I had H1N1 and I was not to leave the house for 2 weeks. Sucked! Im just now feeling normal but still kinda scared....IDK. Strange Feeling.

Sorry I didnt notice the second question. Im not sure what they can give you to prevent it because my husband didnt want to wait in triage another 2 hours to wait. Needless to say he had been exposed for 3 days already AND we have no insurance!

Still doesn't sound worse than any other Flu I have been unlucky enough to catch...

I really think we are over blown in fear of this.

It's a great thing a great thing we can track and follow diseases like this, it's just a new day and age and this is pretty cool, I said in another thread it reminds me of how in Star Trek they could get a disease and cure it on the ship in a matter of days...

It seems that is where we are headed...

The precautions and warning time and the ability to isolate strains, this would seriously help if someone lets a bio weapon loose, or something like Ebola went air borne, could save allot of lives...

But it's still just a flu

Maybe the flu you have had was as bad as what I just experienced...but I have had the flu before and NEVER felt this way! NEVER! I NEVER wish this upon anyone as well as anyother flu virus but in my opinion, this was MUCH MUCH WORSE! Words cant describe the pain I was in. I was in EXTREME pain. Maybe the 10 times or so I have had the flu in the past was nothing but I remember being very sick from the flu in the past, but not like this. Not like this AT ALL! I'm by no means attempting to alter your opinion just stating my truth and this was MUCH worse than what I experienced with the normal flu strain. Terribly worse.

I know someone who had it and they couldn't do anything for them either.
They have since recovered and described it as their worst flu of their past multiplied.

It's a new strain, but your body learned to fight it. When it becomes even more deadly (if at all) you will have at least some sort of biological levy against it. What would've been deadly to you will now be a flu your body knows a bit about.

Heal up and consider yourself truly blessed at having a head start that many will not have!

Be well! And keep posting your experience!

Thank you very much. Gives me smiles when I feel disgusting. I am pretty much better now but I have soo much resentment for the whole evil process behind this stuff. I got kinda scared because when I was sick I tried over and over to post this thread and everytime I pressed post, it went blank and wouldnt let me...so eventually I gave up! IDK.... I just thought that was strange but thanks alot for your encouragment

reply to post by mplsbookworm


Sorry Mods for the Caps=(

I wouldn't worry about it any more than i would the normal flu, I'm in australia and A LOT of people have it here. in Victoria i have heard estimates that around 1 in 3 people may have it.

reply to post by mplsbookworm


I am so sorry you have been ill. in another thread, a lot of duscussed our flus in Feb/March/April, that were very similar, symptomatically to yours, but we were not tested for H1N1. Although- I think a lot of us had it before it "broke".
Good job going to hospital- with the new mutation in S. America, and many taking ill and dying, you did the right thing to get help.

I hope this infection protects you and yours- even if the mutations wash through- as I'm sure they will.

One CRITICAL thing to remember is that you can feel much better for a week or two afterwards, and then catch bacterial pneumonia. I'm not an advocate for antibiotics being prescribed willy-nilly- but you might want to insure you have one in case the virus has wiped your immune response enough for you NOT to fight off the S. pneumoniae we all carry- and which can nail you when you think you're better.

The good news is that most pneumonia strains are still susceptible to antibiotics, so they should protect you from a secondary bacterial infection.

Health and blessings to you as you recover and thank you for sharing such a personal experience.

reply to post by National_Insecurity


Hi there... I'm down in Vic, and estimates of 1 in 3 may be a bit generous... I'm in a town of 10 000+ and there has only been one reported case so far. And trust me, if there were more cases, we'd know, the town is so small that everyone knows everyone elses business...

However, it may be different in the metro area's of the state.

Sorry you were sick but glad to hear you are on the mend. I am sure that the experience was harrowing but at least you are on the right side of the dirt!

If you go to the doctor within the first 48 hours of the onset of symptoms the doctors can prescribe Tamilfu to help slow the flu virus. There is intense debate as to the efficacy of the meds and if they work what the long term effects on the user (and the virus) are but that is what they would have given you.

Obs out

Originally posted by mplsbookworm
It took about an hour, roughly. When she came back, after masking up and putting stickers on the doors, she told me that I had Influenza A. I asked her if it was Swine Flu and she said because it is not flu season that most likely I did have the swine flu but the Mn Dept. Of Health does the final tests to test for Swine Flu. I recieved a phone call from them 2 days later and they informed me that I had H1N1 and I was not to leave the house for 2 weeks. Sucked! Im just now feeling normal but still kinda scared....IDK. Strange Feeling.

