"How I handled swine flu"
Writer Patricia Pearson shares her family's experience with the H1N1 virus
By Patricia Pearson
Fatigue was the first sign
It began with Geoffrey. Three years after I’d neurotically stocked the basement with supplies in order to survive a feared avian flu pandemic while in quarantine, my son got too tired to watch baseball. He is nine, and is never too tired to do anything before the sun goes down. But this past June, he shrugged off a couple of Blue Jays baseball tickets a friend had offered so he could nap on the couch instead. Odd.
That night, he was spiking a fever. I don’t know how high; he’s so rarely sick that by this time in his life I’d lost track of which parent I might have lent our thermometer to, or whether I had left it at the cottage. Geoffrey is the sort of child who is so robust he would have survived infancy in the Middle Ages. Never did he even have an ear infection. But now he was hot to the touch and soaked with sweat.
I gave him Advil to bring down his temperature. The next morning, he said his body ached. Juice, and more Advil. (Children should take acetaminophen or ibuprofen, not ASA, when they have a viral infection, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada; ASA in this circumstance increases the risk of Reye’s syndrome, which attacks the brain and liver.)
Confusing symptoms
The “swine flu” had been in the news for a month by then, but there was no reason to assume it had come to our neighbourhood in downtown Toronto. On the other hand,I knew seasonal flu was over. And 98 percent of the flu swabs reported to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta during the week Geoffrey fell ill revealed this new flu virus, officially referred to as pandemic H1N1 influenza virus.
I didn’t know what to think. If this was the pandemic virus, why weren’t the symptoms mild, as the World Health Organization (WHO) had been insisting at that point? Rumours and contradictory reports seemed to swirl in the media.
The third day, Geoffrey insisted on going to school because he was looking forward to a field trip to a reconstructed pioneer village. He seemed energetic, no fever, so my husband, Ambrose, and I let him scamper off—and he promptly threw up on a volunteer parent, to whom I now owe a bottle of wine or some other profuse gesture of thanks.
More than "just a cough"
Home Geoffrey came, all pale-skinned and fatigued. By now, I was learning this flu could cause symptoms that were unlike those of the seasonal flu. People throw up, or toss it out the other end, so to speak, in addition to the usual coughing and chills. For a day, Geoffrey slept, ached, battled nausea and watched a BBC miniseries about Robin Hood.
Then he woke up the next day with a deep and fluid cough. Just like that, overnight, he was barking like a seal.
“I’m calling the doctor,” I told Ambrose.
“Oh, come on,” he said. “It’s just a cough.”
But to me, its swiftness and depth were the warning signs I had read about when I was following the news in 2006 about avian flu, although I didn’t know if it applied to this new bug. I just remembered noting that once a novel virus took hold in the lungs, things could get ugly real fast.
Swine flu hits home
Later that same day, the pediatrician diagnosed Geoffrey with human swine flu (but didn’t swab him) and put him on a powerful antibiotic for a secondary bacterial infection in his lungs. Her theory was that his body immune system had been knocked out, and was vulnerable to other opportunistic infections. He was developing pneumonia.
The infection must have been bacterial, as she suggested, rather than viral, for he rallied on the antibiotics and felt better in days. Ambrose and I sighed with relief and carried on for two weeks...until it was Mummy’s turn.
Like my son, I’m not one for getting sick. Blame it on hardy Scots genes and adequate sleep, because I can’t think what else would account for my persistent failure to get infectious colds and flus. Or earaches, or sinus infections or anything else, thus far, beyond having a low-functioning thyroid. (Instead,I get mentally ill, suffering periodically from bouts of anxiety—hence the supplies laid in for a possible pandemic flu. Irony of ironies.)
I don’t know if I responded in latent fashion to my son’s flu, or whether I somehow got infected separately, but a few days before Canada Day my body suddenly felt as if it were comprised entirely of ancient chicken bones. “I told you it felt achy,” said Geoffrey. No kidding. I felt brittle enough to crack, and Advil didn’t help. The only thing that eased my pain was immense amounts of fluid: water alternating with Gatorade.
Keeping myself stable in this fashion, I managed for a couple of days. Then I triedto exert myself, by driving five hours from Toronto to Ottawa for a family getaway. By the time we arrived, I was so flushed and feverish that I couldn’t think straight. I was literally in a stupor, and so freezing cold on a hot, humid night that for the first time, I felt scared. The Public Health Agency had told Canadians to “be on alert for complications,” one of which was feeling better and then having the fever abruptly return.
