We are in N CA East Bay and we are sick! Started Dec 1 and not letting go. First cold, head congestion, headache,sore throat, then fever and bronchitis. 25 days and still sick! What are you experencing and where are the outbreaks? Wash your hands, don't touch your face and please, don't spread it to others if you get sick.

So sorry to hear you are sick. The news was just saying California is having the worst flu outbreak. Hospitals are over loaded. We all started feeling sick before we went away. We started using Airborne, it seemed to nip it pretty quik. There are flu meds that shorten the length of time you are sick. I think you have to take it at the first sign of being sick.
Feel better soon

Oh Bodi, I am sorry you are all so sick!
My daughter had this and said that Florida had a lot of people suffering from what they thought was a cold but it progresses into this bronchial thing.
Take meds when it gets to that point!
Take care, get well soon!

My mom was just telling me today that my aunt and uncle in Spokane have had influenza since Thanksgiving and just can't shake it. Sounds like what you're describing! Monitor it closely if the bronchial part hangs on any longer--my daughter ended up in the hospital with pneumonia after a bout with influenza a few years ago--it's nothing to mess around with! Take good care and pamper yourselves.

Thank you all for your comforting words! I actually had been pondering the 'immediate flu drugs' never needed them before, but the trick was, I felt cold, not like I have experenced chills in the past, so it was already too late by the time I realized I was really sick. I'm always too warm (so didn't recognize a fever), so I should have accepted the clue. We had been outside all day preparing for the first real storm of our winter season, so feeling cold, I thought was from the damp and wind all day. I was sick on the 1st and my hubby got sick the 18th, so I don't understand the contagious/incubation time, but he is having the same pattern of progression I've been through. I thought I was getting better but yesterday the fever 101+ returned. I checked the flu map and it appears Arizona is hardest hit to date. I posted because I wonder how the stats are understood, hospitals reports or drugs sold or how do they know how many are home sick outside of their study? I thought maybe we could get a sense of symptoms and locations, especially for people planning to travel in particular with children or elderly. Again, please don't touch your face when you are out and about, wash your hands at every chance and keep alcholol wipes always handy. This is no fun, you don't want to catch if you can avoid! Thanks again, for comforting me as my Hubby and I cough in duet ..... OH, I just read the PM OTC meds really do help but the No Drosy will not, so save your money. I was on a PM cold/flu med (until the head congestion improved to allow sleep), and now am taking Mucinex 600mg extended release and Theraflu thin strips cough. Drinking as much water and chicken broth as I can swallow.
Back to bed now .....

I had a flu shot this year. I also live in the East Bay. DH got a cold on Thursday but is almost over it. I felt like I was also getting it and started using Zicam and so far all symptoms have disappeared.

Utahtea...keeping my fingers crossed that it skips me!

bodi
How awful...I'm so sorry..
Just curious, did you or your husband get a flu shot? Except for last year when we weren't allowed to get one, we've gotten them for the past few years and will continue because supposedly, if you do get the flu, it's not as bad. Hope you feel better soon. Ask your doctor if it's too late for Zicam. It has worked for us when beginning to catch a cold.

I am one of those people whom the flu shot makes sick with the flu, so I don't get one.

In 16 years in San Francisco I got the flu only once - not bad, huh?

My secrets? 500 mg of vitamin C every day all year (Airborne has 1,000 mg of it, too much for me) and Chinese herbal pills "yinchiao" - 1 pill a day during the flu season.

And of course, nothing can top the importance of washing your hands before touching your nose, ears, eyes, lips, no, I'm not kidding here, and of course before meals.

Bodi, get better and join us for a get-together on January 6

Another proponent for Zi-Cam here! Haven't had a cold or flu for more than a day or two since I found out about it about 6 years ago! Everyone I've recommended it to has reported favorable results, even after having the 'cold' for as much as 2-3 weeks!

Belle

Another Zicam fan here!

I have never had a flu shot. My husband always had to get one when he was in the military, and every year like clockwork he got very sick. After seeing that I am too chicken to try

Here is some info on Influenza that may answer the question on how they obtain data it is in the middle of the article.

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/disease.htm

There is also some really good info on influenza as far as treatment, incubation, and the current outbreaks by state.

Sorry you are sick - it must be miserable - no matter what it is. However, it may not be actual influenza. Many hgospitals, especially in western US, are reporting many visits by ill people - but in many cases it is not the flu.

Flu statistics are always somewhat unreliable, since most people with the flu don't need or seek medical care.

One comforting thought is that it seems that this year's vaccine is going to be effective towards this year's flu (always an educated guess if it will be). I got my first flu shot this year since I am an RN in an elderly housing complex and since I was giving the shots, it was comvenient to get someone to give one to me. And I have never had the flu!

Whatever is the actual bacteria or virus causing your misery, I hope you feel better soon - after someone is sick for about 10 days and not beginning to feel better, it usually makes sense to seek some professional advice - if it is a virus there are only a limited number of things that can be done, but at least they can tell you what it is and perhaps give you something to relieve the symptoms.

Sorry to hear about your illness, but want to also chime in about the danger of prematurely (and usually erroneously) concluding that something is influenza. Unfortuately, in the US we use the term "flu" to refer to a multitude of (usually viral) acute illnesses. The problem with that lack of specificity arises when folks assume that they have influenza and use drugs to treat that condition. This increases risk of drug resistant flu and also uses up doses of medication that could have been given to someone who really needed them.

As for prevention, no evidence supports vitamin C in any dosage, and echinacea has been clearly demonstrated to be useless, but many people still swear by one or both. Zinc preparations get mixed reviews but there is some evidence they may be helpful in reducing duration or intensity of symptoms. The best things you can do are wash your hands, wash your hands, and wash your hands (and cover your mouth when you sneeze to protect others.)

Just about everyone in my family has had this thing that is going around - even my husband who only gets sick about once every 5 years. For us it is mostly sinus congestion, sore throat, coughing, and some chest congestion and everybody has been getting over it in about 5 days or so. I had to insist that my mother-in-law go into the doctor though because she was coughing so badly - she's got bronchial pnemonia.

Sorry you have been ill, Bodi. I have been under the weather for a couple of weeks now too. Finally, Christmas evening, the "other shoe" finally dropped and I am out of commission, lol. My family went skiing today, but I had to stay home Bummer.

My sympathies to bodi and seetheworld...hope you're better soon!

Belle

I am not familiar with Zicam so just looked it up. DH is home sick with the flu here in the SF Bay Area. Apparantly there are lawsuits pending against Zicam (claims of loss of sense of smell.)

Hope all the flu sufferers feel better soon!

Oops, I meant to say the lawsuits are against the nasal application form of Zicam.

There are lawsuits about everything. We are a litigous country and even the safest companies and products are in lawsuits.

I think if you overuse it it could lead to loss of smell.

This morning on TV they were talking about one specific type of flu going around NOW: California flu. I live in San Francisco, and so is the majority of my family. SCARRY!