The flu ain't no fun, a diary

"Mid Engine" (jdlogan2006) 03/09/2020 at 18:00 • Filed to: None

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The week of February 17 th was great, I was out and in front of customers every day, ending with my first meeting @ [redacted] on Kirkland on Friday the 21st. Saturday we dropped by Costco in Woodinville to pick up a few things, it was pandemonium as people were buying stuff to prepare for extended time at home. Crazy.

Sunday February 23 rd I began to feel symptoms of a cold or flu, nothing specific just a general “don’t feel great” kinda thing. So I went outside and split three cords of wood. This general feeling of blah went on all week, with a dry cough. My wife had the same thing, but her’s ended and she felt just fine. We both got our flu shots several months ago, so I figured I was likely getting a common cold.

Monday March 2 nd the coughing really got going and that changed quickly to a wet cough, the intensity/duration cranked up. Just to keep things interesting, diarrhea decided to join the party. Not pleasant and is it turned out, lasted throughout the week.

Tuesday brought the aches, but not like a normal flu. Usually you feel achy all over, get the shivers, etc. This was targeted and intense, shoulders got it first, subsided after several hours, then back took the brunt of it, followed by ankles, etc.. it’s like the virus goes after a part of you, does as much as it can, then moves on to another area. This went on until Thursday.

Throughout all of this the headaches were ever present, but they got super intense on Friday and Saturday. Fever was hovering around 100F on Friday, crept up to 102F on Saturday. These two days were a tsunami of symptoms, I binge watched HGTV and did nothing. Sunday afternoon the fever was gone and the coughing dropped by 75%, all that’s left is fatigue. I imagine I’ll feel just fine by the end of the week. This thing hits hard but seems to be relatively short in duration.

It’s worth noting that the medical professionals you rely on aren’t gonna help unless your symptoms are considered serious. Pneumonia and/or persistent high fever will get you plenty of help, otherwise stay home. In fact, if you do decide to see your doctor they’re asking that you call ahead so they’re prepared, I imagine they have you come in a back door or something. If they think you’re positive (note, there’s no test kits available) they’ll send you home and you’re supposed to monitor breathing & fever, if it’s apparent that you’re in distress they will hospitalize you. So, you’re sick and it sure feels different from a run of the mill cold or flu, but you have no way of knowing exactly what you have. The symptoms I had were consistent with the known Covid-19 symptoms, so I’m guessing that’s what it was.

What we did throughout the week was focus on self treatment:

I drank about 2 gallons of water a day

Breakfast was various fruits, lots of blueberries. Glass of pure Pomegranate juice, sometimes mixed with orange juice.

Lunch was soup. I make my own soups and freeze ‘em, sure came in handy.

Dinner was fish and green salads, mostly halibut and salmon.

Before bed I took some melatonin. It really helps you sleep

Saturday and Sunday I did absolutely nothing, binge watched television and read my Kindle. Sunday afternoon was good as the symptoms were mostly gone or greatly diminished. In hindsight I shoulda done the complete rest thing much earlier, other than that I think the steps we took were sensible.

Chariotoflove > Mid Engine 03/09/2020 at 18:06

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Rest up and get well.  Glad you’re on the back side of this.

ttyymmnn > Mid Engine 03/09/2020 at 18:12

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The symptoms I had were consistent with the known Covid-19 symptoms, so I’m guessing that’s what it was.

Based on your description, that’s what I was wondering. I’ve been having some respiratory illness the past week, nothing at all like what you describe, but I still called and spoke to a nurse today. She said that they won’t test you for Covid-19 unless you’re so bad off you have to be hospitalized. Which makes me wonder just how many people out there have it now, or had it and got better. There’s simply no way of knowing.

Glad you’re on the mend. 

WilliamsSW > Mid Engine 03/09/2020 at 18:18

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Glad you’re on the back side and getting better.  Keep resting up as much as you can and take care!

Mid Engine > ttyymmnn 03/09/2020 at 18:20

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The reported number of cases are a complete unknown, my guess is whatever the media has been sharing is nowhere near the real number. Take care of yourself, you can’t really rely on your doctor so double down on looking after you.

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Mid Engine 03/09/2020 at 18:21

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Glad you’re doing okay. I wish your story would go national, so everyone (including my employer) would remain vigilant, but also calm the fuck down acting like this is Outbreak or something. 

CB > ttyymmnn 03/09/2020 at 18:25

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The numbers can’t be bad if you don’t gather the numbers!

Mid Engine > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind 03/09/2020 at 18:25

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Microsoft and Amazon sent all of their workers home until April, everyone is working from home. My wife’s employer finally sent out notice on Friday afternoon that e veryone should work from home.  Is the sky falling?  Idk, but this thing is spreading fast and certainly not something you want.

ttyymmnn > CB 03/09/2020 at 18:30

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Right now they can’t gather the numbers. There’s no way in hell you could test everybody (despite what Pence said) , and even if you come back negative today you could still catch the damn thing next week. 