But what was my body fighting? It roared off into wonky furnace mode with nothing else giving me a hint—no headache or sore throat. One minute in a sweater, the next covered in wet cloths, but otherwise perkily reading a novel in my mother’s guest room.
Weird aches and pains
I skipped the Canada Day crowds so as not to infect anyone, for by now the WHO had identified certain groups, such as pregnant women, as being vulnerable to severe complications. Mine weren’t severe so much as bizarre. About six days after I first felt tired, my eyeballs were too painful to slide to the left or the right. I could carry on my affairs perfectly happily if I kept staring straight ahead, but if I wanted to, say, look around the kitchen for the coffee filters, or glance about the living room, I braced for pain.
Not good. Way too weird. I was also starting to cough. My mother drove me to a walk-in clinic, where the doctor tapped, prodded and listened, and found infections in my lung, ear and sinuses. He scribbled a prescription for a powerful antibiotic, 1,000 milligrams per day. This, as with Geoffrey, was assuming these were secondary bacterial infections, as a virus won’t respond to antibiotics.
After that, my kids endured the most boring holiday of their lives, as days of lethargy ensued. I lay in bed or on the couch, feeling faint crackles of pain across my chest and in my ear like the flashes from a receding thunderstorm. One day my throat was so sore I couldn’t swallow. On another, I threw up. On a third, my mouth swelled for no apparent reason and then subsided 12 hours later.
The family flu
When we returned to Toronto a week later, the virus was sweeping through Ontario summer camps, and my husband fell ill. In addition to fever and fatigue, he grew stiff, his hands swelling as my mouth had. He never saw the doctor. Did he have H1N1 too? Or was it just a sympathetic response, with the pair of us taking joint naps for the rest of July? Had my 12-year-old daughter, with her fatigue and daily headaches that spanned the same time frame, also been infected?
We can’t know, because swabs weren’t being done for anyone in Toronto who didn’t need hospitalization. There is a lot that isn’t known about this new virus, and by the time you read this, it may have mutated and become more virulent, with new risk factors and complications. "Constant, random mutation is the survival mechanism of the microbial world,” Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the WHO, said at a summer conference. “Like all influenza viruses, H1N1 has the advantage of surprise.” It may get worse, or sputter out. “Between the extremes of panic and complacency,” Chan declared, “lies the solid ground of vigilance.”
Stay well.
This article was originally titled "Blindsided by swine flu," in the October 2009 issue of Best Health. Subscribe today to get the full Best Health experience—and never miss an issue!—and make sure to check out what's new in the latest issue of Best Health.
no.....they DONT know its H1N1 if they DONT do tests!!! they base decision on the odds, the likelihood, symptoms etc. but they dont KNOW unless they do the tests. and it probably doesnt matter in as much as they probably treat it the same, but i am not sure. try antivirals and or antibiotics. but to KNOW you have to do a test. otherwise, it is a well educated guess, but still a guess.
a note to "hindsight", as i think you said, no swabs were taken. so for all you know, you may have had a 'normal' flu or other bug. i am still undecided as to the H1N1 vaccine, but you may want to give it more consideration. you seem to think that since you already 'had' it, you are now naturally imune. but, you dont REALLY know what you had, do you? it does worry me, that people die so fast. case in point, heathy young (ontario i think) teen collapses one day with symptoms, the next day he dies. a healthy young man involved in sports, in a matter of hours from first outward sign of illness, dead. THAT makes me rethink my aversion to the shot, but still unsure.
no doctor has taken a swab, culture or blood test in 30 years in regards to serious gastrointestinal, or respiratory in nature infections i have had. i suppose it would simply cost the government too much money if this were done often, but i have been told that because of my uncontrolled asthma, and missing spleen (the spleen helps filter out some infections) i am at a much higher risk than joe normal if i get an infection. adding to this, my daughter had been a little under the weather, finally saw the doctor at the tail end of whatever she had, as she was beginning to get better. tdoctor told her she had the H1N1 flu. this doctor took no test, and her symptoms were no different that ANY OTHER FLU, or perhaps other gastrointestinal or respiratory infections. so when she mentioned this at work, she was in big trouble and got 'written up' for putting coworkers at risk by coming to work with swine flu. my point, much of the time, the docs DONT know, and give you the easiest answer to simplify things. since not everyones symptoms are always the same, and much of swine flus symptoms to me sound the same as regular flu, and since no one 'tests' you unless you are dying or hospitalized, i object to the panic it can cause, and repercussions of just throwing out this diagnosis. but hey, why spend money on medical tests, when you can just assume.
