Have you ever had the flu?

Expecting0207

Influenza?  Not the 'flu' where people say they threw up for a day or had a chest cold for two days.

 I was just wondering how many people actually had the flu and if you are vaccinating your kids.  I had it in the winter of 2004 and missed a full week of work - I literally stayed in my bed for 5-6 days.  Ended up in the ER one night because I got bronchitis on top of that and could not breathe.  It took an entire month until I felt better.  For the first few weeks after the flu, an 8 hour work day was almost more than I could handle.

 That was the only time I ever missed more than 1 day from work for being sick and the only time I have ever been to the ER other than from a car accident.

 

(In case you can't tell my girls do get flu shots.)

eclaires

Yes, twice, and it's freaking miserable.  Once when I was in 8th grade, and was out of school for a week and once when I was a freshman in college and had bronchitis on top of it.  I was bedridden for basically a week, then, too, and felt pretty bad for a few weeks.  I don't remember the first time as well, so I don't know how badly I felt afterwards.  The flu is no joke.

Jackson gets flu shots.

butterbeansmama

I don't think so, but I rarely ever get sick. I did get my first flu shot last year and ds & dh get theirs too.

DandelionMom

The flu sucks.  We always get flu shots.  Of course more than half my family has autoimmune diseases.

jessicaclare

Yes, twice. Once in high school and I could barely get out of bed. My mom had to help me dress myself it was so bad. I had it again right before I got pregnant with DD#1 and missed almost a full week of work.

 Because of this, DD gets flu shots. If I had it that bad as an adult, I can't imagine what a bad strain would do to a child. 

DandR

I had what I suspect was the flu, but it wasn't confirmed several years ago.

My DD had the flu when she was a baby and too young to be vaccinated, and it was one of the worst weeks of my life...we were in and out of the ER, hospital, doctors office and I am pretty sure I didn't sleep more than 30 minute blocks when I knew my DH was holding her. That went on for a good week. It was HORRIBLE and until you see your child lethargic, dehydrated and whole body coughing, to say the flu is no big deal is ignorant.

LanaM

a couple of times in the last 10 years and it was horrible. I had it when I was 7 months pg with Ethan and was in bed for 5 days on tylenol around the clock.

Ethan is def. getting vac., he will be required for school (rec. in NJ). Not sure about my 17 mos. old as he's home with me... but we do attend different classes and go to the park, and Ethan will bring home germs from school..... so possibly yes. 

 

j_hope

Dh and I both got it last year and we were miserable!  We had the body aches, high fevers (102 to 103), and the night sweats were terrible!  We would wake up with our bed just soaking wet from sweating!  We never threw up, but both felt absoultely awful!

CleoKitty

Yes. I got it while 38 weeks pregnant with dd. I was just starting to feel human again when I went into labor.

The day after dd was born my dh got sick. He had a high fever, chills, horrible body aches, etc. He couldn't move from the couch. I had to take care of him, dd who was less than 24 hours old and ds. Plus, I had JUST given birth and still wasn't 100% over my bout with influenza.  No one would even come help or visit us because they were afraid of getting sick. It sucked big time.

A few days later ds ended up getting sick. Luckily he seemed get over it much more quickly than dh or I. Dh had it the worst- he had already planned on taking two weeks off for the birth of the baby. He ended up spending the entire two weeks recuperating. He was in really bad shape there for a while.

Dh was finally feeling pretty much okay when dd, then 3 w/o, got pneumonia. To this day I still wonder if her pneumonia was related to our flu. 

All of that being said, we don't usually do flu shots. I might consider one for myself this year but am still undecided. FWIW, I don't even think that the flu shot would have helped us that year we all got so sick because it turns out that the strain that was most widespread that season was not part of that year's flu vaccine. The CDC folk just have to guess at which stain(s) they think are most likely to occur in a given season and that particular year they guessed wrong.

 

 

Mrs Manners

Once.

Before that, I had salmonella once and they misdiagnosed as the flu in the beginning- it was even worse than the flu.

Lisa102304

Yep. Once. It was godawful. I was out for a week and could barely move without everything feeling like I was going to die. One of the worst things I have ever been through .... and I have been through quite a bit.

femmegem

I don't know for sure, but I suspect I've had it twice. The first time I was in high school and literally was so weak that I couldn't lift myself up into a sitting position in bed. The second time was when I was in grad school and worried I might die of the horrible fever I had. LOL.

JOEBunny

Yes, I ended up with Pnemonia.  Fun times.

ridesbuttons

Yes, right around New Years 1999.  High fever, aches (my skin literally hurt to touch), cold sweats and trouble breathing were the highlights.  I remember thinking that I could understand why elderly people died of the flu.  It hit hard and fast, 4 days or so if memory serves.

Bellisimo

The ONE year I didn't get the flu shot I got the flu.  I felt like I was going to DIE.  It's no joke!

Mominator

Twice that I can remember and it was hell. The first time was in January '03. I was literally bedridden for days and days. I was a single Mom of a 7 year old at the time and he was trying to take care of me. That was horrible because I was the Mom and could barely car for myself. I got it again in February '08 when I was 7mths pg with my youngest DS. I had gotten the flu shot and still got it. I was again bedridden for a week and just when I was starting to feel better I went into preterm labor. Needless to say I will always get the flu shot as will my 2 kids. My youngest can't because he is allergic to eggs and too young for the nasal mist, though my pedi said that she may make an exception because of his allergy.