Health, and the lack of it

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Rikkitic

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#223295 22-Sep-2017 15:32

For the past three days I have been very ill. Couldn’t breathe, stuffy and sniffly, headache, pain everywhere, zero energy. Like the worst super-cold ever. I couldn’t get out of bed at all.

Then it finally, slowly, started improving. I didn’t know what was going on. I have never felt anything like this before. I have never experienced such misery. As I became able to start thinking logically again, I started going over my symptoms, trying to figure out what the hell had struck me down.

Eventually I worked it out. I have been suffering one of the worst pollen attacks ever. I couldn’t believe it. Normally I don’t have allergic reactions to anything. I never get hay fever. In all the years I have lived here I have never experienced anything like this. But that is what it was. It just took me so long to realise because it was so unusual for me. I will have to try to be better prepared next year. I don’t ever want to have to go through this kind of hell again. It was unbelievable.

Anyway, that is where I have been. Naturally this had to happen right in the middle of the very exciting political debates that have been going on.

It has been said before, but now I understand it in a whole new light: Nothing, but nothing, matters more than your health. Don’t take it for granted. You can’t imagine how awful it is not to have it.

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#1871087 22-Sep-2017 15:38

Take care - hope you're getting better!

Coil

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#1871090 22-Sep-2017 15:42

As someone who lives by themselves this is a fear of mine. What would you have done if you were by yourself? I am the only one that feeds myself and so on so if I was bed bound with sickness I wouldn't know where to start. Hospital? I couldn't afford an on demand carer if they even exist?

MikeB4

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#1871091 22-Sep-2017 15:43

I can imagine not having it.

Get well soon and keep alert for opportunist infection that can be triggered by an autoimmune reaction.

Dratsab

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#1871201 22-Sep-2017 20:21

I'd suggest you see a doc asap and get a scratch test done so you can find out exactly what it was that triggered your reaction. If that is indeed what it was you'll also want to assess the possibility of a future anaphylactic reaction.

nakedmolerat

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#1871215 22-Sep-2017 21:07

sounds like a bad flu to me

Fred99

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#1871220 22-Sep-2017 21:21

Pine pollen sets me off with similar symptoms. Depends on the wind, temperatures etc. This time of year is about right.

Cetirizine HCL (Razene etc) antihistamines seem to work very well and quickly (kick in within 20 minutes or so) and last 24 hours. These are "non-drowsy" - shouldn't have side effects.

Available over the counter. Read instructions. Swallow with water quickly - the tablets (Razene brand) are very small and if you thought that hey - can't be bothered to wait until there's a glass of water handy to wash one down, you'll find out that Cetirizine HCL has a very bitter nasty taste.

Rikkitic

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#1871271 22-Sep-2017 23:06

I'm still feeling the effects. I'm a lot better than I was but very washed out, weak, no energy (at all), can only make it from the couch to the bed. I just feel like utter crap. I have no doubt this is a pollen issue, not flu. Several clear reasons for that but don't have energy to list them. One is that I had no fever at all, even when it was at its worst. It should continue getting better but seems to have stalled. If no progress after weekend I will see doctor (not easy from where I live).

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Batman

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#1871285 23-Sep-2017 05:50

Dratsab:

I'd suggest you see a doc asap and get a scratch test done so you can find out exactly what it was that triggered your reaction. If that is indeed what it was you'll also want to assess the possibility of a future anaphylactic reaction.

I wouldn't recommend testing for allergy for no good reason (stuffy nose and feeling run over by a bus is not a good reason, whole body rash repeatedly is a good reason).

Skin test can give false positives and false negatives.

False positives mean that the skin test shows a skin reaction that is unlikely to cause you any harm if you came into contact with it normally. You freak out, everybody freaks out, and life stops because you think you are allergic to everything and start to obsess over things that have never troubled you in the past. Esp if you are a first time parent and your poor 12 month old toddler is positive to everything. Your poor toddler will never lead a normal life thanks to you testing her because she threw up once after a meal.

False negative is self explanatory.

Batman

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#1871286 23-Sep-2017 05:51

Rikkitic:

Couldn’t breathe, stuffy and sniffly, headache, pain everywhere, zero energy. Like the worst super-cold ever. I couldn’t get out of bed at all.

Symptoms of a viral infection. Possibly influenza as stated by another poster.

Batman

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#1871287 23-Sep-2017 05:52

Rikkitic:

I'm still feeling the effects. I'm a lot better than I was but very washed out, weak, no energy (at all), can only make it from the couch to the bed. I just feel like utter crap. I have no doubt this is a pollen issue, not flu. Several clear reasons for that but don't have energy to list them. One is that I had no fever at all, even when it was at its worst. It should continue getting better but seems to have stalled. If no progress after weekend I will see doctor (not easy from where I live).

Symptoms of a "post viral". You likely be fine but best to see a doctor and not believe a poster on the internet.

Lastman

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#1871313 23-Sep-2017 08:39

I developed hay fever, pollen allergies in my early fourties. I always wondered why this was but have learned, for men, testosterone suppresses the immune system, which is why far more men die from influenza etc up to 80% ratio for some diseases.

As you age, testosterone levels drop so auto-immune conditions that you may have some genetic tendancy for may develope.

tdgeek

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#1871314 23-Sep-2017 08:43

Rikkitic:

I'm still feeling the effects. I'm a lot better than I was but very washed out, weak, no energy (at all), can only make it from the couch to the bed. I just feel like utter crap. I have no doubt this is a pollen issue, not flu. Several clear reasons for that but don't have energy to list them. One is that I had no fever at all, even when it was at its worst. It should continue getting better but seems to have stalled. If no progress after weekend I will see doctor (not easy from where I live).

You must do that. I think your in your 70's, and its tougher on the older body to fix and manage other functions while fighting another problem. Safe than sorry, and take care.

networkn

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#1871350 23-Sep-2017 09:40

tdgeek:

Rikkitic:

I'm still feeling the effects. I'm a lot better than I was but very washed out, weak, no energy (at all), can only make it from the couch to the bed. I just feel like utter crap. I have no doubt this is a pollen issue, not flu. Several clear reasons for that but don't have energy to list them. One is that I had no fever at all, even when it was at its worst. It should continue getting better but seems to have stalled. If no progress after weekend I will see doctor (not easy from where I live).

You must do that. I think your in your 70's, and its tougher on the older body to fix and manage other functions while fighting another problem. Safe than sorry, and take care.

I agree. With your immune system already having taken a hammering, it wouldn't take much for something like this to turn into life-threatening something else.

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#1871376 23-Sep-2017 09:48

The continuing weakness is the surest sign that this is a virus and not allergy. Allergy symptoms continue with the tiredness so if you don't have them then it is much less likely to be an allergy problem. A bad cold is sufficient to leave people weak for a month or more after the other symptoms go.

Rikkitic

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#1871392 23-Sep-2017 11:11

If this is a cold, it is a real humdinger. I have never felt anything like this in my life. It seems to be better again at this moment, though still with a long way to go.

My first thoughts were also a cold, though a bad one, but some things convinced me it was allergic reaction. Even at its worst I had no temperature, which I thought was unusual. There was a huge pollen release on our property just before, and the first symptoms started shortly after I washed the pollen off my car, which was thick. Other than the head stuffiness and sniffling, which was severe, my lungs felt like they were filled with concrete. I coughed up a lot of rubbish, and still am, though it is better. I haven't been able to get out of bed since Tuesday evening but it seems to go up and down. After sleeping I feel better, but as soon as I try to do anything I feel worse. I am sticking to my intention. If I don't feel more-or-less normal by Monday, I will see the doctor.

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