A public service announcement from your h1n1 expert here in the hospital
I just saw an infection dr (that makes 5 drs on my case. I feel so popular). When I originally went to the dr on Sunday I was just coughing. I called back with slight chills and body aches (not major), worse breathing, slight fever (99). No sore throat, no stuffy head (initially), no stomach issues. They said it couldn't be the flu without a high fever and wouldn't give me tamiflu.
The infection dr. specifically said that most pregnant women are not experiencing high fevers with h1n1. So don't use that as an indicator, and don't let your dr either, as they can obviously be wrong.
Just figured I'd spread the word. The more you know, and all that...
(Isn't that like a WBS catch phrase or something? Or there's the oldy but goody - "And knowing is half the battle." Yes, I had an older brother. Watched a lot of GI Joe growing up :-)
Re: You probably WON'T have a high fever with h1n1
That's interesting. My MW said that normally they say to call at 101, but with swine flu they are saying to call at 100. This completely freaks me out. I have random bad m/s days and I'm scared I'm going to get the flu and think it's just a bad m/s day. If I don't have a fever, how the heck do I know the difference??
Don't worry - you'll know. I think h1n1 always has other symptoms than just stomach stuff. If you have other symptoms, especially dry, hacking cough, then worry. That was actually my first symptom and I think the main concern with h1n1 - it goes into your chest, and the infection dr said pregnant women are naturally more susceptible to pneumonia.
That scares me, so if you dont have a fever, and dont get all the symtoms right away, how are you supposed to know when you come down with it??
Vomiting is NOT a typical symptom of seasonal flu OR h1n1 flu. The symptoms are typically as follows:
You shouldn't have any trouble distinguishing seasonal or h1n1 flu from morning sickness unless your m/s consists of respiratory symptoms!
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Yeah, I would say the number one thing to really be aware of are the respiratory symptoms. Even if it isn't h1n1, if you're having respiratory symptoms you should head to the dr!
Otherwise the chills, aches, and general feeling like crap will clue you in :-) I would say if you feel awful go to the dr, and if you have even a few of the h1n1 symptoms ask them to do bloodwork or the flu test (which is truly horrible, as I know I've said before, but at least it lets you know if you have the flu, even though it won't tell you what type for sure).
Have you been to ER at a hospital or a separate walk in place? If it's a separate walk in place I would totally go tothe regular ER. If your ER stinks that much that you've been there twice and they haven't done anything for you I would check and see if there's another hospital nearby you can go to. Sounds like they're totally dropping the ball. Did they at least give you tamiflu? If not, you definitely need to go back! I'm worried for you! Hope you get better and get a dr who will actually help you! There's NOTHING more frustrating than drs not listening to you or taking you seriously!
Just a note... the H1N1 flu is NOT a vomiting flu at all (well for most people it isn't... I didn't have any with mine!) If you go to the CDC's website it gives you the symptoms of the flu...
It's the regular ER - in fact its the ER at the hospital I'm delivering at! And all they've done is given me fluids and said to stay on bed rest for a few days. If this doesn't ease up by tomorrow I'm hitting up a new GP. I asked my OBGYN what to do, he said call my GP...asked my GP what to do, they said ask my OB. My GP wouldn't even see me...so I'm done with him. I had a low grade fever (99) yesterday, but that went away. All I know is that I feel like poo and no one will listen.
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