Wow! I am so sorry to hear that but happy you are getting over it! I haven't read all of the posts but I hope your husband doesn't get sick. I myself just got over a cold, and so has my son and daughter. My youngest is starting to cough but that's it. My middle only had a low grade fever. I just called my MIL and she is also sick. Two weekends ago she visited us with my niece and nephew they stayed overnight, and Sunday the day they left is when we all started feeling bad. I called my MIL and asked if my niece and nephew were sick and they were not. So we are unsure how we got sick, actually!

Anyway, I know I don't know, but please recover quickly!!

Well, you seem to have gotten it worse than many others honestly. There are children who got it, who described it as very mild. Some didn't even realize they really had anything, they thought it was a minor cold.

So while it probably can hit hard, it also clearly hits very mild. This case doesn't really represent the typical level of illness for someone with this flu.

Sorry to hear you were so ill, but glad you are feeling better now!

I had a strain of influenza 9 years ago that sounds exactly like what you've described. The pain was unbelievable - even my hair hurt! It hurt so badly to move. I couldn't even walk for weeks. I was literally in bed for 6 weeks and there was nothing the doctors could do. I have never been so sick in my life. When they gave me the diagnosis they told me I had Influenza..the "Real" Influenza...that is what they said "The Real Influenza".

But I will tell you one thing - I also have never been so grateful for my health when I finally started to recover. While sick I honestly felt like it would never end. It really made me appreciate feeling well.

And I few weeks later I did come down with pneumonia, but that was treated with heavy-duty antibiotics and was nothing compared to what I suffered while sick with that stupid flu.

When hearing about this flu, my first thought was that it has the potential to be as bad or worse as the one I had before. Even if it doesn't turn deadly, just widespread sickness of this sort is scary to think about.

Regardless of any quarantine, if people get that sick for any length of time, they will be unable to go out to get what they need.

It is really important to be prepared for something like that happening. Stock up on flu essentials to last at least a few weeks.

Do you know of anyone else that has gotten it? Did anyone else in your household come down with it?

With the one I had, I knew of no one else before, during, or after who had it. I had one adult and 3 children in my household, all in very close proximity, and 3 adults that were frequent visitors. None of them ever got sick at all, and none of them knew of anyone else who had. My doctor knew of 2 or 3 elderly people in the region who had it at the time.

reply to post by serendipitynow


A friend of mine stopped by around the second day of my being sick, when I wasnt AS sick.....he ended up gettting it. Besides him, no, there was no one else that got it, at least from me. Three of my friends did end up gettting it here in MN and two friends in VA. Strange because my husband nor my other daughter got it and they were exposed frequently.

reply to post by fleabit


I am not sure why this is so either. I am very healthy otherwise. My daughter would be one of the cases you are describing. I got sick from her but she was only sick for a couple days with only having a fever for one day. Strange.

reply to post by mysticalzoe


Thanks for the reply and I truly hope you guys are feeling better as well!

reply to post by mplsbookworm


Sorry to hear that you were so sick , and unfortunately didn't catch it in time to be able to take the tamiflu. Good to hear that you are better now. Be careful especially since you had a severe case, this flu effects people differently. Some recover only to get sick again in a couple of weeks. Look up some herbal remedies to keep your respiratory system healthy. I know elderberry is good, and thyme opens up your lungs during an asthma atrtack, but not everyone can take all herbs.

I had some kind of flu months ago before they went public with this one, it was terrible. I had such a high fever, 104 and it wouldn't go down no matter what i did, i had it for about 5-6 days, my body hurt soooo bad, and i had the worst headache, sore throat. Then my lungs got real bad, & a sinus infection set in. I don't have insurance so i couldn't go to the doc, lucky i have a nebulizer at home.

This is why i'm telling you to be careful. Whatever i had, it doesn't seem like i've completely gotten over it, even months later. Every couple of weeks i start feeling sick again, my lungs and sinuses, mild sore throat and headache i feel hot but my temperature is actually below normal, it lasts for a couple of days and goes away again

So be careful and alert. I hope you make a full recovery.