Spaceball-Two > Mid Engine 03/09/2020 at 18:31

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My wife wanted to head to Kirkland Costco on Saturday. Nope! Not doing it. Hunkered down for a bit. Although traffic has been great to and from Seattle.

Glad you're feeling better.

DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back > Mid Engine 03/09/2020 at 18:43

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Wow thanks for sharing, and the non-clickbait title too haha

So I’m guessing around Tuesday is when you realized it wasn’t a run of the mill flu?

Mid Engine > Spaceball-Two 03/09/2020 at 18:52

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I haven’t left the house since February 23rd, I’d love to hop in the car and go for a drive right about now. I’m doing my part to not give anyone else this thang..

Mid Engine > DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back 03/09/2020 at 18:55

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Yeah, I k inda figured on Tuesday this was not a normal event and from there, well, it definitely got worse quickly. I work from home when I’m not out seeing customers; since they’re al l working from home too I’m not missing much. 

jimz > Mid Engine 03/09/2020 at 19:27

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it could also have been the actual flu; supposedly the vaccine was a mixed bag as far as targeting the predicted strains. and IIRC a hell of a lot of respiratory viruses (other than rhinoviruses) cause “flu-like symptoms.”

I used to be one of those guys who never got a flu shot because “I never get the flu.” ‘til one year at my physical my Dr. asked if I got a flu shot, and I pulled the “I never get the flu, just a cold or two every year.” He asked me if I had been sick that past winter, I said yeah, I had a really bad cold that ran me a 104 degree fever. He looked at me and said “Yeah, that was probably the flu.”

So I get the shot every year now.

not saying you didn’t have COVID-19, especially if you’re in an area where there’s an outbreak.  You did basically what I plan on doing if it arrives in my area; stay home, call my Dr. office and ask what I should do, and only seek treatment if I start having an unmanageable temperature or pneumonia-like symptoms.

Mid Engine > jimz 03/09/2020 at 19:37

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We get our flu shots every year, doesn’t mean this years concoction is going to protect you.. I’m in the Seattle area, so prett y much ground zero for the coronavirus so it’s a good possibility that’s what I contracted. It sure did feel different from any flu I’ve had before, but yeah, it may very well have been this year’s flu virus. Either way, the treatment is pretty much the same. 

someassemblyrequired > Mid Engine 03/09/2020 at 19:44

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Glad you are doing better, I think WA is going to fare a lot better because it took things semi-seriously from a few weeks ago.

I get a bad feeling DC is gonna have a real bad few weeks. We seem to be a couple of weeks behind, reasonable steps are not being taken, and we have idiots who should be quarantined deciding they should just ignore that. 

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Mid Engine 03/09/2020 at 19:51

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Interesting concept, this getting sick thing. The only sickness beyond a common cold I have experienced in the last 10 years or so has been food borne illness. I think I had the flu once as a small child but not that I can ever remember. I used to get strep throat regularly enough (once every couple of years) but then out of high school it was just regular colds a few times a year and then out of college a very rare cold maybe once a year at worst.

Its crazy how much people are freaking out about this right now though. Glad to hear that you dont instantly die if you get this shit. Because the news and other people around me seem to make it sound like a zombie apocalypse. 

Spaceball-Two > Mid Engine 03/09/2020 at 20:15

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Good plan. I worry most about my 70+ year old parents and my kids. But I understand the effects on them are minimal

Mid Engine > someassemblyrequired 03/09/2020 at 20:51

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My only hope is Trump and Pence get it, and ends the way it should. :)

someassemblyrequired > Mid Engine 03/09/2020 at 21:02

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They probably already have it, given the number of exposed/infected people they’ve been around.

Mid Engine > someassemblyrequired 03/09/2020 at 21:04

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Dream realized, the ultimate trifecta is taking Mit ch McConnell with ‘ em

someassemblyrequired > Mid Engine 03/09/2020 at 21:13

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Not gonna happen. Satan’s trying to push off dealing with that guy as long as possible. Even he has some standards .

pip bip - choose Corrour > Mid Engine 03/10/2020 at 03:20

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eating oranges for Vitamin C is my go to

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Mid Engine 03/10/2020 at 07:56

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Damn, and I thought I had it bad. I’m feeling much better now, though not 100% yet and mine was only 4 or 5 days. No diarrhea on my end th ough , so thank god for that...

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Mid Engine 03/10/2020 at 09:50

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Mrs. addiction had the flu a month ago and we managed to successfully quarantine her so I and none of the kids ended up with it, thankfully. She picked it up from work. She’d had her flu shot and got Tamiflu, but, by all accounts, was miserable for a few days.