I must ask! Y do people insist in going out in public when they are sick with a fever/flu?
If ya don't feel good drink plently of hot fluids and relax inside ur home away from others who try hard everyday to avoid getting sick so they can support their family and enjoy time together!
STOP being selffish and check yourself into the hospital, call toll free nurse lines and stay away from the doctors office where people are waiting next 2 one other! wear masks!
Kids are my major concern and many people are parents of babies.. babies have low tolerance for illness' and can have a great chance of dieing! STOP& THINK STAY THE FUCK HOME!
what if a person who had a flu was on that bus, touched that pole, walked into the doctors office and talked to those people! NOT FAIR!!! STAY HOME!!!! CALL AN ABULANCE!!!! STAY AWAY FROM SPREADING VIRUS"< ILLNESS"
I had been camping came home unpacked the gear and very quickly began to feel ill. I had a sore throat and fever almost immedialteym followed by a brief period of vomitting. After about two hours the body aches hit with a vengence and lasted for 10 days. On the third day I went to the doctor as my throat was very painful. I had been sleeping most of the time and coughing the rest. The doc did a swab and said that I had the flu and should rest up and go to the hospital if anything got worse. Five days later I was at the emergency department and was swabbed for Strep and given puffers for my cough that had gotten worse. The hospital was not insisting on masks or anything, I wore one because I was fairly certain I had the flu and maybe H1N1, no one else did and there seemed to be plenty in the waiting room with the same persistent cough and fever limp children. The doc told me that most flu case were H1N1 and that unless you required hospitalization you would not be swabbed. I was called the next day and informed that I had a secondary infection and that I had Strep throat to add to the list. I have other health concerns and have taken longer than most to recover but at the end of three weeks am finally beginning to feel human. I have had many other flu bugs over the years but the body aches lasted so long and were intense and the persistent fever lasted a week ( motrin or tylenol did little or nothing for the fevers or aches), my mouth also swelled and was painful as was my entire sinus system. I drank as much water as possible and had frequent hot bathes and showers for the aches. This third week I am exhausted and am need of a nap, my cough still persists and I have a little of the aches still. But I am on the mend. For someone with a compromised immue system to begin with I think I managed through H1N1 not too bad. I am almost glad to have had it and be done with it not worrying about every sniffle. I would like to get my seasonal flu shot asap as obviously my immune system is not fighting these bugs. I am also greatful that I had a small stockpile of essentials before hand like tissues and that family members were so kind to go out and get the rest for me (leaving it on the door sometimes). I did not go out and bleached commonly used surfaces as much as possible. The day before I actually felt ill was Thanksgiving day and so far no one has come down with the virus and I was with loads of nieces and nephews. Hopefully they will be OK.
Sept. 12 apx. mild sniffles, than 2 days body aches, 14th started dry cough, 15th down for the count - like hit by a truck no energy+weak in bed 1 week apx, hiddeous dry cough, chest feels like its going to rip apart, occaisional shivers=fever, Oct 28 stll have cough - finished antibiotics last week - was advised - Flu - predomenant is H1N1. Seasonal not here yet and summer flu or Influensa A not that active - this is why they don't check us , they know its H1N1. Still coughing not as bad - but chest feels like it has feathers in it - doctor tomorrow. One day you feel like you are getting better and than you relapse. Your signal=flu=body aches.
