Which totally sucks, especially since I got vaccinated. And it's February. I figured flu season was almost over but apparently in my state it is still in full swing, according to the CDC. And according to the CDC, the flu vaccine was not particularly effective this year. All of which sucks.
I think I started getting sick Tuesday. I was exceptionally tired all day Tuesday. But I thought it was because I'd had a really busy day Monday. I did a lot of housecleaning, including scrubbing the bathroom and kitchen floors. I was a little frustrated that cleaning my tiny apartment would leave me so exhausted the next day, but I thought that was why I was so tired.
Wednesday and Thursday I had a little more energy, though I still felt tired, and I felt kind of achy, but I have fibromyalgia, I always feel achy. I thought maybe I was achier than usual, but it's hard to tell.
Then I woke up about 4 am this morning, feeling chilled and feverish and aching all over. I didn't have a fever. Well, my temp was slightly higher than what's normal for me, especially at 4 am, but it was only 98.1. My temp usually runs about 97.7 or so, though. I dunno why. My blood pressure runs low, too.
My throat kind of hurts and feels scratchy. I have a little cough but not too bad. And my head hurts. My eyes feel dry and irritated.
And I am exhausted. I slept most of the day.
Oh, and my stomach feels a little icky and I have no appetite (which is super unusual for me) and nothing tastes good. Maybe I will lose a couple pounds.
I thought about calling my primary care doctor to see if I could get in to see him today to ask for some Tamiflu, if indeed what I have is the flu. I thought it unlikely I'd be able to get in today, though. And then I did a little reading on Tamiflu and decided I didn't want it anyway.
If I was started to get sick on Tuesday, then it's too late for the Tamiflu to work anyway. If I didn't start getting sick until this morning, then the Tamiflu could work, but apparently studies have shown mixed results about if it even works. If it does work, it is supposed to shorten the duration of the flu by one to two days. Well, the flu typically lasts six to seven days, so that would mean if you take Tamiflu and if it works, you'd only be sick for four to six days instead. That's not a huge difference to me.
But my biggest concern is about potential side effects, which apparently include psychiatric symptoms like hallucination and self-harming behaviors.
I try to avoid medications with those kinds of symptoms. I once took an allergy medication, by prescription, that made my depression much worse. I once took a drug to prevent migraines that causes horrible nightmares and hallucinations. Those kinds of side effects aren't real common but they are known side effects of some drugs, and doctors seem to overlook them a lot since they aren't real common.
But why would you give a drug that can cause depression to a patient that has been suicidally depressed before? Why would you give a drug that can cause nightmares and hallucination to a patient with PTSD and a history of severe nightmares and night terrors? Shouldn't you at least warn the patient and ask if they wanted to take that risk and try the drug anyway? And let them know what to do if they experience any of those side effects?
Well, in those two instances, two different doctors gave me those drugs and didn't warn me about the possible side effects at all. Now, I look up any medication before I take it. I realize most people that take Tamiflu are not going to hallucinate and harm themselves, but that's just not a chance I want to take. Especially not if the only benefit is possibly knocking one to two days off my flu, and it might not even due that.
But being sick sucks. I mean, living with fibro sucks but the flu really sucks. Poor Isaac is bored and wants to go for a walk or play or something. I just want to sleep. I did spend a little time with Isaac today working on retrievals. I was teaching him to take books off my bookshelf and give them to me. Which he has apparently now mastered.
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