Feeling very sorry for myself
I'm pretty certain I have flu. This is despite having had a flu jab in October. I've been ill since Friday night with a temperature that stays over 38.0 deg C (about 100 deg F) despite taking paracetamol/acetaminophen to bring it down. I am coughing, sneezing, and aching all over, and over the weekend I also had nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea. The digestive issues have mostly settled down now, but everything else is still present.
Woke up this morning with a temperature of 39.7 deg C (103.5 deg F) and considered calling the doctor or pharmacist because I was so very out of it that I felt scared. But half an hour after taking paracetamol, my temperature was a 'mere' 39.2, so clearly paracetamol was still managing to be antipyretic. I woke up later feeling absolutely freezing and was convinced that my fever had broken, but it was still 38.3 deg C. Eww.
The problem with paracetamol is that it's hepatotoxic enough that you can only take 4 doses a day; which considering it wears off after 5 to 5.5 hours, doesn't cover the entire 24 hour day too well. If I could take NSAIDs then I'd alternate paracetamol with ibuprofen, but NSAIDs make me stop breathing, which would likely be worse than having a fever :P
Have texted my parents and Tim & Peter to cancel Christmas. Apparently flu is contagious for 7 days after symptoms start, or longer if you have a bad immune system, so I will still be contagious on Friday. And frankly, I don't wish this on anyone. I'm nowhere near as ill as I would have been if I hadn't had the vaccination, but I still feel worse than I typically do for a cold - ill enough that I wish I could just sleep until it's gone.
At this point, I am actually glad that Grant is having to work all over Christmas and New Year, since it would be horrible to have him visiting while I'm this bloody sick. I just hope that Richard doesn't catch it. He's coughing his lungs out, but then he's been coughing since the last cold he had about a month ago.
Woke up this morning with a temperature of 39.7 deg C (103.5 deg F) and considered calling the doctor or pharmacist because I was so very out of it that I felt scared. But half an hour after taking paracetamol, my temperature was a 'mere' 39.2, so clearly paracetamol was still managing to be antipyretic. I woke up later feeling absolutely freezing and was convinced that my fever had broken, but it was still 38.3 deg C. Eww.
The problem with paracetamol is that it's hepatotoxic enough that you can only take 4 doses a day; which considering it wears off after 5 to 5.5 hours, doesn't cover the entire 24 hour day too well. If I could take NSAIDs then I'd alternate paracetamol with ibuprofen, but NSAIDs make me stop breathing, which would likely be worse than having a fever :P
Have texted my parents and Tim & Peter to cancel Christmas. Apparently flu is contagious for 7 days after symptoms start, or longer if you have a bad immune system, so I will still be contagious on Friday. And frankly, I don't wish this on anyone. I'm nowhere near as ill as I would have been if I hadn't had the vaccination, but I still feel worse than I typically do for a cold - ill enough that I wish I could just sleep until it's gone.
At this point, I am actually glad that Grant is having to work all over Christmas and New Year, since it would be horrible to have him visiting while I'm this bloody sick. I just hope that Richard doesn't catch it. He's coughing his lungs out, but then he's been coughing since the last cold he had about a month ago.