Last spring, I experienced all the symptoms of H1N1 - it was just before the Mexico stories hit - I had been in contact on a plane with a whole big group of folks coming home from a holiday in Mexico - never having had anything more serious than a cold - boom it hit me, I could barely breath, fever, fatigue, bones hurt, in fact everything hurt - tooks showers as I was often soaked with raging fever - called the Doc - flu and cold take aspirin, rest in bed drink fluids. The cough got worse - I would vomit - music rattled in my chest - off to Doc - puffer provide, antibiotics, rest - spent the rest of the week working when I could from a laptop with a spit bucket, pots of tea, and the door open when hot and heating pad and blankets with shivers - took me almost a month to regain my strength - hindsight it sound like H1N1 - reason I am not getting the shot - I survived and used common sense, rest, and thank goodness did see Doc for the antibiotics as that turned the curve on the illness. Scary though ...it hits hard and fast and we are so used to dragging our sorry buts into work sick and being told a virus, or bug that without being swabbed and confirmed we have no idea how widespread this virus is. We seem to be in a guessing mood - should we go see doc, will they swab, or should I suffer it out and hope for the best - my son came down with the same a week after myself ...he recovered quickly so he is not getting the shot neither and we will put faith in our natural antibodies
In April, my husband and I were booked to go on a trip - just the two of us. On the Saturday night, my toe started hurting so much that I could barely walk. The pain persisted to engulf my entire leg and I started to run a fever. On Monday morning, I went in to see the doctor but she could not figure out what was causing all the pain. I was tested for bone cancer and an array of horrible diseases but everything came back negative. By Tuesday, I could barely walk and I ended up cancelling our flights because I was too ill to travel and knew there was no way I could endure the airport scene. The fever continued to spike and wane for the next week and I was taking advil every 4 hours around the clock. The advil did not get rid of the fever nor the intense pain in my right leg. A week later, my husband developed the same symptoms but the pain was in his arm and back. He spent the next 3 days on the sofa barely moving. Advil did nothing to lessen the pain or reduce the fever. In about a week, he was better but we both found that the symptoms and the fever continue to resurface every couple of days for about 3 weeks. The doctor wrote on my flight cancellation forms that it was viral arthiritis but I am not so sure. All I know is that I have never been in so much pain in my life from a virus.
Last year I came down with something that lasted several months. My doctor said it may have been more than one flu virus, but, to me, it was just an unbelievable stretch of time that I'd wake up everyday with a headache, stuffed-up sinuses, a painful cough and an uncomfy tummy. It seemed to go on forever, and, about two months in, my sinuses became badly infected. The pressure was intense and it felt as though my head would explode every time I coughed. Recovery was very slow and very gradual - just when I thought I was feeling better, I'd come down with a fever and my nasal passages would clog up again. Although I've been fine for several months now, I'm beginning to think I had H1N1, even that long ago.
My sister,a friend and I all came down with H1N1. My sister and friend had pos. swabs, I was told not to come in to the hospital. All three of us were at the same pub on a Thursday night, felt a scratchy throat on Sat morning and were in full blown cold symptoms (with fever and achy bodies, and nasily voices) by Sat evening. My sis was staying with me and my husband and we were quarantined, as was my friend in a different town. I immediately assigned different drinking glass patterns to each member of the household so we wouldn't get my healthy husband sick. My sis and I coughed in our sleaves, washed our hands, and I slept in guest bedroom and used lysol wipes for the door handles, fridge handle. My husband, as well as my friend's husband (she followed the same infection control) did not get sick. By Wed, we were all feeling better and the cough was completely gone by day 6. We drank lots of fluids, took Ibuprofen for pain and slept. I've had worse flu's than this but the Public Health Nurse told us to watch for complications because they seem to come on suddenly. If you do come down with H1N1, do not panic. Just rest, take in fluids and stay at home. If the sick person at the pub, who gave us the flu, had stayed home, at least three more people would have avoided getting sick. Thankfully, we didn't spread the flu to anyone else and the spread ended with us.
I wish that when the media informs the public about new "threats" to our health that they wouldn't write it in a way that instills so much fear. It is important to be informed but it would be nice for them to inform us in a way that would instill confidence or support rather then try to scare the public that the next plague is on its way. I can only imagine those that are sensitive to this kind of thing actually getting the H1N1 virus, it would scare the heck out of them. I am saying this because most people don't realize that fear is one of the biggest things that depresses the immune system. So please stop spreading fear, inform us and encourage us and give some advice and keep it positive. Thank you.
In april of this year I had a24 hr flu within a week my 14 yr old son suddenly developed headache,fever vomiting that lasted 12 days neither dr. diagnosed anything put him on antibiotics and said nothing . He vomited so hard his blood vessels in his eyes broke { common I guess or so I am told] . Was it swine flu I still don't know. No tests were done
Well, I'd like to know what criteria exactly these doctors are using to determine a flu as H1N1. In the middle of September, both my son and I came down with the flu. Body aches all over, diarhea, fever, sore throat and THE COUGH. The cough was the worst, but my cough wasn't just "a cough;" my lungs would rattle everytime I would breathe in and out because of the liquid in them. They told me it was most likely H1N1 since it is the dominant strain.
So I live to tell another day and all is fine. However, I LITERALLY just left the ER less than 2 hours ago, again with an on-going three day fever. crazy sore throat and runny nose. No so much a cough as the H1N1 is touting, but rather hacking up stuff from my throat that's an electric colour. The answer I received: you probably have H1N1. Nice to know that the doctors are consistent with their flu diagnosis.
It seems the H1N1 virus, like all other flus is affecting everyone differently. When I was tested for H1N1, my doctor also tested me for dengue, because the body aches I experienced were absolutely horrible. My symptoms also began with fatigue, following by extreme changes in my body temperature. At one point my fever was so high my doctor wanted to admit me to hospital, but that night my temperature dropped so low I felt like a popsicle. The next, and most affecting symptom was vomitting - nothing stayed down, not even water. This went on for the first 4 days, and not even gravol could help me. During the first two weeks of my illness I lost a total of 8 pounds. For some reason the clinic received my H1N1 results quickly, but the dengue results didn't come until a few weeks after. Turns out I had two life threatening illnesses at once, but thankfully I did not have serious complications. I urge everyone who may have underlying illnesses to consult their doctors, as everyone may not be as fortunate as I was.
Thanks for your family's story- with two kids under 3 the flue is tops on my mind these days. I am hoping that people where I live will be cautious and not go to school, work, family outings when not 100% sure if they're better. I don't see the point in "soldiering on". It's not fair to others and is why it spreads.
I have had a similar experience. I first was diagnosed with bronchitis and given antibiotics. We had a trip planned to Great Falls, Montana and Dr said to go but come home if I got worse. Drove 5 hours and was still feeling like bronchitis. Then the next day got progressively worse with tingling aching body and feeling faint and no energy, shivering cold and then sweating. The next day I was very short of breath which scared me so I went to emergency. Right away the Dr said H1N1 without testing me. He said everyone in Great Falls who is sick has it. I had a treatment for my breathing at hospital and went back to hotel. We came home the next morning. I advised the nurse at my workplace and she told me to stay home this week from work. I am confused whether I really do have it or not?? They don't bother testing so how can they say it's H1N1? The newspapers say 90% of flu is H1N1. I didn't have the stomach symptoms but had everything else. The Dr's don't want to see you in their office and just tell you to go to the hospital but you will lay there in the hallway for hours and hours. I am very frustrated but staying home and drinking fluids and sleeping a lot and hoping I don't turn blue from lack of oxygen. Then I will call an ambulance. It is very frustrating and confusing for the patient with suspected H1N1.
I find it hard to believe that some people could have such a simplistic views about serious body reactions. Sending the child to school and going to a family getaway after catching what her son had makes me wonder how intelligent this family is. Ernie Lee Toronto
Interesting story. I had almost the exact symptoms during the end of June thru till end of July. It took 5 weeks before I returned to 'normal'.My question to the health industry, and I will add that I cannot get a direct answer, is "can you get it again"?
I have been told it can only be had once, but, get the vacination just in case. That leads me to believe that they do not have enought info on the vacination.
I have a compromised immune system, work with the public and am afraid for this flu season.
My son has been ill with it two weeks today. My husband, son and i have all suffered secondary infections that required antibiotics. We had fever,chills,cough,sore throat, aches, shortness of breath and fatigue. I outright asked the doctor why it was hanging on and was told it lasts 14 days. We were not officially tested for H1N1 but were told there is no other flu going around right now so that is what we have. You feel like you have been hit by a truck. It hit my adolescent son the hardest. I am wondering, why the public have been told most cases are mild. We were healthy before this hit and it hit us all very hard. We were told you only get a blood test or swab for it if you are admitted to hospital. So when you hear that there are a certain number of cases in your area, that number is not an accurate reflection of the illness in your region. I feel all suspected cases should be tested to inform schools. Forewarned is forearmed, you can't pretend it is not in the community.
I too had this..only my gums swelled and became so tender...and the cough..I still have it 2 weeks later and it comes on so suddenly, and I cough so hard I start to vomit...it put me out of commision for a week..fever over 103..drugs just brought it to 100..be careful..insist your doctor pay attention..get looked at!